After all the anticipatory excitement leading up to Friday's buzz-heavy showcases by Matt Mays, Feist and Despistado, Saturday's third and final act seemed like NXNE's denoument. The few people that came to the El Mocambo early for the Honeydogs' rock opera were treated to a blistering psych blast by Boston duo Emetrex who somehow made their basic guitar and drums set-up sound like an over-amped orchestra. An impressive room-filling sound but the songs themselves weren't at all memorable.
Honeydogs' mainman Adam Levy should've asked those Emetrex dudes to hang around for added support since his two-guitar-and-piano arrangements of the elaborate material from the 10,000 Years (United Musicians) concept album just weren't working. While Levy was still able to get a sense of his songs across, the Tommy-style epic really demands the full strings and brass treatment. True North president Bernie Finkelstein -- just the man who should be licensing 10,000 Years for Canada -- stopped in briefly near the end of the performance but he was just checking to see if new signees the Golden Dogs had shown up yet. An opportunity missed.
It was only a short jog from the El Mocambo down to the Bovine Sex Club so there should've been ample time to see T.O. rockers the Gears get down but the long line of frustrated looking people with badges and wristbands spelled trouble. Evidently the club was filled to capacity so it appeared the non-NXNE doorman was only allowing friends and foxy females to enter while everyone else had to wait 40 minutes for the Gears to finish.
It may not have been entirely worth the wait but the charging attack of Chihuahua, Mexico's skatepunks Seis Pistos was at least entertaining, particularly their hilarious whistling-enhanced mockery of Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven enthusiastically shouted in Spanglish.
Over at the Horseshoe, the Organ were busy summoning up the spirits of Manchester 1983, as usual, only they've definitely become more familiar with their chosen instruments since last appearing in Toronto.
That's what happens when you go on tour. Moments after their set, the stagefront crowd of fashionably coiffed indie-kids suddenly made a mad rush for the exit. The appearance of C'mon's bearded frontman Ian Blurton gave notice that the arty bleep 'n' bloopery was over and the powerchord crunch was about to begin. C'mon were in fine form at the DKT/MC5 show but it seems that knowing their performance was being recorded for broadcast on CBC's Radio 3 caused them to turn it up a notch or five. They slashed and burned with a devestating wallop. Some sharp label rep ought to snap up the rights to C'mon's scorching new album, Midnight Is The Answer.
Tim Perlich
