The Great Escape – Canada House

New music promoters Canadian Blast’s annual shindig is usually a dead cert for some half-decent, occasionally excellent acts. Somehow, this Saturday’s line-up proved substandard. Bizarrely, the initially hateable but actually really good novelty hip-hop/dance/funk/brass lads Misteur Valaire’s unflinching commitment to danceable silliness provided a bouncing, feel-good start. A great beginning, the bland sixties surf-inspired Hooded Fang then sucked all that energy away with deeply forgettable, plodding rock. Rounding up the afternoon, Bunnymen-style synth-rockers Gold and Youth’s laughably serious stance did nothing to save their equally monotonous set, leaving a mumbling crowd to disperse, evidently (and rightly) bored senseless.

Blind Tiger Club, 12 May 2012

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