Next up was Moncton's Broken Girl, a.k.a. Julie Doiron-Claytor of legendary noise rock band Eric's Trip, playing her own special songs by herself on a distortion-free electric guitar. Broken Girl is absolutely beautiful. Julie gave of herself to us; she bared her soul and shared her innermost thoughts and feelings through her music. It's a shame that some idiots at the Volcano couldn't sit down and shut up long enough to appreciate her songs; she certainly didn't appreciate their ignorance. There were, however, several members of the audience who could have listened to Julie play all night long, so she fortunately played her captivating set for them.

 Melodic harmonies. High energy rock and roll. Touching sentiments and vicious tongue lashings. Halifax's Plumtree managed to cover all the bases with their enthusiastic brand of bouncy, straight ahead sound. Plumtree's innocence and experience emanates from them simultaneously. With lyrics ranging from "I think I'll get a Barbie instead" to "I don't know how it feels to be all alone, but from what I felt back then I don't want it anymore," the girls in Plumtree showed us their playful and serious sides back to back.

Playing gems from their first few releases and their recently released CD entitled Mass Teen Fainting, Plumtree could very well have been playing to a 50's sock-hop rather than to the 90's Volcano crowd, of which maybe three people were bouncing their heads. Despite the fact that they were dancing and bouncing for all of us, guitarists Carla Gillis and Amanda Braden seemed to have a great time on stage. Plumtree are probably the only band that can be extraordinarily happy while playing songs with seemingly spiteful undertones. With drummer Lynette Gillis and new bassist Catriona Sturton holding down Plumtree's lively rhythm section, they played established songs such as "In The Sink" and "The Phone The Phone" as well as newer winners like "I Don't Know" and "Tropical," allowing each of the band's members to take a turn at the microphone. They also hit us up with an especially new tune called "Scott Pilgrim," their tribute to a friend who's been an angel towards them on this tour.

 Plumtree's set and infectious stage presence Thursday night was enough to put a smile on anyone's face. Appealing to folk of all ages, the band definitely has a place in the present and future of Canadian music. On this evening of four great bands, one common feeling was clear: while Sianspheric and Curb will be undoubtedly playing locally again soon, the sounds of Broken girl and Plumtree are welcome in Ontario anytime.