Brock Street Mafia Takes the Road to Canadian Music Week

Over the years, I have found myself focusing on smaller, lesser-known venues in search of the musical hidden-gems of the year. I went a little bigger on the Saturday night of Canadian Music Week this year to check out a new band from Whitby. Brock Street Mafia had their debut CMW performance at likely the most well-known venue in the city after duking it out against other hopeful performers in the second annual “Road to Canadian Music Week”. I always assumed the bands playing the Hard Rock would be those with a year or two of successful festival appearances behind them. This band didn’t have the years behind them, but if they keep doing what they are doing, they will enjoy many years to come. Though they haven’t been together very long, the members of BSM found each other at the perfect time in their lives, ready to create and dedicate themselves to a great band and enjoy the success of their combined talent and love for music. Their first show was on December 1, 2012 at the ATRIA in Oshawa, and already they are quickly becoming a regular feature on the Toronto music scene. Founding members, P$yChloDelic (vocals) and Ryan Denyer (guitar) first joined forces in a previous band that didn’t work out, but they weren’t ready to give up. The two continued writing and jamming while in search of like-minded musicians to add to their sound. It didn’t take long to find Gordie (drums) and Ian Sorenson (bass), at which time P$yChloDelic reconnected with her old friend Kyle Homen (guitar). The rest is a very short history thus far, but it already sounds like these guys (and girl) have been playing together for ages. P$yChloDelic has a great tattoo on her calf, evidence of the rock and roll bursting from her tiny frame, even when she’s sporting stilettos. Her voice and stage presence, however, are anything but small. Her clear but powerful vocals are perfect for the music, and with her charisma and energy, she grabs everyone’s attention and keeps it. The band members lend their own personalities to the writing and performance, keeping each other and the audience on their toes. They are all oozing passion and talent, and obviously love what they are doing together. I actually found myself smiling as the set continued, and audience members who were clearly there to see another act couldn’t help getting into the music of Brock Street Mafia. Their tunes were heavy-in a good way, paving the way for everything from the vocals, melodies and rhythms to stand out and shine. The song November Blue was described as one of their slow songs, and it started out as such, but didn’t stay very slow. The magic though, was that it took on a different, yet equally appealing tone and sound so I didn’t find myself wishing it would go back to the ballad-style. My favorite ballads are by rock bands, and I get annoyed when even Metallica and Guns and Roses pick up the pace during one. In this instance, I wasn’t annoyed at all-I just wanted to hear more. From rock to alternative to punk, the music just got more fun as the set progressed, and the rest of the audience obviously agreed with me. The only complaint I have is that it ended too soon. Brock Street Mafia performed at Sound Academy for “420 Fest”, so i made a point of being there for an encore performance. They weren’t as rushed for time at this show, so we got to hear a little more narration from P$yChloDelic between songs, which just made her that much more entertaining.