In-store: Jon-Rae Fletcher / Hollerado @ Criminal Records

Jon-Rae Fletcher / Hollerado

Criminal Records. Saturday, March 14, 2009.

After the Trash Palace gig ended, had time to stretch my legs with the walk up to Queen Street, caffeinate myself, and wander leisurely over to Criminal Records. Any worries I had about having to fight through the crowds were dissolved by the rather meager turnout to see Jon-Rae Fletcher's solo set, which was about a dozen people, bandmembers included. Sporting a new, pomade-enabled quiff¹, Jon-Rae treated us to a half-dozen songs, leading off with the excellent "Fire" (from '07's Knows What You Need) but otherwise sticking with songs from the new Oh, Maria disc. It was a highly pleasing intimate performance, and a good reminder of the strength of his compositions, making me realize that I'd be a fool to skip his evening set in favour of something else.

With no pressing engagements, I figured I'd check out the evening's other in-store, despite never having heard of the band. With a half-hour to kill, I walked over to Pages for a quick browse, and when I got back at just after seven, Hollerado was already playing. To my surprise, there was a respectable crowd in front of the band, bopping merrily away. The band's key demographic appeared to be about sixteen years old, which is perhaps why they were not on my radar. They played spiky, catchy rock-pop — nothing groundbreaking, but at least managing to avoid some of the contemporary mersh clichés and remaining upbeat throughout. They were fully proficient but managed to be fairly self-deprecating, and despite being a known quantity (they clearly had a "hit" that the kids were anticipating and cheering for) they didn't put themselves above their fans, inviting people up to whistle a hook on one song and sing background vox on another. Nothing I'd go out of my way for, but it was pleasant, and the kids are alright² and could do worse than listen to this kind of stuff, I guess.

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¹ Could a Brylcreem endorsement be in the offing?

² Except possibly the one young lad dressed in a Sgt Pepper marching band jacket. A red one, no less, making him George, which is questionable in the "cool" department. Or possibly the epitome of cool these days, I suppose. What do I know?