The Dirty Nil shared a very engaging performance, leaning in to make contact with the fans, sharing toys with the crowd (foam finger), and kick-camping around the stage. Tokyo Police Club, taking the stage shortly after, brought similar energy to the room playing off of each other, dancing, and chatting with the audience.

The post CMW: Tokyo Police Club and The Dirty Nil in pictures appeared first on Quip Magazine.

Toronto-grown 4-piece band BLANKS define themselves as post-punk which is hard to argue with but the night, starting 8 o’clock sharp, had a bit of a retro vibe. Like the mid-90s high school movies, it’s the kind of music Kat Stratford would’ve listened to in 10 Things I Hate About You, a theme that counted through to the end of this day. The BLANKS put on a clean 20 minute set setting fairly high expectations for performance and sound. Their newest track “If you fall” is now out on Spotify.

Natalie Lynn, The Rivoli

Indie-pop-rock, modern and nostalgic is how Lynn is described in her bio and following the 90s vibes of the night, she fit the bill well. Hailing from Nova Scotia, Natalie Lynn recently settled in Toronto and was happy to play the Riverfest Showcase. Her debut single “One” is a great example of that and was brought to life on stage with an acoustic guitar and her impressively mighty voice that may have taken the room by surprise. This small crowd was really into the set, cheering up Lynn and her band from up close.

Harlequin Gold, Cameron House

A dynamic female duo from Vancouver, Harlequin Gold are sisters Elle and Avery O’Brien. Walking into the Cameron House the sound of their set was upbeat and welcoming. Their music is infectiously catchy and easy to listen to undoubtedly created by their perfectly harmonized voices as can be heard in “Youth.” Technically, they were not actually on the CMW bill for this day but they did play a set at Lee’s Palace, another staple venue, on Saturday night so we’re going to go ahead and consider it a match. Self-titled debut EP dropping later this summer.

Gone Sugar Die, Horseshoe Tavern

Continuing the night at the Horseshoe for The King Khan & BBQ Show up next were Gone Sugar Die, a pop-indie duo from LA/Vancouver. This was the duo’s first time in Toronto and were visibly excited to be here. Patrick McWilliams and Mike Hindert make music to dance to and have that played back LA vibe to them reminiscent of street performers in Venice Beach, and don’t take this the wrong way, many of those are Juilliard graduates practicing their acts. The duo played a handful of upbeat tracks including a cover of the Ramones “I Wanna Be Sedated” to a slowly tiring audience trying to find a second wind.

The post CMW Thursday in photos: pop and indie through city’s staples appeared first on Quip Magazine.

For this CMW Tasha was opening for no one other than Azealia Banks – a promising evening, to say the least. The night was off to a slow start and started at what Tasha described as “basically noon on a Wednesday” (aka 8 pm). By the time Tasha stepped out, or rather ran out, on stage less than half of the venue was filled but she made sure to thank everyone for coming out. Dressed in bright neon, which seems to be a big part of her brand these days, this Amazon opened the set with a classic: “My Level.” A  hype track with some pretty heavy and dark beats, the kinda tune that will shake the dance floor. She went through a few tracks, old and new, from “That Ain’t You” to “Picasso Leaning.” Everyone got to participate for “Prayer” – ‘When you hear what’s the prayer you put two gun fingers in the air and go brap brap brap … that’s the prayer.’ Her clean rhymes and sharp lyrics were, unfortunately, not at their best this evening, which can be attributed to the sound in the venue: the bass was drowning her voice out and the half-empty room was eating it all up.

And then we went on a break. Like a classy lady, Azealia Banks was nearly an hour late to start her set. Some people were enjoying each other’s company, some were blankly staring into space, others were having photos and Snapchat shoots and dancing in stilettos. Finally, the queen of the night came out on stage, loud, furious, rapping, with her own wind and her own wine. A few tracks into the set the dance floor filled producing a healthy cloud of marijuana. To mix things up Azealia sang a cappella and talked about her brief relationship with Canada (Montreal and wine). A couple of people got escorted out of the room for smoking as Azealia carried on. The crowd managed to regain some energy eventually, particularly for the encore performance of “Liquorice” and “1991,” but the overall set, suffering from the same issues as Tasha the Amazon was rough around the edges. Azealia herself did not bring much wisdom to the stage either, whether on purpose or some other reason she simply worked through her set keeping the controversial voice and opinions to herself. Perhaps we all expected a little more, or maybe it was just the slow wait that drained the passion out.

The post CMW: Tasha the Amazon and Azealia Banks live at the Phoenix. Blame it on the bass appeared first on Quip Magazine.

