Date of show: May 25, 2013
Written by: Chiara DiAngelo
Poor Young Things were celebrating the release of their debut full-length album The Heart. The Head. The End., which dropped earlier that week. Having lived in Toronto for the past couple of years now, there was eager excitement from the packed “hometown” crowd to hear the new material. And whether it was the lack of airflow or the “hot-off-the-press” feel to the new songs, the Horseshoe was positively steamy.
Gritty blue-collar rock anthems “Sign of the Times” and “Dress It Up” got things going, showing off frontman Matt Fratpietro’s rough-around-the-edges vocals. Poppier hooks on songs like “Revolver” – accidentally marked as “Revlover” on this string of CDs – and “Black Lightning” encouraged the crowd to enthusiastically get right into it. Many songs translated much better live than expected from first listen of the record. The band slowed it down momentarily towards the end of the set for their only attempt at a heartfelt ballad – “Ghost Notes” – though even this one ended in a shout-along frenzy by the time it was done. Continuing on this breath of energy, they invited Gloryhound up to help them close out with a rocking cover of Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s “Fuckin’ Up.”
Always one for ending the night with a plethora of friends on stage with them, the band returned for an encore, this time joined by friends Tim Des Islets, Jordan Howard and Ryan Murray. Afterwards there was luckily still enough time to fit in a few more drinks to toast the new album!
Tourmates Gloryhound warmed the stage for the headliners. Comprised of Evan Meisner (vocals, rhythm guitar), David Casey (guitar, vocals), Jeremy MacPherson (bass), and Shaun Hanlon (drums), the Halifax band has a bit of a hard and dirty garage-rock edge to them, though songs like “Electric Dusk” and “TKO Tokyo” possess a surprising level of high energy poppiness that makes them impossible not to dance to.
The most impressive aspect of their set however may have been the fact that guitarist Casey played the entire time standing up with cast on one of his legs. It doesn’t get much more rock and roll than that!
Getting to the Horseshoe too late to catch openers Brothers of North, we arrived as local five-piece band Inlet Sound were taking the stage. Earning them comparisons to the likes of Mumford & Sons, theirs is an expansive folk sound that first fills a room and then your heart. Playing primarily songs from their 2012 album The Romantics, the earnestness in frontman Michael Wexler’s lilting vocals made for such a pretty sound. Paired with the sweet trills of the mandolin and violin from Steven Gore and harmonic backup vocals, their set instilled lushly romantic images of moss-covered dunes on some far-off and serene East Coast shore.
After too long of a break since I last saw Inlet Sound, it was quite wonderful to finally see them again.
buying shots for bands 
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