Last night in Toronto The Lovelocks made their Hugh's Room debut and it was magical. As a supporter of local talent they've been on our radar for a while. This was my first time seeing them live but we've covered them before, and we'll be covering them again. Now when I say local, you can't get any more local than these ladies. They let us know during their set that they live in the neighbourhood!
You'll have to forgive the heads in the shot, we arrived at 7:45 and the room was full. Note to all, if you want to be up front and personal make sure you make a dinner reservation. We had dessert, which was perfection but the dinner entrées looked delicious. The service was friendly and professional, you couldn't ask for more.
Ali and Zoe looked very comfortable up on the stage and their banter was infectious. They played songs from their current EP including Teardrop Tattoo and Dance, two of my favourites, some covers including Landslide and a new song, which I think is called I Do Not. It was sassy and had the crowd moving.
The Lovelocks finished up their set with a wonderful cover of Folsom Prison Blues which started out nice and slow but built steam and finished the set on a high note. Well done!
In minutes The Stellas were on stage. Another first performance for me. I'd been listening to them all day and was able to sing along with almost all of their songs. They were funny and engaging. They're talented and you can feel the love. Their harmonies are incomparable and the crowd was eating it up.
In this small venue, Brad and Marylynne joked about how close the audience was, Marylynne joking she had to be careful when saying her "f"s so she didn't spit on people in the front row, Brad saying he was thinking about how to put together a super long straw so he could drink out of their glasses. It was amazing.
The set list included Life of Riley, Stay Away, One Of Us Is Crazy, The Man Upstairs - which you might hear Blake Shelton singing soon, and some amazing covers - Paul Young's Every Time You Go Away, and The Who's Baba O'Riley which was awesome! They also did a great cover of TLC's Waterfalls, and in case you didn't know, Marylynne can lay down a super solid rap. You've gotta see this!
They played their encore song No Choice by Peter, Paul and Mary, from the crowd and asked us to sing along with the chorus. It was magical.
They've got a pretty cool pre-order package going on for their upcoming album release, May 4th, which just happens to be their 20th anniversary.
The Stellas' pre-order bundle includes:
- "It Wouldn't Be This" CD
- Signed poster (first 100 orders)
* Orders ship on release date, May 4, 2015
Order The Stellas' pre-order bundle HERE!
It was a privilege to be at this show. Both bands are on this this year's Boots and Hearts lineup and we can't wait to see them in a festival atmosphere.
The Lovelocks
The Stellas
