Rating: NNNNN
9 pm
THE COAST at the Horseshoe Rating: NNNN
Credit their breakneck touring schedule, but Toronto’s the Coast just keep getting better and better. Guitarist Ian Fosbery was in fine form letting his trademark atmospheric, reverb-riddled licks chime through the quickly filling room, while the rest of the band exploded with energy during the action-packed breakdown in Ceremony Guns. All the U2 comparisons these guys get are understandable they deal in “big emotion” songs that sometimes hit you but sometimes draw a blank.Jordan Bimm and Jason Keller
10 pm
WET SECRETS at the Horseshoe Rating: NNN
Judging by his newest Edmonton indie rock export, the Wet Secrets, Lyle Bell must own the scene in that town. Besides fronting Whitey Houston and playing in Shout Out Out Out Out, the bassist now heads up this tongue-in-cheek garage rock project. Dressed in marching band outfits, the band borders on novelty, and not helping the matter are song titles like It’s Hard To Meet Somebody (Living As A Disembodied Head). Bell, along with towering co-vocalists Kim Rackel and Donna Ball, had the crowd moving throughout their bass-throbbing set, which at times looked like a scene from a John Waters movie. Jason Keller
MAD STARING EYES at the Reverb Rating: NNN
Walked into the Reverb to check out Mad Staring Eyes and almost walked right out again. The entire band had wrapped their heads in gauze and looked like major burn victims. Too bad. They’ve got great chops, a terrific hard pop sound and a talented lead singer, Alex Jay, who showed tons of presence, even from behind the weird bandages. Lose the gauze, guys. Susan G. Cole
AMIT at Sneaky Dee’s Rating: NN
Charismatic Kuwaiti-born Amit and his racially mixed ensemble drew similarly diverse devotees of this all-inclusive sunshine soul-jazz-pop. Catchy You+Me+Love opener was enjoyable, but too many introverted piano ballads made Amit a dull boy. Lucie Davies
GREGORY PEPPER AND HIS PROBLEMS at Sneaky Dee’s Rating: NNNN
Gregory Pepper’s “Problems” are a drummer (on this occasion obscured from view by unfortunate staging) and a rapper whose absence called for the moustachioed keyboard wiz to indulge in some ill-advised but surprisingly entertaining spoken word. Add that to a Brian Wilsonesque knack for masking self-loathing in layers of shiny looping melodies and you had a decidedly problem-free set. LD
11 pm
SMALL SINS at the Horseshoe Rating: NNNN
Getting off to a late start meant Thom D’Arcy and co. had to snip their crowd-pleasing Hefner cover in favour of debuting two cool-sounding new songs. Despite that small sin (which elicited some protest from hardcore fans), their groovy electro-power-pop had everyone in the ’Shoe pogoing along to hits like Stay and On The Line. JB
OHOLICS at the Silver Dollar Rating: NNN
The Silver Dollar was shockingly packed for Swedish psych upstarts Oholics even though they’ve only released one very limited-edition single. Even more puzzling was seeing that space-box-tweaking and sitar-strumming Anders Thunarf hyad no shoes on his feet. Not a wise move in the Silver Dollar, or any club booked by Dan Burke (who had already been in one scuffle by 10:30 pm), but then again, these kiddos had just moments earlier been thrilled to try their first burritos, so clearly they haven’t spent much time outside of Gothenburg. The young Oholics appeared to be awed by the size of the crowd, and although they ran through their trippy set without a hitch, there were none of the thrills, spills or chills we’ve come to expect from Swedish rock exports. TP
MONOTONIX at the Reverb Rating: NNNN
If there was one band that seemed to be on everyone’s lips this festival, it was thundering Tel Aviv power trio Monotonix. The buzz isn’t so much because of their great tunes – they’re basically Kyuss minus a bass – but mostly because of the wild, life-endangering spectacle of their live show. Their Reverb throwdown was no exception. Pillars were climbed, debris littered across the room, and a drummer set up atop the bar by the end of the set, just a few highlights from their “What the fuck is he doing now?!” ear-splittingly heavy set. JK
