By: Kristen Chamberlain
June 12th 2008

A woman with no teeth, wearing slippers and a fuzzy cheetah print hat threatened me with a broken Tim Hortons mug on the subway ride down town last night. All that was going through my mind was, this show had better be worth it, and it was, fortunately.

Unfortunately, however, I arrived at the Supermarket a little late, missing the majority of The Hots set. The Hots are a local band I have really gotten into over the past few months.  If you are looking for a good night and some music to dance to, The Hots are your best bet, plus I get more and more jealous of lead singer MJ Cyr’s talent every time I see her play. She has this really enigmatic vibe about her that transmits throughout her performance, and even seems to linger around for a bit after their set as the show goers take it all in. If we went to high school together, I’d totally want my locker next to hers.

Next up was a five piece band from Toronto called Cancel Winter who has opened for acts such as Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton. To be honest I had never heard of them before a few days ago, but I saw their name on the NXNE website and I guess it drew me in. I am all about the cancellation of winter and the way the cold numbs my hands and creativity, and I am definitely all about this band.

I always know a band is really good when I can picture myself in a specific scenario and mood when listening to them. Cancel Winter is music for those days when you get on the subway during a bad storm - no, make that a torrential downpour, and when you get off at your stop, it’s suddenly sunny out and you just want to smile and buy a chocolate milk.

As far as their live performance went, they could have used a bit more bark in their bite, if you will. At times they looked a little timid on stage and I would have liked to see them to interact with the audience a little bit more. The sound at the Supermarket was not the greatest so it really didn’t do the band justice. Despite the venue’s short comings the band powered on playing their catchy, yet pleasantly original sounding indie electro rock ballads.  My favourite was the slightly anthemic song “Changes”, in which lead singer Nate Kreiswirth, in his calm, peaceful voice sang out lyrics like “Faces left behind can’t say goodbye.”

With a few more show dates scheduled this summer, I will definitely be keeping an eye on Cancel Winter as they seem to be one solid band that are going places I want to follow. I’m sure the no-teeth broken mug chick on the subway would be down with them too.

For more information check out both bands at:
www.myspace.com/thehotsmusic
www.myspace.com/cancelwinter
Photo credit: Geo Photo & Kyle Hutton

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 4:01 pm.