The Balconies @ Rivoli - Photo by Amanda Macchia

It wasn’t quite Christmas yet, but the good folks at Audioblood treated the city to a two-night show at the Rivoli earlier in the month, featuring six Audioblood bands and two surprise guests.

Charlotte Cornfield kicked things off on the first night, December 10, with her folk-infiltrated pop music.

Immediately after, Burlington’s Sandman Viper Command hit things off with “Oh Yeah, It’s Fusion” – a perfect example of their clean, 60s-inspired indie pop – starting off with that memorable guitar riff that swells into an intense jam session (think Sam Roberts Band’s “The Gate”). Other tracks like “The Best of Plans” and “The Metal I’ve Spent” kept the crowd attentive, especially to lead guitarist Daniel Reardon’s crisp blues solos.

Up next was Toronto’s own Make Your Exit and their almost indefinable sound (let’s go with experimental folk rock for now), also to the crowd’s satisfaction. The bright jangling chords and drummer Steve Dagg’s intricate earthy rhythms featured on tracks like “Kids” complimented frontman Jeff Buckley’s subtle vocal tones. Most memorable though was the chanting of “but I didn’t drink it” of “Leave This Town” – full of piano fills, hollow guitar solos, and spot-on harmonies that would all make The Band proud.

Wrapping the first night up was special guest number one, Ruby Coast. As usual, the band won everyone over with their fast-paced indie rock, fully-equipped with simple melodies via Justice McLellan (lead vox, guitar), but mixed with the texture of the band’s use of recurring guitar and synth riffs. Their set was consistently high-energy and was a satisfactory conclusion of the night.

Twenty-four hours later Toronto’s Teenage Kicks imploded the undetermined atmosphere of night two with their mix of downbeats and distortion, ripping up tracks like “Shook Our Bones” and “I Get What You Give” and demonstrating to their hometown that they’ve been improving right in front of our eyes since their 7” release show this past summer. Their material is a complimentary mix of classic rock elements and their own contemporary preferences, resulting in a new and interesting sound.

Next was the bittersweet performance of Clothes Make The Man. After eight years of CMTM, the band announced that December 11’s show at the Rivoli would be their last. Nonetheless, the band delivered what was probably their most passionate and heart-felt performance to end their story. Tracks like “Chile,” with its simple lyrics and noisy chord progressions, not only demonstrate why Ryan McLennan’s voice is perfectly suited for their type of rock, but also why audiences have relied on CMTM for fun-guaranteed shows throughout the years.

Third up was Ottawa’s The Balconies. Jacquie Neville never fails to lead in the delivery of her band’s ridiculously catchy indie pop. Tracks like “Battle Royale” show just how addictive a melody can be, and paired with the song’s underlying blues lines and Liam Jaeger’s solid drumming, makes for an outstanding performance. Also included in the set was the mystifying “The Slo,” taking “underlying blues lines” to another level and highlighting Jacquie’s falsetto. They closed their set with the always-entertaining “Serious Bedtime” its now-well-known line “if you do it in the dark.”

The show, and the entire event, wrapped with the second special guest Great Bloomers. Their strong work ethic showed onstage, pounding out song after song of their alternative indie rock seven bands later in order to cap off what was a solid two nights of local talent on Queen West. Hopefully, we’ll do it again next year.

Check out more photos of The Balconies by clicking HERE.

Hollerado @ The Horseshoe Tavern - Photo by Aviva Cohen

The Horseshoe Tavern was alive this past Saturday night, as three powerhouses took to the stage, offering packed set lists to the crowd.

First up was Philadelphia’s Free Energy. Although their music may have been a bit too mellow and “pop” for the Horseshoe crowd, the band’s performance, especially frontman Paul Spranger’s evident stage presence, brought out the intensity in songs like “Bang Pop” which are otherwise very simplistic.

Foxy Shazam followed the openers with their theatrical pop metal. Although it is at times difficult to determine what to make of their dated sound and style and frontman Eric Nally’s gender-ambiguous vocals, it is difficult to not at least appreciate their passion and the general catchiness of their songs, despite how seriously you may take them. The band also broke into an energetic cover of The Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments” after asking the crowd if they were into Simon and Garfunkel and Aaron Neville.

