Blarney Rock

For St. Patrick's Day, local band July Talk was the head-liner for a charity concert. They've been selling out Toronto shows so I needed quick fingers to buy the tickets, especially since they were going for only $10. On Tuesday night, I headed down to nightclub The Hoxton.

Given the day and the environment, I was warily anticipating well-sloshed partiers. Corporate sponsors Jameson Irish Whiskey was handing out free drink tickets, but surprisingly, everybody seemed well-behaved. Without an opener, July Talk took to the stage at an early-ish 10:30 pm.

Although a full band, they are primarily Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay. Whether there was any real substance to their heat or just stagecraft, they played up the love/hate angle. So as they were exchanging lyrics, there were a lot of meaningful/hateful stares, hair-pulling, and body contact. Dreimanis accompanied his growly singing with heavy guitar chords, fist-pumps, and Ric Flair "woos". Fay, with her light voice, was more into poses and manic dancing. She also borrowed plenty of props from the audience from leprechaun hats, to green boas, to tear-away pants and a Celtics jersey.

The music was equally groin-based with lots of chunky riffs and chords on numbers like Summer Dress and The Garden.  The crowd was young, tight to the stage, happy to dance, and knew every song. So they eagerly received "blessings" from Fay on this holy day: first spritzes of water flung from her water bottle, then later eager sips of whiskey from the band's complimentary bottle. With rabid fans, energetic songs, and intense stage personas, this band will definitely break out soon onto a bigger stage. Considering that they also recently won Alternative Album at the Junos over the week-end, that's a pretty safe bet.