Dame, Basia Lyjak & Scarlet Sins
October 24th, 2008
By Jason Daniel Baker
It took a few days after I had heard about the senseless fatal shooting of rock club goer Bailey Saveda before I sat down to write this review. I had attended a benefit concert for breast cancer research at the Hard Rock Cafˇ in downtown Toronto held the same night. Sometime between my watching a phenomenal and precociously gifted young band called Dame perform on the stage and seeing local favourite Basia Lyjak do her set, Ms.Saveda, aged 23, was shot to death, a victim of criminal violence simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She had been attending a show across town. I was completley oblivious to the tragedy. Not merely for the duration of the show but for the morning and afternoon which followed. Upon hearing of the sad event I debated whether I even wanted to continue with writing this review. It gave me considerable pause. But then I remembered why the show I had attended was held. Ms.Saveda was a young woman taken before her time. Victims of breast cancer are also almost exclusively women taken before their time. This was brought home to me during the show when some members of the bands onstage spoke personally about a female relation they had lost to the disease.
Dame - Dame - three teenage girls all under the age of 18 performing with a skill that many rock musicians twice their age cannot equal opened the show. Quickly one learns upon seeing this power trio to look past the gimmick of their collective age (48) and find similarities with the very popular and well-established acts they open for. At times one can detect similarities to acts like Four Non-Blondes and Pearl Jam. The band itself draws considerably from legends Pink Floyd.
Basia Lyjak - Ms. Lyjak chose to debut some new material at the show that she has co-written with collaborator Kyle Riabko. The immediate impression given was that her guitarist Ron Bechard was playing fewer power chords and emphasizing more melody in complimenting Ms. Lyjak's voice in the as yet unreleased singles. The approach touches bases not yet covered and is quite agreeable set against Ms.Lyjak's previous work.
Scarlet Sins - If you have seen Scarlet Sins a few times you aren't surprised at how slick they are in performance or how well their live playing stands up to the recordings of the same music. The percussion of good-natured and very young Quebecoise drummer Elie Bertrand can sound more powerful live and stun audiences with its raw volume. As one of Canadian music's most formidable percussionists at the tender age of 19 she stands out in a band full of virtuosos. Scarlet Sins are masterminded by guitarist Cris Bishop and balanced by the solid bass work of an uncommonly serious and intense Ontarois by the name of Tanya Nicklaus. But what you might well be surprised by is seeing centrestage so ably commanded by Sylvya NuVynska, the Sins towering lead vocalist who is six feet two inches of Slavic sensuality blended with sophomoric mischief. As I said, during the show I was oblivious to the outside world. Any really great concert can give you that feeling. It is better than any drug and far less destructive.
It has been a difficult year on the local rock scene in Toronto. A fire ripped through the part of Queen Street West where some of the best rock clubs are early in the year. A not insignificant member of the band Oasis recently fell victim to a random wacko who football tackled him during his performance on a Toronto stage for no apparent reason. Some clubs have been raided and others have had their liquor licenses suspended. But thatÕs rock n roll and that's life. If at some point you can find something to make you forget about societies ills you are lucky. Local bands like Dame, Basia Lyjak and Scarlet Sins offer a delightful interlude.