I Heart the Music: Your Online Source for Live Music Reviews and Interviews in Toronto!

New Music Night at The Horseshoe is always guaranteed to be a good time, no matter who is playing. This past Tuesday (March 10^th) was no exception. iheartthemusic ventured in the rain to check out the all-star lineup set to play and open up Canadian Music Week. The night began with Vancouver’s own Bend Sinister. Having not played in Toronto for more than two years, these guys proved to be a great kickstart to Canadian Music Week. They captivated the crowd with their jazz-inspired rhythm and lead singer Dan’s voice was hard to miss. They began their set with “The News,” the first song off their album Stories of Brothers, Tales of Lovers. Having listened to this album many times, I felt as though I was somewhat of an expert on their music, and I have to say, their live performance is better than anything I’ve listened to on my iPod. So many bands just don’t cut it live, but the boys from Bend Sinister show that real talent is still alive and kicking! Lead guitarist Joseph was incredible and his solos were unmatched by anyone else the rest of the night (not to mention the splits that he managed to pull off on stage!). It was a great change to not have to write much as the performance was THAT good.

Next on the lineup was the female foursome Machetes, who were up for a challenge after Bend Sinister’s performance. I had heard good things about these ladies, so I was excited to see what they had in store for us. After listening to their MySpace page, I got the impression that their sound was an acquired taste, which isn’t good for a picky eater like myself. They started with a song that contained the lines “why don’t you go fuck yourself” many times.  It was an odd choice to start off with, but it related well to their tough-girl persona. After about the fourth song I felt as though I had pressed repeat on my stereo with each song sounding like the next. Despite this, I have to admit that they were clearly talented, especially Alana Devee, the lead guitarist. She is a musician that will give the boys a run for their money and at one point attempted to play the guitar on her back (and managed to successfully!).

The band that I was quite excited to see perform goes by the name of Walter Mitty and The Realists and they hail from Limerick, Ireland. The name may sound familiar, for they were here in the fall for Indie Week and ended up walking away winning the whole thing! Well, they are back and eager to showcase their talent and show Canadians the reason why they won. These guys proved that there is amazing musical talent coming from overseas. Lead singer Niall MacTaidng (don’t ask me how to pronounce that one) started the show by painting football-like stripes under his eyes – I am assuming to suggest that they were ready for battle and battle they did blowing everyone away with their high-energy performance and, of course, incomprehensible accents. Niall proved he was a force to reckon with as he danced spastically about the stage and even joined the crowd below at one point. They used an array of different musical instruments during their set including a cowbell and, my personal favourite, bongos! At one point a drunken bystander got on stage and started to preach some incoherent gibberish, however this did not faze the boys at all, which makes me assume that this is probably a common occurrence in Ireland. They ended their set with a song called “Lie in the Summer” which is my new favourite song and was a combination of fast and slow syncs that flowed seamlessly together. Call it the luck of the Irish or whatever you want, these boys proved that they deserve to be here and with the 500 plus bands playing this week, this is one that you won’t want to miss. They are playing a plethora of dates starting tonight (Thursday, March 12) at The Hideout at 7:30pm. For more tour dates or to have a listen check out their MySpace.

Happy CMW!

photography provided by Kristin McCormack