It’s a Thursday night and people want to start their weekend off a little early. Cherry Cola’s on Bathurst Street seems to be a good spot as any to make this happen. The festivities started around 9:30 when Texas Dirty hit the stage. Now this doesn’t mean they are from Texas, they are a Toronto band, but another band drove from Texas to be back in Canada. That blurb will show up a little later. Well the band did what needed to be done; they warmed up the crowd into a rocking mood for the evening.
What I liked about this band is they had some fist pumping Rock’N’Roll going on. They were a rock band that was filled with mindful melodies and some solid sonic solutions. These were the grease monkeys that would fill you gas tank and get you to head out on the Rockin’ highway.
Here are a few pics from Texas Dirty’s performance:
Next to bat was one of the favourites, Pink Leather Jackets. They came on stage with their pink balloons, pink sunglasses, but no pink leather jackets! What the hell! Well that disappointment was soon squashed when the opening song sounded like one of today’s punk rock radio tunes. They also played some straight forward Rock”NRoll as well as some new pop riffs to round out their set. These guys had enough juice to keep everyone happy, especially when the singer jumped into the crowd to have a little rock party with them.
They went into their new EP, a limited edition of “Good Love”. It had a more radio friendly edge to it. Their song, “Wasting Love”, should hit the airwaves somewhere around this town. It has the potential to raise them up to the next level of their craft and popularity. I got a good tip from the singer. Pink Leather Jackets practices their material every Tuesday night at Southside Johnny’s in Port Credit, Mississauga around 9:30pm. Here is a chance to see this up and coming band before they get any bigger. A good time is guaranteed.
Here are a few pics from Pink Leather Jackets’ performance:
The Hazytones went on next and I was not prepared for this wailing sludge of a sound. These are the guys that drove from Texas just to play for ½ hour in Toronto. Just kidding, these road warriors hail from Montreal and wanted to blow our minds with their take on what todays Black Sabbath should sound like. This was a great example of stoner rock, and the lead singer was wearing a Mototrhead T-Shirt. I can never get enough Lemmy…
The Bass player kept his frequencies very low to attract you into the great tar pit that is The Hazytones. They never let up on this sound and why should they. They are truly veterans of the stage and command your attention to this wheel of confusion. They wrapped up still doing what they do best, but this tune had a more Dio influence running through it. Personally, I will take both anytime, as long as The Hazytones keep coming back to Toronto, the bigger they should grow.
Here are a few pics from Hazytones’ performance:
The final band got on stage and said, we are the last band. Someone from the murky crowd yelled out, “is that your name?’. Their name is Pioneer Anomaly and what a perfect name for this band. They opened with a very raw and under-produced sound. It was very thrash, with the sound of trash and they led with their balls full of brash. The best way I could describe them, is they were very organized at being disorganized. Like any good Spinal Tap moment, they broke guitar string within the first couple of songs, which meant the band would meander aimlessly through tactile explorations until the other guitarist would return to the stage to continue with their uncompromising exercise. This was a band that was truly original. I pondered how to describe their approach and it was a difficult speculation to come up with one description.
The ones I could come up with was, a Frankenstein Monster where some of the pieces fit and the rest will give you a maddening shock. The other one was, you are walking through a beautiful labyrinth made up pure poison ivy bushes, but you still get to wander around it on a bright sunny day.
This is a band that you have to go in with a completely open mind, because if you knew the sun will burn out, you have to decide whether to stay or go.
Here are a few pics from Pioneer Anomaly’s performance:
Four different Rock”N”Roll bands, did you have a favourite, well you should have been there to decide. Look out for more band promotions on Facebook, and explore the new music brewing in these small clubs. You may find some surprises that will carry you to more new music. You can start by looking here… https://www.facebook.com/blasttoronto/
Here are some links to the band I witnessed… https://texasdirty.bandcamp.com/
Pink Leather Jackets… https://www.facebook.com/PinkLeatherJackets/
The Hazytones… https://thehazytones.bandcamp.com/
Pioneer Anomaly… https://pioneeranomaly.bandcamp.com/releases
Cherry Cola’s .. http://cherrycolascabaret.com/