Date: April 10, 2008
Venue: The Horseshoe

My apartment was undergoing some much-needed maintenance last week (no more frozen pipes!), so I was marooned at my folks’ place in Pickering. Fortunately I was able to steal a car and drive down to the Horseshoe on Thursday in time for the Hilotrons‘ CD release.

Unfortunately things were uncharacteristically on-time at the Horseshoe, so those of us (ie, me) banking on the show being behind schedule ended up missing Andy Swan completely, which is a shame, as I heard he did a bang up job. That said, I was front and centre for the Hilotrons, who were celebrating the release of Happymatic, their latest full-length (and very enjoyable album, I might add–read the review here).

All told the Ottawa band delivered an admirable and upbeat set that garnered high praise from those in attendance (Rolf from the Acorn looked particularly captivated), but it’s too bad more people weren’t dancing, as the tunes on display were a perfect fit for some booty shakin’. Personally, I was most impressed by lead-singer Mike Dubue’s pipes, as it’s obvious that he’s a very capable vocalist. Of course, the whole evening was just an excuse for me to hear “Lovesuit” live (I just can’t get enough of that damn song).

Hilotrons - Lovesuit

The event was capped off with a performance by The Sunparlour Players, a band whose show at the Dakota earlier this year instantly earned these guys a must-see recommendation. What more can I say aside from the fact that they are, in my humble opinion, one of the best live acts going.

Putting the average multi-instrumentalist to shame, these 3 guys each play a myriad of instruments—most often at the same time—and deliver performances imbued with such passion and balls-to-the-wall intensity that it’s no wonder the Horseshoe filled up in time for their set. Backed up by occasional appearances from both a choir and a horn section, The Sunparlour Players delivered powerful renditions of cuts from their excellent debut, Hymns for the Happy, as well as some fiery new material (not to mention a fan-favourite cover of “Thunderstruck”).

I suppose people towards the back of the venue might not share my enthusiasm, as the band performs primarily while seated (they all play kick drums and various other foot-centric instruments), but for those of us in the front row it really doesn’t get much better.

Incidentally, the entire Sunparlour set—including all the jokes about between-song tuning (there were many) and drunken screams from a crazy woman in the front (there were also many of those)—was recorded by CBC Radio 2 and will be broadcast on May 14.

The Sunparlour Players - If the Creeks Don’t Rise (I’ve mentioned this before, but the Hilotrons do an excellent cover of this track, as detailed here)

The Sunparlour Players - The Detroit River is Alive!

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Check out more tunes at the Myspace pages for the Hilotrons and Sunparlour Players, or grab digital copies of both their albums from Zunior.