Documenting the hardcore and punk scene in Atlantic Canada. Bands from Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland and New Brunswick - from the 80's to present day. Focus will no doubt be on Halifax, NS as that's where i'm from!!
Here we go with some shows from the 1990s. Lots of stuff missing or errors here so feel free to add shows/correct things in the comments. Will add more as I get to it! Sources have been old fliers, Setlist.fm, Nova Scotia Gig Poster Archive on Facebook, old Facebook events, and the Backstreets Facebook page.
The 90's started off with bar shows mainly at the Pub Flamingo on Barrington St. All ages shows were scattered around the Casino Theatre, North St Church, Camaros’/Uptown Theatre and Dal SUB until ‘93 when Cafe Ole opened. Cafe Ole really ushered in a new era and tons of bands formed around that time. Bar shows transferred over to the Double Deuce around that time as well. This was replaced by Birdland and The Khyber. The Marquee started up around 98.
Cafe Ole closed down in ‘97 (thanks Neptune Theatre!), but that made way for the Pavilion in 98, which carried on the tradition to end off the decade. This is when hardcore and metalcore started poppin off.
1990
Feb 3, 1990 @ North St Church, Halifax, NS - Adrenalin, Moral Support, Kill Joy, Burning Chrome - Poster
Feb 10, 1990 @ Pub Flamingo, Halifax, NS - Asexuals, Kearney Lake Rd - Poster
Feb 11, 1990 @ Pub Flamingo, Halifax, NS - Asexuals, Kearney Lake Rd - Poster
Feb 16, 1990 @ The Pit, King’s College, Halifax, NS - Kearney Lake Rd, Tetrus, Hector’s Body, Rhinoplasty - Poster
March 17, 1990 @ Green Room Dalhousie, Halifax, NS - Adrenalin, Tetrus, Black Season, Rhinoplasty, Slack - Poster
This is a massive project, so I'll start off with shows from the 80's and work forward. Lots of stuff missing or errors here so feel free to add shows/correct things in the comments. Will add more as I get to it! Sources have been old fliers, Setlist.fm, Nova Scotia Gig Poster Archive on Facebook, the Backstreets Facebook page.
1979
April 29, 1979 @ Theatre 1707 (aka The Alehouse), Halifax, NS - The Trash Kanz
Nov 16, 1979 @ Theatre 1707, Halifax, NS - The Trash Kanz - Poster
1980
Nov 28, 1980 @ Grafton St Cafe, Halifax, NS - Pinkertones, Union Maids
Dec 22, 1980 @ Grafton St Cafe, Halifax, NS - Moonbuzz, The Moves, Agro, Bodo Hermann & Detlev - Flier
1981
Jan 31, 1981 @ Grafton St Cafe, Halifax, NS - The Nerve - Poster
Feb 13, 1981 @ Grafton St Cafe, Halifax, NS - The Trash Kanz, Class Cancelled - Poster
March 17, 1981 @ Grafton St Cafe, Halifax, NS - Survivors, Nobody’s Heroes, Agro, Red Leader - Poster, Poster 2
March 21, 1981 @ Multi Purpose Room, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS - Teenage Head - Poster
May 8, 1981 @ Grafton St Cafe, Halifax, NS - The Trash Kanz (last show) - Poster
June 19, 1981 @ Grafton St Cafe, Halifax, NS - Agro, The Nerve - Poster, Poster 2
Aug 5, 1981 @ Grafton St Cafe, Halifax, NS - Nobody’s Heroes - Poster, Poster 2
Oct 17, 1981 @ SuperSub, Halifax, NS - Teenage Head
Oct 31, 1981 @ Grafton St Cafe, Halifax, NS - Pinkertones, Nobody’s Heroes - Poster, Article
NFA (AKA Not From Athens AKA Not Funny Anymore) were a punk band from Hampton, NB that were around in the 1990's. They were one of the premiere bands of the time and really kicked off the scene in and around Hampton. Andrew from the band answered some questions about the band in Feb 2025...and here it is. Enjoy!
band pic!
1. Who was in NFA and how did the band come together?
Classic Trio lineup Jason Ogden (Guitar and vocals) Craig Moore (Drums) and myself (Bass and backing vocals). Later extra guitar Scott Thibodeau followed by Brett Whittaker who transitioned with Jason & I into Hospital Grade with new Drummer Mike McAloon.
There was an earlier incarnation Not From Athens (Athens, Georgia being a hotbed of music much like Seattle later was) That had several lineups I was in and out for a while.