The evening showcased Del, Amaka Queenette, Haf n’ haf, and Denver Haylee. The venue has a dark teenage bedroom or garage vibe with records with handwritten labels stapled to the wall. The performers were all local, young talent, pulling songs from the lifespan of their repertoire, granted most of them don’t have pockets filled with songs so filling 45 minutes of stage time can be challenging.

The night kicked off with Del, a Nigerian-Canadian artist who works to blend cultures and sounds from across the world. Del started rapping at the age of 14 and has a couple of releases behind his belt: debut EP Glen Road, 2016 and Songs About Her, 2018. Del puts a lot of effort into his lyrics which carry well in a live performance with good annunciation and smooth vocals.

Amaka Queenette [cover image], next on stage, describes her lyrics as “unrushed and thoughtful” aiming to evoke feelings of “nostalgia and sentimentality.” Her performance was strong and inviting, engaging the small audience into a light conversation without too much effort. Amaka worked through her Vacant EP and a few extras before giving the stage up for the next performer, Haf n’ haf.

Joshua Bourgouin D’Aguiar, aka Haf n’ haf, is a Toronto-West End-bred hip hop artist. Looking at his bio, Haf n’ haf has been trying to build his presence for a while: “countless talent shows, showcases, radio shows, house parties, and local events, independently recorded 4 full-length original projects, among many other creative endeavors.” He recently released a 5-track collaborative EP, Haf Pack of Woods (cue audience claps) and has an LP dropping this summer. The small venue was lightly filled and as Haf pointed out it was mostly friends and family. The few ‘strangers’ were ambitiously singing along, dancing, and shouting out encouraging words. A few tracks into the set he invited Lincoln Woods on stage to drop some rhymes. Woods, wearing a loose Hudson Bay button-up and a blonde mustache, is not your typical image of a rapper but the audience was pleasantly surprised with his sharp and clean lyricism, a contrast to Haf’s “laidback cadence.”

Toronto-based R&B/Soul artist Denver Haylee was last on the bill to close out the opening night. Accompanied by two backup singers and four band members, Denver stood her ground barefoot in the center of the stage, playing with her mermaid-inspired outfit. With a gentle, rehearsed voice she announced that all songs are written by “yours truly.” This proud grand prize winner of the Honey Jam Canada 2018 Programme carried herself like a queen throughout the set. In her own words (or the words of her publicist) Denver’s upcoming EP, The Elements of Love (also coming this summer), “highlights instances of affection, peace, compassion, and mercy throughout intimate relationships while celebrating the ability that men have to love passionately.” That theme was threaded through her CMW set and stories she shared between songs while calling the audience to join her mission love and compassion.

The post CMW showcase: Del, Amaka Queenette, Haf n’ haf, and Denver Haylee appeared first on Quip Magazine.

Broods, touring with their most recent release Don’t Feed The Pop Monster, a reunion album of sorts set to make music that’s “true” to the band “..without hiding behind any kind of façade. We worked really hard and went through a thousand different emotions in the process,” says Georgia Nott, “The fact that we can feel so many different emotions and still make something that’s so true to us — to me that’s the most important part of this whole experience and we’re so excited to finally share this album with the world.”

This mood was visible on stage. Georgia’s broody and raspy voice, cuts through the crowd. The band truly commits to their stage precedes, from the matching outfits to the overall performance. The crowd seemed hypnotized by the experience, barely moving with an acceptation of a couple more upbeat tracks. Every time a song ended it was met with applause. Closer to the end of the show Georgia sang a couple popular covers like “Streetlights” and Gotye’s “Hearts a mess” which were a big hit with this calm crowd.

The post Broods and Bad Sounds: live in pictures appeared first on Quip Magazine.

We’ve spent some time getting to know Adrian Galvin a little while back and have been quite excited to see him again. Last week on March 8th, Yoke came back through the Garrison with his latest EP Absolutes and a relaxing opening by LA’s Runnner. During the opening, the crowd lingered in the back where it naturally smelled like fresh legalized marijuana, winter jackets, and cheap beer. Runnner did not seem to be bothered by this relaxed attitude and put on a solid performance for those swing at the front. “Find us on Spotify we’re gonna try to put out a thousand songs in 2019” – pardon? Okay okay, that I’d definitely like to see.

During a short break as the crew flipped the stage, the crowd pushed to the front with shocking togetherness. Throughout nearly the entire set the crowd was singing along, tossing comments onto the stage, encouraging Adrian to further disrobe, and offering the drummer hair ties. The duo played through the recent EP and some of the older favorites from “Beige” and “Goodpain” to “Ride” and “Fake You.”

