The Dudes: Barbers, Thieves and Bartenders

As the band name The Dudes indicates, Calgary based alt rock outfit are all about manly sweaty live shows and a passion for Rock 'n Roll. With their recent release of Barbers, Thieves and Bartenders, which is the initial effort of a trilogy of their albums to be released in 2012. Teamed up with Jeff Dawson at Mush Room Studios and The Den from Vancouver, the quartet deployed their 6 tracks of expansive musicianship: from onslaught of earsplitting scream in Tear it Up, groovy alt-country rock tunes, American Girl and Saturday Night to emotive ballads Good Times. Listening to this album excites me to know more about the 2 upcoming albums.

The Dudes are currently on a Canadian Tour and stopping by in Toronto Tomorrow, Saturday April 28th at Horseshoe Tavern. Who will be joining me?

Tour Date

April 13 Whistler, BC TWSSF

April 14 Kelowna, BC Habitiat

April 19 Edmonton, AB Starlight Room

April 20 Regina, SK O'Hanlon's

April 24 Montreal, QC Petit Campus

April 25 Ottawa, ON Cafe Dekuf

April 27 Waterloo, ON Maxwell's

April 28 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern

April 29 Peterborough, ON Red Dog Tavern

May 1 Sault St. Marie, ON Loplops

May 2 Thunder Bay, ON  Crock's Pub

May 3 Winnipeg, MB The Lo Pub

May 5 Calgary, AB Wyckham House

May 9 Nanaimo, BC Queens Hotel

May 10 Victoria, BC Club9One9

May 11 Tofino, BC Legion

May 12 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theatre

July 6 Kelowna, BC  Waterfront Park

You can listen to their first single off the album, American Girl here below.

fun. at Kool Haus on April 25th, 2012

"The rule at fun.s shows is to sing along as loud as you can."- As stated by Nate Ruess, the front man of the New York orchestral pop trio, fun., they delivered a frenzied and 'fun'tastic performance, fully participated by the audience at Kool Haus on April 25th. 

The opening act, Miniature Tigers shot the long-waiting audience with their infectious bazooka gun of 80s infused pop tunes. The crowd warmly welcomed the quintet on the return to Canuck soil since their last show in 3 years ago. Charlie Brand, the singer shared his excitement be backwith the crowd by making sweet comments between songs.

My eyes were attracted to Brandon Lee,  the bassist who was dancing his ass off from the beginning to the end with his rhythmical beats. When Algernon Quashie, key/vocal joined Lee and Brand, during one of their songs, Cannibal Queen, dancing back and forth on the stage, i felt as if I was at my friends karaoke party, when everyone shamelessly shows off their dance moves.

After been warmed up with Miniture Tigers' set, the stages heat cooled for a while as the 30 mins wait between the acts felt forever. Anxiety was what we all had in common. Then all of a sudden screams from the crowd blasted like a bomb when fun. at last stamped on the stage with a powerful opening tune, One Feet.Yes, we were just waiting for something to happen just as the song said. It was so easy to feel the escalation of the momentum from then on with their hit tunes, including Waking the Dog. Ruess was swinging from left to right, hop-step-jumping on the each corner of the stage between the members as to make sure to greet each one of us. His Broadway,(or I would even say, Glee- reminiscence vocal was something that people only at the show can appreciate, especially today, where it is hard to witness the true compelling vocal due to the advanced technologies such as Autotune. his lively voice echoed profoundly to the bottom of listener's hearts. He also showcased his sweet side as introducing All the Pretty Girls to celebrate one of the attendees' Stephanie's birthday.

Once the drum roll of the smash hit single with Janelle Monae,  We are Young, commenced, it was the climax of the night, while each one of the audience sang along so loud. Encouraged by Ruess 'Carry me home tonight'-the left side of the venue chanted, while the other half added a layer on the tune by humming  'nah nah nah nah na na.", I  pressed a shutter to capture the moment in my heart while nostalgically remembering their show back in March during SXSW. As it came closer to the end of the song, the venue was to explosive with the screams of excitement. 

Sonic Boom Record Store Day - April 21, 2012

As part of International Record Store Day 2012, Sonic Boom invited a string of bands which comprised the best elements of the Toronto indie scene to date. The free show brought in large crowds and left me with an air of nostalgia - This is how record stores must have been in the heyday of vinyl records. Not to say that record stores are dying or that the colourful characters that like to peruse the thousands of obscure cd's and vinyls on offer are in vast decline but it's a digital age that we live in and independent record stores must have felt the pinch that is the intangible immediacy of online music stores coupled with music piracy.

From 1pm on this particular Saturday afternoon Sonic Boom was transformed into a busy hub of music fans both young and old, eager to get up close and personal with the impressive acts on offer. Sonic Boom did a great job of hosting the event, offering free pizza and good prize give aways. It was very all refreshingly welcoming. Something unique to Sonic Boom and Toronto in my opinion

It's not often that you get to be so intimate with the acts but it certainly felt different to be crammed into the isles between the record bins, leaning against The Very Best of Kenny Rogers vinyl while having The Darcys ferry their equipment to the stage. It's refreshing. It gives the man on the street and in fact the bands themselves an opportunity to interact in the perfect setting.

The Darcys shoehorned their gear onto the small stage backed by a surround of mirrors. It's a far cry from the setting of some of their recent shows but in that way it had its own charm. They played a short but impressive set of elctro-prog-art-rock. Mike le Riche put in a particularly impressive performance of musical multitasking partially hidden by the PA system. If you think that this sort of show wouldn't include as much vigor as another more high-profile show the sweat soaked shirt of  vocalist Jason Couse would carry a pretty strong argument.

Born Ruffians followed The Darcys after a short intermission. I must admit it was the fist time I'd ever seen this band, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Luke Lalonde got the set underway with a solo performance of a song which I do believe is part of his solo project (sorry I didn't catch the name of the song, shameful and unhelpful I know!). The rest of the band looked on patiently as he expressed his fine musicianship with narrative lyrics and a smooth familiar vocal performance. For me it was the highlight of the day. The rest of the band provided great support to Lalonde's talent in the songs that followed. I felt that the band really made an effort to engage with the few hundred people that had gathered by that time. Their cheerful relaxed style was easy on the ear and left the crowd content with this unique experience.

Written by Nicholas A Mitchell