Heather Curtis

birthday party + sauce rock-it

On friday night I went to my friend's birthday party at Philthy McNastys and with my luck on the same night Sauce Rock-it and Hail the Villain were there:) I had tons of fun with my friends and then I got to see some great bands do their thing!

Seeing Sauce Rock-it again was fun. They got even better than they were before if that's even possible. They played a bunch of songs that I have never heard before. I really liked them! It's always fun to hear new material from a great band. The last song of the night and fan favourite, Sputum, was definitely my favourite song of the show. Perfect for dancing around and screaming the lyrics in your friends' face. I looked around at the kids and that's what most were doing. Pete Moss kicked ass again, as usual. He has amazing stage presence and huge vocal range. I'm always excited to see Sauce Rock-it because they always bring it. They rock so hard and get the crowd into the music so nobody in the crowd is bored. Another fan favourite, Say Ah got every Sauce Rock-it fan jumping around with huge smiles on their faces. Great show guys I can't wait to see another again soon!!!!!

I only stayed for three songs of Hail the Villain, but what I saw I loved. I only saw this band one other time so I was looking forward to seeing them that night. They blew me away completely in every way. Singer Bryan Crouch has such a strong voice. I was in shock listening to him. This band is perfect for major head banging and moshing. Nobody did that though, maybe it was because of how late it was. They played a really good song called Runaway. Bassist Chad Taylor is one of the best bassists I've seen in a really long time. Some band members just click together. Like with how they play, stage presence, and the attitude on stage. This band is one of those bands. In my opinion, if any of them were replaced with a different person the band wouldn't be as good. Great work!!!!

underground show.

On Saturday, I went to an absolutely insane show at the Underground. The bands playing were High Voltage, Maddison, Beautiful Nothing, and Porcelain Youth.

Starting off was High Voltage. I've seen High Voltge at the Westside Concert Theatre and at the Underground 4 times I think. Each time I love them even more. These guys are really young, but play music just like Guns N Roses, The Who and Led Zeppelin. As always, lead guitarist's Sean Royle's stage presence was great. There is never a second where he isn't head banging with his long rock star hair in his face. As well, Eric Martin had insane stage presense that added so much to the performance. They have the rock star look, and the sound. I think they are definitely going really far. My favourite song of the night was Rumour Mill. I made a video of it too! They played another favourite of mine which is called She Ain't Easy. Great song, really catchy guitar and lyrics. Great show guys!

Next up was a band called Maddison. This was my first time hearing them. Guitarists Dan and Jordan kicked ass. These guys are so talented and rocked so hard. I really loved the sound of the band and the guitars. They had a way of getting the crowd into it and making people who haven't heard them like them. Drummer Paul was completly amazing. He never missed a beat and kept his energy up the whole time. Good job Paul! Bassist Bret was great to watch also. He had really long dreads that were always in his face. He was my favourite part of the band.

Next was the one and only Beautiful Nothing! I am a huge fan. I have seen them tons of times at the Underground and at places in Burlington and Branford. I haven't seen them since January so I was extremely excited about this. The wait was totally worth it. It was the same band, but ten times better, which is weird because they didn't have much to improve on before. The new songs had mature, thoughtful lyrics and were perfect for the band to show off their advanced skills. Singer Anthony Ludgate sung his heart out and danced around the stage with a huge smile on his face. The first thing I noticed about Beautiful Nothing the first time I saw them was his stage presence. The new songs got me really excited for future shows and to hear what other stuff this great band has to show their fans. Every time I go to a Beautiful Nothing show I am never bored. They keep the atmosphere light so the fans stay happy. Their next show is on June 1st at J's Place in Branford. Make sure you check it out!!!

Porcelain Youth was next. When Porcelain Youth plays, you know the place is going to be rocking. They played fan favourite from the EP, The Therapy Sessions and newer songs that some fans may not have heard. My favourite song of the night was Dethrone. Its a really fun song to head bang to. For Porcelain Youth, most people in the crowd get into it and head bang and dance around. Last night, there was about 30 kids at the front head banging in perfect unision with hair flying all over the place. The guys in the band rock out just as much as the fans. Jesse Daigle with his perfect head bangs where his hair goes perfectly over then perfectly back. Adam Cannon was on the top of his game that night as well. No wonder he won Drummer of the Year at the last Hamilton Music Awards. This band is here to stay. Watch out for them, they will be touring around Canada and the US pretty soon I think!

oakville ymca

Last night, I went to a really fun show at the YMCA in Oakville. I really like this place. I've only been there twice but I hope to keep going for different shows.

This was a Battle of the Bands. The winner gets 8 hours in a recording studio (sorry I didn't hear which one). The first band of the night was Live and Loaded. They are a really hard rock band from Oakville. They were one of the bands that as soon as you hear them, you love the sound and you just want to head bang all night. The first chord of the first song got me right away and I knew I would enjoy the set. Guitarist Greg McKay, and bassist Ben Tran were rocking out the whole night banging their heads and smiling. Singer Mike Kell has a huge vocal range. He's really young, but sings with tons of skill and experience. The crowd cheered loud because lets face it, this band rocks hard and gets the crowd loving their music. Good job on the great show guys!

