Tonight, the herald has made his way to 648 Kingsway, where he has been invited to bear witness to a selection of offerings prepared to satisfy Him, if only briefly.
The anticipation is high tonight as there will be two new offerings this evening, something that always gets the herald excited. Coming up to the venue, he is greeted by a good-sized crowd milling about, and even more inside as this intimate venue looks to be reaching capacity.
MOM CUTS MY HAIR
The first offering of the night, one of the first-timers, a new act on the scene, this quintet offered a fun, rocking, bouncing set of rock jams that was a blast to bounce around to. They featured three guitars, and their songs had an indie rock vibe, though with a harder edge to them.
They employed some odd-time signatures in a few songs, giving them an exciting sound and something for the music nerds in us to pick up on. Guitars popped up beautifully during the solos, with crisp, clear tones to tickle the earholes.
The lead singer had a fantastic voice when they hit the mark. At times, they would play the guitar, too. However, the eternal difficulty of doing two things simultaneously is shown here as their singing suffers. They were much better as a focused singer and far more engaging, with much better control.
I found the set pacing to be too flatline. They played the “fast/slow/fast/slow” game, so the set never had the chance to grow or evolve. Better placement of their bangers would have given their flow a much better feel.
It was a packed crowd for this opening offering, making it difficult for folks to move around. Low-key flailing was all that was possible.
DEAD MANS HAND
Next was the other first-time offering on the night, the quartet that invited me out. Bringing us a blend of grunge, emo, and punk, it was a high-energy set that, despite the packed and cramped floor, I managed to find room to spot flail.
The vocals brought the blend of genres to mind, as they were screaming one moment and then more melodic the next. Busting out the NIRVANA-style sound, then it was screaming rap/rock; they fucking gave it all up there.
There is a lot of delicious fuzz from the guitars, another treat for the earholes. Sexy solos get me all squiggly and squirming, and distortion is so palpable it reverberates deep into my soul.
They pulled off a killer cover of a DEFTONES song, and the lead singer just fucking gave it their all. Love it when someone loses themself in a cover like that and they nail it. Nothing worse than singing along to a cover that the band is butchering.
It was a well-paced set, with a few bangers in a row that woke the crowd up, even forming a little pit for everyone to smoosh into. It’s always welcome to have more join in on the flailing.
SCARLET FEVER
Marking their third offering, this relative newcomer on the scene has been playing many shows recently. With a brand new drummer on the throne, they continue to impress me with their improving skills, crowd interaction, and comfort level.
Primarily residing in the pop-rock genre, their songs were fun, upbeat, and frankly, a blast to bounce around to. They had a few kick-up songs that went pretty hard, though overall, it was fun, bop-around jams.
The bassist and guitarist swapped instruments at one point, showing their multi-instrumental talent as they could both clearly handle each instrument well. The newly added drummer was tight and provided a solid foundation, giving them a succinct and crisp sound to build from.
As has been the pattern, their overall sound has gotten so much tighter and more impressive as they continue to play shows and tighten those screws. Their overall confidence as they bounce around has increased massively, allowing them to be silly up there, as when they all lay down on the ground to play the ending of a song.
There was good energy up there, and they were clearly having a blast, which seeped into the remaining crowd, who were very much down. However, having folks sit down at the front confuses me. Why do people do that? As a result, I ended up flailing at the back, where there was ample room, and the temperature was more agreeable.
He was pleased with tonight’s offerings.