SoSoRomeo, Cat Madden and Myles From Home Rock the Wise Club September 22
Photo by Kelli Rothwell
By Keir Nicoll
The Wise Club was the setting for three ferocious approaches to rock n' roll music this Friday night, the night before the vernal equinox and the most equitable day of the year. The first, SoSoRomeo was fronted by a keyboardist femme with a white fringe jacket and black horns. The guitarist with a long mane of hair and the bassist thunking away. The drummer beating it out on the kit. All of them dancing away to it. Cool and weird oscillator sounds. Their song was like a Ruby Mist. It was easy to be swept along by the sharp and angular keys. There were good combined vocal dynamics. Reverb'd-out guitar and a low keening wail for a song about being “Stuck In Time”. They set a very peaceful and beautiful vibe. Exploratory guitar solos. “Just the way I chanced to meet...” expectant vocals and weirded-out synth solos. Brilliant synth-pops.
Next up, a dance number, with wavering sounds on the outside. “No-one will ever love you like...the way I will...” Inter-tonal rising and falling. “Summergirl”. I need to get something off my chest. Something about you. Something about me. We will see. Soaring searing guitar solos abound. A hard note to end it but then pulled-back. Never gonna make you mine, no matter how I try. They may or may not sound like My Morning Jacket and/or Gnarfunkle but you didn't hear it from me.
As it turns out, Cat Madden was backed by Brass Camel, another well-known metal-rock band on the scene. As they set-up a burly guitarist on a Les Paul played a Zep riff. Cat Madden was also on keys for a while. Singing the whole time. An incredible vocalist. With a surging beat from the backing band, she was raising the vibrations. They had red-hot guitar solos with blistering scales. She picked up a white guitar and played her next song with a thundering approach. There were some country-fried riffs. Something about a bottle of red or white wine. As she took her jacket off, the psychedelic sounds infused from the guitar strings and cymbals. A tender-plucked guitar-line for the next song. A climactic moment of synergy in instruments. Even a break in grungy vocals at the end! Some fading in and out of guitar tones. She just belted it out the entire time, a true catterwauler. On a road to somewhere with authentic rock n' roll. She was almost Blondie-sounding, with the influence of passionate-singing music. “Don't Touch Me,” a rising surge of scales, followed by loud thundering chords. And then, “Kissed By Apocalypse” came on with driving guitars and rhythms. Madden sounds and presents a little like Gwen Stephani mixed with Courtney Love on speed. The soaring synths and roaring guitars all in a major bent. Then the played a rending rendition of “Barracuda” by Heart! There were nine band members onstage, including two guitarists, for this band. She hit every descending note perfectly. They played for a long time – driving hard-rock.
Finally the headliner came on! Myles From Home, headed by the aforesaid Myles with long mane of hair, steady gaze, leather vest, 12-string Gretsch guitar. Immediately breaking into lively arpeggios on the guitar and progressive chords. Seemingly impossible on the instrument he's playing. They sounded almost Afrobeat even though they were all white guys. Myles played along to us clapping for a minute. They got almost festival rhythms going right away. They played a song about a person in a relationship who has a completely different outlook on life, called “Dusty Lavender,” where there was trembling, febrile guitar-tones. Myles with fringes on his brown-leather guitar-strap and playing at the harmonica like Neil Young. This song with trumpet, too.
The next song was a new song, called “Nearest Star” about the first and the last star that he sees, as he is stranded on the beach. There is sad-sounding trumpet on this song. These generally long-haired guys, have at once the wooing and lilting melodies and hard-rockin' out! Lots of feedback ensues and they invite us up to the front of the stage for the next song. The next song, “Van Trippin',” was about a van, a crazy woman and three dogs. It was very jazzy-funky! Multi-plucked guitar-notes, with Myles, standing one-boot atop the monitor speaker- a song about a blue van. They played a show in Tofino and from there learned of the May Flower Moon – a full-moon in May. So he wrote a new song about a girl he met, called “Full Flower Moon,” with beautiful leading-in multi-alternating plucked chords. This one's online. He says he comes on kinda strong like he does. Oh yeah, these guys are epic! At this point he had us all bring out our cellphone lights, so there was a sea of them. Then he sang a lonesome song, “I don't see 'em”. With more harmonica playing and a blistering guitar-solo from the Brass Camel guy. Then they had two more songs. A more blues-funky, almost Red Hots sounds, with two guitarists riffing off of each-other amazingly.
“Life In The Sun,” was the last song. “Trying so many years, sheddin' so many tears,” “don't worry 'bout the rest”. Good organ keys. The one guitarist played with his back on Myles' shoulder. And one more encore, Fleetwood Mac, “You Can Go Your Own Way,” which is always a good note to go out on, hey, with lots of “Umph”, candour, good vocal harmonies, climactic and a lot of dancin' around.
This show bore the brunt of three bands bringing a synth-to-hard rock approach to their music. As usual, the music at the Wise Club was totally amazing. The crowd was good to be in, as there were several people dancing and lots of photographers flitting about. We rocked-out hard in the audience to their epic and long-lasting song sets. It was an entirely satisfying set of music, as presented by a group of people who have been representing the scene for years but are little known outside of certain circles.