“It was a turning point for me just in terms of my post-COVID anxiety around being in public spaces,” he says. “I took my camera to the venue and thought I’d take some pictures of their performance. I liked how the photos turned out, but I also noticed I wasn’t as anxious. I was able to participate in the show in a different way, channelling my love for live music.
One week after the Self-Cut Bangs show, Rempel went to the Ship and Anchor to see Lushings, the band he had missed out on after his panic attack months earlier. Managers at the Ship were impressed with the results and asked Rempel to document more shows for them as their in-house photographer. That was the start of a year-long project to document the Calgary scene during its frenzied, post-COVID resurgence, a personal journey that took him from a hospital room to sweaty and chaotic mosh pits.
No More Moments at the Palomino Smokehouse. This photo is part of the exhibit New Normal by Shane Rempel, which chronicles the Calgary music scene post-pandemic.The photos range from scene veterans Carter Felker, Matt Masters, Amy Nelson and Sargeant X Comrade to relative newcomers such as the all-ages punk band The Break-Ins.
Robbie Andrew, the spirited frontman of punk band BatScratch, made it into Spin magazine when it profiled the young vocalist as “the future of hardcore punk.”