This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive.
By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, November/December 2005
Venue: The Social in Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Date: October 5, 2005
The Social, a small bar on Queen St. West, is one of the many symbols of today’s hipster culture prevailing in the Queen and Dufferin area of downtown Toronto. The small bar is filled with comfortable couches and chairs, feeling more like a coffee shop than a bar. Though the couches are great, having a lot of pillars between the seating and the “stage” does not help the audience much. The stage is really just a corner of the bar with a band and equipment, not elevated at all, so the bands were hard to see in this seemingly overly-crowded bar.
Tonight’s crowd came for The Meligrove Band, fresh off of their tour with Matthew Barber, but first up was another local band The Bicycles. It only makes sense to have a bill with two bands that share a member, Andrew Scott (not to be confused with Sloan’s Andrew Scott). The five piece Bicycles took the stage and proceeded to entice the crowd with lots of handclaps and “la-la-las.” Band members Dana Snell (drums), Randy Lee (bass), Drew Smith (vocals, guitar, handclaps), Andrew Scott (brass, percussion, keys, guitar) and frontman Matt Beckett (vocals, guitar) form a high energy unit performing pop songs that could fit comfortably with the Elephant 6 collective. Opening with a cover of The Monkees’ “Cirlcle Sky,” The Bicycles were in top form. They played a set that included both covers and original material, and with either, they owned the songs and got the audience ready for the headliners.
The Meligrove Band are Andrew Scott (guitar), Mike Small (bass), Darcy Rego (drums) and frontman Jay Nunes (guitar). Performing pop-rock, they were definitely into the music and having a great time. Never before have I seen a drummer enjoy what he does so much as Rego did. The Meligrove Band never stopped moving, their energy transferred to the crowd and the small venue of hardcore fans and friends weren’t keeping still.
The Meligrove Band wears their influences on their sleeves; it’s obvious to see that they have been listening to a lot of mid-90s Canadian pop. Though they sound like they could have been performing early Thrush Hermit songs or pre-break-up Super Friendz songs, they added their own distinct style to it and made it their own.