The Cadre

November 18, 1997

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Locally owned and operated.

By Ross Williams

Ever gone to heara band, assuming they'd be just a run of the mill, faceless bunch of cover-tune droids? And then, after about five minutes, had your expectations completely dashed? Well this is the situa- tion! found myself in the night of November 7th when, look- ing for inexpensive entertain- ment, | wandered to the Barn to hear a group called PF Sta- tion.

Having never heard the group before, my expectations were not particularly high. But, with no word of a lie, PF Sta- tion completely blew me away. And although the Barn was obscenely empty thatnight, the few people who were there walked out with the same im- pression I| did - this Halifax- based band is something spe- cial. The best comparison | can make is that it was like listening to a much younger version of Pink Floyd.

The four members of the group - vocalist/guitarist Craig Mercer, bassist Mike Macdougall, drummer (and former UPEI student) Kirk Hatcher, and organist/pianist Graeme Hill - displayed a lot ofskilland even more promise as they played a tight set of tunes, which consisted almost completely of original songs, most of which were instru- mental jams (the individual skills of the musicians, par- ticularly Mercer and Hill, re- ally shone through on these instrumentals) lasting around ten minutes, including an elec- trified version of the Star Wars theme.

their cause

Make no mistake, it would be no simple selection of Tragically Hip and Pearl Jam covers from these guys. Drawing on influences as di- verse as Deep Purple, Van Halen and the Allman Broth- ers (and I swear I heard some Angus Young in there), PF Station created sweeping, epic sounds which grabbed the au- dience and held ‘em captive for the entire evening. This was obvious to anyone there, because as few people as there were in attendance that night, nobody left the Barn until the show was through, and no one was more interested in their beer than the band.

Some basic information I learned about PF Station: the band has existed for about

four years, with Mercer being the only original member re- maining. While currently a four-piece band, the line-up has been somewhat elastic at times, ranging from three to six members. The songs are written by taking grooves the band has come up with, and mixing and matching them un- til they fit. About half the re- sulting songs remain as instrumentals, while vocals are worked into the others. The instrumentals are a point of pride for the band, as they feel musical talent has nowhere to hide in such a work (no lyrics to distract the listener), and the song’s success is made en- tirely by how strong the musi- cal skill is. Plainly, judging by audience reaction, they are

5 ay. tes) P23

Great googly moogly!

Despite lousy attendance, PF Station advances

succeeding.

Although PF Station has not played outside the Maritimes yet, they are hoping to do so in the near future. The CD they are currently work- ing on, due sometime around the New Year (about thirty songs have been recorded), should help them in that re- spect. In the meantime, they will continue to play the Maritimes and build their fan base the old fashioned way. And despite the lacklustre at- tendance at this last show at the Barn, the band hopes to play here again soon. As one who knows what PF Station can do, I encourage that eve- ryone who reads this to check them out next time they play PEI. You won't be disap- pointed.