Between the songs, Galvin shared thoughts and stories, reflected on how certain words have lost meaning through misses in advertising and the every day, the kind of words that should be magic spells and perhaps instead of using ‘love’ we should start telling people what temperature they make us feel. Sentiments like those, coupled with a shiny smile, the great hair all around on stage, and Adrian’s awesome dance moves made girls blush. In between the teasing pauses, waiting for the next chore to strike you can almost hear girls falling in love.

The post Yoke Lore is suppose to be in the woods writing songs on his banjo, but instead he came to Toronto appeared first on Quip Magazine.

Earlier this month, Tall Heights release their newest album, Pretty Colors For Your Actions. To promote and celebrate the album the duo took off on a North American and European tour and we had a chance to catch their show in Toronto’s Garrison.

The evening kicked off with performances by Frances Cone and Old Sea Brigade both of which offered a low-key start to the evening. Tall Heights performed with a supporting band consisting of drums, bass, and extra guitars. This show was a special one – Harringon’s 31^st birthday. So the band took things up a few notches with a cake, birthday balloons, and even instructed people to “69 each other’s phones” by calling the person next to them and sandwiching the phones to make a coupled vibration which they incorporated into the music. Tall Heights are serine, melodic, and dreamy, something everyone needs on a cold autumn night. Although I imagine seeing them on a small outdoor stage would be equally rewarding.

The post Tall Heights’ birthday performance at the Garrison appeared first on Quip Magazine.

The shared energy between the pair is enough to energize a football stadium let a lone the small room at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. For over an hour the duo went through their favourite originals including “It’s Alright,“ “Forever,” and even “Yea Yeah,“ a handful of samples and remixes and even a “Happy Birthday” (all free 10 seconds of it).

“Get your asses up front so we can start this motherfucking party” yelled out Kim, urging everyone to get closer to the front and shortly after to split into two sides of the room, “this is known as the walls of Kim’s vagina” and now when you hear: “surprise motherfucker you need to charge into each other” – and charge people did!

As people took turns surfing way to the stage Matt and Kim took turns dancing on the drum kit, which notably, looks like it’s made from solid steel. I would have liked to be there when it was purchased: “Get up on it Kim, if it can hold you do jumping jacks we’re buying it!” But I digress.

The duo had high expectations for this show, it is their last show of the tour and all, but just as one would expect the crowd did not disappoint, “Best fucking show on tour” Kim pointed out. Every time Matt or Kim spoke half of the room broke into a cheerful storm, raising their arms in the air to snag a t-shirt, throw a balloon, grab a handful of confetti, or hold someone up on their way to the stage. There was also that girl who flashes us all a few times: “…and this nice lady just flashed her gorgeous ass titties” noted Kim,  “But it really doesn’t matter what size your titties are, they’re gorgeous all around!”

And now some parting advice from Matt & Kim: use a condom, “safe sex everyone ‘cause you know, no unwanted pregnancies” – enjoy CMW, friends, and make sure to listen to Almost Everyday, it just might be your summer anthem.

The post Matt & Kim at the Phoenix – beats, balloons, and all sorts of profanity appeared first on Quip Magazine.

On March 12th Suuns returned to Toronto, this time playing an album release show at The Great Hall. The newly renovated classic theatre-style venue, with it’s stage archway, created an extra dramatic environment. Once the opening band wrapped up, Suuns’ intimate crowd was patiently waiting for the stage crew to win a battle with a backdrop. The wait was worth it: a religious baroque painting hang loose in the red and green light, setting the mood for something new and different.

The lights dimmed to harsh colorful accents as Ben Shemie took the mic for “Look No Further,” first song on Felt. This song in particular is a fusion of Suuns’ sounds over the years but with an Arabic influence. It’s the kind of track that will grow on you and will demand to be listened a couple times in a row.  As Shemie’s muffled vocals begun to pour out the Suuns signature sonic sound enveloped the room, threatening eardrums of those standing close to the stage. Note to self: really gotta learn to stay further away from the speakers.

The room went pitch black between every song, as if closing the chapter and flipping the page. While Joe Yarmus continued to shred the guitar  Shemie played through Felt with an occasional intermission to reflect on the past with tracks from Hold/Still and Images Du Futur. Like most weekday shows, however, this too was an early one but one deffinitly worth leaving the comfort of a home for. Till next time!

The post Suuns bring “Felt” cadence to The Great Hall appeared first on Quip Magazine.