- The Bright Light Social Hour at Toronto April 2015
Stone River, a killer southern blues rock band out of Toronto have a song named Euphoria, and that song title is the appropriate description of the concert just performed by The Bright Light Social Hour.
April 21 2015 – Wednesday night and The Horseshoe Tavern was packed to capacity. The turnout was a testament to both how word can get out on Indie bands that are as far away as Texas, and to how damn good The Bright Light Social Hour (TBLSH) are. I have rarely seen the venue that packed even on a weekend let alone on a Wednesday and clearly TBLSH were impressed themselves as stated from the stage.
The band is not exactly new for us – we caught and reviewed them 2 times before in Toronto (once at Yonge and Dundas Square and once opening up for Umphrey’s McGee at The Danforth Music Hall) and another time in Austin, Texas at a private party (read here, here and here respectively). Those 3 shows in 2012 earned them a spot on our year-end Top 10 Indie Bands of 2012 list (read here). We also have an interview with Jack O’Brien (bassist/vocalist) done in conjunction with this review available here. The band consists of O’Brien, Curtis Roush (guitars and vocals), Joe Mirasole (drums) and relative newcomer Edward Braillif (synth and guitars).
- Jack O’Brien of The Bright Light Social Hour
The current tour is to support the band’s brand new Space Is Still The Place album. This is TBLSH’s second record and they played all 10 tracks on it to great effect. I have personally heard the new album a few times since its release a month ago but watching the whole thing performed live with the backstories and emotions only a live performance can offer lifted the whole experience to a new level. A euphoric level. The band had copies of the record (yes as in vinyl) available for $20 and they promoted it on stage with the best sales pitch we have ever heard “You can buy it on cd, vinyl, or if you prefer you can get it from iTunes, Spotify, etc. – but as we like to say in Austin, you can’t roll a joint on a digital download.“
Here is the thing about TBLSH – they have captured the high energy communion of the masses that are found in the rave/EDM scene. For anyone that has been part of that gathering the effect is very familiar. Watch the performer on stage, listen to the sings build up, bounce up and down gently in a hypnotic manner to the music and when the DJ (or in this case the band) erupts go crazy either by dancing or waving your hands in the air. A truly euphoric experience as the band combines the danceability of the electronic music with a very solid 70’s blues base (and sometimes a solid 70’s funk groove). Going to a TBLSH show is as good fun as you will ever have watching a rock band. They do rely very heavily on synthesizers but make no mistake this is pure riff driven rock and roll and we everyone at The Horseshoe was rocking out.
Beyond the 10 songs from Space Is Still The Place, TBLSH played an additional four tracks from their self titled freshman album (Back and Forth, Detroit, Garden Of The Gods, and Shanty). The sing along to Detroit was impressive as everyone in the place seemed to know the lyrics and enjoyed screaming “I need your love” with as much passion as the band on stage. This was the single moment where the love and euphoria between band and audience peaked and TBLSH proved they have the magical audience connection to oh so many bar bands totally lack these days. O’Brien gave a heartfelt talk about being so happy and full of love in that room and felt rainbows shooting out of his chest – and it wasn’t just stage talk, the guy was really feeling it and spreading it to the crowd.
Verdict: 5 out of 5 – An incredible show that goes down as one of the best we have ever seen at The Horseshoe Tavern. The Bright Light Social Hour is as euphoric as a live band can be – part Pink Floyd, part The Doors, part Tiesto – it all just comes together and works damn good.
