By Rebecca Spence, Staff Contributor
Grade: C
Down With Webster is, like, totally awesome …if you’re a 13-year-old girl, that is.
Down With Webster performed last Thursday night at the Toothy Moose on Argyle Street to a wild herd of university students back from the winter holidays, and ravenous for some sweet “frost week” jams to feed their burning appetites. Tickets were $15 in advance and $20 at the door, so students were expecting to get their money’s worth of entertainment.
The opening band, Ten Mile House, served some traditional tunes as appetizers, including the always popular and satisfying rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” The crowd gobbled it up. But by 1:05 a.m., impatient chants of “dee dub dub!” began to materialize. It was not until 1:11 a.m. that the seven-man band began their first and only set, which would come to an end only 49 minutes later. The chorus changed its tune to yelling: “fuck yeah!” and some semblance of order returned to the Toothy Moose.
The boys from Down With Webster, known only by their nicknames, are certainly quite nice to look at. Pat on vocals and guitar is blessed with a natural charm and boyishly good looks. Vocalists Bucky and Cam both had solid stage presence, and drummer Marty attracted lots of attention with his spirited performance and sassy ‘fro. The rest of the group consists of Tyler on bass and keyboards, Diggy as the DJ, and Kap as the “Hype Man” – whatever that means.
The guys originally formed the group for a junior high talent show in the late ‘90s. They won. Their fame boomed when the band won the Rogers Mobile/Universal Music Best Unsigned Canadian Artist award in 2008. They eventually signed with major record label Universal Motown in April 2009. Since then, the band has seen a lot of success. Their single, “Rich Girl$”, debuted at number 47 on the Canadian Hot 100 last October.
Of course they played “Rich Girl$” on Thursday night. It appeared to be one of the few songs that truly pumped up the energy in the audience. Although DWW’s version could never beat the Hall and Oates original, it’s just so damn catchy that it’s hard not to sing along.
Their song “Grind” also received an especially positive response, and was definitely a highlight for many students I spoke to that night. DWW clearly is a talented, motivated and energetic group.
That said, I would not buy their album and I would not pay to see them perform live. I respect their creativity and passion for music, and I predict that they will experience great success in the coming years. Most of DWW’s tracks are simply not very appealing, and sometimes rather crude and irritating to my ears. Down With Webster is right up there with Hedley and Fall Out Boy.
Before returning to Ontario to continue their tour, Down With Webster will play an all-ages show at the Pavilion, which is more appropriate. DWW should stick to playing for the 13-year-olds who have never heard of Hall and Oates.
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