Last night we had the chance to sit down and speak with the creator of Russian Roulette Josh White.
Russian roulette is 6 local rock bands, totally random order. They spin a wheel to see who goes first. Josh came up with the idea because if you have a favourite band you want to see, you don’t know when they will be playing so it draws a crowd all night. There is no headliner and it is totally random order.
This year the bands were :Designosaur,Hello Delaware,The Mike Bochoff Band, The Blackrats, Rosewood Annie, Old Blood
Josh is bass player in the band Old Blood, when asked how this format changes the prep, he said you have to pace yourself, you can’t drink too much and it takes you out of your element not knowing when you are going to play.
When choosing the 6 bands for the event, Josh has a running list he uses, he likes to get up and coming bands that need a chance to be seen. He never gets the same bands twice except for Old Blood.
Josh has been running Pavement Promotions for 7 years now, promoting local events and live music. He mostly puts posters up but has expanded into social media. He is looking into expanding, creating some new events, russian roulette is the launch leading into more great events.
Russian Roulette has been a success since it started 5 years ago. Josh gives credit and thanks to The Seahorse Tavern who has been hosting the event since the beginning; Propeller Brewing Company for sponsoring the event the last 5 years and Fish Bone Prints, Alex MacAskill has done the art for russian roulette 5 years running.
This was the first time I attended an event like that, I didn’t know what to expect but I have to say it was great! Not knowing which band is going to be playing, the crowd yelling and cheering when the wheel stops and the all around fan support of these local artists is really great.
At the end of the night, Russian Roulette V was another great success! Looking forward to seeing other great events Pavement Promotions create in the future.
Author & Photographer
Jenn Peake
