Born Ruffians, Henri Faberge and the Adorables and Hooded Fang @ The Opera House

Toronto's own Born Ruffians played to a full house at The Opera House on Saturday night. Whoulda thunk it? The fact that it was an all ages show probably added to the volume quite a bit, especially when you consider that if you took out all of the attendees under 19 years of age, you'd probably be left with about five people. OK, I'm exaggerating but it sorta felt that way to me. Still, the youthful enthusiasm of the crowd is likely what enabled Lalonde, Derosier and Hamelin to crank out a show that was all kinds of energetic.

I've made many stupid musical comments in the past, but the stupidest has to be the fact that I once thought that Born Ruffians were another overrated teeny bopper band. Boy was I ignorant. (I also once said that Rick Astley was going to be as big as Elvis, but I was quite young at the time.) The fact is, that I've been listening to Red, Yellow and Blue at least three times a week since I first picked it up, and it doesn't seem to show any signs of wearing thin on me yet. Their music is accessible while still being just weird enough to keep me interested. As soon as the band hit the stage to set up their equipment, the young ladies started getting all excited, and Luke graciously posed for all of their cameras, and took the time to kindly shake their hands. That's pretty classy. They opened the evening with Badonka Donkey and, as far as I can tell, they played pretty much every song from the CD, except for the title track. (I also don't think that I remember hearing Red Elephant either, but I could be wrong.) They also played some older songs too, but what really got me excited was the two new songs that they played. They sound like a significant step up for the band, which shows me that they're not going to be satisfied with simply mailing it in. Based on the strength of those two songs, their next release is going to be stuh-hell-ar! As I've mentioned before, I really like the fact that the band doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, and this was emphasized by the fact that they showed up at the regal looking Opera House wearing Rod Stewart, casual plaid and Nirvana shirts. (This outfit of course, is nothing compared to their opening act. More on that later...) By the time they played the last song (I Need A Life) the teens and tweens had enough of the dance floor and made their way to the stage, much to security's chagrin. I, however, was actually OK with that, because it meant that they were no longer banging into me. Kids, I don't mind you having fun but when you invade my personal space with your sweat fueled testosterone, I become significantly less nice. (Kids these days! When I was your age, we didn't disrupt people with our incessant body slamming! As a matter of fact, when we danced, it was in 20 feet of snow, without shoes! In fact, we didn't even have feet, just stumps! Imagine dancing on stumps! Anyways....)

For a few minutes, it didn't look like there was going to be an encore, since the lights were turned on, and I think the music had started up too, but the audience was not going to let them get away that easily. So the guys came back on and performed their cover of Grizzly Bear's Knife, ending the show in a very triumphant fashion.

My Photos: Born Ruffians @ The Opera House on flickr.
Myspace: Born Ruffians
Video: I Need A Life on youtube

Henri Faberge and the Adorables have been heavily touted by local music loving scenesters for about two years now. Up till now, I had never seen them and, to be honest, had never really taken the time to acquaint myself with them. This was not due to reasons of meanness or arrogance or anything, it was just simply due to the fact that I can't listen to everybody. Still, I was eager to see what all of the hype was about and now that I have, I must admit that, while it was quite an experience to say the least, I don't think I'm ready to jump on the bandwagon just yet.

HF and the A's are another one of those Canadian collectives, but to lump them in with all of the others would not be fair because this band is oozing with more originality than they even know what to do with. I wasn't able to count how many people were up there for this show, but I'd guess it was somewhere in the area of 9 or so. They were all costumed and some of them looked like the Lost Boys from 'Hook', while Henri himself looked like Jebediah Springfield. Their songs were incredibly scattered and all over the place, and there were several moments where I really was wondering what the hecks was going on. Still, I could see why they're popular, and I did enjoy some of the songs. Towards the end of their set however, things took a turn for the worst. Henri was left wearing only a leopard skin speedo and a smile, and this is the type of imagery that I really could've gone a lifetime without seeing. My disturb-o-meter was off the scale, and, although I highly encourage you to check out my photos from the night, I'm afraid you won't find any pictures of that image since I'm working hard to erase said image from my mind. *shutter...

My photos: Henri Faberge and the Adorables @ The Opera House on flickr.
Myspace: Henri Faberge and the Adorables

Opening the evening was Hooded Fang, an adorable little local band that specializes in sugary sweet boy-girl pop. When I say little, I actually mean big, because there's seven people in the band. The lead singer Daniel, is also the drummer, and this is something that you don't see everyday. His vocals, as well as co-lead vocalist Lorna's, are understated but effective, and their sound reminds me a little bit of Architecture In Helsinki. The songs may sound deceptively simple, but there is actually quite a lot going on if you're paying attention. I also found it impressive that they were able to recreate a full horn sound, although there were only two horns being played. While not every song stood out for me, there were enough hooks to keep me interested, and I'm looking forward to possibly checking out their self titled EP one day soon.

My photos: Hooded Fang @ The Opera House on flickr
Myspace: Hooded Fang