There was much to see and do on Thursday night and I was disappointed that I couldn’t get to a bunch of stuff that looked really cool. This will be kind of rough as I am still tired from last night. But here is where I did get to:
Justin Rutledge, Oh Susanna and Danny Michel
9 p.m. at Lee’s Palace
I got to Lee’s Palace a little early and caught the last half of legendary songwriter Andy Kim’s set. You may remember him as the guy behind “Rock Me Gently” and, I did not know this, was also the guy who wrote “Sugar Sugar” for The Archies back the 1960s.
Justin Rutledge, Oh Susanna and Danny Michel, each took turns showcasing one of their songs in their brief 35-minute set. The highlight for me was a one-chord song that Danny Michel played. And Oh Susanna played a song I remember hearing from her years ago, but I don’t know the name of. It was a perfect way to start the night.
Andy Swan, Camp Radio
10 and 11 p.m. at Clinton’s
This was part of the Kelp Records showcase. I’ve been a fan of songwriter Chris Page for some years now (and wrote a story on him on the old Shred site) and while I missed his solo set earlier in the evening I was determined to catch him with his full band Camp Radio. And I’ve always thought Kelp Records put out quality music so I thought I’d check out Andy Swan as well.
Andy Swan was ok, kind of twangy, but I thought too many songs had the same tempo.
Camp Radio started out a little rough, with the mix being to high on the bass. Having said that, though, that bass player contributes so much to their sound, and he is a helluva player that it was interesting to just hear what he was doing. Their distorted, hooky power-pop were a definite highlight of the night for me.
I would have stuck around for the rest of the night and am disappointed to have missed Andrew Vincent, but I wanted to catch the Diaboleros.
Diaboleros
Midnight at the Comfort Zone
The Diableros were just ok. I left early. The Comfort Zone, where they were playing, has a weird vibe.
Ben Stevenson and the Wondertones
1 a.m. at The Supermarket
Ben Stevenson was a pleasant surprise when I was doing research on the bands who were playing this year’s festival. His blue-eyed soul music had the potential to be really cheesy. Or at least looking like an end-of-year Humber College Jazz Combo recital. But no, he was high energy, the horn section was awesome, and everyone had a good time.
The Soft Pack
2 a.m. at the Silver Dollar
It was either this, a “surprise” performance by San Diego garage-rock band The Soft Pack or heading down to the Bovine to see Walter Schreifels, which was the original plan. I ended up at the Silver Dollar for the simple reason that I didn’t want to walk all the way to Queen and Bathurst and gamble that there would be no line-up. I’m glad I stayed. They reminded me a bit of the Smugglers.