Date of show: August 24, 2012
Shot of choice: Jameson + a girly shot for Elise Legrow
Written by: Chiara DiAngelo
It’s been three years since Whale Tooth’s self-titled EP came out, and the jam-packed crowd at the Horseshoe were more than a little excited to help the band celebrate the release of their full-length, Search Party.
While the material on their EP was quite poppy, they’ve scaled back the youthful lightheartedness on this release, with Search Party being much more mature, ballsy, and even a little punk rock. With this change in direction came a reduction in guitarists Alex Denike and Norm Maschke’s contributions on vocals, thrusting frontwoman and rock goddess Elise LeGrow even more into the limelight. Based on this performance, it’s a role that she was born to play. LeGrow was a sight to be seen, appearing almost possessed as she let the performance take over.
Except for “Buildings,” the only slower song of the set, the night was one non-stop rock fest. Scott Farmer of The Russian Futurists even came out to play keys for the last few songs of their set – including “Wait It Out,” “Battle Sex” and “Growing Pains,” which saw the release of balloons for the crowd to bat about. Thanking everyone for the love, the band departed the stage.
However, a release party is never complete without an encore. They kicked things off by dipping into their older material for the first time that night, bringing out the poppy “Hibernation Song.” Hailing the rest of the night as a punk rock show, the band then encouraged anyone and everyone to join them on stage. The audience didn’t hesitate before they began storming up, while Maschke came down to sweat it out in the thick of the crowd, rocking out to The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and “Do You Wanna Dance” (originally by Bobby Freeman). The night ended with another older tune – “Clever” – before the band left the stage for the last time, to mingle with their friends and fans, soak up the last exuberant moments of the night, and even sign some autographs – and of course, do a shot!
You can pick up their new album Search Party, out now via iTunes or in stores.
Missing Diana Planche (vocals, keys),and Jason Loftman (tenor sax) from the lineup, The Paint Movement was down to four members – Kevin Kralik (vocals, guitar), Jason Haberman (guitar, vocals), Wes McClintock (bass, vocals), and Glenn Candy (drums) – on this occasion. This obviously changed the sound of the songs and left an emptiness where these two should have been, especially on tunes such as “Young Lights.” The group still came through however with a gorgeously textured set including some pretty epic guitar interludes.
Highlights of their set included “Caught in the Act” and the rousing “Curiosity.” With a handful of new songs to boot, I’m very much looking forward to what’s set to come next from this band.
Toronto’s The BB Guns kicked the night off. This 60s girl group/surf-garage rock outfit is led by Laura Hermiston (lead vocals, guitar), Alana DeVee (guitar, vocals), and Charlotte Marie (keys, vocals), and is rounded out with Clint Rogerson (bass), Dan Arget (drums).
This being my first encounter with them, I wasn’t sure what to expect when they took the stage. They may have looked sweet but it was immediately apparent that there was a bit of a feisty, badass edge to these girls. With songs like the fast-paced and hard-hitting “I Killed a Baby in Mexico,” they definitely got the show off to a dancing start!
buying shots for bands 
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