These are some of my favorite nights. Got this text message at 10:21 pm on Thursday night,

Apostle of Hustle, Lee’s. Anytime now (10-15min). Come.

Already at the Press Club and not far from Lee’s, me and some mates jumped in a cab and darted to Lee’s Palace for the gig.

We walked in just as second opening act, Skin Tight, Outta Sight, was taking the stage. The Burlesque Revival show, led by dancers Gigi, Pussy and an apprehensive man of religion who eventually stripped down to an ass-less pair of stockings made me realize that the last-minute decision to check out this gig was indeed a great idea.

Apostle of Hustle is the brainchild of Andrew Whiteman – who is also lead guitarist for Broken Social Scene. Apostle of Hustle is a very cool experimental, latin-ish, poetic, innovative, electric side/main project.

As the story goes, during the Broken Social Scene sessions Whiteman enjoyed a two-month stint in Cuba. He learned to play the tres – a Cuban guitar – and the musical culture began influencing his playing and writing. Whiteman came back to Toronto to continue working with Broken Social Scene, but he couldn’t escape the Spanish flavours.
Eventually, Whiteman, Julian Brown and Daniel Stone formed what is now Apostle of Hustle.

On this night in the story, Apostle of Hustle took the stage at Lee’s Palace to set a mood and then entertained with spectacular talent, intimacy and passion within that mood. Their music is the show and they communicate it beautifully. They swung through tracks like Chances Are, My Sword Hand’s Anger, Kings Queens, Justine Beckoning

The live show is an interesting instrument combination from: two guitars (no bass)/drummer, one guitar/drummer/Andrew playing the bottom of of a plastic tub, guitar/bass/the playing of what looked like a marble slab. Again, definitely an innovative and experimental band.

Great band who put on a great show at a solid venue. The sound at Lee’s can be a bit off – a bit trebley – but the sight lines are some of the best in the city and it sure beats a big venue.

The next Broken Social Scene spin-off gig: Jason Collett Tuesday night at the Dakota. I ran into Kevin Drew at the AOH show and I asked if he’d be at the Dakota on Tuesday he replied, “you bet I will”. Check it out.

Post from: Toronto Unplugged

Musician and songwriter, Kevin Drew – who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene – played the Kool Haus on Saturday night. Drew, along with many BSS’ers, were playing a solid repertoire of Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew’s Spirit If…

Our man Joe Manocchio was at the gig and had this to say:

“The opening band was great. Kevin Drew was great and he played for over 2 hours straight, sans encore. I had to leave the show at around 12:10 and they were still on stage. The show was pretty much all of Broken Social Scene, minus the ladies”

“Highlights….Cause=Time, Brendan Canning’s Hit The Wall, and KC Accidental”

Post from: Toronto Unplugged