Concert Reviews

Andria Simone: El Mocambo

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 05/09/2013 - 11:02

Toronto ON
Photo: Andria taking a little piece of your heart...

So it’s back to the exposed bricks and minimal wall coverings at the El Mo, making it just that little bit more challenging for mixing at volume. More on this later.
The willowy and tempestuous Andria Simone was in the house to work her debut disc 'Nothing Comes Easy' and generally buff up the brand. At 23, Simone’s still young enough to pull off the hippie brat rocker personna and it’s working for her, as a dance floor of adoring young female fans attested. They stayed with Simone throughout the trip, bustin’ out to every song and singing the words to covers and originals alike with bright-eyed enthusiasm.

The Pope Knows – Carole Pope Live

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 04/19/2013 - 03:43

Submitted to Cashbox Canada

The Canadian icon, best known for her work with long time musical partner, Kevan Staples, in the band, Rough Trade during the late 70’s and into the mid 80’s, performed April 13 at The Brass Monkey in Ottawa, Ontario.

Carole was noted to be one of the first openly lesbian entertainers in the world to achieve mainstream fame.

Thirty some years later, Carole Pope who has maintained a lower profile career, still has the voice and charisma as she had back then. Opening up her set with the “All Touch/No Contact”, the type of song that brings you right back to her rockin’ concerts in the 80’s.

“High School Confidential” with its long lived popularity quickly brought people on to the dance floor. At the time of its release, “High School Confidential” was one of the most sexually explicit songs ever to reach the Canadian pop charts, and despite the sexual ambiguity, the first with such strong lesbian overtones. Other notable songs that were performed from the Rough Trade era were “Crimes of Passion” and “Weapons”.

Covered in Cash

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 03/07/2013 - 16:28

Submitted by Sandy Graham

Rick Aulier loves everything Johnny Cash. He loves his songs, his life stories, his legacy. So much so, he is the singer and inspiration behind Covered in Cash, a rockabilly/country/rock/acoustic band that can make you love Cash too.

Rick is an East Coast Canadian, who went Stateside, who came back and settled in Toronto, plays music, bought a restaurant bar with his enthusiastic business partner Scott Brockington, turned it into an Irish pub, An Sibin (pronounced Ahn Shebeen) and loves to perform. ‘I bought a bar so I could earn a living and do music, this is what I love. It is great to get up here with my band and entertain; especially Johnny Cash, whose songs I love to do’, Aulier drawls in a deep voice.

Covered in Cash has a great line-up of musicians, on lead guitar sending out Allman-esque solos is James Quinn, on bass guitar seasoned Richard Bunnyboils holds the fort with a solid beat and great background oohs and ahhs. On acoustic guitar is Tom Price, almost looking too young to know the tunes, but obviously embraces them with great gusto and has a magnetic stage presence partnered with solid rhythms. Price also has background vocals that blend well with Aulier. On drums, the only ‘Irish’ part of the band is Conor Garrity, who keeps a solid hold on the backbeat of the show.

JPEC 2013 – Tapestry a Musical Landscape

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 02/28/2013 - 13:13

Submitted by Bill McDonald

Last Saturday, the Jazz Performance and Education Centre (JPEC) kicked off their 2013 season with their opening night gala “Tapestry, a Musical Landscape” at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. The evening featured Joe Sealy’s “Africville Stories”, “A Salute to Motown”, and a celebration of Black History Month.

Aficville Stories, from the words and music of Joe Sealy’s Juno Award wining “Afrciville Suite”, was presented by Jackie Richardson on vocals and narration, Joe Sealy (piano), Paul Novotny (bass), Mark Kelso (drums) and John Johnson (sax). The set opened with the thunderous, gospel-inspired, “Deep Down Inside”. Most musicians would be content to finish their night at the energy level of this opening number. But, Africville Stories is no ordinary set of music, and Jackie Richardson begins where most vocalists hit their peaks.

Live Performances Roundup of the 25th Folk Alliance Conference

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 02/28/2013 - 12:42

Story: Lenny Stoute

The 25th Folk Alliance Conference swarmed all over Toronto’s Delta Chelsea Hotel between Feb.20-24. Both Conference and Hotel survived each other and even though they stuck out like hookers at a folk festival, the working girls in the lobby in their little black dresses were ok with the sweaters ’n’ jeans crew.

Which became more rock ’n’ roll raucous as the event wore on, culminating in Saturday’s boozy finale. Which, in the anarchic spirit of the earliest folk traditions, wasn’t one large event but rather a battle of the bands conducted in separate bedroom showcases all over the joint. Doesn’t get more up close and personal than that and gave the event an intimate feel as counterbalance to the slick surroundings.

It was all cozy in Mel Brulee’s bedroom where the Cornwall ON, chanteuse/guitarist did a set of intense, deeply personal material, drawn equally from the Sucré/Salé EP and unreleased songs that quietly but firmly shut out the ruckus in the hallway.

John McDermott and Friends at Koerner Hall (Toronto)

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 12/21/2012 - 10:46

Submitted by Sandy Graham

When you arrive at a John McDermott show he does the unthinkable in soft seat theatre artist behaviour – he is at the door pre-show to greet his fans. As I walked in, there he was, in comfortable clothes, wrapping his arms around various people as they walked in with their tickets in hand. Warm start before he even starting singing all the classic Christmas songs with his big Irish/Scottish lungs.

