Day 3
Oct 28 2013 – Indie Week is organized differently than the other two local music festivals, in that it selects a winner through a series of showcases that are judged by members of the music industry, followed by those winners playing shorter sets in a series of semi-finals. Day 3’s schedule is a mixture of these semis plus some pre-scheduled showcases that are not part of the competitive schedule. Our Day 3 began back at Monarch’s Pub for the second of our four Open AIR sets we caught during Indie Week.
Open AIR at Monarch’s Pub
Catching an early evening Open AIR show in a hotel bar was a very different vibe than the loud, rowdy and packed bar filled with new adoring fans the night before but the band was no less excellent. One mark of a band’s professionalism is being able to adapt to different situations and although they didn’t have the same crowd energy to feed off, their energy level didn’t suffer at all. It was however, not surprisingly, a little less crazy. This was their first set of the night. We would also see them at the Hideout again later. Check out the song Sirens below, six minutes of groovy goodness:
Next up was Frankie McQueen at Hideout who also made it through to the semi-finals. We got the chance to see a little of Sue Newberry who impressed.
Frankie McQueen
These guys again blew away the crowd with their heavy rock despite guitarist Charles apparently being somewhat under the weather. If he was, it didn’t show in his performance. The set was shorter than the previous night which was unfortunate but the second set was an unscheduled bonus so we weren’t about to complain!
The C’Mons
Not to be confused with Ian Blurton’s old band, C’mon, The C’mons are a pop band led by front woman Stephanie Bosch. We particularly enjoyed the last three songs which rocked.
Open AIR
Open AIR played their second show at the Hideout after getting through the previous night. The show was just as good as the Friday night show but sadly shorter and in particular, Sirens didn’t make the cut in the shortened set list. No problem though because Open AIR has plenty of great music to fill the set. The band came through with yet another high octane performance and easily won the night (the scoring wasn’t actually disclosed but they were clearly the best) and moved on to the Sunday night finals.
The Anti-Queens at Bovine
The Anti-Queens are a Toronto based female hard rocking trio. They put on a great show at Bovine of catchy energetic songs. Word of advice, pay attention for flying bras at Anti-Queens shows.
GrimSkunk at Bovine
Montreal’s metal band GrimSkunk always entertains with its quirky metal and this night was no different.
The Dearly Beloveds at Bovine
The Dearly Beloveds are just back from a tour in Europe. They had a second guitar joining them this time round. They sounded great with frontman, bassist Rob Higgins blazing some wicked bass lines.
Alert The Medic at Rivoli
Last up for the night was Alert The Medic, a T-Mak World favourite and one of our Top 10 Indie Bands of 2012. We’d tried to see them the night before at The Underground Garage but that venue was at capacity and there was a lengthy line-up. Alert The Medic played mostly some great new songs on Saturday night with only a handful from the We, The Weapon album which usually makes up the majority of their set. The band will be going into the studio soon to record the long awaited follow-up to We, The Weapon.
Day 4
Sunday night is the finals and Tattoo Rock Parlour and were hosted by Doug Elliott of 94.9 The Rock. No station supports independent music like 94.9 and they were highly visible throughout the festival.
Here Below
Here Below is a Toronto-based melodic modern alt rock band. Well developed radio friendly songs that were well presented. We weren’t judging so didn’t need to be impartial, this was a strong band and would present a significant challenge to Open AIR.
Scrapes
Halifax based Scrapes were up next. A young band playing some pop-inspired melodic rock. One wouldn’t expect that this would be enough to beat Open AIR but you never know who’s judging the bands and what appeals to them.
The oOohh Baby Gimme Mores
No, seriously, that’s the name, not a comment on their performance. According to their website, they are “Dance-punk trash-rock posse…” from “Hate-City (Toronto) Onterrible.” Frontman Denz did an amazing job of getting the crowd involved and ignoring their time remaining reminder and going well over their allotted time.
Open AIR
Open AIR played the shortest set on the night but the strongest combination of musicianship and audience engagement.
The final results had Toronto hard rockers Sumo Cyco winning. Their set was earlier in the evening and we missed it. While we didn’t see their shows, we’ve seen them in the past and were happy it was won by a hard working rock band. Congratulations to Sumo Cyco!
Final Results
1 Sumo Cyco
2 Raquel Cole
3 Open AIR
Little Foot Long Foot accepting their prize from Iguana Studios President Vic Branco.
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