Here's a surprise two-part concert review on the SMS, namely of the finals of
The Soo's Got Talent last night! This wasn't planned in advance, but my friend wanted to come down after dinner, so we headed to
Soo Blaster late, and I do apologize for missing the first four songs in round 1 as well as judge Valerie Powley's guest song at the start of the event. Similarly, I apologize for the lack of photos last night, but when everyone only performs two songs, and you miss the first four of them, time is limited when you plan to shoot videos. This is the first time that I've attended any round of T.S.G.T. in person, so if you've never been, it is set up similarly to concerts there, if with more tables and less of a floor for standing attendees, plus a table for Valerie and fellow judges Darren Robertson and Mike Severin (advertised guest judge Tim Murphy was not present, and if they announced why, I wasn't there yet).
Programs and ballots for the fan portion of the final tally were given upon entry. The MCs for most of the night were Corey Marques and Alandra Brooks (the latter replacing Mike Haggith, but he was definitely present), while Darren took the lead when it came to the final announcements. The first three performers last night were singers Greg McLeod and Xavier Pelletier Lebeouf and singer/guitarist Storm Rausch, while we arrived at the tail end of Elly McWatters' first song, a Carrie Underwood cover that was oddly performed with Mike Haggith & his band. I briefly worried that they switched the order for the full band performances and the standard ones, but it turns out that Elly got permission to sing with Mike's band twice. What little I heard sounded good, but I can't fairly judge. Fifth was Demoy MacSamuels singing an original R&B song that seemed to go over well and show off his talents!
The final performer in round 1 (and 2) was dancer Jophin Shaju, who changed it up from his usual Indian pop/rap songs by dancing to Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice". He did a fine job with good energy and moves as you'd expect if you attended prior rounds or saw the audition/round 1 videos, but opting to dance on the floor rather than the stage was not super optimal for fans (granted, he would have less space on the stage).
Like at the semifinals, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his all-local solo band took the stage for an intermission set where they tackled a mix of his own established solo songs like "I've Seen It Before" and a pair of covers, from his and drummer Brandan Glew's old band The Din and of Bruce Springsteen ("Atlantic City"). This was my first time seeing Mike in person since Dislocated Kneegate at Rotaryfest in July, and clearly the rehab and recovery from the injury has paid off, as nothing looked amiss from his on-stage presence whatsoever, and he was visibly in great spirits to be rocking out on this big stage! Chris Nielsen laid down some strong lead guitar in a change of pace from his usual punk work, and returning bassist Jacob "J.Q." Quarrell (who missed the semifinals) was solid on bass, while Brandan's drumming and backing vocal work were a nicely familiar presence for Din fans! Check out their rendition of "Hot & Cold" below!
We'll continue our coverage of the finals in our next recap post tomorrow, but we'll wrap things up for this post with the opening song from round 2, which was the "judge's choice" round, where Mike Severin, Darren, and Valerie picked a song for the finalists to tackle alongside Mike Haggith's band. This is more or less what happened last year, albeit with Mike & crew in place of Handsome Sandwich, and given that Mike lives in Barrie, kudos to him to agreeing to the challenge of learning these songs and working with the finalists! As the performance order from round #1 was unchanged, the first finalist in round #2 was singer Greg McLeod, who was advanced automatically to the finals after missing the semifinals due to the death of his mother that same day. The judges picked INXS' "Never Tear Us Apart" for Greg to cover, and while he nailed it, I will note that this really isn't a challenging song vocally.
Michael Hutchence kinda talked his way through it in the first place, so as a judge's pick, I would have went with a classic rock song that had rangier singing to it. From what I have seen of Greg both last year and this year, he definitely seemed more at home singing with a band than to a karaoke track, and based solely on this song and nothing else, I think he was underrated in the final tally to an extent. It'd be neat to see him front a permanent band, but give him & Mike Haggith's band a watch below!
That's all for now, but we'll resume our The Soo's Got Talent review next with most of the remaining finalists' second songs! Thanks everyone!
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