It was more of a Jangly REM type thing with a little Butthole Surfers on the side. When that band ended I regrouped with Jason and we had met Craig at a show my band at the time White Minority had played and found a new drummer. Decided to keep the initials NFA but it now stood for Not Funny Anymore. Our tastes had evolved into weird math pop punk madness.
live as Not From Athens
2. So from what I can tell Hampton, NB had a fairly big scene in the early 90's, and NFA was a big part of that. Was NFA the first big band from the area, or were there band before that.
Yeah for a town of about 5k population to have 5 to 8 bands on the go it was a disproportionate number of bands. Two bands started in my neighborhood that began in my basement using some of our gear to get started. The Scapegoats were the first bigger band from Hampton starting a few years before us in the mid 80s and definitely had a huge influence on us and the scene locally in general. The Scapegoats evolved out of a Band called The Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants. Members of which formed other bands as time went on.
And I can't forget Lizard. The Hampton band that moved to Montreal and gave us all the get up and go to tour and strive for bigger things than just local shows. It was a pretty tight knit scene that couldn't be contained. I did a fanzine and had a staff party at my place and ended up forming Date Rape that night followed shortly by our sister band the Moaning Lisa's. I taught Jen how to play Bass and provided the Drums, Bass and Amp for their first jams.
Flier from a Fredericton show
3. Was the Hampton scene separate from the Saint John scene, and if why why do you think that was.
Yeah , Saint John was always more metal than punk so that separated us musically, but we played the same shows and same venues and got along quite well. It became the same scene during the boom years just before Nirvana & Green Day broke open the new age of alternative/grunge. Punk and grunge were the norm everywhere with metal taking a back seat for the decade.
from Saint John in 2000.
4. You had quite a few releases. Many cassettes and a 7". How did those come about and what was the recording process like. I have noticed that a lot of bands from the area had pretty good recordings for the time.
We got whatever gear we could assemble to record with at first. From ghetto blasters with 2 built in microphones to 4 channel Radio Shack mixers that ran off a 9 volt battery and even P.A. mixers until we got wind of a guy named Rob with a home studio. The glory years began then as far as recording went. A digital 8 track with a a 24 channel console really let us capture a lot closer to what we wanted to sound like. He ended up recording quite a few other bands after we started working there as it did sound pretty great. We tried to record the 7" EP Playing Hell With Your Faith at Rick White's place but were not happy with the results and went back to Rob's Wavelength Studios.
5. Did you tour much at all? I do know you played Halifax, but did you ever make it out of the Maritimes?
We played PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec & Ontario in Canada. In the USA we played Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island & New York. Mostly traveling by ourselves but we did a tour with CATCH 23 from Fredericton in one car together (a K-Car station wagon with a sheet metal box welded on the roof.)
The aforementioned K-Car with the welded on metal box!
Also did a few Maritime tours in support of bigger bands like GOB and CUB after booking Saint John shows for them and forming relationships with them. They'd come back the next year and have us play Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton & Halifax with them. And we actually ended up doing a cover of a CUB song that ended up on their CD Betti-Cola. We were doing demo's of some new songs and Jason thought it would be fun to do a CUB cover so we learned one and recorded it the same day. We played a few shows with them and stayed in contact with them and Jason just sent them a copy and they liked it & asked if they could include it on the "Collection of 7" singles" AKA Betti-Cola.
Touring in the US before the internet and 911 was lots of phone calls to set up. Sneaking in without work visas was as easy as telling the boarder guards we were just heading down to a friend's camp outside Bangor, Maine to play at a party. Crowds were a mixed bag of 10 to 100 at all ages shows put on by kids and bar gigs where they didn't pay unless people showed up. Sleeping in the van and overnight drives were common. Staying with the promoter was a godsend from time to time. We did one short tour where we played Fredericton then Oldtown, Maine then drove straight from Maine all the way to Halifax overnight. Hard on the mind and body. Always well received as I recall down south from small crowds to bigger ones. We thought we were playing a club called The Garage one time in NY State but it turned out to be the Garage in this kids house with like 60 kids and a couple local bands all jazzed for a touring band all the way from Canada!
6. NFA eventually morphed into Hospital Grade - what the reason for that?
Yeah as time went on we became a little more serious lyrically and musically and Craig was graduating from UNB so he was leaving to start his professional life and wouldn't have had time for the band so we recorded what became the first Hospital Grade album as NFA, found Mike McAloon to replace Craig on drums and figured it was a good time to rebrand. An indy label owner had become aware of us and flew up from Boston to see the band and signed us to release the album Written Axe To Trigger as Hospital Grade and the transition was complete. Later Brett left & was replaced with Adam Keirstead and Mike McAloon passed away after a car accident and was replaced by his sometime fill in Sean Boyer.