But when headliners Hollerado finally arrived onstage, it once again became apparent who still holds the title for one of the most talented and memorable acts our music scene has to offer.

As always, the blues-influenced riffs of “Americanarama” and the epic anthem-like chorus of “Fake Drugs” resonated with the thrilled crowd, as Hollerado can perform any of their songs countless times to the same people in the same city and they can always count on it having the effect of the first time.

Hollerado shared the stage with guests and friends, starting this pattern off by including Kids In The Hall legends Dave Foley and Kevin MacDonald onstage for “Got to Lose” and the angst and energy it entails. Members of The Balconies, Dinosaur Bones, and other local acts joined the band for one of their signature songs “Juliette” whose simple and addictive melody, which does not grow tiresome, was later contrasted with a fragmented and dissonant jam session moments after the song ended.

The night could not have ended in a more epic way, other than with a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” which featured Hollerado’s lead guitarist Nixon Boyd on lead vocals, and all the previously mentioned guests onstage and then some. The confetti, beer, and Hollerado frontman Menno Versteeg’s jumping into the audience did not overshadow the fact that this effort was probably one of the greatest covers the legendary venue has seen to date and one of the most epic three minutes.

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hollerado

To see photos of Hollerado click HERE

To see photos of Foxy Shazam click HERE

To see photos of Free Energy click HERE

A slew of local bands flooded Sneaky Dee’s this past Friday night for the first ever Nirvana covers night at the venue.

Presented primarily by Ontario’s Clothes Make The Man, members of The Balconies, Dinosaur Bones, Fox Jaws, and many other talented bands in the Audio Blood family also took part in the nostalgic high-energy show.

The packed venue was filled with plenty of familiar sounds, as tracks such as “Come as You Are” and “On a Plain” were pounded out by the local talent to the obvious pleasure of the tireless crowd.

The night wrapped after many of hours of homage to the band with the classic “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” at which point the crowd got happy and the floor got messy, leaving everyone longing for the early 90s once again.

The event followed the recent Beatles vs. Stones covers night that was put on by a similar group of local talent at Sneaky Dee’s back in August. If the pattern continues, there will be more exhilarating covers nights to come.

Be sure to check out more from Audio Blood and their bands HERE.

Who would you rather be?

Numerous local bands took over the second floor of Sneaky Dee’s last Friday night in an effort to determine the undeterminable: when it comes down to the greatest, is it The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?

Turns out no one really cared which legend people considered more legendary. Instead, everyone who attended the event (Emily Haines was absent) probably just went to see oodles of talented musicians take on the challenging rolls of The Beatles and Stones and hear them cover about three packed hours worth of classics from the two bands’ remarkable songbooks. And to get drunk.

The Balconies and Sandman Viper Command, the show’s headliners, kicked things off with songs like “19^th Nervous Breakdown” and “Taxman,” alternating Beatles and Stones songs and eventually bringing in members of Dinosaur Bones, Olympic Island, Fox Jaws and then some. Highlights include the covers of “Oh! Darling,” featuring the undoubtedly passionate Carleigh Aikins of Fox Jaws on lead vocals and “Gimmie Shelter” performed by the aforementioned Aikins and Rob Janson of Sandman Viper Command on lead vocals.

Alternating band members carried out song after song until the show eventually wrapped with everyone onstage and performing an epic rendition of “Hey Jude,” the excited crowd giving the apparently unstable floorboards a run for their money.  In terms of competition, there was no conclusion as to which band is the greater, but it can be said that all of our local talent covering The Beatles and The Stones is the next best thing to the real thing.

Sandman Viper Command (Photo By Michael Fil)

As Emily Haines asks on “Gimme Sympathy” – Who would you rather be: The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? Well Toronto rockers The Balconies and Sandman Viper Command are going to bring this debate to Sneaky Dee’s on August 13 when they will present The Beatles VS. The Stones Covers Night. The list of musical guests are still TBA but doors will be at 9pm and it will only set you back $5. See you there!

