March 12 2015 – Mark down Sunday March 8th 2015 as a historic event. The Temperance Movement played their first gig on Canadian soil and the lucky few in attendance will never experience such an intimate setting with this band ever again. As word gets out of their majestic rock and roll and arena sized stage presence the masses are sure to swell on each subsequent visit.
We first got wind of The Temperance Movement a couple of years ago when they were endorsed by an old geezer that might know a thing or two about good rock – namely James Patrick Page. We immediately reached out to the band and featured them on our Emerging Artist Spotlight – you can read that interview here. With that foundation when we were writing up our annual top albums of the year feature we placed The Temperance Movement at number 3 on the Top 10 Albums of 2013 (just behind Black Sabbath and Pearl Jam).
The Temperance Movement are currently touring the States as an opening act for Blackberry Smoke (a Southern Rock/Country Rock band), and took the opportunity to jump up to Toronto for a headlining show at The Rivoli. Blackberry Smoke is too “country” for my tastes so when I found that The Temperance Movement would be coming alone as a headliner I was very thrilled to be able to see the band live that whose album I liked so much in 2013. Needless to say a Sunday night for a relatively unknown band did not fill up The Rivoli but the attendance was very respectable and much more than I would have thought. In attendance were members of other bands including Monster Truck and 3 of T-Mak World’s Top 10 Indie Bands of 2014 – Stone River, TimeGiant and the opening band tonight The Standstills.
The Temperance Movement are;
- Vocals – Phil Campbell
- Guitar – Luke Potashnick
- Guitar – Paul Sayer
- Bass – Nick Fyffe
- Drums – Damon Wilson
It has been said that no rock band can be successful without a big time front man and man, is Phil Campbell the real deal. With moves like Jagger Campbell is a dynamo on stage that does not relent in his emotional attack of the microphone. The only thing more impressive than his on stage presence is his powerful voice. So many bands we see have absolutely no command of the audience’s emotion while on stage and for those all we can say is please go watch some The Temperance Movement live videos and consider it an education. Campell’s in between song banter and audience interaction was entertaining and welcome and his use of maracas and tambourines ensured he had something to do during the non-vocal parts of the tunes.
The rest of the band complement Campbell perfectly and seem to be content to let their front man take over the spotlight while they focus on delivering top notch music. Their back end drum and bass combo Wilson and Fyffe lay down the precise rhythm required to build the foundation for their flanking guitarists Potashnick and Sayer. Overall the band creates rock standards and have the proper amounts of riffs and solos to deliver an emotional musical ride.
The highlight song for us was Only Friend – a 7 minute blues scorcher that had a vibe right out of the classic Led Zeppelin blues infused songs. The easiest way to describe the band would be The Black Crowes with a singer with moves like Jagger and a voice of Rod Stewart in The Faces. Get the image?
The band successfully slowed down the pace on occasion with slower ballads such as Chinese Lanterns and Pride. The mix of song tempo was a very nice balance and would appeal to all rock fans quite easily. The commercial viability of the band is evident as their debut album charted number 12 on the UK charts and number 3 on the UK Rock charts. We were supposed to interview the band before their Toronto gig, but miscommunication prevented that so we promise to catch them next time
The setlist was 14 songs long and featured 9 songs from The Temperance Movement (the album) and 4 new songs that we can only assume will be recorded in the next The Temperance Movement (the band) album.
Verdict: 5 out of 5 and a best of T-Mak World gig. This was the night that The Temperance Movement started their conquest of Canada and we have no doubts they will be among the biggest bands in this land in the next few years. The Temperance Movement reminded us of why we love #RealRock so much, and this is the best “first time” concert we have ever witnessed. We can’t wait for their return.
We really get what The Temperance Movement are all about, and leads us to the question, “could we be witnessing the next British Invasion of rock with bands like Royal Blood and The Temperance Movement leading the charge?”
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