July 3, 1999
Ottawa, Ontario

Serial Joe

They may be freshed-faced teenagers just outta high school for the summer, but Newmarket quartet Serial Joe's sound is hardly tender. Opening the EdgeFest sidestage with their rap/rock assault, vocalist Ryan Dennis launched into the Rage Against The Machine-reminiscent track "Confused" with hopes of shaking up the limp crowd. It seems throngs of temp-tatooed female fans were still adjusting to body-surfing mode, because it was their on-stage videographer/go-go thrasher that really got 'em bopping half-way through the set. Decked out in a Narduwar-style mask and dubbed "Captain Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Baby," the mysterious stagehand skitted around encouraging fans' cat-calls and hollers. Festival bureaucracy delayed SJ's start leaving them with a shortened, seven-song set to the crowd's disappointment. However, the guys had stage suavity and will hopefully go a little louder on the next stops of the tour.-Fateema Sayani