New City Kings

New City Kings are from Brentwood, Essex, UK and were in town for Indie Week as the winners of Indie Week Ireland. They're a polished rock band who entertained the crowd at Tattoo Rock Parlour while we waited for the announcement of the Toronto Indie week winners.

Here's their big single, "Swords & Cannonballs"

Here Below

Here Below are a post-rock band from Toronto. I caught their intensity during the finals of Indie Week at Tattoo Rock Parlour. I really enjoyed the band's sound, songs and energy. I would definitely catch them live again.

Check out some tunes from their Soundcloud.

"Sign ON/OFF"


"Deep Machines"


"Easily Scared"


And grab their album So, Still from their Bandcamp.

Sumo Cyco

Sumo Cyco are a Toronto based punk / metal band. I saw them during Indie Week at the Finals at Tattoo Rock Parlour. Little did I know when they stormed on stage and unleashed their musical onslaught that they would win Indie Week 2013. Great show!

Check out some of their tunes and videos below. They obviously have tons of fun with the video medium.

"The Ugly"

"Where Do We Go?"

"Loose Cannon"

"Who Do You Want To Be?"

"Interceptor"

"Limp"

The Ending To This Story

The Ending To This Story is  Lance Eckensweiler from the small lakeside town of Port Elgin, Ontario. His guitar and voice are complemented by loops and backing tracks when he plays live, and he plays all the instruments on his recordings. I caught him at Tattoo Rock Parlour on the Finals night of Indie Week and came away impressed with his songs and presentation.

Check out "Oh Winter" from his latest EP The Phoenix.

Open Air

Open Air are a classic rock band from Calgary. They brought their guitar laden tunes to Toronto for Indie Week. I caught them twice. On October 19 at The Hideout and for the finals on October 20 at Tattoo Rock Parlour.

They put on great performances at both venues and came in third place overall. Good job, guys. All the best in your future.

"Snake Charmer"

"New Design"


"Golden Times"

The C'mons

This is one photogenic band. It was hard for me to limit the number of photos in this post. And they sound great, too. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of The C'mons October 19 performance at The Hideout for Indie Week.

Now don't confuse The C'mons with Ian Blurton's now-broken-up hard rocking band C'mon who I featured on the site. The C'mons singer is Stephanie Bosch, petite with a blonde pixie haircut and a voice that goes from soft to powerful in a heartbeat. The band features violin in addition to the typical two guitars-bass-drums combo. And the songs... The songs were wonderful. Of course, you can check out some below, and if you're like me, you can look forward to their next shows and more music being released.

Check out some tunes:

"Unpredictable"


"Go Go Go"


"Paper Walls"


"Faker"

"Alone Eventually"

Frankie McQueen

I would see Frankie McQueen and his band perform again in a heartbeat. I caught this hard rocking Calgary band on October 19 at The Hideout for Indie Week. From the moment the band took to the dark edges of the stage, I was instantly enthralled with the sound of Frankie's vintage Gibson through the Orange/Marshall half-stack that was on hand for his use. Their opening tune took us on a unique voyage on the "La Grange" riff and the remainder of the set kept the classic rock/blues vibes on high alert. Great stuff!

"Drown the Sound"

"Firewoman"


"Black Horse"


"Revolution"


"When You're Gone"

Sue Newberry and the Law

Sue Newberry and the Law hail from right here in Toronto and they are tagged with terms like "funrock", “Dusty Springfield fronts Metric” and “Patti Smith meets Peggy Lee”. To truly appreciate what they do, you have to listen to the music. I caught their show on October 19 at The Hideout for Indie Week and thoroughly enjoyed their tunes.

"The Ledge"

"Gold"

"Pavlov"

"King's Horses"

You can grab some tunes at their Bandcamp.

Sons of Revelry

Sons of Revelry played The Hideout on October 19 for Indie Week. They brought some enthusiastic fans, some funky riffs and lots of energy for us. They call Hamilton/Brantford Ontario their home town and their singer's originally from Ayr Scotland.

