Indie Week Wrapup

What a great week of music... well, a great 5 days of music. From all accounts, there were some incredibly energetic shows. I managed to catch only two shows, as so-called "real life" tends to get in the way of fun from time to time.

Thursday night at the Bovine was a good time. We arrived mid-set for Die by Remote, who were putting on a solid, if somewhat uninspired show. It felt like they were paying more attention to the music than they were to entertaining the crowd. Nothing wrong with their sound, they just need to up their energy level & crowd interaction.

Then, there was a round of shots, and a few Molson Stock Ales to wash them down.

The second set was The Waxmen out of Scarborough. They play a 90's rock style, and showed a lot of versaitility. The first song was Tea Party-esque, the second Foo-Fighters-ish, and so forth. A lot of versatility, but not a lot of flow in the set. Great energy on the stage, and each song was well played.

Another round of shots, and a few more beers with pictures of an anchor on them. Sensing a theme?

Then came My Son the Hurricane, the ol' rock band with a 7 piece horn section, that crammed themselves in to the tiny Bovine stage. They played an energetic set, capped off with their brassy cover of Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls... The sound mixing was a little off, so Jacob Bergsma, the vocalist, was a little washed out by the horns. For these guys to take it to the next level, I think they've got to start bringing the singer from the videos out for more live shows, and spread the solos around a little more. The guitar & trombone solos were great, but I'd like to see what the rest of the band's got...

More shots. Chicks putting the moves on other chicks. More beer. Nice.

Discovery of the night? The Treble Warriors, a self-described rock-reggae band with great energy, and good arrangements. It was either them, or the copious amounts of alcohol that had me swaying (likely both), so in order to get a better idea of what they're about, I'm going to do what you should do - download their free album, and give it a listen on a SundayFunday.

Totally worth the Hangover from Hell on the Friday. No loud noises, please.

The Indie Week Finale on Sunday was a great showcase. From what I understand, the top bands from each night played on the Saturday at different bars, and the top band from each of those shows got a spot in the finals.

The winner played in the third timeslot, so I completely missed them... but Tiny Danza out of Toronto apparently rocked it pretty hard. Again, I'll have to listen to a few tunes online and see what they're made of. Congrats, boys!

We arrived to the sounds of Sherman Downey and the Ambiguous Case, a folk-rock-bluegrassy band out of Newfoundland. An unusual combination of acordian, guitar, mandolin, bass, banjo, brass & drums, they played harmonies like Great Big Sea sings 'em. All very talented musicians, and they played quite well together. At times it felt like the interludes dragged on a little, which I think kept the crowd from getting overly involved in it, but definitely no shortage of talent.

Calgary's Zoo Lion were next, with straight up four piece alt-rock, and they were rocking hard. Their set was fun and danceable, and overall high quality. They played well to the crowd, and entertained well. None of their songs stood out as particularly remarkable, but it was all good. ;-)

Surprise of the night? Courage My Love... I heard a rumour that the two girls and the guy in this rock trio were high school age... can anyone confirm that? If that's the case, their talent definitely outstrips their years. If that's not the case, then I'll bet they get ID'ed at every LCBO. Regardless, they put on a solid show, even if the lead guitarist/vocalist seemed surprised when the crowd got into it. Ha! A lot of fun, and definitely one to watch.

My personal favourite set of the night was the Ascot Royals (yes, I will eventually turn that link into the actual video. They can do such fancy things on computers now). A classic 5-piece rock band (guitar, vocals, bass, keyboard, drums) with incredibly slick sets. Each song was good individually, but they also know how to build a set. Even with the quick 20 minutes that they had, they built the energy level, and each song flowed nicely into the next. Their personalities and energy shone through in their playing, and their interaction with the crowd. Keep an eye on these fellas, they may go somewhere.

Definitely worth the monday morning hangover (NB: no capital letters = relatively minor hangover). Are you sensing a theme?