Brampton Indie Arts Festival Kick Off

The 7^th annual Brampton Indie Arts Festival kicked off yesterday in fine fashion with performances by Uncut, Andy Kim and The Diableros to mention just a few. The four day festival is stacked with a great line up of musical performers as well as some great theatrical performances, which promises that each day will be filled with quality entertainment for the entire family, from start to finish. To kick off this amazing event, the festival organizers decided to have a kick off concert at the Drake Hotel, in Toronto, last Friday night, and much like the festival, this kick off show was stacked with great bands.

The venue was packed early for the night’s first performers, Friendly Rich and The Lollipop People. This eight piece band played cabaret styled music that sounded like something that your great grandparents listened to, but despite their old world sound, it was an up beat and quite enjoyable. The band was fronted by the erratic Friendly Rich, who was grabbing his crotch and foaming from the mouth during the set. The set was enjoyed by all, especially a couple of dudes who yelled out at Friendly Rich that he was “the best performer ever!” A Friendly Rich and The Lollipop People show is an experience, and a fun one at that. Not only do you hear great music, but you are treated to a show that will have you laughing.

Second up was Brampton’s, Five Blank Pages. This show was a special one for the band, because on that weekend last year, bassist Rajiv Thavanathan played his first show with the band at The 2006 Brampton Indie Arts Festival. The band was in top form performing their well known tracks like She Sleeps Soundly and A Point of Reference as well as some new tracks, from their upcoming full length release, for the packed venue. Five Blank Pages is a great band to watch because it’s a guaranteed good time, they are always solid and they omit a positive energy that has you bobbing you head and dancing to every song… well, not so much the “slow jams,” but almost every song.

While Five Blank Pages was tearing down, a random woman from the crowd demanded to be on stage to announce something. Friendly Rich at the time was giving away free shirts and CDs to the crowd and had this woman help him. Rich tried to get this woman to announce what she wanted to say, but she wanted to wait for her husband to come back from the washroom; so, they handed out more shirts. When they were done handing out the free stuff and the husband was back from the washroom, the woman announced that she and her husband were married that afternoon, and that she was proposed to on Monday of that week. So, what this woman wanted was to have a band to play music for her and her husband to dance to. Because Five Blank Pages was already finished packing up, Friendly Rich sang a solo piece with no music. It was funny and sweet.

Roz Bell was batting third and had the largest and probably the most enthusiastic crowd of the night. The band, as musicians, was great; in one song, their guitarist played a mind blowing guitar solo that had me spinning, but despite that great act of musicianship, their set was kind of stale. Roz Bell and his band sounded like a Maroon 5 rip off, playing R&B/Pop Rock that only thirteen year old girls would like. Despite my dislike of their music, they had a huge and very appreciative crowd out for their set.

After Roz Bell, the place pretty much emptied out for Acton, Ontario kids, Cain and Abel. The band still played a great set for the people who stuck around and were fairly entertaining. Their unique brand of indie emo pop is enjoyable and not the typical emo that most would believe they played by taking a look at them. Cain and Abel is a band worth checking out, they are entertaining to watch and will have you moving.

Closing out the night to about twenty people was Hamilton dance punk rockers, Cities In Dust. The start of their set was their typical high octane performance; lead singer, Zach Frank, even tore down the festival banner that was hanging from the ceiling and threw it on the ground. After the song Frank said that Cities In Dust will probably never be invited to play the Brampton Indie Arts Fest again. Continuing their set, the band played Save The Last Dance, and in the middle, Frank decided to attempt and a jump from the stage to a large square seat that was about five to seven feet away. Frank would land the jump, but because the seat was not secured to the floor, it slipped from under him causing him to fall back and hit the floor. The fall looked painful and everyone who witnessed it gasped as he hit the ground. There was no doubt that everyone who saw it felt his pain. What was so amazing was that Frank continued the song without missing a beat. He laid on the ground for a bit (actually, quite typical for a Cities In Dust set) and finished the song sitting on the stage. I don’t think that people thought that Frank would be able to continue the set, but he did and was amazing. Cities In Dust ended up cutting the set short, by a song or two, and ended the night with their single Chop! Chop! You’re Dead! This was not the best Cities In Dust performance to date, but they were tight (for most of the set) and entertaining. There is a reason why I catch this band almost every time they come to Toronto; they are amazing, even when they are not at their best, they still rock.

Check out all the bands at:
http://www.myspace.com/friendlyrich
http://www.myspace.com/fiveblankpages
http://www.myspace.com/rozbell
http://www.myspace.com/cainandabel
http://www.myspace.com/citiesindust

Check out the festival at:
http://www.biaf.ca