Date of show: November 5, 2010
Forest City Lovers manage to combine beautiful orchestration with compelling storytelling and pretty harmonies. Frontwoman Kat Burns (vocals, guitar, keys) really commands the stage with her sweet vocals and charming presence. Her eyes would light up as she would gaze into the crowd and smile. Rounding out the rest of Forest City Lovers are Kelly McMichael (keys, vocals), Kyle Donnelly (bass, vocals), Christian Ingelevics (drums), and Timothy Bruton (keys, guitar, vocals).
It was announced that this was their last show in Toronto for 2010 and it was certainly a good one. Although not sold out, loyal fans and friends were right up front singing along. Highlights included seeing members of Ohbijou right up front singing along with the crowd, a particular beauty sing-a-long being “Minneapolis.” I actually heard someone in the crowd say “this is their best song” and, though I don’t know if I’d necessarily agree with that, at the very least it’s one of my favourites. If I hadn’t heard anything else, I’d see them live based on this song alone due to its infectious chorus and sing-a-long nature.
Forest City Lovers have had a great year with the release of Carriage, their third album, which has received quite a bit of acclaim. For those inclined to folk music that will make you smile, listen to Carriage and catch them live. They’ll warm your heart.
The indie pop collective seems to have grown in recent years (or maybe I am just noticing it more these days). Hooded Fang is one such band that falls into this category, the members being Daniel Lee, Lane Halley, Lorna Wright, Nicholas Hune-Brown, Julia Barnes, April Aliermo, and Eric Woolston. With 7 members on stage there is always the opportunity for chaos, as I’ve observed with countless other indie pop bands, but this doesn’t happen for Hooded Fang. They make all the instruments work together rather than there being any competition for attention. On top of this, there are harmonies that will make you smile and beats that make it hard not to tap your feet.
The crowd right up front ate the set up, with hands in air, lots of cheers and clapping along. At the end of their set, some people yelled for Hooded Fang to play another, which they could not accommodate. Fear not, though – they’ve got their CD release show coming up on December 9th at The Drake Underground and surely they’ll have more time then to get you all to dance.
We arrived late to the show and unfortunately missed Allie Hughes. We did make it on time to catch Golden Ghost, a duo from New York, with Laura Goetz on vocals and guitar and Brendon Massei on drums and backup vocals. For the most part, Goetz’s vocals were the focus with infrequent harmonies from Massei. Goetz vocals have a unique, slightly off key and at times a little twangy sound and she is strong in her delivery. However, the crowd did not seem to be entirely sold and seemed a little divided between those hanging out for the later sets and those captivated by the haunting vocals. This was their first visit to Toronto, though, so perhaps they’ll pick up some steam on their next visit.
buying shots for bands 
hi! just a correction – the woman on the keys for forest city lovers at this show was the fantastic kelly mcmichael (not mika posen) please correct that 🙂