You know it's gonna rock when...

Scenester Nus reporting for MichaelNus.com

To all you folks who just love to say rock is dead, me and the Ruby Spirit have one thing to say to you: WE GONNA CUT YOU!!

If you’ve got your ear stuck to the radio and your idea of real rock n roll is Adam Lambert then it’s time to turn off MTV and MuchMusic just for a bit and get your asses out into the thriving rock scene Toronto has. Yes that means leaving your house, and yes that means putting on pants. I’m sorry.

So it’s like this: I put on pants last night and went down to the Great Hall near the west end to check out the Ruby Spirit for their CD release party at the recommendation of my friend, and the host of the show, Sean Ward (see his Video at the bottom of this blog post). He’s been jiving at me about these cats for a while now so I figured why not give them a listen. I love going to shows to hear bands I’ve never heard before simply because if they rock, they ROCK and you aren’t standing there disappointed if they didn’t play your favorite song. Every song can be your favorite for that night and in that divine moment when the sweat is dripping from the band’s foreheads, the stage lights are glimmering, the speakers throbbing, and you’re at the bottom of your beer, you are the perfect fan. Pure in your innocence to the music and able to allow yourself to be swept away in the music and stage performance.

Photobooth Phun

It was an action packed night, to say the least. Ran into @bizaaron and caught the first act with him right after we checked out the photo booth. The band was called Jumple (no website yet) and I was very entertained. So here’s the lowdown on them: They are a collection of thick-accented brigands from Russia, the Ukraine and all points around the Carpathians (read: Gypsies), perform very upbeat, somewhat punkish music complete with violin and a very gifted drummer, employ a gypsy dancer, dance and run around the stage like lunatics and wear clothing that looks like they fell into the Tickle Trunk and came out right before their set. Sound familiar? Well it should, especially if you’ve heard of an almost identical band called Gogol Bordello. Jumple is pretty much a straight ripoff of the very established Gogol (right down to a lead singer by the name of Eugene) but a good band is a good band, and these guys rocked so hard that I was worried that any act that followed them would be put to shame – even the Ruby Spirit. But Sean assured me that with regards to the Rubies that I’d be “in for a real treat.” Taking pictures of Jumple was extremely hard because they were so kinetic that most of the pics were blurred beyond recognition. However through diligence and a lot patience, I was able to grab some good ones. Check the bottom of this post for the Jumple pics. If you want close ups and some extra pics, check out the Flickr Album

Reggie and Christine showed up after Jumple and I made sure to make them feel awful for missing such a great act. The whole night was just a music orgy really – at the same time as the show upstairs (where we were) was going on, a free show by a Beatles cover band called the Rattles was underway in the cafe. They didn’t look anything like the fab four but they sure sounded like them. Between Jumple, and the Rattles, came “Jesse and the Rippers” who turned out to not be the cheesy late 80′s hair band of Full House fame but instead were a light jazz ensemble. They didn’t rip that hard, to be honest, but I think in the right venue they would be very well received – say, the Montreal Bistro. I would say the Reservoir Lounge would be good too, but you gotta swing really hard to be in there. I have an old love affair with that place, which I will talk about in a forthcoming post.

The hardest working hype man in show biz.

Well well, The Ruby Spirit did not disappoint at all and thank God for that since I went ahead and pre-bought their CD before I even walked into the main hall of the venue or heard them play a single note. Really took a leap of faith on these guys based on Sean’s recommendation and I was not at all disappointed when they took the stage after he hyped them up the way he knows best – seriously, Sean is the white Flava Flav except he knows what time it is.

Paige, the lead singer of the Rubies came out larger than life and was equipped with a candy striped megaphone, confetti launchers, a see-through dress with sleeve streamers and more stage presence than Jesus Christ. Really talented musicans in that band, I tell ya. The freaking place was packed and I was old schoolin’ it like I did back in the day by standing at the very front, hands clutching the stage, beer flowing and head bobbing like a bobblehead. Here was a band I’d only heard of in passing and I may as well have been their #1 fan. And why? Because it’s bands like The Rubies who are in the trenches and giving it their all who are proving to the world that rock is back with a vengeance. I think we’re starting to get into a musical rennaissance of a second coming. It may be like the days when the Beatles and the Stones were building momentum – the air is electric, the social media networks are abuzz, and people are coming to shows! You’re should be thankful that you’re all part of some pretty exciting stuff. People are starting to leave the Nickelback camp and are craving something fresh and I think this city has it.

So get your pants on and get out there before these bands get so big that $10 bucks won’t cover admission!

EXTRA BONUS TRACKS!

Here’s Jumple!

Here’s Sean Ward’s Vlog