Wilson at Rebel - Concert Pictures

Roy Cohen captured these photos of Wilson as they opened for Steel Panther at Rebel.

"Windows Down!"

The Sounds at The Mod Club - Concert Pictures

The Sounds' album Dying to Say this to You is an almost-perfect pop album and it's definitely one of my favourite albums. The songs have great groove and energy with solid hooks and earworm melodies. It's five-star material from front-to-back.

Back in March, I posted about this album. Back then, I wrote, "It's wall-to-wall catchy songs with high-energy beats, cool guitar riffs and addictive melodies. It's like a decadent treat for your auditory system, bringing a smile to your face and putting a spring in your step. It's an album that hit my ears in exactly the right way ten years ago and has never let go."

It was fantastic for me that my first time seeing The Sounds live would be for the tenth anniversary of this album and that they'd be playing the entire thing, plus other hits from across their discography. From the opening beats and guitar riff of "Song With A Mission", I knew I was going to love this show.

There are too many highlights to mention in a show where the band is playing one of your all-time favourite albums in its entirety. Dying to Say this to You is an album of perfectly crafted pop tunes. Then take into account that they're a super tight band of excellent players that sound great. It was a fantastic musical experience.

My only disappointment was that they didn't play the alternate version of "Night After Night". I've included it below.

Here are some of my favourite Sounds tunes:

"Song with A Mission"

"Queen of Apology"

"Tony the Beat"

"Ego"

"Much Too Long"

"Night After Night (Alternate Version)"

"No One Sleeps When Im Awake"

Zipper Club at The Mod Club - Concert Pictures

LA band Zipper Club played The Mod Club on November 29 opening for The Sounds. The band was formed by Mason James of Cerebral Ballzy and solo artist Lissy Trullie. I've got some great Lissy Trullie music in my library. The debut Zipper Club album was produced by Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha.

I found their music to have great beats, cool hooks and bouncy energy. I'll definitely be watching for their album release and their next Toronto visit.

Check out their debut single:

"Going the Distance"

My Jerusalem at The Mod Club - Concert Pictures

Austin Texas rock band My Jerusalem was up on stage first at The Mod Club on November 29. They warmed us up with their straight up powerhouse guitar rock. Their album A Little Death is out now.

Give them a listen:

"Rabbit Rabbit"

"No One Gonna Give You Love"

The Darcys at Wayhome for the Holidays at The Phoenix Concert Theatre - Concert Pictures

The fine folks who give us such a great summer highlight in Wayhome Festival want to make sure we get through the cold winter months with dreams of next year's summer fest. They did so by putting on Wayhome for the Holidays at The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto last Wednesday night.

The Darcys introduced their major genre shift from sprawling and intense art-rock and Steely Dan cover albums to Miami Vice neon pop with their gig at The Mod Club back in May. My pics from that show are here. Since then, they've been riding high on the success of super-catchy 80s tinged single "Miracle" and their brand spanking new album Centrefold, which came out at the beginning of November.

They were down to the core duo for this gig which showed off their catchy, hook-filled and danceable tunes with copious 80s nods for a full Phoenix Concert Theatre crowd. The crowd was longing for the summer days of Wayhome, the hot Pacific breezes of San Diego in 1988 and from the actions of some folks near me, almost-unbridled passion was in the air.

We did get a couple glimpses at The Darcys of old, with "The River" and their cover of Steely Dan's "Josie" from their full-album cover of Aja. They remarked on 2016 and how it's been a year of tragic rock star deaths, including Prince. They broke into a cover of "Purple Rain" and I thought, wow, this is an ambitious tune to cover. Well, they only gave us a taste by limiting themselves to the first verse an chorus. The rest of the set focused on Centrefold and finished off with an encore of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" before we shuffled out into the drizzly fall night.

With The Darcys' solid set along with Bear Mountain's dance party and The Beaches' rock, it was a great night of tunes that makes us look forward to next summer's Wayhome Festival.

Check out some Darcys tunes below.

Photos by B. Hartling.

"Miracle"

"San Diego, 1988"

"Coming Up for Air"

"Josie"

"Studio City"

"The River"

"Black Diamond"

"Lip Service"