Pack A.D. Celebrate Sled Island With a Piñata

As much as everyone at Calgary's Broken City on Sled Island's second day was loving the Pack A.D.'s blues-drenched rockers, there were those who couldn't wait for the sweaty set to end. After all, it's a little hard to concentrate on a band, even one as wildly ferocious as the Vancouver-based garage rock duo, when there's a giant piñata in the shape of Nardwuar the Human Serviette's head swinging from the bar's rafters.

Still, the Pack A.D. did their best to make the countdown to piñata-smashing time more than enjoyable at the Mint Records afternoon showcase.

As they ripped through a set of scorchers, the outfit was serenaded with hoots and hollers from the crowd. Working off what seemed to be a rather impromptu set list, singer-guitarist Becky Black turned to the audience for direction on more than one occasion, asking things like: "Do you want a slow song about feelings and the environment or another rocker?"

The answer always came as a plea for more hard-hitting material, so that's what the pair stuck to. And when they were finally done dishing out ragers from their new album, 'We Kill Computers,' all eyes turned towards Nardwuar's paper mache head as the Pack. A.D. summoned a friend from Vancouver to take the first whack.