Thursday, October 15, 2009

On the scene

There were an interesting couple of acts last night - some local rock'n'rollers and a bunch of 1970s Toronto art-rockers.

40-watt Monkey was supposed to open but an urgent family matter KOed their appearance. Thus, they were replaced by a new group of familiar faces, The Big Bend. This was the band's second gig; they made me think of early classic rock, such as Joe Walsh circa There Goes The Neighborhood. There are a couple of Boom Creekers on board (Ian Vance and Ike McFaul) as well as Ashley Newall .. keyboardist and singer Tom rounds out the group.

The Big Bend at Zaphod Beeblebrox
Big Bend, Zaphod Beeblebrox, October 14, 2009

The Scenics made their reputation in the 1970s as an outsider band on Toronto's fertile rock scene - they show up on the Last Pogo DVD. Their tangled sounds reference The Velvet Underground. They're big fans, and have recorded an album of covers, some of which also showed up in their set in somewhat deconstructed versions of Waiting For My Man, Candy Says and Here She Comes Now. They could be a Canadian version of The Twinkeyz, and occasionally sounded a bit like early Talking Heads. Interesting historical note: Former bassist Ken Fox headed south and ended up in The Fleshtones - he's played town a couple of times with them.

The Scenics at Zaphod Beeblebrox
The Scenics, Zaphod Beeblebrox, October 14, 2009

They sounded pretty good, and don't sound like they've shyed off the guitar freakouts or volume in the years since they got their start.

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