The Brockton

Who doesn’t love a good house party?

A couple of months ago, I went to a local musicians listening party hosted by an Instagram personality called Spinclass. It was there where I first heard of the Brockton. Being the curious person that I am, I had to go and see this new music venue.

I scored a pair of tickets to their last show of the season. The act was Wayne Petti from the popular Indie band, Cuff the Duke. I walked up to 152 St Helens Ave which turned out to be somebody’s home. I knocked on the door and was greeted by Sara and Geoff. It turns out that this family opens its home to local artists to come and have a unique setting to perform their songs.

The atmosphere is warm and inviting and I was able to speak with the artists before show time. More people entered the space and soon it was transformed into an intimate party with a roomful of friendly strangers. When it was time to leave, I felt like I left the building with a bunch of new friends. That is the magic of this place. They promote live music like any other music venue, but the intimacy of connectivity is woven within these walls.

I could go on and on about this place, but I am going to save it, for a more in-depth interview with the people who make this happen. They are taking time off for the summer and will return in the fall. I will present this article with a list of the up-and-coming acts that will kick off the next season.

This night held two different artists that are clearly friends. We were entertained by Mark Sasso and Wayne Petti.

Mark Sasso

If you are a fan of a bouncy alt Country music, you may have heard of a band called Elliot Brood. Well, this night we got lead singer Mark Sasso to come and sing a solo acoustic set.

Mark decided to go in a different direction with his set and sing songs that have a deep personal feeling to it. He began with a sad song and with his wistful vocals held the crowd’s attention. This was going to be a set full of reflective moments.

These heavy-hearted songs carry that message we all have heard before. But what I enjoyed is how Mark set up the stories. His characters seem to be placed in slightly peculiar settings. For example, he sang the classic of a couple calling it quits, but this break-up took place inside a restroom.

The other stand out song was his take on looking for love. This story was about a Nun who eventually transformed her existence into a prostitute. Now there is a twist you don’t hear every day. In fact, his stories dig a little deeper into the human experience and open up certain pains and fears and sufferings we try not to look at too long.

Mark sang songs from his past that is filled with situations and characters that you may see in a movie. By the second half of his set, he played his brand-new material that dug even deeper into the human experience. These became more personal as you identified with the struggle of real human afflictions. You could really feel it in his song, “Addiction”. If you have a person in your life dealing with this, Mark makes you feel that you are not alone.

Don’t worry it is not all sadness and bad news, the stories he told were open, honest and authentic enough to encourage audience participation. It just felt like a bunch of friends getting together and having fun together. The banter between the artist and the audience felt more like easy and loose conversations you could have around a backyard fire.

This is Mark Sasso:

Wayne Petti

Well, that sense of having fun together continued with Wayne Petti.   The one funny recurring theme is how each artist had to constantly tune their guitars and then forgetting the lyrics to a couple of their own songs. That is how relaxed the evening went. We went with the flow of the party.

That was half the fun of this evening. These artists seem to be perfectly comfortable talking about their flaws with a sense of fine humility. It just made the experience feel so real and bona fide. For example, Wayne let us in on a little secret. He places his set list on the screensaver of his phone. He was trying to remember what song to do next, when someone said, “What does your Screensaver say”? It was little moments like that that kept the evening grounded and real.

There was even a fan that showed up to tell Wayne that his brother, named Darryl was a good friend of his. They grew up and played video games together and somehow one of his games went missing. Was Wayne a video game thief when he was younger?  He didn’t confess to this alleged crime.

With his harmonica and acoustic guitar, Wayne really created a Neil Young vibe that resonated with all the Alt-Country fans in the building. For fans of Cuff the Duke, this was a real treat to hear these songs stripped down and performed with just a guitar and sometime harmonica.

Like his namesake, Wayne Petti decided to do a cover of a Tom Petty song. His version of, “I won’t back down”, was a subdued version of standing up for yourself.

Most of Wayne’s set were songs of their latest album called “Breaking Down”. The songs were so good; I made sure I picked up a copy of it at the merch table they set up near the front door.

The last song of the evening was dedicated to his old pal, Darryl and the missing video game. This cold case may have to go into the vaults of Unsolved Mysteries.

This is Wayne Petti:

Listen, at the end of the day, if you love a chilled house party atmosphere and a sense of quiet intimacy, you should treat yourself to this kind of musical experience. This is just one of those gems that exist in Toronto. This is a place to feel at home and treated like a valued guest as you experience local talent with a different twist.

If you want to look into these artists a little deeper, check out their Instagrams accounts.

www.instagram.com/elliottbrood/

www.instagram.com/cufftheduke/

www.instagram.com/thebrockton/

If you have been to the Brockton, please leave your experience in our comment section below.