The Cameron House
The great thing about the Cameron House is the variety of acts that play there nearly every day of the week. You can go and see every kind of genre of music any night of the week. If you want to learn more about what is going on there just go to our directory and look them up to see their concert schedule.
The Cameron House – Blast Toronto
Tullstars
Let’s get the advert out of the way first. Tullstars have a month-long residency at the Cameron House every Tuesday in the month of January. Since I went on the 3rd week, you only have one chance left to catch this show before it disappears. Next show is on Tuesday January 27th at 9pm.
For anyone who is a progressive rock fan, this is a show you dare not miss.
This is not a polished tribute show where every note is played to perfection. This is a show where musicians play at the height of their power and challenges some of the toughest music out there.
Their approach is raw and unfiltered. They play precision music with passion and drive and leave room for some cool interpretations.
These players not only deserve to be on that stage but their connection with each other is highly noticeable.
The players are Anh Phung on flute, guitar and vocals.
Sam Gleason on Guitar
Steven Foster on Drums
Alan Mackie on Bass
Maddy Wilde on acoustic guitar
Chris Pruden on Keyboards and piano
Special guest vocalist on two songs and excellent chef- Jamie Oliver. I really don’t know if this guy can even cook. But he definitely knows how to heat up a crowd with song.
3 sets of Jethro Tull
When I heard, this band was going to challenge themselves with two very difficult albums to execute, I had to go see how they were going to pull this off.
The first set was dedicated to Jethro Tull’s most famous album- Aqualung.
They opened up the show with the title song, by the time the song was going to come to a close; a spinal tap moment arrived with the acoustic guitar completely slipping out of tune. It may be a musician’s worst moment but as Anh was plowing through this moment, the crowd just cheered louder, and the place erupted in unison. This became a moment where we all felt that we are all in this together and we are just going to laugh it off and continue the party.
This is a complex album with a mixture of heavy Progressive rock playing and then mixing in soft folk tunes between these heavier songs. We had different members take over the vocal and instruments to get each song just right. It is not often you get a top-notch drummer pick up an acoustic guitar and strum out a folk tune.
Set 2 consisted of the entirety of the Progressive masterpiece- Thick as a Brick. With the daunting task of playing one very complex 44-minute song was going to be a ride. And what a ride!
The band performed the hell out of this epic piece of music with vim and vigour. They literally went in and attacked this monster which in my opinion is the only way to approach this music. What made it so worthwhile was watching the entire band having fun with each other as the audience that watched every single move. I must admit, there were moments when my air drumming was a little out of control. The execution of this album was a pure 10 out of 10. There is a section early on the second side of this album where they spotlight a drum solo. Well, Steven Foster’s complete abandonment on the drums was both sublime as well as deeply organic. I think I may come back to sit through that again next Tuesday. Here is a link of my little video on the drum solo-
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTxbne4DRsM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Set 3- If you haven’t completely exhausted yourself after these two albums, the band came back for a third set to play more gems from Jethro Tull’s early recordings. If you plan to go next week, I will not spoil it and reveal the songs that they chose. You will just have to pump yourself up and be wonderfully surprised by what they play for you.
As a side note, I really enjoyed watching Anh Phung embody the spirit of Ian Anderson by using some of his moves. I also appreciated that Anh did not do Ian’s famous Stork pose with the flute. I think we should leave that move to Ian.
Again I will reiterate that if you love Jethro Tull or Progressive Rock music, this is a rare moment for Toronto to experience. We do not have a ton of progressive music happening in this city, so a show like this is worth its weight of one Mother Goose. So use your Locomotive Breath and tell your friends who love Prog Rock that they have one more chance to catch this show at the Cameron House on Tuesday
Jan 27th at 9pm. It is a PWYC event so you cannot lose!
If you would like to peak at their Instagram page here is the link
Here is Tullstar in Action!
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