With an exciting weekend having already begun, there was bound to be promise and fun at the Horseshoe Tavern on Friday night where Permafrost Records were celebrating their birthday with friends and musicians alike.

The night began with The Patiens who have been around for a good while, sorting through band members left and right (mainly drummers). The band performed as a 3-piece showing off strong vocals, cool foot-stompin' tunes and one heck of a drummer. The band have finally finished working on a full-length record and it, according to some local avid music lovers, sounds "f**king good".

The Barmitzvah Brothers carried off afterward with a simple set playing a fair number of tracks from their latest record. As per request, the band played a song that they did for a Christmas album entitied 'Years To Come.' Unfortunately, the band didn't emit the strong energy as they had at previous shows. Many had mentioned that lead performer Jenny Mitchell was missing her OmniChord which is used on the new record. To the rest who trust that they will come back strong, good on ya. The Barmizvah Brothers are excellent.

Jon-Rae & The River began with the clang-clang of Jon-Rae's guitar and soulful vocals. Sporting a new drummer, Dave Clarke, the band performed all new songs that are due to pressed, packaged & played (on your cd players) between July and October. Did they sound tight? We're they their awesome selves? Did they make everyone raise their hands to the heavens as projected? Like you have to ask! Even though many fans of The River wanted to hear some old material, the band still manage to bless everyone with their rocking soul slithering through each and every listener's bodies. At times, I was hoping to hear the band break out into some rootsy-bluegrass tunes of yonder times. Regardless, you never need to ask for anything more from Jon-Rae & The River. They always provide, even on the worst of days.

Femme Generation finished off the night to a slightly-lesser audience, but the good ones managed to stick around. The band showed praise to "Stile Posters" and played a cover of The Guess Who's 'These Eyes.'

For anyone who attended this, the only thing anyone would expect from anyone else would be dancing, dancing & more dancing. That, and a lot of praising to the music heavens.

Photos:
For photos of the event, click here.