Dance With Me

On Friday, The Horseshoe hosted some high-energy sets. A few years ago, I caught a few songs from For Esmé. These didn't inspire me to follow their progress. Since then, it sounds like they've pivoted to more synth-y dance music. But over the funky groove, there were some excellent feminist lyrics. This was a nice evolution in their sound.

We are monroe from Montréal played muscular rock with a funky vibe. The bass player resembled the bassist from defunct band Hands and Teeth. If that was him, it would explain why they drove to Toronto today; the lead guitarist from that band now plays with tonight's headliner.

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Fast Romantics. They have a great sound but perhaps I'm just tired of that Arcade Fires vibe of sprawling orchestral pop. The core band is already large at 6 members, when they bring out a 3-member horn section on a few numbers, it felt a bit overstuffed. But over the course of the last few years, it seems to me that they're on the cusp of either exploding into a larger mainstream fan-base or calling it a day. With a packed, young crowd who sang lustily to songs like Julia and Everybody Wants To Steal Your Heart, Fast Romantics might just have enough momentum to break through.