Lauren Sanderson hit The Opera House stage on a super-hot night to perform her high-energy pop tunes and warm up the enthusiastic crowd for Chase Atlantic.
I enjoyed her vibrant tunes, one with reggae inflection, and all with a vibe of positivity. She's got a new single, "Hotel Room", coming out in September, marking her first release as an independent artist. Good for her.
Check out some tunes below and be on the lookout for Lauren Sanderson's tunes and tour stops. If you like the music, you'll love her live energy.
The Messthetics are Brendan Canty on drums, Joe Lally on bass, and Anthony Pirog on the guitar. Canty and Lally were the rhythm section from legendary Washington post-hardcore band Fugazi. Together, The Messthetics are a gripping, engrossing, incredible instrumental post-punk band. They blew my mind with their set at Hillside 2018 and so when I saw the announcement of their show at The Great Hall, I knew I wanted to be there.
They did not disappoint with this set. The way the three of them fit together and dynamically shift as one glowing entity is incredible to behold. I love the aural ride that their music takes me on and I am humbled by the musicianship. I think the key here is the incredibly solid rhythm section that hold everything together as the guitar ebbs and flows through verse and chorus over top.
The Messthetics’ next release is called Anthropocosmic Nest and it comes out September 6.
The Messtehtics were joined by local bands Retired and Lozenge on this night. Click through those links to check out my coverage of their sets.
And finally, check out some of The Messthetics music from the setlist from this show.
Toronto punked-up jazz band Retired was on The Great Hall stage between headliners The Messthetics and co-openers Lozenge. They played droning, noisy jazz highlighted by percussion and effects-laden sax.
Check out my coverage of the other artists on this bill and check out some music from Retired:
Lozenge was the first band up on The Great Hall stage with Retired and headliners The Messthetics. They played a unique blend of post-punk, heavy, hypnotic and droning riffs, insistent vocals and the jazz element the sax provides.
Check out my coverage of the other acts from that night and check out some music from Lozenge:
Montreal's Pottery was the band to see at this NXNE showcase at Lee’s Palace and the band that got me off my couch to head out for a night of music. Pottery takes varied influences including post-punk, dance and pop, and turns them into frantic, intricate and furiously funky songs. There's no one else quite like Pottery around and I love their fantastic noise.
Also on the bill were Vypers, Brenda and The Fame. Click through to check out my photos of their sets.
And here’s some Pottery music. “Lady Solinas“ is currently in heavy rotation in my library.
