Shifty Bits Circus, The Capital Complex, August 6, 2016.
Janowski is the latest musical project to spring from Shifty Bits lineage and during their Saturday night set as part of last weekend’s sixth annual Shifty Bits Circus in Fredericton, the duo of Keith Hallett and Drew Budovitch delivered a short but powerful set on a cramped stage at the Capital Bar.
Greeting the crowd with his now standard hometown introduction of “I’m Keith Hallett from the God-damn Hanwell Road”, the pair kicking into a set of tunes that blended Hallett’s signature style of dense and dirty blues with high energy garage rock. It was a loud and hairy, head-banging-worthy set that left the capacity crowd a hot, sweaty mess.
For a musician who first turned heads with his uncanny ability to channel the essential elements of Chicago Blues at just eighteen years old, Hallett has been a local favourite now for over a decade. And while blues will always be at the heart of what he does, his willingness to evolve and explore new sonic territory makes every live performance unpredictably fresh and overly satisfying.
With only a handful of shows under their belt and no recording as of yet, experiencing Janowski’s performance was a bit like catching a glimpse of a Sasquatch or the elusive Eastern Cougar – you know you saw something so incredibly cool that it’s almost not even worth trying to put it into words. A total, ‘you had to be there’ kind of moment.
Janowski will perform Saturday August 13 as part of the Shifty Bits Circus first traveling caravan, as part of a solid lineup that includes Alex Calder, Walrus, Motherhood, Moss Lime, LAPS, Slight, Gianna Lauren, Tamara Sandor and DJ Radiant Baby. – Matt C
For full details on the Shifty Bits Circus’s Montreal lineup, visit shiftybitscult.com
Photo kindly provided by Fredericton photographer Dana Budovitch. Check out his work here.
