Date of show: September 16, 2010
We had the pleasure of attending the very first show at Rancho Relaxo put on by The Indie Machine. We want to give a shout out to Dave and Ryan for the great night. We didn’t buy shots for any bands this night, but I think we owe shots to the guys of The Indie Machine. Look out for their events to become routine and go to their next one in October.
The City Streets, a band from Montreal by way of Edmonton, opened up the night. We missed part of their set, but I was really impressed with what we did catch. They sound a little similar to The Gaslight Anthem, especially recorded, but I’m going to emphasize that I refer to this similarity in the best light (I’m not too big on The Gaslight Anthem). Not surprising, they boast the Boss himself as an influence. They played to a small but decent sized crowd, but no one was really up front, which was a bit of a shame. Personally, I think they deserved more attention than they received.
Rick Reid (vocals, guitar) really blew me away with his vocals and his passion on stage. It’s not necessarily about rocking out hard; it’s about heart and it was certainly on that stage. Matt Leady (bass, vocals) and Mark Chmilar (drums) do rock out hard and certainly bring the energy.
The guys in The City Streets recently released their third album, The Jazz Age. It is currently available to purchase or for free download on their website, but Leddy said, “It’s up to you if you wanna be a nice person or not.” Cheeky. But honestly, check these guys out. I definitely want to catch a full set as soon as possible.
Young Doctors in Love is a 5-piece band based out of Toronto that delivers some pretty catchy pop tunes. The band is comprised of Lesley McRae (vocals, guitar), Jen Short (keys, vocals), Clay Puddester (guitar), Paul Erlichman (bass), and Chris Hudson (drums). While I’m relatively unfamiliar with most of their work, I did find their set to be quite enjoyable. I was thoroughly impressed with the infectious harmonies from McRae and Short and the band as a whole made me smile.
With TIFF being on right now, the band asked, “Anybody see any famous people?” A relatively silent crowd brought out the next response, “You’ve seen us.” More people were up at the front for their set than for The City Streets, and show-goers kept coming in throughout their set. They even had a little bit of dancing going on to “Oh Caroline.” They’re a lot of fun and you’ll probably have just as much fun listening to them. Check them out.
Okay, so I found First Rate People to be enjoyable, but half the time I was not exactly sure what they’re doing. Maybe that’s what makes them stand out to the likes of Pitchfork in that they are unique and most certainly out there. Their sound is like a mix of R&B, hip-hop, pop, indie rock, and throughout all of this, they seem incorporate a lot of sampling. This still translates live, but it was maybe a little harder to enjoy, as it becomes apparent that they still need to reconcile their fusion of sounds. This will likely come with maturity, though, as they do bring a lot of talent to the stage. Plus they are just so darn catchy. I’m not exactly sure what the lyrics are, but I found myself wanting to sing along.
There were 5 people on stage, but I think they brought all their friends and possibly younger siblings because the crowd was certainly young. It was impressively packed, though, and people were singing along and dancing. I must admit that their set was by far the liveliest of the night. The band is absolutely having fun and it’s hard not to want to join in on the fun. Oh, to be young and carefree.
In all seriousness, what is with Hamilton and their bands’ ability to rock your face off? Cowlick is yet another Hamilton rock band that does just this. However, their sound is a little more psychedelic indie rock than some of the other Hamilton bands I’m referring to, but they are freakin’ amazing at what they do. Cowlick is comprised of former By Divine Right-er Dylan Hudecki (vocals, guitar, bass, keys) and his brother Jackson Hudecki (drums, keys, vocals). [NOTE: I should add that typically there is a third member, Ian Parker, that was not present at this show.]
The crowd has mostly dispersed after First Rate People, but Cowlick still had a good handful of folks rocking out right up front. It was late and, to be honest, my memory is a little fuzzy with details, but I do know that I really like what I heard. For two people, they sure did bring a lot of sound to the Ranch. They sounded much bigger than just two people and this is always something I’m impressed with. I thoroughly enjoyed Cowlick’s set and I’m really looking forward to seeing what else these guys have in store. On their website, they’ve got a small selection of tunes available for free download, so check that out. And see them live and buy them shots. Also, we love Hamilton rock.
buying shots for bands 
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