Sled Island’s 2025 Guest Curator: Otoboke Beaver and a night of unapologetic screaming

By Mia Gilje, June 25 2025—

The Palace Theatre on June 21st, the fourth day of Sled Island, was an unbelievably insane experience (in the best way possible). Three astounding performers took over the stage that night, Brain Bent, BB Bomb and of course this year’s Guest Curator Otoboke Beaver.

Starting the show off with an absolute pow was Calgary’s own, Brain Bent. This four-person phenomenon brought the post-punk punch to commence the night of confident chaos. One of the prime aspects of Sled Island are these artists’ ability to captivate the audience — even if it’s made up of first time listeners. For myself, I could feel the instant I was pulled into the performance beyond a surface level of enjoyment. 

Part way through the set, lead singer Joanna Leigh roared into the crowd: “Shout out to the women who look like they don’t scream but they fucking can.” Even in the year of 2025, such a simple statement is unbelievably powerful. Continuing this ability to invest a potentially new audience, one of Brain Bents standout moments from the set was their song “Panic.” Starting with a fuzz heavy guitar riff, the opening verse repeats the phrase “It’s time to to panic, oh my god” kicking off a crowd call and response, the audience shrieking with exhilaration as they sing along. This excitement was followed by the first, but not last series of crowd surfing, which was matched by a night of non-stop moshing.

Feeding off of the already high level of energy, the second opener, BB Bomb just kept the spirit going. Originally from Taipei, their 20 years of experience shined through, making them a stand out amongst this year’s line up. The moment they started playing I was knocked off my feet, literally, as the crowd wasted no time thrashing into one another. 

Lead vocalist, Hsu Pei, has this almost dissonance to her voice that on its own shouldn’t work. Yet the other member’s backup vocals and the powerful distortion on both of the guitars paired incredibly well to create an effortless sound. 

As I was getting lost in following the addictive beat of the drum, I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder and before I knew it myself and many others were being used as a leverage to jump on the stage and start a conveyor belt of crowd surfers. Finally, the set came to an end but not before the crowd chanted “BB Bomb” repeatedly, marking that they will be remembered as far more than an opener. 

Then it was time for Otoboke Beaver to take over the stage. Being this year’s guest curator, there was no doubt that this would be a show you couldn’t miss. The four members walked onto stage in their iconic colourful and flowery dresses. A purposely feminine appearance further emphasising — through contrast — their unapologetic loud and punk filled sound. 

Their set opened up with “Don’t light my fire”, coming off of their 2019 album Itekoma Hits. This immediately established the furious and explosive intent behind Otoboke Beaver’s music, which is to show that they are not afraid to be a roaring voice in the music industry. The moments in “Don’t light my fire” involved the various vocalists shouting into the audience “go to hell” brought the show full circle, as Joanna Leigh already announced that this was a space full of women who absolutely can scream. 

Their thunderous performance was not just a result of the sheer volume, it was also a combination of their wicked-fast rhythm that was crucially supported by their drummer Kahokiss. I just could not keep my eyes off of her impeccably snappy playing that added such an important level of depth to the music. 

Eventually, it was time for the band to make their leave, but not before guitarists and backing vocalists Yoyoyoshie threw her guitar into the crowd. While it’s a tradition followed by many of the great rock artists, it felt symbolic for the ending of Sled Island. 

The hundreds of bands and musicians that come out to this festival are truly here for the purpose of delivering one hell of a show to the fans — ensuring they leave with an even stronger connection to music and the arts as a whole. 

I can say that personally, I discovered a whole new meaning to enjoying music after these three mind-blowing performances.