Any seasoned festival goer knows as much as you love to pour over a schedule pre-festival, your best experiences during the festival itself are almost always those random unexpected things you only discover during the madness. After an amazing Friday that left me completely sleep deprived, I found myself on Saturday afternoon at a Pledge Music event sponsored by the lovely folks at Audio Blood. Hosted by Ben Caplan, the event was a chance for movers and shakers to network, enjoy free whiskey and sliders and of course listen to great music.
The secret guest at the end of this delightful, sweaty loft party was Acres of Lions, a band out of Victoria, BC. I saw a lot of bands during Canadian Music Week and after awhile it’s not hard to spot those that perform solely because they’re desperate for rock star glory and those who put their heart and soul into every performance because they just don’t know any other way to play. Acres of Lions is definitely one of the latter bands.
An upbeat pop-punk band, Acres of Lions has a diverse range of influences from Tom Petty to Jimmy Eat World. At indie parties like this very often you can find yourself leaning against a wall and focused more on the drinking then the music.
Acres of Lions easily inspires immediate attention from their audience. Without even realizing it, you’ve started shaking your hips and clapping your hands. Having recently signed with labels in the UK and Japan I think it won’t be too long before a whole lot more people are paying attention to them as well.
*photos by Chris Zacchia, for more, check out FTB on Facebook
