Canadian Music Week – March 23 Concert Recap

TimeGiant at Canada Music Week on March 23 2012

March 24 2012 – Canadian Music Fest (CMF) (as part of Canadian Music Week) continued last night. Canadian Music Week features four branches (Conferences, Film Festival, Comedy Festival, and Music Fest) and brings over 900 artists to Toronto for this their 30th year.

Our coverage of CMF began with Emerging Artist Spotlight articles on TimeGiant, Grain, Breaching Vista , Beta, In My Coma, One Bad Son, and Matt Groopie and The Bandits and we strongly endorse those bands. There are simply way too many other bands to see so a bit of research is needed to make sure you see the bands that suit your taste. We published a handy guide of our picks here in a simple to use .pdf document that can be printed and carried along as you bar hop. Finally in case you missed it we have a recap of the first night’s activities (March 21 2012) here and the second night’s concerts (March 22 2012) here.

On March 22nd we saw 10 bands and here is a quick recap!

The Lucky Ones – Bovine Sex Club. This was our first stop of the night and caught a bit of this punk (the old school stuff not this nouveau teenage “punk”) band throwing down a few songs (oddly enough all the songs seemed to be about beer!) You can follow The Lucky Ones on Twitter here.

The Lucky Ones

RIZE – Tattoo Rock Parlour. Stop 2 for the night was right across the street and we ran into 3 Japanese dudes called Rize. The energy from this band was through the roof, they rapped, they headbanged, and they tore the place apart. At times I thought I was watching the Japanese Metallica. These guys get our mention for co-gig of the night shout out (along with TimeGiant – see below) and totally KICKED ASS. Keep up to date with them on Twitter here.

RIZE

Shawn Brady & The Electric Blood Band – The Hideout. We crossed the street again and saw Shawn Brady and his band play what they describe as: Think U2 with a big shot of adrenaline – lots of guitars, drums and memorable melodies. Good high energy rock that the crowd really enjoyed, keep up with Shawn on Twitter here.

Shawn Brady & The Electric Blood Band

McAlister Drive – The Hideout. We stayed at The Hideout to check out Boston’s McAlister Drive. A very unique fusion of sounds and they say it best on their CMW page: “With a sound that inspires Jet and Tom Petty to walk down the aisle during an Arcade Fire song, you might find McAlister Drive to be the newborn lovechild… or participating in the open bar at the reception.” Interesting mix of instruments and very much Arcade Fire influenced. The band is on Twitter here.

McAlister Drive

The Victim Party – Bovine Sex Club Was our next stop to see yet another punk band there Not really our scene so we hung out for a couple of good loud tunes and then moved on. The band is on Twitter here.

The Victim Party

Brave Little Toaster – Comfort Zone. Down the stairs we went to the maze known as The Comfort Zone to catch a bit of this band. They played some southern rock meets classic rock tunes and put a bit of soul into it. The crowds are starting to get bigger as the night progresses and they were dancing for this one. The band is on Facebook here.

Brave Little Toaster

Hacienda – El Mocambo (Upstairs). El Mocambo was packed with a huge line up to get in. Monster Truck and The Sheepdogs would be playing there tonight. First up was Hacienda from Texas. These guys really rocked and had a very professional sound. It turns out they worked with Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys and even recorded their album in his studio. One girl owned the front of the stage and danced wildly while the band rocked it. They are on Twitter here.

Hacienda

Chains of Love – El Mocambo (Downstairs) Same venue different floor. This one was packed to capacity and we saw Vancouver’s Chains of Love. This band could have been playing the soundtrack to an Austin Power’s movie. The sound was very retro (in a very good way) and their on stage presence blew us away. They not only had fun up there but really put everything into it and came off with a fusion of 60’s groove music with today’s chick. Lead singer Nathalia really impressed with her vocals. The band is on Twitter here.

Chains Of Love

TimeGiant – Supermarket. We had to leave the El Mocambo even though we knew that both The Sheepdogs and Monster Truck were playing there next to catch TimeGiant – the first band we profiled as part of our CMW Emerging Artist Spotlight. Let me get right down to it, this band is exactly what Rock and Roll needs. So far we have seen dozens of great bands (and a handful of excellent bands), but most of them lack presence. TimeGiant had the crowd going crazy tonight (unlike any other band we have seen at CMW). There were sing alongs, dual guitarists coming to the front of the stage with solo riffs, a shirtless drummer with a Bonzo tattoo, a bassist giving fist bumps to the audience, a double neck guitar, a saxophone, an epic 10 minute progressive classic that could have been off of Rush’s 2112 album, and 4 dudes having fun being rock stars. TimeGiant is a band with a perfect blend of heavy and progressive rock that could have been made in 1972 or 2012. If there is any justice in the world, TimeGiant will be opening up for the Foo Fighters on their next tour! An epic mix of Rush, Triumph, Black Crowes, Zeppelin and Floyd are how I would define TimeGiant. Easily our co-winners of the gig of the night mention for tonight (along with RIZE – “the Japanese Metallica”). Follow TimeGiant on Twitter here.

TimeGiant

The Nearly Deads – The Hideout. Our last gig of the night was for The Nearly Deads who started at 2 a.m. The venue was jammed and the energy was through the roof. The Nearly Deads nailed their set with a smooth yet edgy sound. Lead singer Theresa Jeanne sang with great power and sounded like Gwen Stefani back in the No Doubt days. Awesome gig and the crowd response clearly showed that they loved this band. The Nearly Deads are on Twitter here.

The Nearly Deads

Author: T-Mak

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