The Franklin Electric Take Over Toronto

By Phjoshua @thereviewsarein

Friday night 4 dudes from Montreal took over the Drake Underground – and made Toronto smile. For the second night in a row, The Franklin Electric played a sold out show to an audience that was totally in.

With an indie rock/folk sound, heavy on lyrics and harmonies, The Franklin Electric are producing a sound that delivers an intimate feeling that separates it from typical radio rock, and endears them to their fans in Quebec and beyond. The band has previously played Toronto landmarks like Lee’s Palace and Massey Hall – and this summer they’ll be taking on the stage in their hometown at Osheaga’s 10th anniversary festival.

Before the show we caught up with Jon, Liam, Martin, and Alex to talk about playing Toronto, Osheaga, a new record and what else is coming next.

Here’s what we learned…

  • Jon seems to be pretty impressed with the Toronto music scene right now. After Thursday’s Drake Underground show he noticed no less than 3 live acts playing in the front of bars nearby. It’s a good sign for TO when visiting artists like what we have going on.
  • The entire band seems pretty pumped to play Osheaga – and to that point, that there’s a festival as significant as Osheaga in their hometown.
  • There are also other festival shows coming this summer – and while they haven’t been announced yet, the boys seems excited about the summer of 2015.
  • There’s a new record coming from The Franklin Electric… but don’t mark a date on your calendar just yet. The band is set on letting the new music come to them, and recording when they’re ready. To date they’ve been in studio to record 2 tracks (which were probably the 2 new tracks that were slipped into Friday night’s set) with more coming.
  • There’s a Euro-trip coming this fall to coincide with the release of This Is How I Let You Down overseas.
  • There’s also a brand new video coming for Strongest Man Alive… they’re expecting that we should be seeing it very, very soon.

When it came time for The Franklin Electric to take the Drake Underground stage, they were ready. With a mix of piano, keyboards, trumpet – and even a little guitar, Jon played a fantastic front man for the band. Engaging with the crowd, dropping the news that a new record is coming – and generously saying thank you after every song.

The music was tight, impressive really considering how many moving pieces there are in the set. Between bouncing between songs and instruments, nothing was lost and the sound was on point. Jon, Liam, Martin, and Alex clearly know what they’re doing, and if the songs for the new album are as intimate as the 11 tracks from This Is How I Let You Down – fans are in for a treat.

Jon told us that it’s been a little nerve-racking introducing new music into the set. But it doesn’t look that way from the crowd. It will be interesting to see The Franklin Electric again when the set is 90% new songs and  10% old, instead of the other way around…

But if we really learned anything last night, it’s that it won’t matter. The musicianship and lyrical content of this band will keep crowds just as focused and entertained as they did for the second night in a row in Toronto.

Find The Franklin Electric online at these fine locations…
Website: thefranklinelectric.com
Facebook: The Franklin Electric
Twitter: @thefranklinelec
Instagram: @franklinelectric
YouTube: The Franklin Electric
iTunes: The Franklin Electric