The Serge says: Queen It's A Kinda Magic

Mar 19/10. Massey Hall. Okay this was a tribute band more so like a Vegas act tribute. At the beginning, I though it was a little lame. As the show progressed, the stigma of a tribute show diminished and the fun came through. The band sounded very convincing and the Freddie character was, obviously, over the top. When you try to mimic Freddie Mercury, you end up looking like a tool. He deserved an A for effort becuase it took a while for the crowd to get into it but he didn't waver. They played practically every song in their 2 hour set - some in medley format. In the end, a pretty good show that you would surpisingly enjoy.

The Serge says: Bird of Wales

Mar 12/10. Supermarket. Poor bastards had to follow up Flash Lightnin'. Once they pulled out the acoustic guitar for stage setup, all knew the letdown had commenced. Lame '80's folk rock. Ugh. To the next bar.

The Serge says: Flash Lightnin'

Mar 12/10. Supermarket. Well crush my chest cavity and make my eyes bleed. This is a band to enjoy. Imagine AC/DC played by The Datsuns. Loud, raunchy fun and great showmanship. If you are going to have a name like Flash Ligtnin' then you better follow it up with testicular fortitude.
These Toronto locals filled the Supermarket with a very eager crowd and did not disappoint. They mainly played songs from their brand new album which stayed true to their hard Rawk sound. Think Unband and Tricky Woo. They even referenced Queensryke and the movie Teenwolf. Gimme some o'dat whiskey and let 'em howl.

The Serge says: Birthday Boys

Mar 12/10. Supermarket.

...Meeh....

The Serge says: Vivian Girls

Mar 10/10. Wrongbar. This band from Brooklyn features three women, one uglier than the other. Their sound is 60's garage/surf female style. Clear vocals and catchy songs represented their set.
One important lesson for bands to learn from this show: Do not invite the drunk fan on stage to sing a song. This knob had no idea what song he was to sing nor did he even try to hide this fact. He seemed to relish being soaked by the beer being thrown at him. The bass player, practicing her roadie skills poorly, was way to polite in pushing him off the stage because he kept trying to get back on stage. Whack the rube on the head with your bass and let the masses toss his ass in the refuge.

The Serge says: Male Bonding

Mar 10/10. Wrongbar. Hard to take a band seriously when the lead singer looks like Tobias from the Arrested Development TV show (he was the Blue Man guy).
This is a three piece band from England that plays heavily into the early 90's style grunge sounding like a cross between Nirvana and Reacharound. I thought the UK still hated the Grunge scene? Hell, the drummer even flailed around like a lesser David Grohl. The vocals stunk and the lyrics were just garbled gunk. Tobias would be ashamed. The last song -"How Long"-rocked....but, you know, that damn singing.

The Serge says: The Arkells

Dec 22/09. Horseshoe. The Arkells decided to askew their bland repertoire of nondescript songs to treat the crowd a set of various Motown songs. Surprisingly they did a pretty good job. No Arkell songs + no cover + Motown + beer = good time.

The Serge says: King Khan & The BBQ Show

Dec 4/09. Horseshoe. I always enjoy watching these guys perform and piss on the laid back, subdued, staid crowds at the Horseshoe. When I first saw these guys 3 years ago, they tore apart The Comfort Zone with the whole audience experiencing a musical religious moment. Based on this type of show, Toronto patrons expect this feeling without reciprocation. That doesn't happen. Make the band feel you are there and they will bring you on the journey. hat being said, King Khan put on another quirky, fun, loud show filled with their garage punk/R&B/rock style. Say hallelujah my friends.

The Serge says: Bob Newhart

Dec 4/09. Roy Thompson Hall. Watching veteran comics perform is always a delight in throwback. This being no different. Newhart is a low key, just below legend status comedian, whose most famous for his two hilarious sitcoms ('70's The Bob Newhart Show and '80's Newhart"). I felt so young here - the median age must have been 55. Newhart's routine was filled with old standards, old joke references and a little new material which easily pleased the crowd. With many of the audience probably suffering from Alzheimer's, the jokes were new to them. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable evening with an old master.

The Serge says: Devo

Nov 23/09. Phoenix. Devo's first show in Toronto in 25 years was definitely no disappointment. They played an energetic and exciting show to a packed house of receptive fans and curious onlookers. They started with a couple of their earliest videos I suppose to show us how skinny they used to be. Devo, still displaying their knack for showmanship, were decked out in their trademark outfits - you would think someone would point out that yellow jumpsuits are not slimming. Their enthusiasm and energy were boundless this night, jumping around and "Devo posing" looked silly and awesome for a group of men this age. They played their first album in its entirety, blessed with crowd pleasing songs such as Uncontrollable Urge, Mongoloid and Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy. After a short break, they returned to play a handful of songs and finished with a rousing Gates Of Steel. And it was much appreciated that they skipped Whip It. Enjoy some "Nerd Punk" below.

The Serge says: White Denim

Nov 9/09,. Horseshoe. It seems "buzz band" is synonymous with "Austin, Texas" now. I can see the connection from the amazing SXSW festivals held there every year. White Denim is a garage rock/southern rock style type of band with loud, dirty jams that obviously do not match their polished, relatively subdued recorded music. The guitarist relied heavily on reverb, distortions and delays that just made him sound muffled in comparison to the vibrant rhythm section. The rhythm section were solid and tight which adds comparisons to Double Trouble and Cream's Ginger Baker/Jack Bruce. Having the drummer up front with the other two members of the band really added to the sound. One of the most original encores I've have ever seen: they came out and tore the place apart for 1 minute then called it a night. In all, it was a good show mainly due to the great musicianship of the bassist and drummer.

