It would be difficult to find a group of more enthusiastic and nostalgic local music lovers than those who will undoubtedly be aligning Gottingen Street on Halifax next week.
They could also be a little more hunted than their average audience for a local concert, although, for justice, musicians can also be.
On May 8, a small portion of Halifax music will be relived, since the Calipso orchestra of the Maritime plays a meeting show of one night.
The dear Halifax band won the hearts of many Haligonians through the eclectic and energetic shows that played from 1994 to the end of 2000.
Up to 10 musicians would extend the stage, including the usual guitar, the battery, the bass and the keyboards, but also the horns, the flute, the clarinet, the banjo, the accordion and the occasional kazoo, and the result was a cheerful joy driven by ideals of social justice and infused of kindness.
“It was something like there was a Sesame Hippie Outlaw street,” says Maggie Rahr, who attended Piggy Shows as an early teenager.
“They were so sweet and open, but they also unpacked some human complexity and only show us a way of being peaceful and loving.”
Piggy’s songs frequently played issues of inequality, poverty, capitalism and other serious themes, but almost always with a playful sound.
The person behind the counter He encouraged people to be friendly with those of the service industry, The thin man He examined the problems of hunger and poverty, She is coming out It’s about going out like queer, and Emma Goldman It is a real blow of a tribute to the famous anarchist.
The main singer Paul Gailiunas says that Piggy’s political inclination was intentional.
“That was a main motivating factor for me personally in a band was trying to address, you know, things that were important problems,” he says.
The other reason, he says, was to do it “as fun and crazy as possible.” The musicians often dressed in costumes and shows often presented dance competitions, which Rahr once won, and received a special prize to go watch the movie. Nena: Pork in the city With the whole band.
In an era in which Halifax was called the “Next Seattle” and bands like Sloan, Thrush Hermit, Jale and Super Friendz made it great, Piggy was not affected by record or fame offers.
“It was more a work of love and a fun art project, a communal art project,” says Gailiunas.
Drummer Graham Macdougall will perform with the band at The Meeting Show, and says that it has been fun to visit the songs after a quarter of a century, even if you can’t remember some of them because they are only in cassette tapes and that you no longer have a player.
With some members of the band, such as Gailiunas, who now lives in California, come from outside the city, MacDougall says that group trials will be limited, so the meeting show will probably be “quite heartbreaking and practically in spirit with the original band.”
Although many of the artists were very consummated musicians, that sound “ad hoc, ad hibbed” is simply “part of the charm” From Piggy, says MacDougall.
Stephen Kelly, who touched Banjo with the band, says that the performances were sometimes on the verge of becoming chaos, especially when Gailiunas shouted “all alone!” And all members would do one at the same time.
“You just went with that and you tried to stay in tune … but based on the structure of these incredible songs,” says Kelly.
Rooted in the community
In the heart of Piggy music was always the community, particularly the North End, where many members of the band lived and where Gailiunas, a doctor, practiced medicine at the community’s health clinic on Gottingen street.
Kelly says he remembers having found Gailiunas on May on Halifax when Gailiunas was wandering the streets with his guitar, singing.
“One of the ways in which he wrote songs was to walk through the neighborhood with his acoustic guitar and think in Halifax and think about what was happening as inspiration for the melodies and the lyrics that occurred to him,” says Kelly.
Gailiunas left Halifax in 2001, moving to New Orleans with his wife, Helen Hill, an artist, cheerleader and filmmaker who was part of the creative genius behind Piggy, wrote some of the songs with Gailiunas and directed several musical videos for the band.
Hill died in 2007 when an intruder entered the couple’s house of the couple and shot them, killing her and wounding Gailiunas. The couple’s son, Francis, who was a small child at that time, was not injured.
Although the time of Gailiunas in Halifax was soaked in his life with Hill, and those memories will surely appear when he visits, Gailiunas says he feels “really positive and excited” to return.
“I loved being so much there. That was a great moment in my life,” he says.
Gailiunas will visit Halifax this time with his son Francis and his wife Lecie, and plans to make sure they try authentic Cup of NOVA Scotia oatmeal, see Penggys Cove and walk through the north end.
Francis will play some songs with the band, which will also debut a new Piggy song.
Gailiunas says that Piggy’s songs tend to be very simple, so he is not too worried about forgetting the chords or words.
“Most of them sing them so much that they will always be there,” he says.
A challenge with the program, says Gailiunas, is that the place of Gottingen street, Radstorm, is small, with a capacity of approximately 50 people.
But for fans who are worried not to enter, I just remember Piggy’s immortal words: “On Gottingen street there is always space for you!”