DR. DRAW at Tattoo Rock Parlour Rating: NNN
Walked into the confusingly swanky Tattoo Rock Parlour in time to catch the guy who could be the next Ashley MacIsaac. It’s unclear where Eugene Draw got his medical credentials, but the Moscow native sure plays a mean fiddle while leading a pro-sounding rock-fusion ensemble. Even Sum 41 bassist “Cone” McCaslin, seen lounging at the bar, looked impressed. JK
TERRY LYNN at Wrongbar Rating: NNN
The Last Gang showcase at Wrongbar ran about an hour behind schedule, which meant that instead of Let’s Go To War! we were treated to the sounds of Jamaica’s Terry Lynn, in her first North American performance. Dancehall reggae adulterated with art pop and electro sensibilities. Benjamin Boles
LET’S GO TO WAR at Wrongbar Rating: NNNN
The buzz factor was upped another notch by Let’s Go to War, fresh off their tour with M.I.A. For the most part, it was a fun frenzy of futuristic funk, with some bone-snapping percussion thrown in for good measure. The peak performance of the night was their electric enactment of cocaine epidemic anthem The Whole City’s Got A Cold. Half the club screamed the lyrics to a song on an album that isn’t even out yet. AS
NUMERO at the Drake Rating: NNN
Montreal indie dance duo Numero woke up the room with a high-energy electro set. Their more aggressive clubby moments worked better than their pop tangents, which occasionally brushed up a little too close to French cheese. BB
Midnight
ALEX CUBA at Tattoo Rock Parlour Rating: NNNN
While Smithers, BC’s Alex Cuba playing solo acoustic at the self-consciously trendy Tattoo Rock Parlour sounded like a bad fit, the fabulously ’froed Latin soul hotshot had enough charisma to pull it off. After hearing a couple of songs and figuring Alex Cuba wasn’t going to start singing in English any time soon, a few people split. But soon the Cuban emigré had most of the audience clapping (and dancing!) along to songs he hadn’t yet recorded. He went over so well, he didn’t feel the need to pull out his head-turning covers of Gordon Lightfoot’s Early Morning Rain or Blue Rodeo’s Bad Timing. This hombre is going places. TP
PEOPLE IN PLANES at the Reverb Rating: NNN
Hey, Gareth Jones, get a grip. We can tell you’ve got charisma and that the band you front, People in Planes, has a decent rock sound, but you appear to be a little bit in love with yourself. And that makes me not want to love you back. Nice shirt, though. SGC
KNIFEHANDCHOP at the Drake Rating: NNNN
Toronto laptop brat Knifehandchop’s set was somewhere between a DJ performance and a live show, which raises the question of whether pitching up an old Daft Punk hit to hardcore techno speed can be judged by the same criteria we’d use with a guitar player. Doesn’t really matter when it’s this much fun. BB
O’LUGE at Wrongbar Rating: NNN
They don’t make reggae bands like this any more. Concrete-thick dub roots reggae performed by some knee-length natty dreads guitarist/bassists, a trio of grimy brass instrumentalists and some crunchy drum patterns. The songs were mostly instrumental, slower than 80 bpm and based on the dub roots traditions you know so well. Addi Stewart
1 am
CHRIS LETCHER at the Dakota Tavern Rating: NNN
This South-African born singer/songwriter (now based in London, England) came to the Dakota with his new EP, Harmonium, and pleased the crowd with quality pop hooks and sugar-sweet melodies. Sure, some of his chord structures are easily recognizable from other songs, but their understated charm ultimately won me over. JB
THESE NEW PURITANS at the Reverb Rating: NNN
A suprisingly spacious Reverb met the Toronto debut of UK next big things These New Puritans. Despite the smallish turnout, chronically scowling singer/guitarist Jack Barnett and his dour accomplices performed with no less intensity, volume and body armour than usual. At this stage, the Puritans seem to be downplaying some of their Joy Division inspiration while topping up with more Fall and Wire elements, which went down well with the crowd gleefully moshing up front through every droning blast. TP