The Serge says: Young Rival review

Nov 4/09 Horseshoe: Still rule.

The Serge says: Deep Dark Woods

Nov 4/09 Horseshoe: This is a band from Saskatchewan that plays music tailored-made for the hippie crowd. That would explain the excess of facial hair and so much flannel that I thought I was at an unemployed lesbian conference. The myspace page has music that is eye-gouging boring which doesn't represent the live show properly. Don't get me wrong, they are still boring but not to that extent. The long jam sessions are in the Phish vein and I always enjoy a good Hammond organ solo. Basically, they didn't suck as much as I thought they would.

The Serge says: The Rifles

The Rifles from the UK sounded exactly like The Arctic Monkeys. Even dressed the same. The Rifles - originality not included.

The Serge says: Young Rival

As Jay stated, we were following these guys from the Hammer (imagine: 2 good bands from Hamilton in the last 35 years) for a while now that we became friends. And if you think I'll give a good review just because someone is my friend, then that would be a huge disservice to them. How could they better themselves if I don't point out their shortcomings? Plus, I don't suck up....unless there was plenty of gin involved.
As for the show, they were solid. Young Rival's garage rock sound is heavily influenced by old, obscure (for most people) bands such as The Pretty Things and The Ugly Ducklings but enjoyable for just about any music fan. The rendition of Misirlou by The Del-Tones (that Pulp Fiction song) was fun, energetic and really showcased Aaron's guitar skills. Plenty of new songs mixed with the older songs that blended seamlessly kept the crowd going (for a 'Shoe crowd).

jay says: young rival

OK, so I'm a little late with this. yesterday was spent licking wounds, big'ol Jameson wounds. I think I'll leave the nip of the o'l Irish to the potato people from now on. Moving on. Young Rival is a band that I've been into for quite a few years now. I had originally seen them, we'll say six years ago opening for the Burning Brides under their former name The Ride Theory. Their 60's garage/surf style blew the doors off the Shoe that night, and left an impression on moi that survives to this day. Their style has remained mostly the same, well mostly. The addition a few years back of kyle on rhythm guitars, brought more of a pop sound to the band, a good Beatles like pop sound. And then John on bass to complete.
Well, Monday past brought us back to the Shoe. The place was pretty busy for a Monday. The guys were opening up for a band called The Rifles (from the UK I think). They were already rippin into their set when we got there. Of course they were on... FIRE (da na na) playing their asses off to the crowd of typical Horseshoe, to cool for school, arm crossers. Their set was a great mix of older stuff and three or four songs that were new (to me anyway). Due to my drunkenness I totally forgot to get a set list. This makes it extremely hard to review what I heard, so I'm just gonna say it was all good, $10 bucks well spent. ALL MUST SEE THIS BAND!
The pride of Hamilton are Young Rival ( sorry Mr.Venom )

Here's a vid

The Serge says: The Black Crowes review

So The Black Crowes decided (or should I say Chris Robinson decided) to stick mainly with material from recent releases rather than play the older songs that the fans wanted to hear. There were only 2 songs from the first 4 albums (She Talks To Angels and Remedy). The new stuff played was boring hippie shit.
If you took a survey of the patrons and asked them "Who has heard the new album?", 2% would say yes, 11% would say no and 87% would say "There's a new Crowes album?". I understand that you want to play new stuff and constantly playing the older material tends to be tedious, but if you didn't want to play the older, popular material then tour under a different name so you wouldn't bore the crap out of the people in the audience whom came to hear the popular old stuff. And you had to play way out in Orillia to boot. Way to screw with your fans, wartface.
Are we missing Kate too much, Chris??? Don't fucking care, just play some good tunes.

The Serge: Perfecto, Las Vegas

Ok...so this was in Las Vegas and the cover is somewhat north of $25 but here's a review nonetheless.
What a spectacle even for a Vegas club. DJ Paul Oakenfold's Rain nights at the club Perfecto in the Palm's is filled with his signature prog/trance style celebrated by other DJ's (yeah he wasn't there...maybe he was hiding his crack accessories better than DJ AM did). The acrobatic and dance performers throughout the night were a cross between Cirque Du Soleil and Blade Runner. The weird flying pig monkeys with black boots was reminiscent of the Pink Floyd pig. And last, the fire show. Huge flames would shoot out from the light structure above the dance floor with searing temperatures that would send any Great White fan into serious remission. Oh yeah, there was absolutely no latino music. Check out the link for music / photos.
http://www.perfectovegas.com/

The Serge says: John Evans Band

Fun show from this 3 piece unit in a venue that really suited them - The Dakota Tavern. Good rockabilly / honky tonk band that kept the crowd groovin'. Check out thier tour schedule on the link and catch them in your town. You will definetly enjoy it. The dude lit his upright bass on fire. That alone is worth the price of admission.

Yeah, that Waffle House video is hilarious.

jay says re: the john evans band

The walk from Dundas and St. Patrick to the Dakota was hot and sticky, and the air was thick. An evening fit for "John Evans Band". These Austin Texas boys do a sultry southern roots rockabilly thing that'al make your head spin. You kinda feel like you're sinnin just watching them.
Great performance at a great venue. I'm giving this show a solid 9, come back soon!

Oh ya, check the myspace link on the right side of the page. They have the funniest short vid done from a Waffle House somewhere. Some really funny shit!

here's the vid below




The beer fund is up $1.44 thx to all that clicked the sponsor adds.