The Cameron House (Back Room).

On Friday night I ventured off the indie music path I've been on for a few months now, and took in a bit of the city's non-indie rock scene. A friend of mine from the department is friends with a guy from another department who has a band. That band was playing. I've been wanting to check out the Cameron House as a music venue. So we went. FN, MB, and LT came too.

Although we arrived after 10pm, it was nearly an hour before the first act came on. This was The Harold Wartooth, a hard rocking, young-looking foursome with impressive guitar solos and scratchy singing. (For a pre-show mini profile of the band, see Torontoist.) They were pretty decent, but it all sounded like too much of the same for me. And it's too bad about the singer's voice. This stuff just isn't for me, though I appreciate the band's musical chops. During one song we were treated to a long guitar solo by a guy who's name I did not catch [Danny Lindsay, see comment below]---he came up from the audience; the same man later joined the singer to belt out a few lines of a song he wrote (which the band was covering). So that was different.

Next up was the group we came to see, Luz Atomica. I liked these guys better---there was a more variety in their songs---but it's just really not my thing. The rock, funk-rock, and psychedelic-rock tunes were well-played. I was reminded of the Doors at times.

We didn't stay for the last band, but did get a kick out of their groupies in the audience. (Three nice-looking but significantly-older-than-me women, all with large breasts and tight clothing, came in together and hugged an imposing bearded man. They went out frequently to smoke, so there were lots of chances to notice them. Entertaining.) In fact, the crowd was quite different from any I've seen at indie shows. I think, actually, that everyone in the room was either performing that night or a friend of someone who was. Which is kinda unfortunate, really, but there you have it.

The Back Room at the Cameron House is a small space with tables and chairs and benches. You go find a place to sit, talk amongst yourselves, drink, and listen to the music. I'm glad I checked the place out, and now I know what the deal is. I won't go back unless a band I'm really into plays a gig there . . . and that seems unlikely to happen. But if you like rock or the other styles of music on offer, then you should go. It's grungy but clean, the sound is good, the staff friendly, and the patrons might just make the whole thing worth while, if nothing else does.