It’s no secret that The Singing Lamb loves The Balconies. The Toronto, by way of Ottawa indie-power-pop trio has recently released a video for “Serious Bedtime”, a stomping jam that features all three members on vocals in one of the most fun sing-along choruses of last year. The video is simply an amalgamation of everything we love about this band live – singer Jacquie Neville’s wide-eyed quirkiness, the band’s fun sense of humour and a hell of an energetic performance in a light, cartoony garage that reflects the band’s colourful music perfectly.  Watch below:

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thebalconies

The Balconies @ Horseshoe (Photo Credit: Jerry Vo)

Singing Lamb favourite The Balconies are about to embark on a west-coast tour and to help raise money – musicians are not millionaires y’know…unless you’re Lady Gaga and/or Beyonce – the pop-rock trio are holding a covers night fundraiser tomorrow night at Sneaky Dee’s!

Cover is only $5.00 and doors are at 10PM.

The band has also enlisted a whack of their friends (literally, a whack) from various bands to help cover your favourite 60s and 70s hits! Fun!

Here’s a list of some of the musicians that will join the Balconies on stage:
Members of The Golden Dogs, Fox Jaws, Make Your Exit, Oh No Forest Fires, Modernboys Moderngirls, The Archives, Arietta, Brett Caswell, Corduroy, Whale Tooth, Sleeping Pilot, Janes Party, District of Columbia and tunes by DJ SnuggleBots and more!

Good cause, good music – what more do you want! See you there!

The Wooden Sky @ Horseshoe (Photo Credit: Jerry Vo)

Joel Plaskett @ Mod Club

As part of the Canadian Music Week festivities this year, Sirius Satellite Radio put on a showcase billed as “Sirius Songwriters Cafe” at the Mod Club, which was recorded in its entirety for a future broadcast. The lineup was certainly a diverse one, including The Tea Party’s former frontman Jeff Martin performing solo, and late-Nineties Canadian rock radio favourites Default and The Trews. For myself, and countless others I expect braving the miserable, miserable weather and lengthy lineup at the Mod Club, there was only one act that mattered – a performance from The Nova Scotian Bard himself, Joel Plaskett.

I’m not sure whose decision it was to put Plaskett on first, but if it bothered the congenial singer-songwriter, than he certainly wasn’t showing it. Dressed casually in a t-shirt, vest and jeans, and grinning from ear to ear, he greeted the audience with a cheerful, “Hey Mod Club, how are you all doing?”. Accompanied by Peter Elkas on guitar, Plaskett played an abridged five-song set that included the Polaris Prize-nominated Three sing-along ”Through & Through & Through”, and fan favourite ”Nowhere With You”.

The least enviable job of the night had to belong to the female host from Sirius, who came onstage afterwards to say that due to a tight schedule we weren’t getting anymore songs from Joel, which promptly resulted in some enthusiastic booing from the filled-to-capacity Mod Club crowd. Nonetheless, even with a short set, Plaskett managed to prove why he cleaned up at the East Coast Music Awards several weeks ago (six awards!) and why he’s considered one of the best singer-songwriters in Canada today. Yet despite all his success, Plaskett has managed to remain incredibly humble – must be an East Coast thing.

Oh, and for fans wanting more Plaskett? He’ll be in Toronto next weekend for two shows at Lee’s Palace with his old band Thrush Hermit. Tickets for the Saturday show are sold out, but if you look around, you should still be able to get tickets for Sunday’s performance.

MySpace (Joel Plaskett): http://www.myspace.com/joelplaskett1

- MM

The Rural Alberta Advantage @ The Royal York Hotel

The Independent Music Awards, or “Indies” for short, is quite possibly the most bizarre annual Canadian music awards night ever. What other “awards show” can you name where you can see drunk music industry-types, 14-year-old Marianas Trench fan girls, and performances from actual talented bands, all in the giant ballroom of a swanky hotel? That’s what I thought. Last year, I caught Crystal Castles at the Indies after rushing over from the Bloc Party show at Kool Haus, and this year I caught another massively underrated (though in a completely different way) band, The Rural Alberta Advantage.

