After turning a quiet dance floor into a 30-person mosh pit, Yellowknife metalcore band Sun Starved earned a spot to play on the main stage at Folk on the Rocks this summer.
By winning the festival’s Main Stage Showdown at the Explorer Hotel on Saturday, Sun Starved’s five members – Damon Benoit, Brett McGarry, Johnson Wong, Stephen Schmalz and Daniel Bissell – took one step closer to achieving their goal of being the “heaviest band in the North.”
As they took the stage, the audience was warned to wear earplugs as the band’s premise is to be “aggressively loud” about the lack of sunlight in the North. Through screaming vocals and instrumentals that live up to the word ‘shred,’ the band delivered on their mission statement.
Rattling the floor, the band transformed the relatively calm evening into a headbanging, hair-whipping concert.
“Mosh pits are friendly. Come one, come all, it’s a good time,” said lead singer Benoit. “That’s kind-of the shtick we hope to bring.”
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The band, which played its first show in 2025, is a newcomer to this event. Its members said playing at Folk on the Rocks was something they didn’t think was achievable.
“It’s just like something almost beyond the realm of possibility, but we made it, freaking made it,” said Benoit, a Yellowknifer who grew up going to Folk on the Rocks.
Schmalz described the support for the band’s performance as “heartwarming.”
“I never would have thought there were this many people craving heavy metal up here,” he said.
“I was pleasantly surprised, honestly,” said Wong. “I think in my own head we were the last sort of possible band to be chosen for this.”
Wong, a newcomer to Yellowknife, said Saturday’s event was a testament to the strength and support of the community.
It was “really heartening to see people coming out to support a form of music that isn’t mainstream,” he said.
The event had a sold-out crowd, filling out the Explorer Hotel’s main gathering space. Eleven performers took the stage, each given a 10-minute set in genres ranging from rock, alternative and acoustic to R&B soul.
Kayla Cooper, president of Folk on the Rocks, said that while festival invites many out-of-town performers each year, “there’s also a huge northern lineup, which just speaks to the talent of the North.”
For attendees such as Samuel MacDonald, the northern-inspired music and songwriting – some tracks name-checked specific places in Yellowknife – resonated.
“It’s really what folk is about. Local talent, community, and cherishing this thing that we all love,” MacDonald said.
While there was only one Main Stage Showdown winner, Anica Majok-Gordon – a young singer who serenaded the crowd with a rendition of Lost Boy by Ruth B as part of her set – was named Emerging Northern Artist for her potential.
That award comes with a cameo performance on the Cabin Radio Lakefront Stage at Folk on the Rocks.
Other acts at the Main Stage Showdown included Turtle & Guests, Sami Blanco, Lil Vogel, Rob Elo, Jenna Blanchard, Travina Lynn, Georges Cornelissen, Olivia Mater and Evie from Earth.
