Chain and the Gang Heat Up Sled Island

Those in the front row during Chain and the Gang's set at Calgary's Royal Legion #1 for Sled Island can tell you just how dapper frontman Ian Svenonius looked in his crisp white suit and shiny dress shoes. Unfortunately, the rest of the audience only got a brief glimpse of this debonair getup as the Detroit-based ensemble was more or less engulfed by a sweaty throng of fans during their set on the floor of the Legion's upper-level bar. Remarkably, the lively rocker managed to hold the attention of fans battling poor sight lines with his buttery smooth voice alone.

Recalling the vocal style of James Brown by way of garage rocker messiah King Khan, Svenonius and his bandits dazzled with swinging '70s-tinged beats and campy stage banter. Funky tracks like 'Trash Talk' and 'Reparations' kept things rolling, as did the entertaining antics of the group's leader, who, at one point, pulled himself on top of a speaker in order to get a better look at the audience, some of whom promptly offered up their shoulders as footrests.

As Chain and the Gang pressed on with their playful Southern-fried pop, temperatures became almost unbearable in the jam-packed room, still, fans kept dancing, unable to tear themselves away from Svenonius' retro party jams.