Taking the stage behind a giant video screen to perhaps one of the strangest crowds they’ve ever performed in front of, the Toronto indie rock three-piece of Paul Banwatt, Amy Cole and Nils Edenloff played about three quarters of their 2008 debut album, Hometowns, which was re-released on Saddle Creek just last year. The band drew their namesake and lyrical inspiration from Edenloff’s experiences growing up in Alberta, and write songs about small town malaise, heartbreak, the Rockies, and working in the oil fields. Live, the band transitioned effortlessly between uproariously frenetic barn-burners (“The Deathbridge In Lethbridge”) and slower, plaintive songs (“In the Summertime”).

Banwatt’s (who appeared earlier to present an award with Woodhands bandmate Dan Werb) powerful drumming, Edenloff’s rough, almost folksy-sounding vocals, and Cole’s (whose black Brigitte Bardot-esque dress nicely balanced out her male bandmates’ t-shirts and jeans) sweet backing melodies – they all mesh together to create songs that might not always be pretty, but damn if they aren’t catchy as hell. The RAA, who were featured earlier this week in a pre-SXSW article in the Toronto Star, are just one of those bands that you wish nothing but the best for. I can’t wait to see what these three have in store for 2010.

MySpace (The Rural Alberta Advantage): http://www.myspace.com/theraa

- MM

Yukon Blonde @ Horseshoe

Bucketfuls of rain poured all across Toronto, and I’m not sure if it was because of this that the Horseshoe wreaked of smelly wet feet or what. Nevertheless, it was definitely the place to be for CMW. The bill couldn’t look any better. First on the line-up is Yukon Blonde from British Columbia. Aesthetically, they look like the rugged guys you see hanging around Queen and Bathurst – with greasy, unwashed hair, donned in clothes torn in the wrong places. But musically, man, do these guys know their stuff. They opened with a song called “Rather Be” followed by “Brides” from their self-titled album released early last month. But what really got everyone hooked is their song “Wind Blows”. Even today, it continues to play in my head like a welcomed music worm. The clever wordplay in the chorus, “Wind blows/ Can you hear the wind blow?/ Listen to the raindrop/ Outside of my window,” certainly sticks without fail. Yukon Blonde sure knows how to make a pleasant lasting impression.

MySpace (Yukon Blonde): http://www.myspace.com/yukonblondeband

- CG

The Balconies @ Horseshoe

I must say, The Balconies is one good-looking band. Singer-guitarist Jacquie Neville is the master of mesmerizing the crowd with her intense rock’n’roll stage presence. Performing songs from their self-titled album, released last September, and a couple of new tunes, The Balconies had the crowd spell-bound. They ended with “Serious Bedtime” which resulted in everyone mouthing along the song’s words of mystery, “If you do it in the dark, in the dark, no one sees it/ If you do it in the dark, in the dark, it comes easy“. Energy is one thing the band never ceases to lack and whether you’re a fan or not you can’t help but be impressed by this up-and-coming force of (pop-rock) nature.

MySpace (The Balconies): http://www.myspace.com/thebalconies

- CG

The Wooden Sky @ Horseshoe

Coming back from their tour around Canada and the United States, The Wooden Sky played a much louder, turbulently-active set than I’ve ever seen. Amidst the guitar-flailing and emotion-filled singing, they played songs mostly from their album If I Don’t Come You’ll Know I’m Gone released last summer.  Obviously glad to be back home again, The Wooden Sky performed incredibly in front of the people who love them best – their Toronto fans. Frontman Gavin Gardiner didn’t hold anything back that night, not even his shirt by the end of it. After seeing them four times in the past year alone, I think it’s suffice to say that The Wooden Sky never ever ever disappoints.

MySpace (The Wooden Sky): http://www.myspace.com/thewoodensky

- CG

***

MM – Max Mertens, CG – Carmel Garvez