Last week on Tuesday, I took a second wild trip to see yet another of my favorite up-and-coming artists, San Fermin. My friend and I had also discovered San Fermin via an NPR Tiny Desk Concert and were strangely hooked. Initially, San Fermin gives a typical indie-rock vibe similar to The National but with a simple twist, the addition of a small symphonic brass section. With a band size numbering a whopping eight members, San Fermin can really make you move your feet and feel like cheering and shouting with little effort required. This was actually our second time seeing San Fermin; we saw them last year when they played on April 13th, 2016 at Mohawk Place in Buffalo, NY. Needless to say, we were super excited to see them again at The Great Hall.
We went up to Toronto early on Tuesday, and since I had taken a vacation day for this trip, we were able to take our time getting there and to also check out anything we might not have in Rochester, NY. We happened to be in luck when pursuing such adventure when we passed by three IKEAs before finally deciding to stop at one. Neither of us have ever been to an IKEA, but many of our friends and acquaintances have posted pictures having a blast in the store looking through the weird cabinetry and sampling strange meatballs, so we were very interested to check it all out. Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of IKEA, as I was hoping they would have more small, useful items such as office supplies or organizational compartments, but mainly they had larger furniture type pieces. If I ever have a need for a movable kitchen island, however, I am getting one from IKEA. The meatballs weren't that fantastic either, but I think my friend liked them.
After parking in front of our venue, The Great Hall, we decided to walk around for a bit to see what sorts of places there were in the area where we could eat or have a drink. It was quite sunny and overall nice weather, so we were happy to walk around outside. We peeked inside some boutiques that sold bartending items and a drug store so I could purchase a couple of illegal Kinder Surprise Easter eggs for my dad and myself - sorry America!
I had already scoped out the area before we went, specifically for restaurants that sold poutine, and had noticed that there was a poutine place right across from The Great Hall, namely, Poutini's House of Poutine. Last time we were in Toronto to see Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, we ate in Toronto's Greektown and had the famous Canadian kebab. My friend is obsessed with the local Rochester food truck, Le Petit Poutine, but never had the real deal in Canada. I, however, have already tasted the fruits of what is to be considered Canada's best and original poutine from La Banquise in Montreal, QC. Therefore, any subsequent poutine I try must match up to that "squeaky-cheese"-filled goodness.
Personally, I thought Poutini's was better than Le Petit Poutine, even though my friend felt otherwise. I thought the fries were much thicker and not as droopy. Also, there seemed to be more cheese provided than on Le Petit's variety. As far as beating the OG, La Banquise? Not even close. However, I will still rank this cheap and affordable chain second on my as-of-yet short list of best poutines. The only downsides were that it was cash only and didn't have much room to sit down. My friend and I ate at a standing counter, but we didn't feel uncomfortable or out of the way whatsoever.
A short walk from Poutini's was a British styled pub that caught our eye, the Dog & Bear. We walked in just as the Toronto Blue Jays were throwing first pitch, so we made like a Canadian and had une pinte de bière before doors opened at The Great Hall. I fell in love with this bar, it felt just like a dark village pub in England except slathered with Canadian and Torontonian memorabilia. It was almost as if there was some kind of Canadian invasion, and they were not sorry aboot it. There was definitely a moment where I felt truly Canadian; all that was missing were some moose.
The Great Hall opened its doors in 1889 during my favorite period of time, the Victorian Era, and the interior certainly paid homage to that. Already I could tell that the structure was laid for great vintage acoustic quality. The opening band, Low Roar, was a band of three gentlemen hailing from both the US and Iceland. Their music was very ethereal and bass-heavy, creating a cloud of swaying sound. I definitely zoned out and jammed out a couple of times during their set, but the deeply buzzing bass in a few songs was a bit much, if intentional, and often put me off to the song itself. Also, I was unable to grab many pictures of Low Roar, as they were black silhouettes in a sky of foggy dark blue during the entire performance. This monotone feel added to the drone-like quality of their music, but definitely left me yearning for San Fermin to begin. Overall, the band seemed juxtaposed against the mood of the crowd.
As San Fermin were getting ready to begin, my friend and I snagged a place right in the front row and I even managed to snap a shot of their setlist as a spoiler. They managed to play through a bunch of songs, most of which came from their new album, Belong, but they played a few favorites off of their other albums such as "Methuselah", "Parasites", and "Sonsick". I was only a little bit sad that they didn't play "Renaissance!" - but only because my friend and I constantly play that one in an attempt to imitate Allen Tate's low vocals singing, "There's a mob at the door." Each song flowed so well into the next, and the crowd got more and more into the music every minute. It felt more like dancing at a house party with friends by the end of it all!
All of the songs and lyrics were written by the eternal hottie and sheer musical genius of Ellis Ludwig-Leone, but my favorite performer of the night, aside from my self-proclaimed man, Allen, was the newest member, violinist and vocalist Claire Wellin. She simply stole the show, joyfully shredding on her violin and dancing alongside saxophonist Stephen Chen, and providing expressive backup vocals to the already greatly impressive and stunning, Charlene Kaye. And, let's be real, this entire band is made up of good-looking people. At the end of the performance, and after playing a stupendous two-song encore, the crowd roared louder than I've heard in awhile at an indie rock concert. My friend and I walked to the merch table, since my friend wanted to pick up a physical copy of Belong and also chat with the trumpeter, John Brandon, who was there.
I kept my eye on the stage to see if Allen Tate would come out so that I could meet the man himself. Allen came back out onstage to help the stage crew and I took that chance to casually approach, my hair flowing in the breeze, and I TOTALLY DID IT. I told Allen how I saw them in Buffalo, too, and asked him to sign my ticket for me and he did! I didn't know what else to say so I awkwardly giggled and backed away, waving goodbye. I was so excited when I left that I kept showing strangers my scribbled-on ticket. You can follow San Fermin on their Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and you can listen to them on Spotify, Soundcloud, and YouTube. Thank you for reading my food, pub, and concert review, keep an eye out for more articles like this by following my Twitter or my Instagram for post updates!
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