THE M O S T SERENE R E P U B L I C
LEE'S PALACE


Last night, TMSR played a sold-out homecoming (...of sorts, their from Milton, Ontario) show at Lee'e Palace. The show was presented by A&C and The Varsity, University of Toronto student paper. The bill also featured Debaser and In Flight Saftey (who travelled all the way from Halifax for the gig). I only caught Debaser's final song, they were a three piece that actually sounded really good considering the small size of the band. In terms of who they sounded like, I really cannot say, because I'm not able to intelligently form an opinion on the basis of one song. In Flight Saftey played a solid set of what the describe as " melodic rock anthems and mellow balladry", think Pilate but less Travis sounding. They seem very mature and professional, I wouldn't be surprised if they begin to see some mainstream coverage once their next album titled The Coast Is Clear is released on Dead Daisy Records in January.
The Most Serene Republic closed the show with an irratic set that seemed a little disjointed at times. Maybe it was the fact that I was standing right next to a speaker stack, but I felt that the sound mix was way off. Their vocals were lost in the mix, half the time I couldn't make out what song they were playing. Granted the audience up front didn't seem to notice, they were loving every aspect of their performance. The sound problems seemed to clear up towards the end of theit set. They did a great semi-acoustic version of Proposition 61 and had an full on stage invasion during their encore. I felt a little indifferent when the show finished, it wasn't that I didn't enjoy it, but I think maybe I was expecting more considering the strength of their debut.

Pictures to follow later on today.