Ottawa Explosion Weekend is Christmas in June
Tomorrow marks Christmas in June for all the punk rockers in Ottawa. But unlike the Christmas (which is only one measly day), Ottawa Explosion starts Thursday, June 12, and goes until Sunday, June 15. You saw that correctly – four days of awesome rock, punk, garage, hardcore & metal music, great people, comedians, beers, and amazing times. It is almost unfair to Christmas to be compared to something this awesome.
With over 70 bands playing at seven different venues during the four-day whirlwind, Ottawa Explosion is the grassroots festival to beat in Ottawa. In its fourth year, it may not get the big bands like Bluesfest, but it draws in excellent must-see acts from around the world and strives to promote local acts (and by all the Ottawa bands listed below you can see it does exceptionally well). Oh, and did I mention the extremely reasonable price? There are free shows, some as low as $5, and the most expensive show is $15. You can also grab a five-day pass for $60 which grants you access to every show so you can venue hop.
Last year’s Ottawa Explosion made it in Showbox’s top shows of the year. Here are the links to the events of every day, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Still need more convincing? Here is some of my coverage from last year: day four where New Swears made a mess of the Club SAW front lawn, and day five where Roberta Bondar killed it.
Below is a video with the Ottawa Explosion theme song done by local one-man party band ROBOTS!EVERYWHERE!! as well as a list and links to the bands set to grace the capital. See you all in the pit!
BANDS
THE ABANDOS (Philadelphia, PA)
https://soundcloud.com/
ALASKAN (Ottawa, ON)
http://
ASILE (Ottawa, ON)
http://www.purevolume.com/
AUDIO (Vankleek Hill, ON)
http://
AVERAGE TIMES (Ottawa, ON)
http://
BEST FIENDS (Halifax, NS)
http://
BIG DICK (Ottawa, ON)
http://
BLACK OAK DECLINE (Ottawa, ON)
http://
BLACK LOVE (Montreal, QC)
http://
BLACK TOWER (Ottawa, ON)
http://
BLUE ANGEL (Ottawa, ON)
http://
BONNIE DOON (Ottawa, ON)
http://
BOYHOOD (Ottawa, ON)
http://
CAMP RADIO (Ottawa, ON)
http://
CAULDRON (Toronto, ON)
http://
THE CREEPS (Ottawa, ON)
http://
CRUSADES (Ottawa, ON)
http://
DAD JOKES (Auckland, NZ)
http://
THE DAGGER EYES (Ottawa/Montreal)
http://
THE DARK PLAINS (Ottawa, ON)
DEAD FUTURE (Montreal, QC)
http://
DEAD WEIGHTS (Ottawa, ON)
http://
DIG IT UP (Montreal, QC)
http://
DRONES OF NORTH AMERICA (Ottawa, ON)
http://
THE FAMINES (Montreal, QC)
http://
FERAL TRASH (Moncton, NB)
http://
FINDERSKEEPERS (Ottawa, ON)
http://
FIRST BASE (Toronto, ON)
http://
GRIME KINGS (Belleville, ON)
http://
HARD SCIENCE (Ottawa, ON)
http://hardscience.ca/
HASHED OUT (Montreal, QC)
http://
IDLE BLOOM (Nashville, TN)
http://www.facebook.com/
JON CREEDEN (Stratford, ON) http://joncreeden.com/
KAPPA CHOW (Sackville, NB)
http://
KETAMINES (Toronto, ON)
http://
KLOVEN HOOFS (Hull, QC)
http://
LATEX SQUAD (Hamburg, GER)
http://
LAUREATE (Montreal, QC)
http://
LOVIATAR (Ottawa, ON)
http://
LOW CULTURE (Las Cruces, NM)
http://
THE MANDATES (Calgary, AB)
http://
THE MARKED MEN (Denton, TX)
https://www.facebook.com/
MERDARAHTA (Ottawa, ON)
http://
METZ (Toronto, ON)
http://metz.bandcamp.com/
MILANKU (Montreal, QC)
http://
MOTHER’S CHILDREN (Ottawa, ON)
http://
NECK (Ottawa, ON)
http://
NEEDLES//PINS (Vancouver, BC)
http://
NERVOSAS (Columbus, OH)
http://
NEW SWEARS (Ottawa, ON)
http://
ODONIS ODONIS (Toronto, ON)
http://odonisodonis.com/
OLD AND WEIRD (Halifax, NS)
http://
ORGAN EYES (Ottawa, ON)
http://
OUTTACONTROLLER (Halifax, NS)
http://
PANIC ATTACK (Quebec City, QC)
http://panicattack.com/
PINK WINE (Toronto, ON)
http://
POOKIE & THE POODLEZ (Oakland, CA)
http://
PRETTY PRETTY (Columbus, OH)
http://
PRIMITIVE HEARTS (Oakland, CA)
http://
PROTOMARTYR (Detroit, MI)
https://soundcloud.com/
ROBERTA BONDAR (Ottawa,ON)
http://
ROBOTS! EVERYWHERE!! (Ottawa, ON)
http://
SCHOOL DAMAGE (Toronto, ON)
https://
SHEER AGONY (Montreal, QC)
http://
SONIC AVENUES (Montreal, QC)
http://sonicavenues.com/
THE STAND GT (Glengarry, ON)
http://
STAY CLASSY (Ottawa, ON)
http://
STEVE ADAMYK BAND (Ottawa, ON)
http://
STRANGE ATTRACTOR (Sudbury, ON)
http://
TERRIBLE LIARS (Ottawa, ON)
TOUGH AGE (Vancouver, BC)
http://
TROPICAL DRIPPS (Ottawa, ON)
http://
TWEENS (Cincinatti, OH)
http://
TV FREAKS (Hamilton, ON)
http://
ULTRATHIN (Montreal, QC)
http://
VACATION (Cincinatti, OH)
http://
VOICEMAIL (Ottawa, ON)
https://www.facebook.com/
WASTED POTENTIAL (London, ON)
http://
WHITE POPPY (Vancouver, BC)
http://
THE WHITE WIRES (Ottawa, ON)
http://
THE YIPS (Ottawa, ON)
http://
ZEX (Ottawa, ON)
http://zexzexzex.com/
ZONES (Toronto, ON)
http://