What I love about going to the Linsmore Tavern is that they bring in an eclectic variety of music. Not only is it a great bar for the neighbourhood, but people will travel from all over to catch unique acts that pass through. It is also a few steps away from Greenwood Station.
This evening saw both a local surf band called The Swinging Pussycats and an English Rockabilly guitarist called Johnny Gunner and the Raiders.
The Swinging Pussy Cats
If you are a fan of surf music, you are in luck living here in Toronto. We have plenty of great surf bands to explore. On that list you will find a fun band called The Swinging Pussycats. They play original music that will make you want to get up and dance.
This may be an obscure reference, but I do enjoy the singers little squeal that she adds to her vocals. It reminds me of Dale Bozzio from the 80’s pop band Missing Persons. Remember them?
When they began their second song, it sounded like a mash-up of The Rolling Stones meets early Kiss. That was cool, and then they surfed on a carefree wave that eventually got messy, because it turned into a spaghetti western called Lee Van Cleef.
They took us a musical journey as we got to visit Volcano Beach and then got into a Rumble- Link Wray style. Heck we even found out that Vicky don’t surf! The lyrics to this song were like experiencing an epic poem. You have to see this one live and try to uncover the true meaning of this song.
Speaking of keeping this a little mysterious, they performed a song about their favourite season. I will give you four to one odds to guess which season it is. Please leave your answer at the bottom of this page and you could win a pair of tickets to see, the Swinging Pussycats in a future show!
They finished their set with the Who’s “I can’t explain”, and the weather is getting better. It is time to break out your surf board and start seeing these bands that keep Canada warm all year long.
Let’s swing into these photos:
Johnny Gunner and the Raiders
Johnny Gunner is a classic rockabilly guitarist who flew in from Essex England to play for our entertainment. On the very first song he was promising a whole lotta fun was going to happen.
At the age e of 60, as of Monday, Johnny is a man who looks like he has been having fun for a long time. I think it was his pink planet exploding shirt that gave it away. And yes, there was cake served that evening. Just another reason to go out. You get free cake sometimes.
This band sticks to the authentic Rockabilly sound. So, if you are a fan of Elvis, Roy Orbison and Eddie Cochrane, this is the show you want to be at. He plays a lot of original tunes and blends together with some unknown classics long forgotten. Thank goodness for this band keeping those songs alive.
I was truly enjoying watching the Bass player slap his way through this set. If you looked a little closer to his instrument you can see exactly how he plays it because of the really worn parts on his fret board. He wore the finish right down to the wood again.
I particularly enjoyed his song, “Did you mean what you said”. It really had that great be-bopping bounce to it, like a classic Buddy Holly song.
I was saving this tid- bit until the end. Johnny Gunner let us know that he will be moving permantely to Toronto in the summer. That is great news for us, because we don’t have to wait for him to fly to us anymore. I have a feeling he will be playing a lot more around this city.
I let Johnny know that he can use Blast Toronto’s Event calendar to promote his future shows. So stay tuned and watch out for his name to start showing up soon. Blast Toronto will be sharing as many shows as we possibly can and Johnny Gunner is welcome to our calendar anytime.
You are going to be gunning for these photos:
Here are their Instagram pages so you can follow these talented bands.
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