Sonic Parthenon in Toronto: Quintron & Miss Pussycat @ The Horseshoe Tavern

Quintron & Miss Pussycat; Psychedelic Horseshit; CATL
@ The Horseshoe Tavern
Toronto, ONT - April 18, 2009

The Louisiana machine that is Quintron & Miss Pussycat is part art house spectacle, part dance/garage madness. Imagine some junk yard greaser with a penchant for mad scientist gizmo-theatrics and a taste for some hot beats and that's Quintron in a nutshell. Halfway to steampunk with his assortment of contraptions on stage (which doesn't even include Miss Pusscat's getup), the focus would be all visual if it wasn't for the solid, booty-shaking beats crossed with bluesy roars. While I could personally do without the long trippy puppet-show at the beginning, it was certainly one hell of a good time. I just wish I had brought my dancing shoes.

Too bad you can't see Quintron's lightbulb, rotating, record player electro-device to the left.

Psychedelic Horseshit has an apt name. Which wouldn't be entirely true except that each song began with a lot of rock n roll promise before devolving into a god-awful mess.

CATL were THE band of this Toronto trip. Straight-up hard rocking garage blues, this trio belted it out equally on the vicious slide guitar and the 60's organ. Playing on the crowd floor lent a juke joint vibe, and this band proved that no matter how many times this genre can exhaust itself, there's always someone to come around and give it a good, swift, needed kick in the ass.

CATL!

Sonic Parthenon in Toronto: BBQ; The Box Elders @ Rancho Relaxo

BBQ; The Box Elders; Pirate Rock; City Sweethearts
@ Rancho Relaxo
Toronto, ONT - April 17, 2009

Mark Sultan modified his one-man band moniker by adding a couple band members to his routine but he is still the heart and soul of his own music. By adding a little extra juice though, the ol' Montreal salty dog brought out the oomph in his compositions, and sort of secretly reminded all those in the know about the truth regarding that duo he's in (the secret being: he's the better songwriter, but don't tell the hipsters).

BBQ @ Rancho Relaxo
Photo by Christina Wozniak

The Box Elders sounded to me like another rehash of the Black Lips, but with better vocals and more refined devotion to the 60's garage they are culling from. But don't listen to me: this Omaha trio had the crowd in the palms of their hands.
Pirate Rock are not good. Next.
City Sweethearts are a typical Toronto garage punk scene band. No more, no less.


The scene at Rancho Relaxo
Photo by Ivy Lovell

More Toronto Music Violence

What is going on in the fair metropolis of Toronto? Forget the Great Bicycle Thief, how is that one of the most highly reputable, cleanest, nicest, most cosmopolitan cities in the world is home to such brazen, and extraordinarily lame, acts of rock-related violence? First there was the nonsense at the Jay Reatard show in April, and now comes assault on Oasis.

Watch the YouTube clip. Was the attacker going for Liam next? Or was he trying to commandeer the microphone in order to explain to the world why he did what he did? Was this a get-famous stunt? Was this done on behalf of one of the many, many people that have been verbally attacked by the infamous Gallagher brothers?

Jay Reatard Toronto Drama Continues

P-fork reports on the back-and-forth over what exactly happened at the Silver Dollar on the 17th.

Neither the promoters nor Jay will admit who is really at fault: the fans. It's obvious why - no one wants to alienate people who cough up the dough, no matter what their conduct is. But the truth is, it is the fans who are at fault. No one should decry a little rough and tumble up front at a show like Jay Reatard's. It's to be expected and if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. This isn't a Norah Jones (or Spoon, hahaha) show. This is hardcore/garage/punk whatever you want to call it. But there is a line. There is a line between a pit up front and stage crashing. And there is a line between stage crashing/diving and interference with the band.

It's all by degrees. Unless there is some real extreme thrash punk whatever band known for allowing its fans to come up on stage and trash the equipment and fight with the band, when is it acceptable to allow interference? Not to mention, it doesn't make any sense! If one gets their ya-ya's out by hearing such music, how are they furthering those ya-ya's out by actually trying to stop the music?

Furthermore, there are the larger group of fans who don't do such things and pay good money to see the shows, in their entirety, without interference. It's one thing to pay and understand that a pit will be a-happenin'. It's another thing to pay and just a few songs in, see idiots keep crashing the stage to assault the band and vandalize the equipment. Who pays for that?

As for the security issue, there was one security goon at the venue and he only showed up after Jay started packing up, and probably only because of fear that the idiots would assault Jay outright for ending the show.

The place was beyond crowded. I have no idea if it was overcapacity or not. None of my Toronto pals indicated to me that it was. But it was very crowded. And a handful of guys up front took it upon themselves to interfere with the show. The venue and the promoters probably did a bad job. But it's the fans fault. And while Jay is right to be mad, he should be upfront and just put the blame where it is - the fans. Not every fan. Not most fans. Just those fans that ruined it for everyone. Also, he may want to take a few tips (Wilco & White Stripes, and Dirtbombs) on to how to handle these things.

And by the way, if you are going to be a band that has fans run around and go nuts on stage, this is how you do it:

Sonic Parthenon Special Event: Pennypacker In Toronto

The old man is in the city without a distinct and memorable nickname which would be useful in a sentence like this starting late tomorrow night to the twilight of Friday into Saturday. There may be some culture reports but there will most certainly and hopefully be reviews of the Dirtbombs at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern and Jay Reatard at the Silver Dollar.