My Night seeing Take Me to the Tempo and Going Nowhere

Last night I had the great privilege of attending a Young Single Adult (YSA) event in Edmonton which featured many talented musicians in Edmonton and I thought that I could take some time and write down my thoughts about the event. First and foremost it should be mentioned that I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this event as you can see in the picture below. There is something about going to see live music that just brings a lot more energy out of me. I don't know why I don't see more live shows or things of a similar vein because it's just so much fun! It should also be noted that all of the groups that performed were doing covers exclusively, and while I would have preferred to hear a few original pieces it isn't something one should expect when you know going in that they are cover bands.

That is me drenched in sweat. NO REGRETS

The night began with a group that I never actually got the name of so I will be forced to call them Those Three Guys that did Acoustic Stuff or TTGTDA (Pronounced teh-guh-da if you wondering.) Now there is no doubt in my mind that these guys were quite good, I couldn't help but feel that their set really didn't match up with the rest of the night all that well. Even at YSA dance events were slow dancing is pretty common five songs or so straight of it doesn't really match up as well as one might hope. Their front man for all I could tell was shining though, as much as the slick pants he wore to the event I'd go as far as saying. That's really all there is to say about this group though, very talented, but might have been better suited for another event. Nothing you could really fault them for. 

Cover band Going Nowhere took the stage next and almost immediately made their mark. Fast-paced and high-energy defined most of the set list which I personally felt was the most well chosen of all the groups. Joe Kastendieck shredded the guitar throughout the set in what I thought of as one of the best performances of the night. The bands cover of Fix You by Coldplay showed some great versatility but Beverly Hills would be my personal favorite song of their set. Overall this group was fun, energetic and I hope to see many more performances from them and even though there were times I couldn't really hear the vocals over the rest of the band it didn't really matter since I was too busy having a blast to care. 

Closing out the night was Take me to the Tempo and while they kept with the high energy theme Going Nowhere brought one couldn't help but feel a bit more of a professional sense here. Coregraphed dancing from Front-woman Shawni Tolman and Zachary Ayers displayed a more invested effort and it paid off in spades. I loved the energy this group brought especially from all those they had perform with them that were not part of the core group. Special shout-out to Brother Mandin who made me deeply regret having stopped playing saxophone for a short time before getting back to the dancing. The token slow song Take me to the Tempo was Aerosmith's Don't Want to Miss a Thing, and this song might have shown just how much darn fun this group was as myself and the girl I was dancing with couldn't help but continue to belt along with the song, something that would never had happened back in the awkward days of Junior High that most people remember that song for. If I were to launch a complaint it would be that like Going Nowhere there would be occasional issues with vocals being drowned out, primarily the back up singers seemed to be largely unheard for me. That is an incredibly small smudge on a otherwise brilliant performance. 

Now it's much easier for someone to really shine when they are surrounded by performers that just aren't as talented as those around them. The real test of a performer is to shine even when you are surrounded by people who are also very talented and Kris Strangeland and Shawni Tolman passed this test with flying colours. Kris brought an superb level of play that took several of the bands numbers to the next level. Shawni brought an energy that simply would not be matched. Her presence on stage was one that was totally unafraid of what could happen on stage and that was most noticeable with the bands rendition of Jamiroquai's Canned Heat from Napoleon Dynamite fame. Jamiroquai is a voice that I would under normal circumstances advise people from trying to cover but Ms. Tolman pulled it off without a hitch and even looked like she was having more fun with it than the crowd. 

All the groups that performed gave splendid performances and I want to personally thank them for giving me one of the most fun nights I have had in quite a while. Unfortunately Going Nowhere and Take me to the Tempo do not have Social Media pages for me to link you to, but if you ever hear about these groups giving a performance somewhere make sure to do yourself a favor and check it out! Peace buds.