The Cadillac Lounge was almost exactly what I had imagined. Hubcaps lined the stage, Elvis photos and leopard print sheets adorned the walls and a beer tap made out of a guitar head turned out drinks. The owners were certainly swinging for the blues-rock bar fences. It was a cool vibe for a music venue.
McMaster’s own Of Gentlemen and Cowards made the trip down to the Lounge on Thursday evening for their first time playing at the famed Canadian Music Week. The annual CMW is an exposition of over 1000 artists in 60 venues throughout downtown Toronto and brings together all of the major (and minor) players in the industry. Needless to say, if you’re an up-and-coming band or simply want to get into the scene, this week is of paramount importance for that next step.
Of Gentlemen and Cowards were in the opening slot, set to start off a night of five bands. After a quick sound check, Simon Edwards (vocals/guitar) arrived in an impressive fashion, stepping into the Lounge 40 minutes before set time directly off of a flight from Texas. He jumped right into band mode and prepped outside with the others with vocal exercises. A small crowd had gathered by the bar for the 8 p.m. start.
They got right to it, launching into “Save Me,” the track they performed this past fall on the Late Show with David Letterman. Midway through, the song dropped into its breakdown with a driving guitar solo from Christian Fedele (lead guitar/vocals) and the show’s intensity was kicked into gear. Following that was the fantastic upbeat groove of “Rum & Coke.” The transition between songs was notably smooth on stage. Edwards addressed the crowd several times, thanking CMW and everyone who came out, and John Dawson (bass/vocals) recounted the story of Edwards’ narrow arrival to the venue.
The band played a total of eight songs which covered a mix of their recorded material, unreleased tracks and a cover of “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet” by Blue Rodeo. The tail end of the set ended things off strongly with the catchy showpiece “Paper Planes,” the set-staple “One of Those Days,” complete with an impressive call-and-response harmonica and guitar solo jam, and lastly the expansive “Weatherman Blues.” The latter was as huge as it always is live, with masterful instrumentation, a bridge of “So now let’s let the rain fall” and a string of soaring solos at the end. A special mention goes to Jake Warren (drums) for an impressive job of maintaining the set’s heightened energy and for leading the charge into well-executed transitions from song-to-song.
The entire performance was a well-calculated crescendo of momentum that built to a climax and elicited worthy applause and cheers at its end. This was one of the band’s finest sets to date. With graduation within the member’s sights and new recordings to be released soon, this summer is going to be a big one for Of Gentlemen and Cowards.
By: Lucas Canzona
Behind the open blazer of Simon Edwards, Of Gentlemen and Cowards' front man, a few of the white letters on his maroon t-shirt were visible.
Worn during the band's appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday night, Edwards' McMaster University apparel was evidently his way of paying tribute to the McMaster and Hamilton communities.
"That was insane - what a day," the band wrote on their Facebook page following the afternoon taping of the show. "A massive thanks goes out to everyone who helped us get to this day."
[youtube id="Mhj4pgJQKJY" width="620" height="360"]
The band played their song, "Save Me," well, and the show went smoothly.
There was only a minor hitch at the end, when Letterman got tied up on the band's name.
"Of Cowards and Gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen," he said to the crowd at the end of the performance. "Of Gentlemen and Cowards. Well which is it?
"Which is it?" he asked again as the applause died down. "Is that right boys?"
The current McMaster students got the opportunity to take their act to the New York talk show by winning a contest hosted by Red Bull Soundstage and by Rob Burnett, producer of the Late Show. The prize was to get a song into We Made This Movie, a film written and directed by Burnett.
The band will remain in New York for the rest of the week to promote themselves. They'll then play after the premier of We Made This Movie on Thursday night.
See related:
Mac band getting set for Letterman gig
Josh Dawson, bassist for McMaster band Of Gentlemen and Cowards, said his father gave him an important piece of advice for the group’s Sept. 17 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.
He asked Dawson if he knew how Hootie and the Blowfish first rose to popularity. Dawson didn’t.
“Letterman,” said his father, “so don’t fuck this up.”
Of Gentlemen of Cowards is a young band. The current McMaster students got the opportunity to take their act to the New York talk show by winning a contest hosted by Red Bull Soundstage and by Rob Burnett, producer of the Late Show.
The original contest, which received applications from emerging bands from across North America, was to get a song into Burnett’s film We Made This Movie. After becoming one of the four winning bands, they were entered into a contest with the other finalists to play on the Late Show.
Through persistent and widespread promotion, Of Gentlemen and Cowards won the online voting contest.
They’re set to appear on the show on Monday, Sept. 17. It will air at 11:30 p.m. that night.
They fly down on the Sunday. At 3 a.m. Monday morning, they’ll be at the studio for set-up. They’ll then head back to the hotel for a little sleep, and then back at 2 p.m. for rehearsal, hair, makeup and other preparations. They’re on at 5:30 p.m.
“We rehearse a lot for our festivals and stuff, and we’ve gotten pretty good at doing that,” said Dawson.
“But [at festivals] you’ve got a 45-minute window that you can spread your tricks out over ... This is three and a half minutes to compact everything.”