McDermott walks comfortably on stage, warmly saying hello to the audience, and giving a quick wave across the stage to his band. Right from the start, he has the audience in the palm of his hands, casually strolling the stage, leaning on a small stool, and telling great stories in between all the songs of the season.
From his rendition of Murray McLauchlan’s ‘Old Tin Star’, ‘Christmas in the Trenches’, (a memorial of the Christmas Truce of 1914) ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’ all done McDermott style; with very acoustic touches made possible by his brilliant guitarist and musical director, Jason Fowler. The licks and trills are so great that McDermott quips ‘Don’t encourage him folks’. The Canadian tenor effortlessly hit the highs and the lows in his delivery of ‘Ava Maria’ as well as ‘Oh Holy Night’. All the while telling you jokes about his trials and tribulations of finding and keeping a band together.

Long Live Rock – The Who Townshend and Toronto

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 12/14/2012 - 00:32

Submitted by Bill Delingat
Photo Credits: Tracey Savein

It has been 30 years since Rock lost the Shining star of John Lennon.

Everyone knows where they were that night and he will live on through his music for generations to come. Lennon was not the only one that was taken from us all too soon. Many had passed before him; Jim Morrison, Joplin, Hendrix, Dennis Wilson, Kurt Cobain. Crazy Horse Guitarist Danny Whitten as well as Neil’s personal roadie Bruce Berry was also lost at a young age and that tragedy became Neil’s first dark album and a song written called “Tonight’s the Night” as Neil lamented the loss of his friends.

Jeanine Mackie Live and Then Some

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 11/30/2012 - 09:47

Submitted by Don Graham

Photo Credit: Ian Sinclair

To say there has been in decline in live music and live music venues would, of course, be an understatement. Gone are the days of six nights a week of live bands playing at bars and clubs yards apart and each one crowded with appreciative music lovers. It wasn’t unusual for bands to be in one spot for weeks at a time, drawing their crowd of followers and regulars with them. Lately the trend is to have recorded music, DJ’s for the most part with live entertainment once in awhile. Even the venues that have live music have pared down versions, singles, duos and trios. More cost effective.

So when we went to see the Jeanine Mackie Band at the Drake Hotel in the Drake Underground, in west end Toronto the stage set up brought a huge smile to my face. The stage was set for a six piece band, guitar, bass, keys, saxophone, drums and congas and two back up singers and Ms Mackie. There was an awesome feeling in the room that something exciting was about to happen. As the band took the stage, which by the way was a real stage complete with curtains and a real side stage or wings, the crowd was buzzing and it was like an old time Friday night.
The band consisted of some the city’s finest; Bob McAlpine on guitar, Matt Horner on keyboards, Byron Stoehr bass, Colleen Allen sax, Steve Heathcote on drums and Art Avalos on percussion.

Joe Bonamassa - Roy Thomson Hall, November 17th, 2012 - Toronto

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 11/22/2012 - 12:47

Submitted by Tracey Savein

Say it ain't so, Joe...was my first thought the instant that last note was played at Roy Thomson Hall this November 17th night in Toronto... and I'm sure I wasn't the only one as Joe Bonamassa's blistering rendition of ZZ Top's "Just Got Paid", playfully riddled with Zeppelin licks, brought the house down AND blew the roof off all at once. Up or down, whichever way you chose to look, it was one hot night of stellar blues and crafty musicianship.

Decked out in dark suit and shades, with slicked back hair and matching purple kicks and tie, Joe looked the consummate bluesman backed that up while playing his rainbow of guitars.

Starting off the night with a beautiful solo acoustic mini set, intermitantly accompanied by Tal Bergman on percussions, Joe's soulful cover of Bad Company's "Seagull" was a pleasant and well received surprise.

Then came the electric blues mega set, cue band. Veteran aces Carmine Rojas (bass), Rick Melick (keyboards), and returning to the stage, Tal Bergman (drums) were individually like a groove and rhythm seminar, each showing us their proverbial prowess, but add those three seasoned pieces to Joe virtuoso, and you have one powerhouse musical pie.

Jarvis Church & Soul Station: The Hoxton

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 11/15/2012 - 21:34

Toronto, ON

It was hot, hot, hot, onstage and off during the Jarvis Church soul throw down in front of a near full Hoxton, Management had dutifully cranked the heat for the usual November conditions. Except last Saturday night was Memphis warm outside and sauna like inside. Even the babes in barely there camisoles were sweating up way before the dancing started. No question this was a dancing demographic, primarily made up of newish fans brought into the soul fold by such as Usher and Timberlake, salted with a small number of veteran genre fans reliving their old soul days.

All comers were pleased as Church and backing crew Soul Station set a torrid pace which put everybody on the good foot from the get go.
The former Philosopher Kings front man is on a mission to bring soul back and with the Sam Cooke catalogue as the template, he went to work with sweaty enthusiasm and impressive vocal chops.

Church is arguably the finest falsetto in the land and selections such as Cooke’s Civil Rights anthem ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ and his own current single ‘Do It Better’ showcased a painstaking and emotive approach to the material. Anyone familiar with Cooke’s work knows it’s no easy task covering all his vocal bases. Church was up for the challenging, cleverly balancing the testifyin’ with the smooth operatin’ on such as ‘Having A party’ and ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’.