The Mellotones played twice on the Friday of the 2011 festival. First a free outdoor show in the afternoon, part of the Gold Cup parade day lineup. Then a late night set at the Kwik Kopy stage. Two gigs, one day, different crowds. That is how a working band does a festival.
The band
By 2011 the Mellotones had been at it for nearly fifteen years. They started in Halifax in 1997, when a singer named Tony Smith put together a group of students who wanted to play funk, soul, and R&B . The lineup changed over the years, but by 2004 it had settled into the shape it would keep. Jeffrey Mosher out front on vocals and tenor sax. Jody Lyne on trumpet, Eric Landry on trombone, Rob Crowell on baritone sax. Brad Conrad on guitar, Ian Mosher on keys, Lil Thomas on bass, Mike Farrington Jr. and Damien Moynihan sharing drum duties .
They were a Thursday night staple at the Seahorse Tavern in Halifax. Nine players, a four-piece horn section, and a setlist built for dancing. The festival bio quoted Mosher saying that everyone in the band was full time music, teaching it, playing it, recording it, or just living it. That is the thing about the Mellotones. They are not a weekend hobby band. They are professionals who have been playing together long enough to lock in.
That Friday
The free outdoor show was at 2:15pm, in front of Murphy's Community Centre, right after the Gold Cup parade . The festival bio told people to lounge on the lawn in front of the historic Coles building and soak up the sounds. A Friday afternoon, a parade just finished, a crowd looking for something to do. The Mellotones were the right band for that moment. Horns, vocals, grooves that make people move without thinking about it.
Then they played again at 11:30pm for the late night crowd . Same day, different energy. The late night shows were for the people who were not ready to go home yet. A band that had already played once would have been warmed up, loose, maybe a little punchy. That is usually when the best sets happen.
Since then
The Mellotones kept going. They are still going. They celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2017 with a show at the Marquee Ballroom, bringing back founding singer Tony Smith and a few other guests . They marked their 25th at the TD Halifax Jazz Festival in 2022 . They spent years as Matt Andersen's backing band, touring nationally and internationally, and recorded a live album with him at Olympic Hall . They have shared stages with David Foster, Dan Aykroyd, Nathan East, and Dennis Rodman, which is a sentence that only makes sense when you remember how long they have been at this .
In 2011 they were already veterans. Fifteen years in, playing a festival in Charlottetown, two sets in one day. Just another Friday for a band that has made a career out of showing up and delivering.
For the current festival, head to the schedule page or the main lineup page. This archive is kept for looking back.