USS Approved Release Party

Last night was quite the party at the win to get in USS Approved release show with 102.1 The Edge at the Mod Club in Toronto.  First on the docket was Lee Serviss, winners for the month of May on Indie Online.  Lee Serviss is an acoustic folk duo, with some songs on the verge of country and others faster rock.  For a band comprised only of two acoustic guitars, they played some great music.  They clearly knew their way around their instruments, playing them quite skillfully.  Music wasn't their only talent, though.  The duo were quite the comedians and their dialogues between themselves and the audience were very entertaining.  They even when so far as to perform a cover of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight", making the drum solo noise with their mouths.  And as they pointed out, the lighting guy really knows how to put on a show.  There "single" will be playing on the Edge tomorrow, but you can listen to it on their Indie Online page now, it's called "On the Run".

Next up was Michou, a band I was unfamiliar with.  They're a loud pop and alternative band from Windsor, Ontario.  While I wasn't a huge fan of their really pop styled songs, I did like parts of the music.  They spice up their music with a trumpet and various percussion tools.  The keyboardist / trumpet player, Sasha Appler, had an obvious talent for music and the lead singer / guitarist, Michael Hargreaves, could sing well (although it was pop ballad vocals; not my cup of tea).  What I enjoyed most during their performance was the drumming.  The drummer, Stefan Cvetkovic, was energetic and really contributed to the music (as opposed to just providing a beat to keep time).  I was impressed by how well the band grooved together on stage and how they were skilled enough to improvise a little when Stefan broke a drum skin (with no other drummer in the house).  Every member of the band had some part in the vocals and all interacted with the audience.  I refer to Michael as the lead, but really any one of them could hold that title.  Overall, they played surprisingly well live (when many popular artists are crap live) and had a couple songs I enjoyed.  They were obviously not my favourite style, but something I'd listen to every now and then (then being May 11, when USS comes to Kitchener).

Of course the final act was who everyone had been waiting for, Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker.  Not really much to about USS.  I've seen them at festivals and clubs, and clubs are really there scene.  The club didn't have as much energy as other shows I've seen, but to be honest it was cold and raining all day, so I can see why some might not be up for getting crazy.  Except for one girl, who decided to jump on stage and grind behind Ash for half a minute before being pulled off stage.  The rest of the audience picked up as the night went on, but USS rocked steady the entire set.  Human Kebab was his wild self, with handstands, crowd surfing, mic swinging and generally amping up the crowd.  Their show was lacking the usual cardboard cutouts, but had the addition of the Approved cover banner and a little taste of India on Human's turntables.  Another interesting addition to their act let Human step out from behind the turntables.  With a CD deck and mixer fashioned onto a Rock Band guitar, he went mobile on the stage for several of the new songs.  The songs of the released EP were absolutely amazing and despite this being the first time USS played many of them live, they sounded flawless. As with all USS gigs, the music was great and the performance was excellent.  Excellent release party, not your average Tuesday night.

If you weren't able to win tickets from the Edge, this was just the kick-off for a rocking tour of Canada.  Tickets aren't expensive and are highly worth it!  Here's a list of tour dates, I'll see you at their show (...well, some).