Toronto - We Are Wolves are a 3 piece rock n roll band from Montreal. Another CBC Radio 3 endorsed band, it was no surprise when we arrived to a packed house at the El Mo. I think CBC Radio 3 is like the Pitchfork Media of Canada, and Pitchfork Media is the NME of the US, and the NME is the Panic Manual of England, meaning, if they are endorsed by these media outlets, a crowd is guaranteed.

We Are Wolves took the small El Mo stage at 1. Bassist/Vocalist Alex Ortiz came out in some pseudo military garb and keyboardist Vincent Levesque was dressed in Miami Vice-ish attire. I don’t know what the drummer looked like, but I think he stood the whole time. Anyways, right away, they ripped into some song that got the crowd rocking. Alex Ortiz did his best rock star moves, including playing on his knees, jumping up and down, lookin real intense and everything. He has learned much.

The set was delayed early by some (a lot) of technical issues involving the monitor. After ten minutes or so, that problem got solved and the show went on. Normally this is not an issue, but given the 40 minute time slot, you have to wonder if some WAW fans felt shafted at the ten minutes of not music playing these guys did. I didn’t really care, cos they were just keepin it real. Either way, the show went on. I am not familiar with We Are Wolves, but they definitely know how to rock it. Pulsating bass lines followed by a flurry of drums and a layer of synth at just the appropriate time. I didn’t really get a chance to pick up any of the lyrics, but it was something like “ARRrrgh Blughar ROOOOOOOOCK”. Maybe not. I would say they remind me a lot of Death From Above 1979, only French, and with a keyboarder person. A mosh pit developed halfway thru the show and was sustained for the rest of the set, there was multiple drumming, and in general, everyone had a really good rockin time.

In conclusion, life, is sometimes like the We Are Wolves concert. It’s too short, there can be unexpected technical delays at times, but in the end, when it’s all said and done, you can go for chinese food down the street and be like ‘well, that was all good innit?’

 

 We Are Wolves - Fight & Kiss: Play Now

Toronto - So 3 days, 7 concerts, a stroll thru Taste of Little Italy and countless short films later, the weekend and done and all was well again….right? NOPE. Monday came around and my most anticipated show was on the horizon. As you might have read, My Morning Jacket’s Evil Urges is one of my favorite albums of the year and so I went to the Kool Haus on Monday night with great enthusiasm. The Kool Haus was pretty packed by the time we arrived at 9:45 or 9:50 or so, perhaps this was with the short notice that wristband/badge holders were allowed in before nine for free. Something I was not aware of til I bought the ticket.

My Morning Jacket came on around 10 and immediately started off with the song “Evil Urges”. A sign for the times. Man they were sharp, the guitars sounded crisp, no one instrument dominated another, and Jim James voice carried nicely thru out the warehouse confines of the Kool Haus. That guy has a stadium voice, I have to say. Following up Evil Urges with another song off the new album - Im Amazed - I believe, MMJ went to their back catalog and whipped out “Off The Record” to a great response. From then on, the Kentucky gang pretty much had the crowd in the palm of their hands. The rest of the night featured songs from Evil Urges, as well as song’s from Z and It Still Moves. The gang didn’t talk much to the people, but the music kept things interesting.

The show was 2 and a half hours long. Definitely one of the longest sets I’ve ever been to. The encore was 45 minutes long and felt like the end of The Return of the King, they would play a hit tune, jam for a few minutes, I’m thinking..they are done. Then Jim James switches guitar and then plays another tune. I’m not complaining..but that was just an observation. I came away from the show extremely satisfied..they played all the songs I liked, there was a light show, they were perfect on stage musically as well. After watching 8 bands that are kinda new to the game for NXNE, you really can see a contrast in professionalism between an established band like MMJ and one that has just started off. Either way, I was tired as hell at the end of the show, and my ears were ringing, but I was also smiling like a kid in a candy store.

