By Pam Nichol
As this was the first night of Canadian Music Week and the beginning of my weekend of discovering new acts, I was happy to start the whole crazy adventure off at a low key, nice sit down venue: The Cameron House. On the bill for the night were Rich Aucoin and I See Rowboats. Colin Munroe, an act that I also wanted to see, unfortunately wasn’t able to play this show.

Rich Aucoin is a one man act who put on a very interesting show. He plays a type of experimental, electronic, heavily synthesized pop music. He also used a Slinky to interesting effect, played the trumpet and had a beat going in unison with Dr Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas playing on a screen in the background. This being something I haven’t encountered before, he kept me intrigued and very entertained. I was definitely surprised by his performance because I didn’t expect such a spectacular show from the first act of the night. Unfortunately his keyboard wasn’t working correctly so part of the experience was missing. Nevertheless, if you had never heard or seen Rich Aucoin before I don’t think that it would have been noticeable because, as I said, it was such a spectacular performance.
Next up was I See Rowboats, a band with a cello, violin and viola, which to my mind was awesome. I love to see different instruments being showcased in a band apart from the usual. I See Rowboats played down to earth, mellow music, which derives from their Eastern Canadian roots. The crowd enjoyed them, and they fit perfectly into the laid-back vibe that the Cameron House provides as a venue. I also enjoyed them because they reminded me of Arcade Fire, but ultimately they may have been a little too low key for my liking.

I was happy to have chosen to see this show and these acts on my first night of CMW. I’m glad to have discovered these two new bands, and I anticipate their return visits to Toronto so that I will be able to see them in a different atmosphere and find out if they are still just as amazing as they were tonight.

http://www.richaucoin.com
http://www.myspace.com/richaucoin
Photo: Mat Dunlap - www.justfriends.ca/mat

http://www.iseerowboars.com
http://www.myspace.com/iseerowboats
Photo: http://www.chrisreardon.com

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