Canadian Music Week 2013 – Wednesday March 20 Recap

Canadian Music Week 2013

March 21 2013 – The second night of Canadian Music Week turned things up a notch. Most venues were offering a full lineup and Toronto was buzzing. We continued our rock pilgrimage to discover new sweet riffs, and thunderous drum fills that only an event like CMW can deliver in spades.

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). 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 collective total of 20 bands tonight. We also have a video highlight clip that can be found at the bottom of the article.

Ticketfly at Canadian Music Week 2013

Ticketfly and Collective Concerts at The Horseshoe 8 PM

Not exactly a musical event but the good folks at Collective Concerts and Ticketfly (please kick Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s ass for us!) invited us to a mixer to kick off the night. Excellent food and cold drinks were offered and we only mention that here in order to thank them both for having us out!

The Lost Chord at Canadian Music Week 2013

The Lost Chord at Velvet Underground 8 PM

Scott McCord and The Bonafide Truth at Canadian Music Week 2013

Scott McCord and The Bonafide Truth at Velvet Underground 9 PM 

8 guys with a kick ass horn section playing some very danceable funky grooves! Clearly inspired by the southern sounds of Missisippi and Louisiana, the very enjoyable set had the early patrons of the Velvet Undeground dancing to the beat (us included!)

Savanah

Savanah at Bovine 9 PM

My Excuse at Canadian Music Week 2013

My Excuse at The Hideout 10 PM

Finally a band from our “Must See Gigs of CMW 2013” article! We also profiled this band as part of our Emerging Artist Spotlight. This band is from Greece and do they ever rock. Their smooth set showed the highest level of professionalism we have seen at CMW up to this point. An excellent sound their songs belong on the radio and if they set their focus on North America they will surely be heard on that medium.

Bleachers at Canadian Music Week 2013

Bleachers at Bovine 10 PM

Their bio tells us accurately: “The bands  debut BLEACHERS EP rips through 20 minutes of amp buzzing rock and roll that combines elements of the 1960’s, shoegaze and guitar driven garage rock. With tracks ranging from the punchy rhythms of “All That’s Fine,” The upbeat “SHARKS,” through the loungy feel of “Rooks,” the BLEACHERS EP delivers with a guitar driven sound of equal parts of charming fuzz and driving rhythms.“ 

The Stogies at Canadian Music Week 2013

The Stogies at El Mocambo (Downstairs) 10 PM

Total kick ass set from the guys from Halifax. Totally our style our music and totally an energetic and hard rocking set that left the ElMo wanting more. We intend on spending more time with this band in the future but their description on the CMW page says it best: Every now and then a band comes along, unwilling to accept the notion that Rock N’ Roll is dead. It may be dormant or slowly evolving but The Stogies are here to wake that beast up and shake it by its burly beard. Long hours spent in a hazy, rural Nova Scotian shed listening to Zeppelin, the Stones, the Black Crowes and even the White Stripes have fuelled their penchant for creating genuine rock n‘ roll, chock-full of loud guitars, thunderous drums and wailing vocals.

Rain Over St. Ambrose

Rain Over St. Ambrose at Cherry Cola’s 10 PM

The band’s bio tells us accurately: Out of the foggy banks of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Rain Over St. Ambrose returns with Truth For News, a record full of rock n’ roll guitars, sing-along choruses and dagger-sharp wit.

Ginger and The Ghost at Canadian Music Week 2013

Ginger and The Ghost at El Mocambo 10:30 PM

They told the crowd they came all the way from Sydney, Australia just for one gig. Wow – they definately win the award for the band that travelled the furthest. A very eclectic artsy set featured a projector with fireworks, pre-recorded music, a dude on the guitar wailing away, and a trippy vixen with a crown on and flowing feathery coat. Her vocals can only be described as holy shit! By far the most acid inspired set we have seen at CMW – good work Ginger!

Soho Ghetto at Canadian Music Week 2013

SoHo Ghetto at El Mocambo 11 PM

Our movie critic described this one as follows: “Just like the name said, this driven 7 pieces jive-down will take you to hauntingly heavy places you definitely want to go. Lead singer Marc-Anotine Robertson  hits you hard and hits you deep with kick groove beats that elevate your senses”

Definitely a highlight of the night, one of our editors has selected this set as his “Gig Of The Night” (more info at bottom of the article).

