And I’m exhausted.
I saw some great bands though.
Friday night after working at the convention I walked up to The Mod Club to meet my drinking buddy Marta and see The Creepshow at 9. They’re a Toronto based psychobilly band that was a ton of fun. Great show, poor attendance unfortunately (though it was only 9pm and still light out). I tripped over Wade Macneil (twice going to and from the can) of Alexisonfire/Black Lungs. This is a band I’m definitely going to see again.
Then came the rain, a big thunderstorm started just before leaving the Mod Club, the street was closed off because of the Taste Of Little Italy festival so we had run to catch a taxi.
Over at The El Mocambo, the drinks were expensive and watered down, since we had at least an hour to wait for Black Lungs to start we bounced over to The Silver Dollar Room to see The Mark Inside. A bluesy psychedelic band that Marta knew from when she worked at the label they were once on. Good set, can’t remember much other than they had a really tight rhythm section.
11pm back at the El Mocambo, we see Black Lungs. Well not really, it was so crowded in there I couldn’t actually see the band. The sound at the venue kinda sucked too, the band downstairs was much louder so the floor was shaking to a different beat than the band we were watching. I’d go see them again at a different venue, where the sets weren’t limited to 20 minutes.
We went home after that, grabbing some street meat on the way to the subway.
Saturday night I had an extra wristband so I convinced the wife to come out with me and Marta. First stop was Sneaky Dee’s to see Of God And Science. Before they arrived (the girls) I saw Flowers Of Hell. A not too great experimental/post rock band. Awful drummer, there were about 6 people in the audience, not that they interacted much. Sneaky Dee’s has the cheapest, strongest drinks of the whole festival!
Of God And Science is a rock band from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I promised one of the band members on the Tape Op message board I’d come see them and I wasn’t disappointed. They played with a lot more passion than any of the other bands I’d seen on this weekend. Traded a handshake for a cd afterwards. Marta got one in exchange for a beer.
11pm. Icecream break.
12am, Holy Joes (must be the tiniest venue in the GTA) THIS IS RADIO FREEDOM was having technical difficulties with the drummer’s click track. 15 minutes later they were playing their asses off. Great show, there were a couple of groupies at the front that were having a bit too much fun (I feared the floor would give way! if you know what I mean). This was one of the shows I was most looking forward to all week, they didn’t disappoint, I’ll definitely be checking them out next time they come to Toronto. I traded $10 for their cd this time. The cd looks awesome, like a miniature vinyl record.’
At 1am we went over to The Hideout, a nice looking club with a really small stage. The band playing was Minority, I think they were the only metal band of the festival. They weren’t too great, singer cupped the mic and you couldn’t understand a word he was shrieking. Best part of the show was his chanting of the Ludicris classic ‘Move Bitch’ as he climbed up onto the bar for the next song. When they had some technical difficulties the second time we took it as our cue to leave. Their songs are about 3 minutes too long and the singer tries too hard out of his range, resulting in a very weak falsetto.
I saw more bands this weekend than I have in the 3 years I’ve lived in the Toronto area, which means I should probably get out more. I will!
