Oh No Forest Fires , Dinosaur Bones, Still Life Still, Arietta @ Lee's Palace

Oh No Forest Fires @ Lee's Palace
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Great night of local rock bands. Lee's Palace hosted a Friday night with four local indie rock bands.

Oh No Forest Fires:
Ok, let me start off by saying that I really, really, really, really, really like this band. So I hope this doesn't come of as being too over the top. Oh No Forest Fires consists of Rajiv Thavanathan, Brock Swanek, Matt Del Buono and Adam Nimmo (and friends, to many to list) out of Toronto. Their sound is some kind of indie math pop rock fusion filled with starts, stops, edgy hooks and sweet slow melodies that grow and build leaving you entertained and fully engaged.
Their live show is that and much more. Frontman Rajiv Thavanathan possesses the boundless energy of a dancing electron. My brother in law once described him as a Rock n' Roll Tornado and I quite agree. What's more by the end of the show the rest of the band seem to catch the fever and the chaos ensues. They're a fun band with great sound. And a must see.
On a side note: I've been listening to their EP "A War On Geometry" alot as of late.
There is a special place in my heart for "New Cove Road Back Home" not only because I love the violin in it, but also because I live in Barrie and work in Toronto and quite often it feels like I spend all day on the 400 highway too.

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Dinosaur Bones:

Dinosaur Bones @ Lee's Palace
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

This is a band I just seem to keep missing. I was glad to catch them playing Lee's this night. I wasn't able to stay for the whole set but what I did hear was quite promising and I'll make sure to catch them again soon.

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Still Life Still:

Still Life Still @ Lee's Palace
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

I had seen Still Life Still once before opening for The Kaiser Chiefs @ The Mod Club. Having heard a few songs on their myspace page I was quite excited to see them live. Their sound seemed to be off and was not quite indicative of what I thought they could be like live. On the strength of their myspace songs and being on a great local band bill I was quite glad to give them another chance. I found this performance to be a hell of a lot better and quite entertaining. Their vocals remind me of some early Sloan back when I liked them more. I'm quite eager to see and hear more from them.

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Arietta:

Arietta @ Lee's Palace
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Another band with a great track on myspace "We Were All Invincible". They played a solid set. I'll be looking for their release and next shows.

The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club

The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The first time I had heard of The Airborne Toxic Event was last summer before the Virgin Festival in Toronto. On the strength of some of the songs I heard on their myspace page I marked them down as a band to see. Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch their set. Since then I've noticed the band getting quite a bit of publicity. From a horrible album review in Pitchfork to a great performance on Letterman. I was quite eager to see them live to see the real deal.
The Airborne Toxic Event played at the Mod Club in Toronto after having sold out the El Mocambo. The band which consists of singer and guitarist Mikel Jollett, guitarist and keyboardist Steven Chen, bassist Noah Harmon, drummer Daren Taylor, and keyboardist and violist Anna Bulbrook took to the stage playing songs from their debut cd including Wishing Well, Papillion, and Gasoline.


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Though it was evident that the bands singer Mikel was not feeling well the band continued much to the delight of the fans at the Mod Club who were fully engaged by the time the band got to playing Happiness is Overrated.
A big part of this band's sound is the violin played by Anna Bulbrook. A sound which led the band into their performance of Sometime Around Midnight (their current hit). The band finished this part of their set with Innocence which featured most band members jumping off of speakers onto the stage including the violinist.
Unfortunately I had to make my way out as the band got into their encore which started with Does This Mean You're moving on ? The answer for me was yes... but hopefully not for long. Although I do hear quite a few strong influences (as suggested by the Pitchfork review) when listening to the bands songs I still can't stop myself from playing them my on iPod. Their album in my opinion is really really good, their live show is even better. I'll be sure to catch them the next time they are in Toronto.


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Chop Suicide @ The Foxx Lounge

Chop Suicide @ The Foxx Lounge
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Chop Suicide @ The Foxx Lounge
Originally uploaded by vasquezr
Snotty, flirty, in your face rock and roll... this is the description the band uses on their myspace page... and that's exactly what you'll get when you go see Chop Suicide. Last I heard the band consisting of Staci T. Ratt (guitar), Danyell (vocals) and Stephane DeBernardi (bass) were still in between drummers. It is very obvious that this band is out to have fun whenever they hit the stage. Their energy quite easily spills out the crowd and is often followed by Danyell herself who likes to wander to involve members of the audience. Comparisons to Joan Jett & GNR never hurt either. Their tunes are catchy and live show is fun to watch. Photographers will especially love this band as they provide plenty of rock and roll poses. Good fun !

Hail The Villain, Threat Signal @ The Mansion Night Club

Hail The Villain@ The Mansion Night Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Hail The Villain@ The Mansion Night Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Hard rock was brought back to Barrie with the arrival of Hail the Villain.
The Oshawa quartet consisting of Bryan Crouch on vocals, Joseph Stamp guitar, Chad Taylor bass and Drew Dockrill drums grab you by the throat with their raw energy and power and never let go. Although the band has made it to Barrie on a few occasions I had not yet had the pleasure of catching their show. Having listened to songs from their hard hitting album Population:Declining I knew this was a band I could not miss any longer. The album is really good and the live show was just as good. A really good performance, these guys are not to be missed.

Threat Signal
Also on the bill that night were the quintet rockers from Hamilton Threat Signal. They describe themselves to be Melodic Trash Metal and proved to be a lot of fun and quite entertaining. These guys make live music photography a lot of fun, good poses and lots of flying hair. Overall a lot of fun to watch.

Threat Signal @ The Mansion Night Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


Threat Signal @ The Mansion Night Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

It was nice to see hard rock/metal come back to Barrie.

Nu Music Night: Mobile @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern

Mobile @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


Mobile @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

A great night of music. Nu Music Night featured USS, Mobile and The Waking Eyes. Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch The Waking eyes this time around, but I had seen them in Barrie a few weeks ago and at the Virgin Festival this year. I was however very pleased to be able to see my first ever Mobile set. I've liked these guys for quite some time now and was quite excited to see them live. Mobile did not disappoint. The band played favourites like Montreal Calling, Out of My Head and the latest single The Killer. Although suffering from the flu Mat Joly did well on vocals. Watching him move around the stage I was reminded of a young Bono circa the Boy to War days. Really good set. I'm glad I finally caught their live show.