Toronto – Undoubtedly many fans of The Meligrove Band must have been pretty perplexed on Wednesday night. The usual preppy pop that hooked them in was nowhere to be heard from the Rivoli’s stage. Instead, the Toronto foursome decided to go with an entire set of Ramones covers. And that wasn’t the only switch: Michael Small emerged from his role as bassist into the night’s front man sans instrument, donned in appropriate black leather jacket and white tee to go with his long, straight locks. He belted out every tune, throwing himself around the stage, just as much as the band pounded out the notes song into song into song.
It was an interesting change of pace to see from the band as they pummelled through the set. I found myself doing the usual pop bounce instead of a more heavy head bang or foot stomp, and nobody in the crowd decided pogoing was a good idea, unfortunately. The experience would have been more rowdy and exciting that way, but clearly this was something the band really wanted to do. They smirked about it before hitting the stage, and had clearly taken rehearsing very seriously. It must also be taken into account how these guys have been playing around town for what, a decade, and Shimmering Lights has already been out for almost a year. Spicing things up can be necessary, and what better way to do it than sing about wanting to be sedated and hey ho, let’s go?
I’m not sure I’d recommend they keep The Ramones set up as a normal thing – I recalled that Freaks and Geeks episode when Daniel Desario dressed up to go to a punk club to impress a punk girl – but it was definitely a highlight of NXNE and of a Toronto band branching out to see.
Meligrove Band – Really Want It by Nevado
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