After the show, they’ll hang around New York for a few days “seeing how many times we can drop our name before we leave,” said Dawson.
On Thursday night, they’ll be at the premier of We Made This Movie. They’ll play at the after party that night
But for now, the band is totally focused on making their brief TV appearance count. “I’ve watched every single performance on Letterman in the last five years,” laughed Dawson about what he’s doing to prepare.
They’ve got tickets to the show for their immediate families and for Al Legault, director of MSU Campus Events, who will be representing them in New York.
But whether or not they’re successful in the Big Apple, they know what comes next.
“Class,” said Simon Edwards, the band’s singer, who is trying to stay humble. “No matter what happens after Letterman, we’ve still got 8:30s to get to ... That’s what awaits us after Letterman. Homework.”
Results are in: McMaster band Of Gentlemen and Cowards is headed to an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in mid-September.
After voting closed just before midnight on August 7, the group appeared to be in the lead, but had to wait until Monday's announcement for official results. And Given how back-and-forth the battle for first was on the final voting day between Of Gentlemen and Cowards and Virginia group Aaron Crawford and the Badcards, it could have gone either way.
“I’m a massive mix of overwhelmed, nervous and excited,” said front man Simon Edwards before official results were released.
Edwards will join fellow students and bandmates Josh Dawson, Christian Fedele and Jake Warren for the New York show.
It began in the spring, when Of Gentlemen and Cowards spotted the contest on SonicBids.com, a music social media platform that connects bands with promoters, festivals and other opportunities.
The competition was for a chance to get their music into We Made This Movie, which is currently in production. Rob Burnett, who is the CEO of the Late Show with David Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants, is the film’s director. They submitted their song “Save Me” to be considered for the soundtrack.
Out of over 1200 applications from an international pool of bands, the McMaster boys were selected as one of 24 finalists in the We Made This Movie Music Contest. They were then chosen as one of the four winners, which guaranteed their song a spot in the film. A secondary contest for one of finalists to play on the Letterman show followed, and Of Gentlemen and Cowards found themselves in a neck-and-neck battle for first.
“We kind of threw everything we had into this campaign,” said Edwards. “We play a lot of charity shows around campus, and we try to do as many free things and favours for people as we can. Here’s where we’re really hoping to cash on those,” he said.
The campaign received support from a number of McMaster organizations, as well as coverage in the Hamilton Spectator, CBC Hamilton and AM900, to name a few.
“We couldn’t be happier with the response we’ve gotten,” said Edwards.
The members of Of Gentlemen and Cowards name the Arkells as an influence with half reluctance.
They understand that the Arkells, who formed after meeting at McMaster as students, paved the way for acts with true Mac and Hamilton pride – naming themselves after the Westdale street on which the lived and practiced while at school and calling their debut LP Jackson Square.
“We all listen to the Arkells, but we tend not to write like them, because the last thing we want to do is become ‘the next Arkells,’” said bassist Josh Dawson. “We respect what they do ... but as we’ve grown and matured, we’ve kind of found our own sound, and I’m glad it’s not the next Jackson Square.”
Of Gentlemen and Cowards is a band of current students at Mac, who play almost any campus charity show or event they can get, in part to get their name out there, and also out of a connection they feel to their school.
The four-piece folk-pop-rock group was the McMaster winner in the Campus Music Explosion battle of the bands competition in March. They went on to win the Ontario-wide CME Finals.
“We rehearsed that show more than we’ve rehearsed any show we’ve ever played. It was a 20-minute set, and I’m embarrassed over how much we rehearsed that show,” said lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Simon Edwards of the Ontario Finals. “We knew what we were going to say. We knew what we were going to wear.”
“It’s the stuff that you don’t want to think about,” said Dawson.
Now, they’re gearing up for an appearance at Burlington’s Sound of Music festival on June 14, playing on the same stage and day as the Arkells. Although they won’t be quite so meticulous in the planning for Sound of Music, they’re excited. It was at the 2010 festival that the Arkells had one of the biggest breakout shows of their career.
Things weren’t always this good for Of Gentlemen and Cowards, who got their name from the story of a trial that followed the sinking of the Titanic, in which the judge is said to have asked a defendant who paid for a lifeboat to leave the ship only half full, “Are you a gentleman, or are you a coward?” There were the shows to no one while on tour, or the time Edwards broke a rented, $3,000 guitar to start a show at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.
But the band took it all in stride, thinking only of the positive.
“That was the tightest we’ve ever played,” said Edwards of an empty-audience show. “I had never really stopped thinking about who I was playing to until then.”
They were also thankful that Long & McQuade only charged them a $400 repair fee for the destroyed Martin guitar. If they had to pay the full price? “We wouldn’t be releasing a record. That’s for sure,” laughed Dawson.
They’re currently working on a seven-inch release with Hamilton producer Michael Chambers of Catherine North Studios downtown, planning to release material in small doses. They came out with an EP last year.
Of Gentlemen and Cowards will be playing at 7 p.m. on June 14, appearing on the ArcelorMittal Dofasco stage of the Sound of Music festival in Burlington.
