The Cadre 
     
    
   
   
    
     November 18, 1997 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
        
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
        
     
       
     
          
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
        
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
         
     
         
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Be VS on 
     
    
   
   
    
     a cls 
     
     student id 
     
    
   
   
    
     ca 
     
     and get « 
     
     Vai e 
     
     releases, ae 
     
    
   
   
    
     2 bags of » 
     
     popcom, 
     
     Veet 
     
     Pepsi/ » 
     
    
   
   
    
     LY lib 
     
    
   
   
    
     + tax & deposit 
     
     Cem to ee 
     
    
   
   
    
     TO 
     
    
   
   
    
     449 University Ave 
     
    
   
   
    
     ee | 
     
    
   
   
    
     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.