Of all places to have a resurgence of psychedelic music, The Black Swan was the sacred ground where these mushrooms have blossomed! The first band to open our minds was Siddharth Kota. From the opening notes it was like hanging out with Lenny Kravitz on steroids. As the set went deeper, the constant change of different keys, rhythms and mini chapters in their music kept your mind happily confused. The band let us slide into a slow space jam that fed us with cotton candy clouds. They performed a new song called “You”. It is a groovy and heartfelt tune that grabs you by the hand and leads you to a higher existence. They finished off with an unknown song with no true working title just yet. So this is where you my favourite people in Toronto will help us build a stronger bond in this musical city. I propose that we should hold a contest and name this song. What do you think?
Here are a few images of Siddharth Kota:
Honduras Thompson walked on next and opened up with a straight forward Punk Rock beat that turned into some cool Metal riffs and Jazz guitar…? This was an interesting lift off that began a very frosty set of indelible sounds. It is kind of hard to describe what happened next. The only terms I can think of is: these guys act like urgent space cowboys that love to play Tetris on a roller coaster. Figure that one out! Their tune called Stage 2 sounded very cancerous and then they finished off with a King Gizzard tune. You will have to go see these guys to figure out which song they did.
Here are a few images of Honduras Thompson:
Last week I had a chance to witness a super cool band called The Incomparable Pretties. They got the invite to this very special show and I am so glad they made this list. These guys are Loud and Proud and beating their chest as well as other parts. They have moments of sliding into a Jimi Hendrix groove that melds into Nirvana. It is quite something to flow into this kind of energy. They can get into some pretty dark territory with moments like you are drowning in a puddle of motor oil or watching T-Rex being assailed by a bunch of weirdos. They finished off their set with a nicer version of MC5 that had one hell of a sonic ending. This band is unpredictable and will keep you coming back to show off how unstable life can really be!
Here are a few images of The Incomparable Pretties:
Now for the moment I will not remember. It is because the world is not fully prepared to sit in front of this band just yet. I don’t know whether to call this band Philosophy Rock 101 or 420? This is theatre for the mind and it needs to be very open. The opened with a drum solo and then went into storytelling with no words. The mask frontman crawled out from the shadows and created a sense of discomfort that kept the audience standing far back. But, you may not be safe because a poor member of the audience became a participant in the mind altering ritual. I got a swirling sensation that numbed my brain and locked me in a state of being fully present. It seemed the rest of the audience was attuned to this way of being as well. It’s hard to tell what happened next, it was like being inside Dali painting and learning a new way of being. There was Life and Death and Life and Death and a sense of leaving this place for a while. When we all returned from this mysterious trip someone yelled out “Freebird”! Somehow we entered Freebird with psychedelic hula hoops and neon flying all around me and a celebration of Life and maybe Death. Next thing I know is I woke up and realized I didn’t know how to take a good photo. The power of the mysterious frontman and a band that used unsanctified sounds created a new world that you now can never escape from. If this is how I am going to live my new existence, I guess I will have to go back to class and see this band again and again. The name of this band is Mihaliyistic Entities. I think it is time to expand your existence.
Here are a few images of Mihaliyistic Entities: