Canadian Music Week 2013 – Thursday March 21 Recap

Drummers Charlie McKittrick (TimeGiant) and Kurt Dahl (One Bad Son) showing their Led Zeppelin tattoos

March 22 2013 – As we approach the half way mark of Canadian Music Week 2013 things are really getting intense in downtown Toronto. The streets are filled, the bars are packed and the bands are giving it their all. Queen Street West seems to have become our second home tonight and we saw a lot of good band so read on!

T-Mak World strives to be THE main resource for rock at CMW 2013 and all our articles are centralized on this page. We offer a recommendation guide of over 100 worthy rock bands here as well as 15 bands that we feature in our “Must See Gigs” guide here. Our nightly recap articles started on Tuesday (article here) and Wednesday (article here). Last but not least we have profiled the following artists playing CMW 2013 as part of our Emerging Artist Spotlight:

A Northern Drawl – Toronto, Canada – (Alternative, Psychedelic, Rock)

Bend Sinister – Vancouver, Canada – (Progressive, Rock, Pop)

The Bloody Five – Toronto, Canada – (Rock)

The Breaks – Toronto, Canada –  (Blues,Classic Rock,Country,Rock)

Dance Laury Dance – Quebec City, Canada –  (Hard Rock)

Go For The Eyes – Calgary,Canada –  (Alternative, Psychedelic, Rock)

Manic Sheep – Taipei, Taiwan – (Indie, Pop, Psychedelic, Rock)

My Excuse – Thessaloniki, Greece – (Alternative, Indie, Rock)

Riding Shotgun – Toronto, Canada – (Alternative, Rock)

Son of 1000 – Johannesburg, South Africa – (Adult Contemporary, Alternative, Blues, Funk, Indie, Rock, Soul)

On our quest to find some kick ass music we sent out multiple crews and ended up seeing a total of 14 bands tonight shown below in alphabetical order. We also have a video highlight clip that can be found at the bottom of the article.

Bend Sinister at Canadian Music Week 2013

Bend Sinister at Cherry Colas

Vancouver’s Bend Sinister took the stage at a very packed Cherry Cola’s and really hit it hard. We interviewed the band as part of our Emerging Artist Spotlight (read here) and when asked what band they would like to open for they simply stated “Led Zeppelin” – which is the correct answer by the way ;-) They delivered a solid acid infused set with heavy emphasis on the keys to match the rhythm of the guitars and drums. Great show.

The Bokononists at Bovine

The Bokononists at Bovine

Great set from the Winnipeg rockers that pay homage to The Sheepdogs in a grungier fashion. If you like your music loud and fuzzy their set at CMW would have satisfied you as it did the many patrons of The Bovine on this night.

Grimskunk at Canadian Music Week 2013

Grimskunk at The Hideout

This Montreal band describes their music as psychedelic punk rock on their CMW profile page. A hard hitting energetic band full of raw sounding punk influenced rhythm that impressed the large crowd at The Hideout.

Heart

Heart at Massey Hall

Oh ya a couple of sisters that you may have heard of where playing at Massey Hall just before their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Small little show.

One Bad Son at Hard Rock Cafe for 94.9 The Rock Special CMW Show

Heaven’s Basement at Hard Rock

This set was not part of Canadian Music Week per se but was part of the 94.9 The Rock special invite event during the day at the Hard Rock. Heaven’s Basement played along One Bad Son at this cool event. We cover that event in full in this article (coming soon)

In My Coma at Canadian Music Week 2013

In My Coma at Cherry Colas

In My Coma happens to be one of T-Mak World’s Top 10 Indie Bands of 2012 and they proved why. They rocked Cherry Colas to its foundation and brought their A game to the venue. The trio rocked loud, rocked hard, and even slowed it down a bit. We enjoy the loud aggresive side of IMC quite a bit and they really left their mark tonight for the lucky patrons.

Jojeto at Canadian Music Week 2013

Jojeto at Velvet Underground

Toronto’s Jojeto had the Underground hopping with their hard working set – these guys gave it their all and it was evident. From good hard rockers to a Billy Idol cover they delivered the goods and stood out tonight.

