Tin Bangs, The iSpies and Songs From A Room @ Lee's Palace

On Saturday night, Toronto's Tin Bangs taught the city of Toronto how to rock, as they attacked the stage of Lee's Palace with a rock 'n roll assault that was likely unequaled in the city on this particular night. I saw them once before earlier this year, and was thoroughly impressed with their immense rock star swagger and appeal. I've meant to see them again several times but never quite made it. So for my last live show of the year, I made sure that I didn't miss this one. The boys did not disappoint. I've also noticed that they seem to draw the wildest and craziest fans, as the dancing was insane, which is unusual for the usually reserved Toronto crowd. But there were people in costumes dancing their hearts out, with some even joining the band onstage for the grand finale. One of the crazy's was none other than Flyerman, who I remember seeing at concerts years ago. That is one weird dude, to say the least. But he was having a good time, as was everybody else and if you get the chance to see Tin Bangs, make sure you do. For extra initiative (not that it should be needed,) they also have a habit of handing out their CD's for free at these shows. They've just released their latest 9 track offering entitled Seeya In The Springtime. Hopefully we'll see them before that.

Photos: Tin Bangs @ Lee's Palace on flickr
Download: Young Lions mp3 / Shake! mp3 / White Lies mp3
Myspace: Tin Bangs

I was entirely unfamiliar with The iSpies before checking out this show. That's unusual because I'll at least put forth the effort to sample a band's music on myspace before attending one of their shows. But this time, no time, and therefore the show was going to be a one hundred percent surprise. At least it was a pleasant one. Although their hooks are smothered in new wave stylings, what I found refreshing was that this band did not seem gimmicky in any way. Usually you can count on the new wavy type bands to be sporting eye makeup or outlandish clothes or some other type of schtick so as to thrust their blatant 80's-ness in our faces. That sort of bugs me because, first of all, I was there in the 80's, and the style is NOT something that we want to revisit, trust me. Secondly, 80's music just simply wasn't all that good. Sure, sometimes I wallow in the nostalgia of it all, but overall a lot of it is downright embarrassing and unless you're some sort of a novelty act, it's probably best to just run runaway. The iSpies however, do not come across as an 80's novelty throwback. They simply play really good pop songs that sound slightly reminiscent of all that was good about the era. I'm talking about bands like The Police, The Pretenders and, most of all, Elvis Costello. They don't seem like they're out to prove anything other than the fact that they like and respect good music. They even look like normal people, while playing music for normal people. Very impressive and highly recommended.

Photos: The iSpies @ Lee's Palace on flickr
Myspace: The iSpies

Opening the evening was Songs From A Room. I really don't know what else to say about them that I haven't already mentioned. I've seen them three times in the last few weeks and you can read my other reviews here and here. I will mention that they're looking forward to having a CD released sometime within the next year so keep your eyes and ears peeled for a release date.

Photos: Songs From a Room @ Lee's Palace on flickr
Myspace: Songs From A Room

And that ends my concert goings for 2007 which, I must say, makes for a very exhausting year. To be honest, I do have one more gig this Sunday December 23rd at Free Times Cafe. I am actually hosting this one featuring Haley Zalesky, Nicky Wales, and Alicia Isenor with other guests. It's going to be a real laid back night of sweet acoustic music by some very talented people. I'm actually a little nervous about my foray into entertainment, but I know this is mostly going to be friends and family in attendance due to the fact that most people are pretty busy that night. So I'm feeling alright. But heck, if you're around and you feel like some great music, good beer and me ripping off the material of better comedians, than feel free to drop by. Like Radiohead's latest, its a pay what you can deal.