On Thursday night we ventured over to Hanlan’s Point on the Toronto Island to check out Dusted and Smith Westerns at the JanSport Bonfire session. Vice parties are always a good time and this particular one boasted a couple of excellent bands conveniently during NXNE 2012.
Though it was quite the trek to the Artscape Gibraltar Point where the show took place, with tacos and Red Stripe in hand, we jammed out to awesome afternoon tunes from the Hand Drawn Dracula band, Dusted. Brian Borcherdt and known producer Leon Taheny (Final Fantasy, Bruce Peninsula) have a quiet but warm energy on stage that reminds us of other dude-duos like DFA 1979, but unlike the aforementioned band’s sound and overall style. It was our first time seeing them live and we really warmed up to their melancholy lo-fi rock.
Smith Westerns performed their usual shiny rock set like the times we’ve seen them play before across the past few years. The crowd seemed really into it, from both the sitting and standing positions, and this was probably the most intimate of all the sets we’ve been present for. Take a look at our photos of the two bands and the bonfire below.
