On Thursday (March 5^th) iheartthemusic decided to venture into familiar territory and attend The Secret Valentine Tour show at The Mod Club. Why was it “familiar territory”, you ask? Well, it seemed like the same crowd that was at the Take Action Tour Toronto show a few weeks back was in full attendance at this one too. It was all ages, which became ever more apparent as we never had to wait for a drink at the bar! We arrived fairly early so as to get a chance to speak with the boys from The Cab, one of the bands performing that evening, and noticed that a lineup had already begun well before the show’s opening act was set to perform (don’t these kids have school?). As we walked into The Mod Club there were a few comments directed at us by the girls in line who appeared to be upset that we were getting in before them! I even believe b**** was yelled at us by a 14-year-old girl. It was an interesting way to start the night!

First up on stage was a band from Florida (which was a theme throughout the night) that go by the name of VersaEmerge. What I loved about this band was that it was headed by a female vocalist. You rarely see that in a rock/pop band and so this was a breath of fresh air! Sierra Kusterbeck is her name and she exhibits maturity well beyond her years (she is only 18!), which became evident when we sat down and chatted with her before the show. The girl can sing too! She commanded the attention of the audience and it was hard to look at anything else (let alone the other band members). VersaEmerge ended their set by adding “even though this is half the crowd we’ve played for, it’s the best we’ve ever seen!” Well thank you, but considering the venue was not even half full, I doubt it was the best!

Next up was There For Tomorrow, another Florida based band that consists of Maika Maile (vocals/guitar), Christian Climer (guitar/vocals), Christopher Kamrada (drums) and Jay Enriquez (bass). These boys started off by doing the sound check that they had missed earlier. I won’t use that against them, however, as I later found out that their absence  during sound check  was a result of wanting to go downtown. Having been their first time in Toronto, you have to love a band that takes the time to enjoy the city they are playing in! So after all the tuning was done I have to say they were pretty amazing and lead singer Maika’s voice was incredible. What really got the crowd going were the MANY references to the fact that Canadian girls are so beautiful. On numerous occasions Maika announced, “I like what I see pretty girls”, which either means that their publicist had prepared them well (considering the entire audience was female) or they truly do believe that Canadian girls are hot (and why wouldn’t they!). Either way, this is a band that I am going to keep on my radar as I anticipate we will be hearing more from them soon!

The Cab was next on the bill and I got the pleasure to sit down and chat with some of the members before the show. You may have already heard of them as their single “Bounce” was featured on an episode of The Hills in the fall. When the band first appeared on the stage I was a bit thrown off by the Michael Jackson glove that lead singer Alex was sporting during the entire set, however, they made up for it with their talent. This band went straight into it, there was no chatting with the crowd or telling them how amazing they were like the predecessors. They played their first few songs without even acknowledging the crowd, which I loved since, let’s face it, it’s all about the music anyway! They also incorporated different instruments into their performance, which you don’t normally see with this style of music. Keyboardist Alex (the heartthrob of the group) added a unique touch to their sound. There was one minor instrumental setback during their set when Ian’s guitar was out of tune, but singer Alex was able to cut the silence by singing an old tune from five years ago and engaging the crowd in the process. They invited Sierra from VersaEmerge on stage to sing with them at one point which was great and the combination of Alex and Sierra’s voices sounded amazing. One thing I noticed that lead singer Alex did that I have yet to see any other bands do was introduce and thank each individual member of the band while on stage. I also appreciated the N’Sync throwback that snuck into their set near the end. These boys have convinced me that they know how to put on a show and were definitely the highlight of the night.

Last but not least was We The Kings: the headliners for the evening. I actually didn’t catch their set as I was engaged in some interviews at the time, but managed to hear a bit. What I heard was great, although it was not all original material. I believe they played a cover of Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours.” I didn’t quite understand this; do they not have their own material? A source close to the tour informed me that that was typical of their performances, so I was a bit disappointed by that. After the show I was able to chat with them and they redeemed themselves in my books. They are really down to earth and truly enjoy what they are doing and all the support that they get from their fans (I still don’t understand the fee  they impose on fans who want to meet them after the show though). I will have to catch them next time they are in Toronto to garner a better understanding of what these guys are really like as performers.

photography courtesy of Jessie Lau