Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet

The sixth edition of Calgary's annual Sled Island festival started out with a bang at the downtown Legion. Having hosted festival highlights like the GZA, Wire and Fucked Up in past years, the #1 Legion has become the de facto heart of the festival, and the reunion of Canadian legends Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet continued that tradition. Shadowy Men took the stage before a roaring, appreciative crowd, and turned in an enthusiastic set that included a sort of wedding medley that included every song ever written (more or less). Of course, included in the career-spanning set list was "Having an Average Weekend," a song that warms the heart of every Canadian who watched Kids in the Hall in the '90s. This much-anticipated reunion show also came sporting the Sadies' Dallas Good filling in for original member Reid Diamond, who died from cancer in 2001, and needless to say, he did the fallen member proud. This reunion marked the reissue of Shadowy Men's recorded output by Mammoth Cave, and should help introduce an important band in the history of Canadian music to a new generation of listeners.