Next up was Fell the Angels. Another great Oakville band. For this show, they had no bassist. At first I was like crap, how are they going to play with no bassist. They pushed through that obstacle and put on a kick- ass show. Guitarist Mel was rocking out the whole set swinging her hair back and forth. It's always cool to see girls who can rock out too. Singer Steph was a really good singer as well, but it would have been cool to see her move around a bit more. Drummer Jermey was great to watch as well. He was hitting the cymbals as hard as possible while head banging. Good show!!!!

Next was No Serenity, the winner of the Battle of the Bands because of the screaming of the fans. This band is also from Oakville. The second they started, my friend and I head banged. It was really fun. Singer and guitarist Jason has a different kind of voice that I have never heard before, but I loved listening to him do his thing. This band is a really hard rock band. They have a large fan base bringing lots of No Serenity fans to the show. Along with their hard feeling, the mature lyrics are what make No Serenity who they are. Great show!

Next band up was metal band Killer He Condemned from Burlington. This band rocked their hearts out with hard guitar, pulsing bass and fast percussion. I don't really like metal music on account of the screaming instead of singing, but I really enjoyed the musical part of this band. All of the guys were extremely talented on their instruments. Guitarists Andy and Aaron showed this off with the complicated and fast guitar rifts. This is perfect music for huge moshpits and lots of head banging. They put on a good show with extremely hard rock!

The last band of the night was Oakville's Going Coastal. I've seen Going Coastal once at the Underground and one other time at the Burlington YMCA. Each time I really liked their set and their overall sound. Lead singer Michael wowed me with his ability to sing complicated rhythms and be in key with his band mates. The other guitarist, Howie, kicked ass as well. He was playing complicated, fast guitar that makes you wonder how he does it. After the last song they yell out, we are giving away free cds, come get them. Every kid in the crowd raced up to get the cd. This shows they have tons of fans who support them. Going Coastal is a band that you will be seeing lots of in the future. If you didn't see this show you missed out.

Each band only did three songs, so I didn't really have much to go on. I really want to see these bands again, and hopefully they will play more! Check back next Sunday for the review on the Beautiful Nothing, High Voltage, and Porcelain Youth show at the Underground.

mugshot+ten second epic

I've been super excited for this show for a really long time. I'm going to talk about a new band I saw called Holiday, and Mugshot and Ten Second Epic.

So, Holiday is a hard rock band from Stoney Creek. Some bands, the second you hear them you instantly know you are going to love them. That's how it was for Holiday. They started to play, then me and my friend looked at each other with happy looks on our faces. Even though the crowd wasn't really moving to the music that much we danced around and headbanged along to the great music that was being played. Singer Vinny showed tons of skill with his range and dynamics in his voice. I really loved listening to him.
Guitarists Jay Perry and Dan Arcari totally kicked ass with their heavy yet energetic guitar riffs. This was a great way to get me excited for Mugshot and Ten Second Epic. Great job guys!!!

Next band I will talk about is the one and only Mugshot. I've only seen them three times but each time they amaze me even more. They played all my favourites including Eleven Eleven and Are We Done. For the starting part of Eleven Eleven I was just rocking back and forth singing along to Nick's amazing voice. The Mugshot video for Heart Vs. Mind just permièred on Much Music a while ago, so make sure you go to the much music site to request it! Anyway, when Nick sings the lyrics you can tell how much passion he puts behind it and it feels like he's telling you a story, just you. Drummer Matt was dead on with how hard to hit, and how fast and everything. He had a flawless show. Guitarists Kyle and Steve were jumping up and down dancing around the stage with huge smiles on their faces having the time of their lives. It's good when the band is having as much fun playing the music as the crowd is having listening to it. When Mugshot played one of their trademark covers, Shakira Hips Don't Lie something kind of weird happened. Usually, moshpits break out for really hard bands. Mugshot is a pretty poppy band to begin with, and while playing Shakira it makes them even more fun. When the song started a moshpit of about twenty people broke out. My friend went to jump in, but of course when she goes the moshpit stops. So great show!!!! Hopefully they'll be back in Hamilton soon!

The next band is Ten Second Epic. You might have seen them in music videos on much music or on Much On Demand. They totally kicked ass. By the time it was their turn to come on I was really excited. My favourite song of the night was Old Habits Die Hard. Perfect for dancing around and headbanging to. I had a lot of fun with this song. Singer Andrew Usenik amazed me with how great his voice is. I was like... wow:) I think these guys are still getting used to being so known. A lot of people were asking for autographs and pictures and they looked kind of shocked and happy to get this kind of attention. For the song, Count Yourself In, the place went insane. A moshpit broke out, and almost everybody was rocking out. It was really fun! Underneath Andrew's voice all you hear are tons of other voices singing along, but obviously not as well as he can. Patrick Birtles is a really talented and skilled drummer. You can tell he's been playing drums for a really long time. Bassist Sandy MacKinnon rocked out flinging his long rock star hair from side to side and over his face. It was never boring watching this guy do his thing. This was one amazing show. Maybe you'll catch Ten Second Epic on their tour of eastern Canada and Ontario. That's all for now. Check back on Sunday for my review of the Going Coastal show in Oakville!