Here's their video for the driving "Time" from their Born With a Bigga Goal Live EP,

And the title track "Born with a Bigga Goal".

The Rathburns

I caught The Rathburns on October 19, the Friday of Indie Week this year. I decided to stake out The Hideout for the night and they were the first band I caught that night. They deliver a unique brand of blues-rock with a tight band and powerhouse vocals.

Check out some tunes:

"Oh Lord"

"Sub Divisions"

"The Panic"

"One More"

Grab their album at their Bandcamp.

The oOohh Baby Gimme Mores a.k.a. The OBGMs

The oOohh Baby Gimme Mores, a.k.a. The OBGMs, are serious. Serious about fun. They brought lots of fans to their October 18 show at Cherry Cola's, some of whom were amped up to dangerous levels. And then they progressed to the finals on October 20 at Tattoo Rock Parlour.

And the OBGMs do not disappoint. They fulfil their promise of loud aggression and fun. Almost every song makes full use of the glow sticks and light-up rings tossed into the crowd, along with audience participation designed to get us all moving and the mosh pit churning.

Check out some great tunes, starting with the uber-cool video for "Beat Up Kidz".

and their full album Interchorus.


Grab some tunes at their Bandcamp.

The Drop Dead Pin-Ups

The Drop Dead Pin-Ups played Cherry Cola's on October 18 for Indie Week. They are a Toronto band looking to put the edge and swagger back into rock music. They put tons of energy and attitude into their delivery, all while dressed to the nines.

Check out some of their fun tunes:

Free embed music player from ReverbNation.com

Little Foot Long Foot

Little did I know when I wrote a little post on blues rockers Little Foot Long Foot that I would be seeing them live in quite such short order. I saw them on the Friday night of Indie Week at a great little venue called Cherry Cola's.

What can I say about this band? Just listen to the tunes and catch them live. They are amazing. The songs, the sound, her singing, her guitar playing - it's all captivating and amazing.

The won the night at Cherry Cola's but weren't able to make it to play the Saturday night semi-finals at The Hideout so they had to concede. Really a shame as I would have loved the opportunity to see them again the next night.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for shows so I can see them again. Until then, I have their recorded music, available on their Bandcamp, to keep me satisfied.

Now for the music.
"Sell Out While You Can"

"May"

"Bridge Concerns"

"Kickface" featured in the Netflix show Orange Is The New Black.

The Fisher Kings

Name another three-piece where the drummer sings lead vocals. There aren't many. Windsor, Ontario's The Fisher Kings fall into that category. These guys bring groove, volume, blusey rock riffs with forlorn wails and blistering leads. It's quite frankly something we don't hear enough of these days.

Listen to "Get Behind Me"

and their entire Get Behind Me EP.

Email newsletters for bands at ReverbNation.com

Scrapes

Later on October 16, I headed over to The Rivoli to check things out. I got there just as Scrapes were taking the stage. Scrapes are from Halifax and play a great style of power pop that I enjoyed very much. They managed to overcome some bad cable/pedal issues to make a great impression on not only me but on the judges, as I would catch them again in the finals on Saturday.

I have to say that I struggle with the "contest" aspect of Indie Week and I really didn't know that was part of it when I signed up. I've always felt that music is an expression of art and as such there are no "winners" and "losers". Everyone who wants to should feel free to make their music. Sometimes it will resonate with people and sometimes it won't, but selling more songs or having more fans doesn't make one band "better" than another. Having said that, the organizers did a great job of picking top-notch acts for this event, and the judges really did have their work cut out for them as there were so many great acts from so many diverse genres.

Now check out some great tunes from Scrapes. Starting out with the tune "Time With You".

And the entire album Lebaron.

Of Gentlemen and Cowards

Wednesday, October 16 was the first night of my first Indie Week. I headed down to The Hideout to pick up my wristband and media pass. The first band I heard was Of Gentlemen and Cowards. The only song I heard was this one, "You and I". It floated in my head as I wandered down Queen to check things out at The Rivoli.

Lots more Indie Week coverage, including every band I saw that resonated with me, over the coming days and likely weeks.