7. What everyone in the band up to now?
Well Scott, Brett & Craig are just living life, haven't been active in the music scene for a long time. Jason started a Solo project called Pennyblacks before the demise of Hospital Grade that morphed into a band since the mid 2000s and he plays in Papal Visit. I took a few years off from active playing, formed Punk band KILLDEVILS for a few years, took some more time off after that went down in flames. Currently playing Bass in Thrash Metal band Beyond Eternal and Metal/Punk/Stoner Rock band Stone MadeiN.
Stone MadeiN live
Download their Almost DISCOGPAHY HERE! It's just missing the "Full Of (Un)Comfortable" demo.
No More were a hardcore band from Hampton, New Brunswick in the early 1990's. I first heard them on a compilation cassette from Saint John, NB called No In-City Venue. They stood out on the comp for sounding much more on the hardcore side of things, rather than punk, which was very unusual in Atlantic Canada at the time. Until recently, I had never heard any other songs by them, but then I tracked down their demo tape from 1993 and posted it on YouTube. Then I found out about a second demo also from 1993 titled "Within" that I'll be posting for the first time today. I found out they played in Halifax and somehow I missed the show! I tracked down their singer Mark in Jan 2025 for this brief interview. You can also find all their recorded material on their Bandcamp HERE!
Band pic from the early 90's
When did NO MORE start and who was in it? Had any of you been in bands previous to this?
We started jamming as a group of friends in middle school in 1989/90 figuring out our instruments, piecing together a drum kit, finding a basement where we could jam, locating amps and microphones. We would have various friends coming and going as the singer, bass player, guitar player at these sessions until we could really find out who was serious and could play as well. The band NO MORE was formed from this after school jam sessions in 1990/91 when we were 15 years old. The initial line up consisted of myself: Mark Marshall, vocals, Trevor Richard, guitar, Keith Whalen, bass guitar and Craig Jardine on drums. Chris Moore, who was 3 years older, had a driver’s license, access to a station wagon for gear, and could really play, joined the group as a second guitarist in 1993. No member of the band had really played with any other bands before we started NO MORE.
You recorded 2 demo tapes. Could you talk more about recording them. How many copies did you make?
The first demo tape we recorded in 1992 when we finally had enough original material and a solid set to play live. We paid $50 to track the 8 songs on a 4-track recorder in the basement of engineer Rob Lavigne, who owned his own place at the time. It was cool to be able to sit around and drink a few beers and play some hardcore without worrying about one of the guy’s parents walking in on us. Sounds funny now, but it was liberating feeling as a 16-year-old at the time. We laid down all the instruments live and overdubbed the vocals afterwards.
The first demo, recorded in 1992, but released in 1993.
We recorded the second demo in 1993 after we added Chris as a second guitarist and had a new block of original songs. These recordings sound much better as engineer now had an 8-track recorder and we were able to separate the mixes a bit, plus we were also a better live band at that point as well. I don’t recall too much of this session other than we laid the musical tracks first and I cut class in grade 11 to record the vocals, as the engineer was working shift work and school day was the only time he was available.
I think we made about 30 copies of the first demo and 50 copies of the second demo. I would make the demo from my Sony tape to tape component.
I do remember our moms having a meeting to discuss if they were going to allow us to drive down and play the gig. Five moms sitting around the kitchen table drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes debating if they should let their punk teens pile into a station wagon to play a hardcore show in a city 5 hours from their hometown. Of course they let us!
Live at Cafe Ole in Halifax. Diggin that Gorilla Biscuits shirt!
Can you talk more about the scene in Hampton? What was it about Hampton that there were so many bands from there, and not from right in Saint John?
The scene in Hampton was fun. All the kids in the area attended the same middle school and high school, and there was a big crowd of kids who were skaters (me included), listened to thrash metal or early Metallica, punk and hardcore music. Any time there was an all-ages show most everyone attended. Bands like the Scapegoats, White Minority, NFA, Dead Corps, Lizard, anytime they would perform everyone would come out to support. Everyone wanted to be at the show and/or a part of the show, so bands started to pop up in Hampton, including No More, Unorthodox, Stay, and NYD. Hampton seemed to be a breeding ground for punk/rock bands – we were all just having a blast hanging out and playing music.
