This was my last kick at the can going out to discover new music. This time I went down to Queen St to hang out at the Rivoli and the Cameron House. Here are three bands you should learn about.

Ash Molloy

Before Ash Molloy came on, the stage was taken over by a drag queen named Aria Doll who warmed up the room with some pretty flexible dance moves. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for NXNE and Pride month to mingle.

At the beginning of her show, Ash just reminded me of a bored Billie Eilish. Once she began to open up about her coming out, she actually began to emerge on stage. I guess once you stand mentally stripped, a new persona began to take over. By the third song, Ash was rocking out and a new character was born. She grabbed a violin and added to the dimension of this new character.

With a heartfelt song being presented to everyone in the audience, most of them from the LGBTQ community, the connections were being made. Ash was no longer bored or tentative on stage. She began to pour out her guts and the room responded.

Her song “Breakdown” became a slow moody brooding creature creeped into your psyche. Her brand-new song sounded something that the band Hole would do. This song was written for crazy girls. The wonderfully disturbed tones of the song seem to suggest that you lose yourself and party until you throw up.

This is a good indie rock band that builds its messy feeling from the greasy garage floor.

Ash Molloy and her guts:

I, the Mountain

I have to admit, I have seen this band once before last year at the Gussapalooza Festival. My gut was saying that I had to see them again, and this is the reason why.

The band and a couple of friends covered the entire stage at the Cameron House and came on like firing cannon. They were flying the flag of positive energy from the first note.

Every song they do has plenty of catchy hooks that give the audience enough space to create a sing-a-long if they want to do that. The overall sound would lean into Country Pop but with anthem qualities that enhance their sound to be puffed up in a much larger capacity.

They will even throw in a fun smooch love song to keep the lovers in the crowd happy. I was sitting by the side of the stage and occasional I would look into the audience only to see a sea of smiling faces. In fact, later on, I met people who were here that was out to see the next band. I was told this was not their usual style of music, but it did make them feel really good. That is the purpose of this band. They want you walking away into the world with a positive energy.

They really are a feel-good band. If I had to compare them to a dinner, I would say this band is the after-dinner mint. They really know how to cleanse your palette.

Here are tasty I, the Mountain photos:

Sparrow Blue

I have a pretty cool story about this band. One day one of NXNE, this tall blonde guy came up to me and asked if I was media. I said yes and we exchanged cards. He invited me out to see his band. Fast forward to the end of I,the Mountain and I was getting ready to go home. I noticed a man wearing a Sparrow Blue T-shirt. I asked him how good the band was. He said they were a tight solid Rock and Roll band.  When did you see them? He looked at me kinda funny and said they are on next.

Well, if that wasn’t an invitation from the Rock gods, I don’t know what is. I got very excited that I met the guitar player and now I am about to witness this band live. This was Kismet!

The band came on and the lead singer sang a capella opening before kicking the showoff in high gear. I really loved the energy they were putting out. Each member was going for broke in their own rocking way.

We had the loud shirt singer belting it out with his rocking vocals. There was the barefoot hippie guitarist who I met a couple of days earlier. The other guitarist looked like a gypsy rocker with a very cool hat. The bass player for some reason reminded me of Dwayne Johnson, but not as big. The drummer took his looks straight out of the pages of how to be John Bonham.

This is a Rock and Roll band. Make no mistake, and they are here to rock your world. Their stage presence is big and obvious. Each of them is working for the music and for the crowd’s pleasure. Simply put, these guys look awesome on a stage together. They just look like a top-notch sports team that really works well together on stage. Who knew that Edmonton can rock so well?

Toronto may have some of the best musicians around, but the best musicians in Canada want to play for a Toronto audience. The next time you read about Sparrow Blue in Toronto, put on your favourite rock t-shirt and go out and have a blast with this band.

The Rockin’ Sparrow Blue:

Here are their Instagram accounts so you can get to know these bands a little better

www.instagram.com/ashmolloymusic/

www.instagram.com/ithemountain/

www.instagram.com/sparrowblueofficial/

If you have seen any of these bands or have a great MXNE story, please share with us in our comments section below. We are on a mission to find only the best bands out there!