1. Evil Urges
2. I’m Amazed
3. Off The Record
4. What A Wonderful Man
5. Gideon
6. Highly Suspicious
7. Thank You Too!
8. Lowdown
9. Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt.1
10. Librarian
11. Sec Walkin
12. Golden
13. Two Halves
14. The Way That He Sings
15. Lay Low
16. Aluminum Park
17. Remnants
18. Smokin From Shootin
19. Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt.2
———-
20. Wordless Chorus
21. Steam Engine
22. One Big Holiday
23. Run Thru
24. Anytime

4.5/5

 

 My Morning Jacket - Off The Record: Play Now

Toronto - Paparazzi. Star Wars Kid. These two things dominated the Young and Sexy NXNE showcase on Friday, June 13. Young and Sexy is indie band from Vancouver that features the musical stylings of one Lucy Brain and one Paul Hixon. Theres also a guitarist, drummer and bass. They don’t sound that much like a west coast band, opting for more guitar layering and vocal interplay rather then all out poppy soundss that other bands from the West coast seem to have. They are not really young and sexy either. I would venture to think most of them are approaching 30 or over that mark. Just sayin.

Paparazzi:
To the asshole photographer at the Young and Sexy show. You are an asshole. I don’t know what made you think you had the right to hop all over the front end of the stage like a jackrabbit on cocaine and holding the camera a few inches from Lucy Brain’s face to get that candid music shot. You should be lucky that the band is so laid back, if that was say, Akon you were photographing, he would have body slammed you into the crowd quicker then you can say flickr.

Star Wars Kid:
So thru out the Y&S set, there was a dude off to the side who was really, really, really into the band. He would do all these dances to the songs that can be best described as a retard having a seizure. It was rather distracting. It’s hard to criticize someone who’s genuinely enthusiastic about the show, but you can tell that the band was a bit distracted as well. Maybe it was a family member or something. I don’t know. I wished I had a video camera, cos that would have been a top video on youtube fo shizzle. All I needed to do was to put a lightsaber graphic on him and he would have made the next Weezer video.

So there you have it, between wanting to kick the photographer and watching the star wars kid doing his interpretive dancing, you can tell why these two mitigating factors single handedly stole all the attention from what was a good, but not spectacular Y&S show. Everyone was distracted by these two things, and it was only when Y&S whipped out the song ‘Television’ that things started to settle down. But by then, it was too late.

2.5/5

 

 Young and Sexy - Television: Play Now

Toronto - I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t really know much about Great Lake Swimmers. In fact, I pretty much knew nothing about any of the bands I saw this weekend. Maybe that’s a good thing, it’s a fresh view on these bands that many bloggers swoon about. What I did know was this: The Great Lake Swimmers are an extremely popular Toronto band that focuses on the mellower-folky side of rock. They are led by Tony Dekker, who a friend of mine wants to stalk, and they are championed by CBC Radio 3, the source of cool for many people. So it was with this knowledge that I brought to the Reverb on Friday night for their NXNE showcase.

The Reverb is a funny place. The only other time I was there was to see Feist as part of NXNE a few years ago, and that show was so packed I felt like a Chinese immigrant on a cargo ship. This time around, the place was not as packed and from what I gather, the Reverb is a nice quiet intimate place. The stage dominates the middle of the area, and there are three bar areas and I think you can get a good view from everywhere. Not too bad for a venue located at Hobo corner.

The threesome took the stage quietly at around 10:00 after the CBC dude introduced them. At this point the place was filling up, only the people who got here around 10 were all soaked from the monsoon that was outside. Nothing like a packed house full of rain drenched people to make the place smell all nice and rosy. In a very business like manner, the band started playing a song. probably off their most recent album - Onigiara. There was an acoustic guitar, a banjo and a drum. I think this was the instruments du jour.

What can I say? the dude has a soothing voice and he knows how to use an acoustic guitar. The next fourty minutes demonstrated the bands excellent skillz at ze acoustic folk rock. It was mostly a mellow affair, although towards the end, the drums were a little faster, the guitar a little stronger and the sound a bit more rockier, leading some librarians to saying ‘now this… is a rock show’. Whatever. I think the show was pretty good and if you like stuff like Iron and Wine, and Sir Sufjan, then Great Lake Swimmers is right down your alley.

