Gig: November 29th – During opening acts, St. Alvia Cartel and Matt Costa’s sets I was extremely curious about the back drop that was chosen. It was ‘Miss Saigon’ inspired, and although looked kinda cool, it seemed dull and needed something.

Then three piece Bedouin Soundclash walked on stage. Frontman Jay Malinowski calmly leaned into the mic and shouted, “Until We Burn!” which echoed throughout the small and intimate Cowboy’s in London and the band cranked in to ‘Until We Burn in the Sun‘.

From the first skin hit by drummer Pat Pengelly, the Miss Saigon/Tropical backdrop exploded with colours at each new beat and soulful bass line. It made you appreciate how far the Queen’s University band has come in their journey thus far – not to mention the fact that it turned a venue of standing-still fans to a bar of people dancing and signing.

You could tell the band was thrilled to be back playing for Canadian audiences – they just got back from the Italy, Germany and the UK. The band was visibly enjoying themselves on stage playing a great mix of tracks from Root Fire, Sounding a Mosaic and their recent release, Street Gospels. And…the band was tight, very tight.

The solid mix of tropical soulful songwriter’s ballads (12:59 Lullaby) and explosive reggae/ska favorites (Rude Boy Don’t Cry) makes an evening with Bedouin a unique concert experience – especially for Canadians.

Some highlights:

The band mentioned that they had just come back from the UK and in a tribute to that countries finest band, they eased their way into a version of The Clash’s Rudy Don’t Fail , which turned into I Wanna Be Sedated by the Ramones and then into some Sex Pistols.

The last song before the band came out for their encore started out with the classic Stand By Me, which the crowd was all signing with the band. Right after the chorus, the band blended into When The Night Feels My Song. The crowd all danced and shouted along. I looked to my right and saw a guy awkwardly dancing and singing at the top of his lungs with 3 or 4 girls dancing with him. It was Matt Costa in the middle of the crowd enjoying the night with rest of the audience. It was very cool to see.

Bedouin put on a great show at a solid little, intimate venue. The vibe of all three acts was a great balance of punk/ska, acoustic/surf/folk, and reggae/soul/ska.

If you have a chance to check out this line-up, I urge you to do so. Bedouin is one of Canada’s most creative and rising acts, so try to catch them now at an intimate venue.

Bedouin’s full tour dates can be found here.

Have a listen to Bedouin Soundclash…

Post from: Toronto Unplugged