Flier from July 2, 1992 in Hampton, NB opening up for Random Killing
Most bands from New Brunswick were very punk influenced, or even early hardcore (Minor Threat, Bad Brains etc) but No More seemed to have more of an influence by second wave hardcore (Revelation Records bands) as evidence by your Youth of Today and Inside Out Covers. Where did the influence come from? How were you hearing stuff like that at the time. Also I assume the band is named after a Youth of Today song!
NO MORE was heavily influenced by Revelation Record artists, like Youth of Today and the Gorilla Biscuits. I think it was the vibe and the messaging. We were not a straight edge band, like Youth of Today, but I know I personally liked the positive messages, stand up and unite around what you believe in no matter the cause. We were also influenced by bands like Agnostic Front and the Cro-Mags, the heavy edgy sound. Like most kids discovering music before the internet, we did it at your friend’s place listening to records or at the local independent record shop. My older cousin had a huge vinyl collection of everything from Black Flag, GBH, Agnostic Front, Exploited, early Iron Maiden, you name it he had a copy, and I would spend hours poring over his collection anytime I was at his place. Mail order was also huge. I would order many of the Revelation artists like Youth of Today, Inside Out, Judge directly through the Revelation Mail Order catalogue. Yes NO MORE band name was borrowed from a Youth of Today song.
The drummer rockin a BOLD shirt at Cafe Ole in Halifax
When and why did the band break up? Did members go on to play in any other bands after?
The band broke up in 1994 when the core of the group was its final year of high school. Girls, life, jobs, secondary education plans all kinds of different reasons, got in the way of the band continuing after everyone started to go their own way after high school. We never played a show after 1994 but most of us have remained friends over the last 30+ years and still communicate regularly, visit with each other, have stood up in each other’s wedding and all that fun stuff along the way.
Thanks for allowing me to reflect on our short-lived hardcore career. It was fun to dive back into the memory bank after all these years.
Kearney Lake Rd were a punk (ish?) band from Halifax that existed between 1987 and 1990. The band featured Chris Murphy on drums, Henri Sangalang on bass and Jay Ferguson on guitar. Of course Chris and Jay would go on to form Sloan after this band. There is sadly not much info about this band online and no live videos or photos that I could find. But here we have some questions and answers from Chris Murphy about the band and the general scene in Halifax at the time. Thanks to Ian Fraser for mp3s and Eric Boutilier-Brown for photos!!
April 2025 update: Was just informed of Henri Sangalang's passing. Terrible and sad news.
Band pic!
live shot from Pub Flamingo (Photo by Eric Boutilier-Brown )
What were shows like when you first started going?
I remember being at an Asexuals show at St. Andrew’s School in 1985. Also on the bill were Halifax’s Ridge of Tears. There were punks and metal heads at the show and I thought there was going to be trouble. Mostly because I was nervous anyway. I had told my parents I was going to see The A’s because I didn’t want them to know I was seeing a band called Asexuals. I was also trying to spike my unspiked hair in the rain between bands so I wouldn’t get my ass kicked by punks and metal heads. Of course there was no violence, in my mind because the scene was too small too divide up that way. There were only a few dozen kids total at any given show. Punks were going to have to see metal bands and vice versa or they weren’t going to see many shows.
The aforementioned Asexuals show at St. Andrew's - May 27, 1985
There were fights out in front of Backstreets where a car load of kids would circle around and fight punks but I didn’t exactly hang out at the arcade so I didn’t get into those fights.
There was a skinhead named Elmo that came to town from somewhere (Montreal?) who seemed to enjoy causing trouble. Some friends and I rented a place at North and Robie where we held a few shows in 1988 and I remember Elmo smashing the rearview mirror off of a car with the cane he carried around. I certainly thought that was a drag.
I played a show with my band Wite Out at The Bible Society in April 1986 and I remember a punk kid (named Adam?) who, in a stage whisper was complaining about suburban posers so that I could hear. I suppose I wasn’t punk enough to put in the time (or the quarters) at the punk rock arcade or fight car loads of punk haters who drove around downtown but I went to every show I knew about and worked hard on being in a good band.
Sharon MacDonald was a real punk at my high school who was spit on and literally kicked in the face. She liked me so I didn’t worry about whether or not the downtown kids thought I was cool.
So after Spent did you start KLR right away? How did you hook up with Jay for that?
