Friday Nights are for Indie Folk Rock: Forest City Lovers & Guests Play The ‘Shoe

November 5, 2010 – “The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern” definitely lives up to its name. Great atmosphere, awesome staff and a pretty solid place for a show. This past Friday Allie Hughes, Golden Ghost, Hooded Fang and Forest City Lovers contributed to the laid-back atmosphere with some folk-style indie tunes.

Stupidly thinking that the show wouldn’t start on time, I showed up at 10pm and completely missed Allie Hughes set. For that I apologize to her, the fans, and my editors (my bad!). After touching base with a few people who had been there for her set, they said that she was engaging and most enjoyable. One gentleman (who asked to remain nameless) actually said, “At one point (during her set) I felt as though I was the only one in here listening to her sing, and I wanted to ask her to come home with me.” It is apparent that her stage presence and that voice of hers are something to be reckoned with. **Side Note: We have photos to make Megan, and everyone else who wasn’t there, jealous. – Genny**

Golden Ghost was the next act up to take the stage. Made up of two members Brendon Massei on drums and Laura Sue on electric guitar, this duo from New York were psyched to be playing their first Toronto show. Massei‘s soft-spoken introduction illustrated their laid-back gentle nature, which seemed to coincide with the audience’s state of mind. Combining jazz timing with exquisite finger picking, Sue’s slightly off-key twang gave Golden Ghost a hauntingly beautiful character. Unfortunately though, there were moments where I felt that they were off; continuously looking at each other for support. Change-ups between picking and strumming however, were executed quite well. The crowd seemed to filter out during the set, losing interest slowly, but still politely clapping after each song. I wished the duo would harmonize a lot more; when they did it was smile-inducing.

As the following band, Hooded Fang, was setting up, I found myself asking, “How many members are in this band?” This 7 person band crowded the stage, but were clearly still having a ball. A few of the members played an array of instruments which was most impressive. Positivity seemed to just resonate off of this septet and their tunes were just so damn catchy. I usually vigorously write in my little notebook as I’m reviewing a show, but Hooded Fang had me so completely captivated that I wasn’t writing at all. They have such excellent chemistry within their combined stage presence and they all work so well off each other. The combination of keys and xylophone opened doors for new levels of harmony, and throwing horns into the mix just worked. The lead singer’s voice had the tone of Robert Smith and the swagger of Dylan, paying respects to the folk roots of their sound.

As Hooded Fang started packing up, more and more people seemed to come up to the stage, snagging a good standing spot for Forest City Lovers. The crowd was very tame and seemed older, which was a nice change of pace. Hmmm, I guess indie folk rock is what the 20-somethings of today leave their condos/lofts for.

Forest City Lovers were the highly anticipated headliners of the evening. As soon as Kat Burns started singing it was as if the entire place shut up and listened. Her wistful dainty voice was so mesmerizing it was almost eerie. They were quite relaxed on stage, addressing a few people they went to high school with that came out to the show. It was the guitarist’s birthday, so they played an older tune for him. Their songs seemed slightly formulaic; which some might enjoy as musical dependability, while others may think that it was predictable and lacked flare. There were also two women on back-up vocals, one of whom played keyboard (she used an ironing board as a keyboard stand, which I found innovative), who disappeared halfway through the set and came back on stage for the last song. All and all it was a chilled out performance that put a nice cap on the night.