Alanna Clarke promo photo
Toronto – With only a handful of bands on my “must see” list and none of them playing Thursday, I wandered into Bread and Circus for the Factor Breakthrough Series – Best of Alberta, mostly because I’m from Alberta, and one showcase of bands I knew nothing about seemed as good a bet as another.
Alanna Clarke opened, and I’ve got to hand it to her, the girl’s got talent. The 19 year old singer-songwriter from Cochrane, Alberta impressed with a set of her bittersweet tunes about broken relationships and love. She’s a capable guitarist, and considering she’d just met sideman Joel Gunther in person the day before, their rapport on stage was impressive. Her voice is a little Taylor Swift and a little Emiliana Torrini, which is a pretty sweet combination. Her songwriting is above average for this kind of “falling in and out of love” stuff. She’s also cute, and her stage presence is already such that she can make it feel like she’s singing directly to you in the audience. Impressive stuff, especially for a 19 year old.
Seventh Rain went on at 10, and their volume was a bit jarring after Clarke’s quiet set. With a set sort of tunes sort of reminiscent of late 90′s Incubus, Seventh Rain did bring a lot of energy to the stage. The volume of the bass and drums made it hard to hear the vocals and lead guitar most of the time, but I could pick out at least one lyric about being or finding “the one” in most or all of their first five or six tunes, and at that point Seventh Rain were sounding a bit like a one-trick pony. The band did have a poignant moment when lead singer Ryan Williams told a story about a girl theyd met at a high school who was kidnapped the next day and later murdered, then played the song they wrote about her. The band was visibly upset during the song, particularly Williams, and the emotion made for a moving rendition and the high point of the set.
Amy Heffernan went next, looking and sounding a lot like she and her bandmates started out as a Joan Jett cover band. Also based in Calgary, Heffernan’s kind of straight ahead party rock doesn’t do much for me; her voice is uninteresting, her lyrics even less so, and the whole act tries to make up for a lack of depth with volume. There’s definitely a market for this kind of stuff though, and some segments of the B & C crowd (a good portion of which were friends and family of the bands) were quite into it. Heffernan was kind of awkward between songs, but not the kind of slightly shy awkward that helped make Clarke cute, and sang most songs leaning back with her legs splayed apart. The songs, mostly about drinkin’, partyin’, lovin’, and “Bein’ Awesome” (actual title of the set closer) were ably played, but sounded mostly the same. Not my kind of thing, but I’m sure it’s big with 21 year olds in Calgary when there’s half price Jell-O shooters at the bar.
Krystle Dos Santos took the stage at midnight, but unfortunately for her, I’d already decided to pack it in a couple of songs into her set because I have recently become old and had a 45 minute transit home in front of me. Much as I hate to give reviews based on only a partial viewing, Dos Santos has a similar feel to Andreya Triana and a few more soul/jazz-influenced singers who are trying to incorporate electronic sensibilities into their sound. Dos Santos didn’t really have much going on to really grab my attention, other than her shiny skintight pants; much like when Triana came through town with Bonobo last Fall, I wonder if Dos Santos might sound better on record than live. Judge for yourself: she sent around a card with a URL for a free MP3.
In the end, the Alberta Showcase started strong with Clarke, but couldn’t maintain that level with the bands that followed.
Alanna Clarke: 
Seventh Rain: 
Amy Heffernan: 
Krystle Dos Santos: 
- Brian Carson