CMW Day 4: The Ting Tings are AMAZING.

Saturday was definitely the day I was most looking forward to of Canadian Music Week.  I was SO excited to see The Ting Tings, probably my favourite band that has emerged recently (thank you to my brother, Rick, for the initial recommendation, more than a year ago now!)

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get in, since the online listing said the show was sold out (though it did say all wristbands/passes were accepted).  I didn't want to chance it, so I ended up at the club super early.  Cute moment - I was driving down a side street looking for parking, blasting the Ting Tings on my stereo, and who is walking by on the sidewalk?  Katie and Jules (The Ting Tings, themselves!) 

My friend that I was supposed to go with ended up not being able to make it (sorry about your car, Catherine!), so I was on my own.  

The first band, Spirits, went on at around 7:30, as scheduled.  They were good.  It's a group of 3 guys, I think they said from Hamilton.  The frontman & drummer were very charismatic.  Fun to take pictures of.  The crowd seemed to be really into it too - they actually got a good chunk of the audience to move forward (tough to do in a Toronto, CM

W crowd!) without even having to ask.  Impressive!

The Ting Tings ended up going on 15 minutes later than they were scheduled to, and they played for exactly one hour.  

The set list was as follows (songs link to some videos I found on YouTube of the show!):

1. We Walk

2. Great DJ

3. Fruit Machine

4. Keep Your Head

5. Traffic Light 

6. Be The One

7. We Started Nothing

8. Shut Up and Let Me Go

(ENCORE)

9. Impacilla Carpisung

10. That's Not My Name

From the moment they took the stage, to the very end of the encore, both the band and the crowds energy remained high - even during their "slow" song, Traffic Light.  Katie and Jules are incredibly entertaining and fun to watch.  They look like they're having fun, unlike so many bands out there.  Though there are only two of them on stage, their presence could be felt all the way to the very back of the room.

This was probably my absolute favourite gig of CMW this year.  I would see them over and over again (and I've been listening to them on repeat for the last two days now).  I simply can't get enough of The Ting Tings! Pictures are here!

From there, I headed over to the Cadillac Lounge, where the lineup was much better than the night before!  It was a total rockabilly night, which definitely suits the venue more than the bands that played there on Friday night. When I got there, a band called Familiar Looking Strangers, from Liverpool, were playing.  Their set was almost done when I walked in, but I liked what I heard.  (And some guy handed me a little press kit with a promo cd in it afterwards, so I'm looking forward to checking them out!)

Next up was a friend of mine's band - George Westerholm and the Rowdymen.  (And my friend Harry showed up just as they hit the first chord!) They were amazing, and I don't just say that because George is a friend.  Google him and check them out sometime :)

I was going to leave right after George's set, because after two days of staying out until 3am, I was exhausted - however, the next band was intriguing to look at (I noticed a banjo, a double bass, and a guy who was wearing no socks or shoes!), so the guys convinced me to stay for a bit. The band was called Hey Negrita, from London England... and they were great!  I didn't stay for the whole set (but only because I was tired!), but they are definitely worth checking out as well.

That's a wrap on CMW!  I have hundreds of photos to sort through - they'll make their way onto Flickr hopefully sooner rather than later. Hope you've enjoyed the reviews and the preview pics!