Mise En Scene at Canadian Music Week 2013

Mise En Scene at Bovine

The female duo from Winnipeg are Stefani Blondal Johnson on guitars and vocals and Jodi Dunlop on drums. They rocked the Bovine with their slightly softer pop sound than what the club is used to, but the fans truly enjoyed their show and the bands laser sharp intensity on nailing their songs.

One Bad Son at Hard Rock Cafe for 94.9 The Rock Special CMW Show

One Bad Son at Hard Rock Cafe and The Hideout

What’s better than seeing One Bad Son at Canadian Music Week? Seeing them three times. One Bad Son won our gig of the night award last night and today they played two more sets. T-Mak World is three for three at One Bad Son shows. First up was a 94.9 The Rock radio station invite only party at Hard Rock Cafe which we review in full here (coming soon)

One Bad Son at Canadian Music Week 2013

The band’s second appearance of the night was at The Hideout for a 9pm opening slot – Note to whomever is booking these time slots – you should maybe pay attention to the Canadian Rock Charts and know that One Bad Son is making waves in this country. The midnight slot would be much more fitting for the band – just sayin. They continued to deliver the real rock we crave for and have not seen enough of at CMW – Vocalist Shane Volk is a bonafide frontman in the league of Axl Rose, David Lee Roth, Kurt Cobain, or anyone else you can think of that captivates the crowd when he sings. I even gave up the opportunity to see Heart and Coheed and Cambria to catch the One Bad Son gig – that’s how damn good these guys are.

Easily my gig of the night  (more info at bottom of the article).

Poor Young Things at Canadian Music Week 2013

Poor Young Things at The Horseshoe Tavern

Toronto’s pop rock quintet really delivered a solid set to a rammed Horseshoe tavern (with quite a lineup outside). Their high energy set had people dancing, singing, and rocking out along with their melodic and catchy indie rock. A perfect way to warm up from the chilly Toronto weather.

Simon Townshend

Simon Townshend at Massey Hall

Does the last name sound familiar? It should. Simon is the brother of The Who’s Pete Townshend. He shares his brothers excellent rock voice, guitar skills, and songwriting abilities. Townshend delivered a fantastic set opening up for Heart and you can read our full review of his set here.

Sweet Jane at Canadian Music Week 2013

Sweet Jane at The Hideout

This band from Dublin Ireland rolled out their softer poppy sound reminiscent of mid 60’s rock. Not really psychadelic and not really hard rock, they had a great sound with a very strong vocal presence. The Hideout patrons were grooving to these guys.

Treble Charger at Canadian Music Week 2013

Treble Charger at The Rivoli (Secret Show)

Canadian Music Week usually has what they call secret shows. The performer isnt announced till a few hours (or a day) before showtime and it’s supposed to build buzz and anticipation. One of tonight’s secret gigs was Treble Charger at the Rivoli. A fairly packed room (but not even close to capacity) saw the band that reunited last year for a CMW show at the Phoenix. Their fans were enjoying the show but in all honesty their brand of pop rock is not my thing so we moved on after a couple of tunes.

Wolfheart at Canadian Music Week 2013

Wolfheart at The Hideout

The female lead alt rock band had to follow up the thunderous hard rock of One Bad Son at The Hideout with their most softer and more pop sound. They really had a good time and once again the Hideout was treated to a very good band from B.C.  (they are from Victoria).  Their bio on the CMW page does indeed stand true “Their energetic live show features live looping of haunting vocal melodies, juxtaposed by the primal and driving force of drums and bass”


The video highlight reel of the night can be seen below:

Verdict:  Like we always do we get all our editors out on the night to pick their GIG OF THE NIGHT (CMW THURSDAY MARCH 21ST) so here is what everyone picked as their best of T-Mak World (remember we are a rock focused blog and put preference to the rock bands – just personal taste).

Terry Makedon aka T-Mak (Editor in Chief): This is a copy and paste from yesterday, because when you find a band you love so much you stick with em. “3 words and enough said. ONE BAD SON!!!!!!“

Steve Mallinson (Photographer and Senior Editor): Really love One Bad Son too, but was totally blown away by Grimskunk. Wasn’t expecting such a heavy prog rock experience. Amazing. Hope they’re back in the area soon.

Micheal Litt (Videographer and Music Contributor):  One Bad Son – they really are that good.