She Sells C-Scale By The Seashore

The clouds were threatening but the rain held off. So I was down at The Harbourfront to catch two local acts at the Celebration Zone stage. Both drew large crowds for different reasons. The 8 pm crowd was sitting on the astro-turf grooving to the electro-pop music of Brave Shores. The two musicians fronting this 4-piece were siblings Jay and Stefanie McCarrol. Although they have indie creds, a surprise pop hit written in 2013 spurred them to explore more dance-friendly music. So their set comprised of songs off their debut EP including Dancing Underwater and Surfs Up. Although the core of these tunes had friendly beats and catchy chords, they were often augmented with dissonant and atmospheric effects. They finished off the show with their big hit Never Come Down.

By 9:15 pm, it had gotten younger, louder, and up close to the stage. This demographic matched the women of The Beaches, who are themselves in their late teens/early twenties. I suspect that a good number were friends from school. I saw them at The Garrison and was impressed with their energy. Unfortunately, that venue make most bands sound bad. With the excellent sound tonight, it was clear why they were playing at many local and international festivals. They had veteran stage presence and plenty of raucous tunes (Loner, Strange Love, Little Pieces). There were even "roadies". Although these were likely their parents, it looks "professional" to have people tuning your guitars and fetching you water and towels during a show. Talented and yes, young and good-looking, they should blow up big anytime soon.