You can stream the Great Lake Swimmers album here. Stream…Lake…get it? haha.

 

 Great Lake Swimmers - Your Rocky Spine: Play Now

Toronto - As mentioned in my primer, the Wet Secrets are a 5 piece band from my hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, the city of champions (til I left, anyway). The band consists of Lyle Bell (bass, vocals), Trevor Anderson (drums, vocals), Kim Rackel (tuba, trumpet, vocals), Donna Ball (trombone, vocals), and Doug Organ (keys, vocals). They were the first band on my NXNE menu, and man what an appetizer.

First of all, they all wore matching marching band outfits. Now, consulting the Panic Manual Rock Dictionary*, if you wear a uniform as a band, you better bring it. Uniforms = expectations. The Wet Secrets definitely brought their A game (or EHHHH game). Their music can best be described as retro sounding synth rock with reliance on gang vocals for choruses. With catchy song titles like ‘Grow Your Own Fucking Mustache, Asshole’ and ‘I Teabagged Myself With 3 Cans of Pain’, you can easily tell these guys are here for a good time.

The set was the expected 40 minutes and while they sometimes rely on the group chant choruses a bit much, everyone had a good time and this band definitely deserves the hype that has besieged them in recent weeks. It’s always a good sight to have girls on stage dancing in unison. I guess they are similar the Canadian version of ‘Black Kids’. only ‘White Kids’ but they can’t call themselves that, cos it’d be racist.

4/5

Also related is the ill fated Panic Manual beard/off competition, which I failed miserably, but I’m Asian, so that was expected

 

 The Wet Secrets - Grow Your Own Fucking Moustache, Asshole: Play Now

Toronto - Here is something to do on Friday:

6:00 PM - Ladyhawk @ Dundas Square
http://www.myspace.com/ladyhawk
It’s a free show for gods sake. Go to LCBO, grab some liquor, grab a paper bag, sit down and listen to one of Vancouver’s finest exports play their brand of west coast power pop. Vik has a review from back in the days here

7:00 PM - Scene Not Heard - Worldwide Short Film Festival - Royal Theatre
Refer to Wade’s article about this short film selection here . It’s a bunch of sweet videos played on a big screen with a sound system, what could be better? Royal also has good popcorn.

10:00 PM - Great Lake Swimmers - Reverb
http://www.myspace.com/greatlakeswimmers
Nice mellow way to start off the night. Listen to the acoustic folk sounds of the Great Lake Swimmers. There will be a lot of people at this show, so arrive early …and gently. This is gonna be a nice mature crowd here.

11:00 PM - Superfantastics - Clintons
11:00 PM - Young and Sexy - Sneaky Dees
11:00 PM - Jule Doiron - The Horseshoe

My my my, what a dilemma. Three Canadian acts, two Maritimes and one West coast band. I guess you cannot go wrong with any of these artists. Superfantastics are a good fun time, check out my review here. Julie Doiron is a singer songwriter chick from out east and Young and Sexy is a Vik/Wade approved indie pop west coast band. You can’t go wrong with any of the three.

12:00 AM - Besnard Lakes - Lees
12:00 AM - Mohawk Lounge - C’est What
12:00 AM - Royal Wood - Gladstone

http://www.myspace.com/thebesnardlakes
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=27791581
http://www.myspace.com/mohawklodge
You can go listen to the atmospheric, dramatic rock of the Montreal’s Besnard Lakes at Lees, and make this a Lake nite (great lake swimmer, besnard lakes…lakeport beer..) or you can make the outrageously long trek to C’est What to catch the Mohawk Lodge, a band I know nothing about but comes recommended by some peeps in the know. Same with Royal Wood at the Gladstone.

12:00 am - Midnight Mania - Creepy - Cumberland
Tired of music and want to scare yourself shitless? go catch some horror shorts at the Cumberland. Unlike M.Night Shamalalanallannlallam movies, you won’t have to wait 2 hours for the payoff.

 

 Ladyhawk - I don't always know what you're saying: Play Now