University of Lethbridge based community radio station CKXU know how to throw a party. They celebrated all things music with their fourth annual Love and Records Music Festival, Sept. 13 in Galt Gardens and broadcast it live across the country.
The event has just exploded over the past few years and drew several thousand people throughout the day. So this year, in addition to a wide array of different styles of music all day long at Galt Gardens, they had numerous attractions for children and families, Johnny Korthuis and The Disciples of Gravity performing leaps, bounds, stunts and aerial ribbon tricks.
There was also an art gallery featuring gorgeous new works created by Lethbridge artists numerous stalls of vendors selling a variety of items, promoting events, and of course lots and lots of records, which had probably the biggest crowd yet prowling through them looking for lost musical treasures. The music on the main stage, as always, was fantastic, not to mention diverse.
There was truly something for everybody.
The first half of the day featured some of Le
thbridge's best musicians beginning with The Global Steel Drums.
Young Medicine were supposed to open but couldn’t make it as they were in Winnipeg accepting the Aboriginal People’s Choice Award for best blues CD.
But Global Drums added some exotic percussion and warmed up everybody starting to trickle into the park.
Local jazz Trio HBO3 were up next to play s
ome laid back jazz music.
Things went a little country after that with Treeline and Shaela Miller who played an array of their original material. Things stayed in an alt-country/ roots vein with Dave McCann and the Firehearts who played many of the songs off their most recent CD “Circle of Light,” and older material like my favourite “Fireheart” and older favourites like “Standing in the River.”
Fellow Lethbridge alt-country troubadour Leeroy Stagger used his set as as an opportunity to turn things up a notch as well as play some upbeat rocking new material to appear on his upcoming tenth album.
He also turned one of my favourites “Stormy” into a laid back, slightly funky blues jam. He wound his set down with “Dirty Windshields” from his 2012 Album “Radiant Land.”
That was the cue to turn things up and rock out.
Calgary classic metal trio Outlaws of Ravenhurst dressed as knights for their set full of big riffs and lyrics about battle and slaying dragons. Actual swords and armour clanged and clashed through the air as the Lethbridge Medieval Club battled it out in front of the stage during the band’s second song.
After that, Edmonton's the Wet Secrets stole the show with a solid set of eclectic horn and bass powered rock and roll with just a touch of dance music on a long jam for “Nightlife.”
They were all dressed in ’70s band uniforms and there was plenty of upbeat trombone and coronet from the brass section and a two person percussion jam on another song.
The Invasives played something altogether different from that during their set 
of snarling, adenoidal alternative rock and punk along the lines of the Dickies and the Dead Kennedys. The trio played an intense set or energetic music including the highlight “Fine Arts Sucks.”
While Steve Foord hosted the first half of the show and played tweeners of his original music on his acoustic guitar, Ryland Moranz took over as the host after that playing a little banjo.
Things stayed heavy as Calgary duo High Kicks played quirky bass and drums powered alternative rock. The Dudes' Dan Vacon got to show another side of his musical personality for this show and noted he was just in Lethbridge last week ( to play Freshfest) as he took a seat on the side of the stage and grooved.
After that, Toro
nto hard rock band Biblical was in the mood to jam as they played long songs full of massive guitar and bass riffs with a shower of spooky, ethereal keyboards marking extended psychedelic jams.
While I had to make sure things were ready for my blues after-party at Plum, I missed DJ Skratch Bastid, but made a point of checking out the long awaited return of Edmonton dance-rock combo Shout Out Out Out Out who had a great crowd dancing to multiple bass lines, two drum sets and catchy DJ and computer noises all mixed up in a catchy brew of toe tapping goodness and bass from Lyle Bell, who performed earlier with the Wet Secrets.
There were after parties for Love and Records
as well.
I missed a packed rock/ metal party at the Slice with War Baby, Black Mastiff and Advertisement and a folk after-party at to Owl Acoustic Lounge with Savk, Ben Everyman and the Palmers. I put on a wicked blues rock fusion show at Plum featuring Paul Kype and Texas Flood and Edmonton's the Marshall Lawrence Band, so was committed to that show for the night .
It was off the hook — at the beginning as people packed Plum literally wall to wall for Paul Kype and Texas Flood. Earl MacAuley played catchy keyboard while Paul Kype belted out lyrics and played hot leads through a 
set of songs from his new CD “Long Time Comin” plus covers of “Angel From Montgomery” and blues classics like “Mojo Hand” an “Down to The Crossroads.”
Marshall Lawrence and his band put on a full blast rocking blues show at around 11:30. He told stories, played some BB King and was just getting warmed up as people unfortunately began to trickle away. It’s too bad because he was just getting started and that's when the real show started.
Lawrence played lot of deadly, sizzling blues, sat on laps and wandered through the audience with bassist Maurie Jarvis and into the street, not missing a single note.
He played lots of blues classics and originals like “Keep on Walking.”
He also played a couple of songs from his new CD “House Call” and took a trip into the past for a Mahogany Rush cover and an extended jam on that. As most of the audience wandered away just past midnight, he took a brief break and returned for a 20 minute blues jam on a blues boogie.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
