D'urbervilles and Slow Eyed Someone

Ebar - Thurs Sept 25.
Albeit it was supposed to be a Land of Talk/D'urbervilles show, and with voice problems from Land of Talk the lineup was changed the day of the show, but who the heck are Slow Hand Totem. [Edit: I did this entire review calling them that.. the name is actually "Slow Hand Motem", how memorable *ahem] A three-piece, with a guy with some keys and a Macbook, a dude with a keytar and another other interesting looking man doing something to the mic. There was a whole whack of bass coming from the speakers and equally as much confusion from the crowd. I had to just smile and laugh since the spectacle was so bizarre. Plus trying to watch the quote-unquote singer was difficult because of his shifty eyes, that often rolled into his head as if he were on drugs - which he very well may have been and would have explained a lot. (3 for uniqueness alone)

Some explanation was given when a member from the openers stepped onstage with the D'Urbervilles. This show was a return to form for the local heroes who had been lacklustre when opening for the Born Ruffians in April. Being the headliners helps their cause and they rocked out as they have the potential to every time. Favourites like 'Dragnet' and 'Hot Tips' pleased the long-time local fans in the crowd, while a few new tracks also piqued curiousity (well at least mine) and also went over well (in my books). An odd moment occurred when the aforementioned funny-eyed lead from Slow Hand Motem appeared (uninvited?) on-stage during one of the song's breakdowns and began to freestyle overtop. From what we could gather it had something to do with the city of Guelph but not much else was intelligible (not in pronunciation, and likely not in content either). The guys from the D'Urbervilles looked on somewhat surprised and intrigued, but not angry or anything, and just took it in for what it was - same as we did in the crowd. Overall the show was solid, and though they didn't blow anyone away the few people with me who hadn't been previously exposed to their music came away having enjoyed the set, but probably not dedicated fans for life. (7)