Last night marked yet another great concert at Lee's Palace. The more shows I see at Lee's, the more I believe that it might be my favourite venue in Toronto. The location is perfect, the size is perfect, all of the staff members are really nice and I can't say I've ever seen a bad show there. Last night was obviously no exception as The Jilted Lovers Club took the stage at 12:30. I had the pleasure of playing with JLC at The Velvet Underground in support of Meghan Morrison's CD release in late September. After seeing their set that night I got instantly hooked, chatted with the band and found out about the show last night. It was already apparent that I wouldn't be missing it.
My brother and I got to the venue with perfect timing as JLC was walking on stage right as we entered. We ordered a couple drinks as the band took the stage over one member at a time. I always appreciate when bands open their shows that way, giving each member a bit of a showcase introduction before the vocals kick in. They opened with Gravity (Detail of the Stars) which I believe I recognized from The Velvet Underground show. It built up perfectly to set the pace for what would be a very energetic evening. A few songs in, lead vocalist, Nikki engaged the crowd about the recent downfall of Pusateri's to lead into Grocery Song. My brother and I personally enjoyed this because we've grown up living about five minutes from the store and we've always hated the store and its snobby management.
About halfway through the show Nikki addressed the crowd asking for a glass of water and Alex Leger took the opportunity to jokingly ask for some tequila. To my brother, this was no joke. He payed for four shots of tequila and brought them up to the stage partway through a song. After the number was done, Alex, Jeremy and Simeon gave cheers and drank them down.
The band introduced a new song entitled All The Rage which I instantly fell in love with. I mentioned to my brother before the vocals came in, "I already love this song, it's got the bass, it's got the guitar, and it's got the drums." He found this hilarious and had to write it down, but it's true, the instrumental foundation of the song was powerful and driving and Nikki's vocals just made it that much better. Other highlights included Sick Tomorrow, Army of Daughters and Will It Be Fine partially because they're the songs I own and I was able to recognize them instantly and even sing along. The crowd was much better at this show in my opinion which showed itself when JLC played Will It Be Fine. Everyone in the crowd was belting, "No it won't be fine," and "It won't be OK," in the chorus as per instructed by the band. I had a lot of fun shouting along too.
Overall this is a band which definitely has the potential to be huge and only time will tell. I rank them high among all of the indie bands I've seen at Lee's Palace even if they don't have the same recognition yet. Their music is amazing and Nikki's stage presence is more explosive and engaging than most artists out there today. I can't wait until they release more material and play more shows. Next time I see them, I'm hoping the crowd will be twice the size and I hope this band starts getting the recognition that they most definitely deserve.
The Jilted Lovers Club - WIRED: Episode 98 from THE iNDiE MACHiNE on Vimeo.
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