The Damn Truth at Canadian Music Week

The Damn Truth at Supermarket 11 PM

Crazy Strings at Canadian Music Week 2013

Crazy Strings at Silver Dollar 11 PM

Walking into this one felt like the soundtrack to a hillbilly convention (or I guess more politically correct a bluegrass convention). Good stomping music the crowd was dancing along to this one at the Silver Dollar.

Technical Kidman at Canadian Music Week 2013

Technical Kidman at Rancho Relaxo 11 PM

With a dub friendly mash up of ethereal vibes this 3 piece ensembles melodic sensibilities led by Matthew Arsenault  bitter sweet stylings plays fast and loose with many Bryan Ferry influences.

Definitely a highlight of the night, one of our editors has selected this set as his “Gig Of The Night” (more info at bottom of the article)

Nuela Charles at El Mocambo

Nuela Charles at El Mocambo 11:30 PM

Her bio accurately tells us: “Nuela Charles is a Canadian, Swiss and Kenyan born singer-songwriter whose music crosses boundaries and unites musical genres. Be it hip-hop, pop, jazz, R&B or soul, Nuela captures the spirit and confidence of them all. This alt-soul artist is currently based in Edmonton, Alberta but much like her music has lived an extremely diverse lifestyle – calling three continents and four different countries home.”

One Bad Son at Canadian Music Week 2013

One Bad Son at Underground Garage 12 AM 

The mother of all CMW shows. If there was a musical taste marriage made in heaven it would be a steamy union of T-Mak World and One Bad Son (and if it could have been a threesome we would throw TimeGiant in). How often can one say they saw the band that has Canada’s #5 song on the rock charts in a small bar and the best part is the song doesn’t suck like most songs on the rock charts do. The four Saskatoon rockers are easily the most polished band we have seen tonight, and the ones that Vegas bookies would have as odds on favorites to be playing in arenas in the future. I hate declaring that a band is the next big thing, but ladies and gents One Bad Son are the next big thing in rock. For fuck’s sake they played a Zeppelin mash up tonight – how can you not love them!

Definitely a highlight of the night, one of our editors has selected this set as his “Gig Of The Night” (more info at bottom of the article). One Bad Son is also our first band to ever get 2 Gig Of The Night mentions at CMW as they also go it at last year’s festival (article here). Here is a video from last night’s gig.

The Stanfields at Canadian Music Week 2013

The Stanfields at El Mocambo (Downstairs) 12 AM 

Stone River at Canadian Music Week 2013

Stone River at Cadillac Lounge 12 AM 

Anna Rose at Canadian Music Week 2013

Anna Rose at Underground Garage 1 AM 

Anna Rose and her band from New York continued the good hard rock vibe that One Bad Son set up. Clearly influenced by the classic rock greats like Zeppelin, Hendrix and Fleetwood Mac – Rose belted out vocals that would put most other female vocalists to shame at CMW. She has power and vocal range that is a perfect fit tot he smoldering riffs that her band provided. Excellent set that included a Hendrix cover, this one really stood out at CMW.

The Standstills at Canadian Music Week 2013

The StandStills at El Mocambo (Downstairs) 1 AM 

The Mercy Now at Canadian Music Week 2012

The Mercy Now at Bovine 1 AM 

Verdict: Tuesday started off like a sheep but Wednesday roared like a lion with a full slate of rock and roll in Toronto’s streets. Like we always do we get all our editors out on the night to pick their GIG OF THE NIGHT (CMW WEDNESDAY MARCH 20TH) 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): 3 words and enough said. ONE BAD SON!!!!!!

Steve Mallinson (Photographer and Senior Editor): For me it was a split decision between Stone River and The Damn Truth. Both feature incredible blues based rock.

John Dash (Movie Critic): Tie – SoHo Ghetto “Just like the name said, this driven 7 pieces jive-down will take you to hauntingly heavy places you definitely want to go. Lead singer Marc-Anotine Robertson hits you hard and hits you deep with kick groove beats that elevate your senses” and Technical Kidman “With a dub friendly mash up of ethereal vibes this 3 piece ensembles melodic sensibilities led by Matthew Arsenault  bitter sweet stylings plays fast and loose with many Brian Ferry influences. “

Micheal Litt (Videographer and Music Contributor):  The Stanfields deliver a unique high energy sound that is not trying to be the next Soundgarden or Pearl Jam, yet is garnering a loyal and ever growing following.  The energy and crowd participation makes this my Gig of the night along with My Excuse who have hits that are radio friendly and full of hard rock energy, and on stage charisma needed of real rock stars.