September 18 2013 – After delivering the world’s first review of TimeGiant‘s third CD entitled A Night To Remember we had high expectations for the launch party. Not only did we give A Night To Remember a 5 star review and a Best of T-Mak World award we had this to say in our TimeGiant review conclusion:
I can not predict whether this EP will become a mainstay of Canadian rock radio from coast to coast but it sure deserves to be. If only the right set of ears deeply connected in the industry spends some time with this album and sees the band as commercially viable, many rock fans country wide will be very satisfied. TimeGiant have captured the best of 70′s rock and have transcended time to deliver an emotionally charged album that is multi dimensional, deep, electric and serves notice to what #RealRock sounds like.
On Friday September 13 2013 A Night To Remember was officially launched to a very packed and energetic Horseshoe Tavern. Having reviewed TimeGiant gigs multiple times the last couple of years we knew there was no doubt that the band would deliver a solid set.
HOLY CRAP… what the guys delivered tonight was a whole new level of awesome. Drummer Charlie McKittrick, guitarist Ryan Watson and bassist Pat Wilken were playing the best we have ever seen them perform, with great ease and a renewed level of concentration. The songs flowed out and the audience reacted at a visceral level. This is what rock and roll was all about and one of the reasons why it has fallen from grace in recent times – the energy from most bar bands is not enough to draw the crowd. TimeGiant not only drew the crowd they took them on an emotional rollercoaster that left us all numb after the show.
Vocalist and Lead Guitarist (and Saxophonist) Tyrone Buccione was a monster of rock tonight. His role as ringleader is paramount and the band’s fortunes rest firmly on his shoulders. He displayed more than ever a command of his audience and the band’s music that is on a trajectory to rival the great frontmen of rock (Plant, Daltrey, Mercury, Osbourne, etc). Musical abilities aside he sparked the rock and roll passion in the audience’s soul and kept the flame burning for the band’s hour-long set. We questioned on our CD review if someone connected in the industry would see this band as commercially viable, the answer is 100% yes if they were at the show. Record labels should be aware of this band and they should be fighting to sign them.
TimeGiant played 2 sets – the first being 5 songs and the second being the new CD end to end. As much as I love the CD it was the first set that totally blew me away. The second set was the band’s commercial and radio friendly offerings (which essentially is what the CD is trying to accomplish), but the first set was what TimeGiant really is all about. The show kicked off with hard rocking Zenith which is one of my top 3 TimeGiant songs of all time and set the tone for a hard rock night. Then the band played two of their newest songs Stronger Than Before and We Become The night. They ended the set with the excellent hard rocking Farcaster and the obligatory mega McKittrick drum solo.
However what happened in between We Become The Night and Farcaster was the highlight of my night (as well as all of the T-Mak World editors). The band left their comfort zone and delivered a song that belongs right in the middle of Rush’s 2112 album – a hard rock prog rocker that is almost 10 minutes long. After The Battle at Mt. Megiddo is the name of the track and belongs in a very short list of epic rock jams released in the last 20 years that are worthy of a masterpiece label (along with Rival Sons’ Manifest Destiny Part 1 and My Morning Jackets’ Dondante). The band wound up for this piece and its performance included Buccione fiddling with distortion knobs, Watson sliding a beer bottle on the guitar neck and McKittrick playing keys while drumming. Enough words check out the video.
TimeGiant then delivered their CD in order: I Am The Fire, We Forgot The Reason, Been Here Before, Candy From A Feather, Blind, White Window and Hard Lovin’ Woman. The crowd was dripping from the rock and roll assault and there was no way they were letting the band leave without an encore which was The Pressure.
I am still emotionally charged one week later over this show and can only offer my 3 cents worth of opinion: Rock fans – go see TimeGiant live, Industry and Press – go see TimeGiant live, Indie bands – go see TimeGiant live. This is the kick in the ass that the rock industry needs to get people off of mainstream mass-produced shit and back into real music with great commercial viability.
Verdict: ….. umm…. MEGIDDO…. seriously it is that good.
