As Toronto’s The Wooden Sky and Great Bloomers climbed the tiny stage of The Seahorse on March 3, they did so as veterans of Halifax’s most famous venue. Both bands had clocked many appearances at the home of Horsepower beer, but this time felt different. These were clearly two bands with bright futures ahead of them.
The show started early with Great Bloomers taking the stage around 10:15 p.m. As the band grabbed their instruments, you could easily see the confidence in the young band that earlier in the week had announced their singing with rising Canadian indie label Dine Alone Records (label of The Wooden Sky and Yukon Blonde, which bassist Anthony McKnight proudly sported a t-shirt of on stage).
After touring for the past four years in support of their critically acclaimed album *Speak of Trouble*, Great Bloomers played a set list made primarily of tracks off their upcoming full-length.
Launching into the set with new single “Something More,” lead singer Lowell Sostomi sounded like a mixture of Tom Petty and Jeff Magnum, as the band lay into the track’s propulsive Neutral Milk Hotel laden stomper.
The band followed it up with Trouble favourite “Young Ones Slept” and a rockier rendition of album opener “Lobbyist” later in the set. As the sizeable crowd swayed at the front of the stage, new songs became crowd favourites as the band rocked into their darker new sound.
The band left the stage with a stream of new fans clamouring for their attention. Luckily for those late to the show, the band will be back with Yukon Blonde in early April.
After a short break between sets, The Wooden Sky joined the stage with ambient lighting and atmospheric distortion.
Playing tracks off their just released Every Child a Daughter, Ever Moon a Sun, lead singer Gavin Gardner captured the audience’s attention with the band’s set of new tunes (and a pretty sweet Guns N’ Roses cut-off tee).
The band ran the gamut of the group’s last few albums, delighting old fans and new ones alike, before finishing up their set with an immaculate cover of Nirvana’s “All Apologies”.
To finish off the encore the band invited Bloomers up on stage to perform a final song together. As both bands stood with their instruments facing the crowd, it was plain to see that with Great Bloomers signing to Dine Alone next to their buddies in The Wooden Sky, the future of Canadian music would never be the same.
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