The Black Bag

The Annual Rock Can Roll Independent Music and Media Festival was founded in 2004 by the Black Bag Media Collective (then known as Rock Can Roll) to highlight and celebrate the St. John's punk/rock scene, to share information and to celebrate the work of artists working in independent music and media.

Every year we program a conference to happen within the festival. Each Conference has a different theme: Distribution and Dissemination, 2005, D.I.Y. Practice in 2006; Embracing Independence 2007; Exploring Innovation in New Media 2008; Preserving Our Punk Rock Heritage, 2009.

photo of Lizband at RCRF 2009 by Jai Me

Special thank you to all of the bands, venues, groups, businesses and volunteers who helped to make the Fifth Annual Rock Can Roll Festival a success.

Here are this year's Golden Rock Award Winners:

• The Punkest Punk of All the Punks Award - John Fisher
• The Backbone Award - Darryl Bennett
• The Golden Heart Award - Meghan Solo
• The Best Band Name/Best World Premiere/Monsterbator Award - Monsterbator
• Special prizes also went to Uber-Volunteer and Festival Friend - Ann Downton

During the Golden Rock Awards we also chose the winner of the Drum Faces Contest by audience applause. Angela O'Brien is the winner with this photo of Stephen Simmons of Quiet Elephant

To view more of the entries and the other four finalists in the Drum Faces Contest please visit I Am Coop Blog

Here is a partial list of the artists we have presented as part of the Rock Can Roll Festival. Complete list with links coming soon.
Avatar Orchestra Metaverse (Canada/USA/Europe/Asia), BlocksBlocksBlocks Recording Club, Bob Wiseman (Toronto, ON), Brittany Traverse (St. John’s), Colin Brown (St. John’s), Errand Boy (St. John’s), Danny Keating (St. John’s), Glenn Gear (Montreal, PQ), Liz Solo (St. John’s), Magali Meagher (Toronto, ON), Nik Sexton (St. John’s/Toronto), Noisefold (Sante Fe, NM), Second Front Performance Art Collective (Canada/USA/UK/Italy), Eifachfilm Vacirca (Germany), Stelarc (Australia), Tom Jantol (Zagreb, Croatia), AE Bridger (St. John’s), Amusia (St. John’s), Black Bags (St. John's), Black Mask Brigade, Blood Shot Monk (St. John’s), BNT(St. John’s), Bob Wiseman (Toronto), Cara Lee Coleman (St. John’s), Class War Kids (St. John’s), Colleen Power (St. John’s), Dogmeat BBQ, Lizband, At Ship's End, Gerard Van Herk, John Fisher, The Wolves, Quiet Elephant, Craig Squires, The Rockford Peaches, Moral Less Right, Skullface and Others, Beaumont Hamel, The Sleazoids, Faster Miles Per Hour, The Firewires, Cherie Pyne, Yvonne Matsell, Mark Milne, Chris Topping, Ian MacKaye, The Evens, Love Hijacker,The Coast Guard, My Antonia, Commonname, Roundelay, The Novaks, The Products, Mark Bragg and the Black Wedding Band, Steve Jordan, Danielle Trouble (St. John's), The Mudflowers, The Reluctant Showmen, (St. John's), Colonel Craze and the Hunch (St. John’s), C'Mon, Bung, Jen Skywalker, Amelia Curran, The Ditch Pigs (Moncton, N.B.), Danielle Smith (St. John’s). Danny Keating(St. John’s), Devastator (St. John’s), Down With The Butterfly, The Domestics(St. John’s), Elite Motif(St. John’s), Errand Boy (St. John’s), From Outer Space (Cornerbrook), Iron Giant (Moncton), Jigger (St. John’s), Jill Porter (St. John’s), Johnny Hardcore (St. John’s), Late Greats (St. John’s), Lizband (St. John’s), Magali Meagher (Toronto), Maggie Meyer (St. John’s), Matthew Hare(St. John’s), Map To Temenos (Mount Pearl/St. John's), Mercy, the Sexton (St. John’s), Monday Nights (St. John’s), Noisefold (Santa Fe), Oberon (St. John’s), Pathological Lovers (St. John’s), Patrick Canning (St. John’s), The Phobics (St. John’s), Queen’s Maid (St. John’s), Rhiannon Thomas (St. John’s/Toronto), Rayfield (St. John’s), The Satans (St. John’s), Sports (St. John’s), The Subtitles (St. John's), Swords (St. John’s), Two Guitars Clash (St. John’s), Texas Chainsaw (St. John’s), Weapon (Mount Pearl), Ye-Yeti(St. John’s)