Off The Top Rope, Blu Beach Band and Brothers G Bring Down Our Collective Cortisol

That whole thing about lions and lambs in March is a baseless assumption made by someone who clearly never spent springtime in Saskatchewan. March this year came in like an annoying coyote intent on eating all the livestock, and left with its tail between its legs. And that’s just to account for the weather, never mind exams. 

Students need to find ways to handle the anxiety and pressure that March and April bring. For this student, the best outlets are listening to music and seeing bands play live. Luckily for me, mid-March and early April held no shortage of opportunities to blow off some steam. 

Now, I also have exams, and since I can’t be in two places at once, I didn’t get to see every band I wanted to during this time period. Notably absent from this review are Fake Paradise, who were at the Green Room open mic on March 5, and Despite The Reverence, who played Amigos on March 21. I missed Excuses Excuses, Yarbo and Valley Bandits, who played Black Cat on March 26, as well as the triple header of Cossack, Pxrtals and Glass Hand Family Band, who hit the Amigos stage on Apr. 4. 

Good times had by all I’m sure, and I hope to see all these bands at some point soon when things are less hectic. What follows are the groups I had the pleasure of seeing from March to April. 

November Down – Amigos Cantina

The boys in November Down are incredibly consistent. They play often, and all over the city. This was my first time hearing them in what felt like a few years, and they have been clearly hard at work honing their particular brand of bleeding-heart-on-the-sleeve alternative rock. It’s hard to believe that the first time I saw Ollie (bass) and Alex (rhythm guitar) on stage together, they were playing off-country tunes at the Capitol open mic. Time flies. They’re having a great time on stage, the songs are honest, it’s all very heartening. It really is a shame that their lead guitarist was bogged down by feedback problems for this particular set. It is safe to assume, however, that this was simply an isolated case of a bad mix. Have a gander at their most recent EP, Suit Yourself. 

Off The Top Rope & Julius Sumner Miller – Black Cat Tavern

Off The Top Rope promised their audience Wrestlerock – wrestling-themed rock music, duh – and delivered in spades. While the music was tight, driving and hilarious, the banter between frontman El Maniaco and the crowd was just as good. For more on Off The Top Rope, catch my interview with Maniaco in The Sheaf coming soon. 

Calgary’s Julius Sumner Miller (JSM) kept the train rolling. JSM write touchingly relatable hardcore anthems that will hit close to home for anybody who has grown up on what could be considered the fringes of mainstream midwestern Canadian culture. Their frontman has an immediate charisma (and a great beard), the riffs are solid and the lyrics are poignant and easy to remember. I do wish that a band this interested in crowd participation could have been treated to a better crowd, content as everyone seemed to be to stand hands in pockets. With that said, the members of the band don’t take themselves too seriously, which endears me to them all the more. I recommend the songs “Something for My Head” and “Hockey, Girls, Disappointment”.

The Brothers G & Blu Beach Band – Louis’

The Brothers G reaffirm that they are the best thing to happen to rock music in this province since Van Halen played the SaskTel Center in 2004. Hailing from Hafford, Saskatchewan, these four boys are lightning in a bottle. While I might be particularly fond of their take on hard, Rolling Stones adjacent rock ‘n roll, they make the frequent detours into country, soul and blues an absolute treat. The songs “Let You In”, “Carousel” and “Bitch Got a Gun” are bona fide hitters, and showcase a true range of talent in songwriting and musicianship. Kit Langfield (lead guitar) is a gunslinger, and his solos slug it out with the best that the hard rock pantheon has to offer. My only complaint, if I had to think of something, would be that they didn’t play the tune “White Lightning” off their 2024 debut album. Whatever, that’s my problem. Keep up the great work, gentlemen. I can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store for you. 

I’m late to this next hype train, and I am kicking myself for it. Coming off a sold-out date with Saskatoon’s Cooper Tropeau at the Coors Vizzy Stage, Regina’s Blu Beach Band were still in top form for their headlining date at Louis’. Not sure exactly what to expect, I was caught at the bar when their set kicked off with a cover of “Ballroom Blitz”. Upon hearing their mustachioed frontman do the song justice, I worked my way through a packed crowd to the front of the stage. Blu Beach Band are entertainers in the truest sense of the word and have a solid understanding of how to structure a show. While their recorded music sounds exactly how drinking an ice-cold beer on a pool floatie feels, they translate this into a high-energy live experience. There are a couple of talk-box solos, a bass player who is groovy as all hell, harmonica breakdowns and even a rap track with vocals provided by their unassumingly polymathic rhythm guitarist. Their two latest singles, “The Walking Dead” and “Fuck Sakes”, point to a very bright future for the band, and I’m now eagerly anticipating their next record. Blu Beach Band, if you’re reading, please note that more harmonica is what the people need.
In closing, I’d like to remind everybody that Thin Lizzy’s album Jailbreak celebrated its 50th anniversary on March 26. If you’ve never given it a shot, there’s never been a better time, and if you have given it a shot and weren’t completely floored, it’s clearly because you haven’t heard the songs performed by the band on their 1978 live album Live & Dangerous. Do yourself a favour, and if not for yourself, then for the memory of Phil Lynott, one of the most important bass-playing Irishmen to ever live. Now I’m going to go scrape the April snow off my windshield. Ta-ta for now!