I had Spent and KLR happening at the same time in 1987/1988. KLR felt pretty un-punk. I felt goofy singing and my early efforts were extremely self-conscious. I put a sarcastic tone on my voice in case anyone thought I was trying too hard etc. KLR was pretty pop compared to Spent but I was forcing NoMeansNo type drumming over REM and 60’s riffs. I worked at the VG Hospital with Matt Murphy (later of the Super Friendz) who had known Jay since grade 1. Matt introduced me to Jay and Henri Sangalang. We were all at Kings or Dal.
a very rare KLR shirt!
How many demos did you record with KLR?
KLR had 3 cassettes. One was done at The Centre For Art Tapes with David Boyle in early 1988. It might have gone to CKDU. It definitely wasn’t for sale. One was done in the basement of a little cottage behind a house that I lived in with some friends out in Rockingham later in 1988. We put that one in a few stores in Halifax. We did sell the 2nd demo, so it makes sense that it can be found.
Second demo tape - from 1988
The third, and best one was done in Fredericton with a guy named Lloyd Hansen. We intended for it to be an LP and had talked to Peter Rowan about releasing it on DTK Records. It had some re-records of some songs from the second tape. It was never released. I think at least some of those songs got played on CKDU. I was surprised the recording with Lloyd Hanson exists. I feel like we put a 4 song cassette of that session at CKDU and I do recognize the artwork on the YouTube page for Every Trip and Fall but I had forgotten about it. It suggests to me that we made a few and gave them to our friends. I suppose someone sold one.
Insert from the third demo tape 1989
I remember seeing KLR at the Green Room at Dalhousie University when I first started going to shows. Did you play out much? Ever get out of the province?
One time we drove up to Montreal and played Fredericton on the way back and another time we went in the dead of winter to Montreal and Toronto with The Straightjackets and Hector’s Body (where we were interviewed by Erica Ehm). That’s it.
live at Lawn Jam in downtown Halifax
I have sporadic notes about stuff from this time but from what I can recall...
Kearney Lake Rd played at a small club in Montreal in late August 1989. I’m not sure exactly what date but I know Jay and I went to see the Cure at the Forum and that was August 25/1989.
Kearney Lake Rd played in Fredericton on November 03/1989 at a place called Blue Zone (or Gallery Connexion)
I have no recollection of this.
We did a little tour with The Stratejakets and Hector’s Body in November/December 1989.
Nov 30 Montreal - The Stratejakets, Idees Noires, Kearney Lake Rd and Hector’s Body at Foufounes Dec 01 Toronto - The Stratejakets, Kearney Lake Rd and Hector’s Body at The Rivoli Dec 02 Ottawa - The Stratejakets, Kearney Lake Rd and Hector’s Body at Zaphod’s Dec 03 Fredericton - The Stratejakets, Kearney Lake Rd and Hector’s Body at ??? Dec 06 Halifax - The Stratejakets, Kearney Lake Rd and Tetrus at the Flamingo
I was left behind locked outside the Foufounes while everyone else went to the Stratejakets’ place to party/shower. I had no phone or number for anyone. They didn’t realize I was missing for a long time. I stood where I was for many freezing cold miserable hours until they went looking for me.
The drives were terrifying. It was white out conditions. It was awful. But we were interviewed by Erica Ehm for MuchMusic so it was all worth it. Ha.
Jay
Chris
Henri
Here are some more flyers of various shows the band played:
April 19, 1989. Unsure of the venue but looks to be related to NSCAD
Green Room at Dalhousie, opening for Montreal's Bliss. May 27, 1989
Again opening for Bliss, but at the North Street Church. Nov 11, 1989
Another Green Room show at Dal. Dec 17, 1989
Opening up for The Asexuals at the Pub Flamingo - Feb 10-11, 1990
Feb 16, 1990 at Kings College in Halifax. Probably one of the last shows they played.
After KLR, how did you get together with Patrick and Andrew to form Sloan?
KLR ran from October 1987 to March 1990. After KLR broke up I was playing playing bass in Blackpool and also playing a bit with Andrew Scott and John Goodrich in a band called many things including: Cuddly, The Despots, Close Line, Right Arm and Furious George. I met Andrew at The Flamingo where he was the DJ. I knew John from Johnny and the Baptists from Sackville, NB.
My mom knew Cliff Gibb’s mom from work. He was in The Convulsions with Patrick. I saw them several times. They played a show at a venue (sometimes called Harmony House) on Robie St. that I rented with the Spent guys. I knew Patrick from Blowers Street Paper Chase where he worked. He also interviewed me about Spent for a school paper.
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