If you remember my first article with Music Scene Media, you’ll know about my friend Gillian. Gillian helps book local artist gigs here in the city of Barrie, Ontario, and I saw one show that caught my eye and knew I had to be there. Nestled in downtown Barrie is The Queens: a restaurant, bar, and concert stage. This is a place that becomes so alive on the weekends, a place for everyone to come party, have a bite to eat, and catch up with friends after a long and exhausting work week.
Opening up first, was Justin Lawrence. The electric guitar setup wasn’t working in Justin’s favour for tonight so he had opted for an acoustic set. Announcing to the crowd that had started to gather for the night, Justin let us know that he would be performing some covers and some originals. Starting with his songs, his voice instantly reminded me of the late 90s, early 2000s emo punk singers. It was unique and interesting to see this style of singing paired with a laid-back acoustic show. A couple of songs into the set, Justin informed us that the other guitar player with him was his best friend Scotty of over 20 years, and that they’d perform the song that they first wrote together. Justin, who also goes by CousinFloyd, let the crowd know that he is also releasing a hip hop & ukulele EP soon. Justin did a great job interacting with the crowd, joking and teasing, and playing trivia with those attending asking questions such as, “what came first? “The Alphabet” song or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”?” Spoiler alert, it was “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” Closing his number with his song “Woah,” he left the stage letting the crowd know that he was a trash bag blowing in the wind.
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Twenty minutes after reorganizing the stage, Sydney Riley was up next. Sydney arrived on stage wearing a unique jacket, split down the middle with two inverted patterns on either side, and neon green bangs that shone with the stage’s blue lights. Introducing us to her accompanying band, The Bog Bodies, Sydney erupted right into her set opening with her song “The Coast”. The set included a great mix of really high energy upbeat rock songs, and a few more laid back tracks. Interesting to see too, as I haven’t seen this at a local show, was the video screen playing back drops, almost giving their performance an arena tour like vibe. More people filed into The Queens, and Sydney asked them to all get closer to the stage, joking with the crowd that she didn’t smell, and that she had put perfume on. While performing tracks “Water” & “Hired For Healing,” I could really see that the keyboard and guitar players felt the music in their soul, grooving to every chord and strum they played. Performing her song “Down,” Sydney let the crowd know that she had written this song when she was 14, and almost didn’t include it in the set as she thought it was too cheesy.
Going into their last song of the evening, Sydney spoke to the patrons of The Queens about how she used to work in a high volume kitchen and spoke of stories about horrible shifts and how extremely fast paced the job was. She jokes that it is funny how you almost get trauma bonded with your fellow co-workers in jobs like that. Sydney finished with her song “In The Weeds” and it was in this moment that I got to witness my first mosh-pit break out.
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It was now time for the main act of the night, JULES IS DEAD. From what I had listened to before the show, JULES IS DEAD’s music was something I resonated with, almost having an Evanescence, or Paramore, tone to her work. Jules stepped out on stage in cargo shorts and a military tank top. She welcomed everyone to her first hometown show, smiled, and let everyone know that tonight’s songs are mostly unreleased, but “kinda slay." Opening with her songs “Spells and Power Thoughts,” and “Just 1 Thing”, Jules wasted no time getting into her rock core element, unleashing her powerful vocals. Her guitarist asked and confirmed what chords where for the next song, Jules rolled her eyes and said, “seriously? We can’t be doing this right now,” and instantly went into her song “Spring, Summer, Fall Apart.” A fun skit to enter into a song.
After the first round of opening songs, I had a nostalgic moment when Jules started teaching the crowd Chappell Roan’s “Hot To Go” dance, before heading into a rock cover of the song. I had the amazing opportunity to have gotten to photograph Chappell’s tour stop in Toronto last year, so it felt nice to see an artist continue her legacy with her music, using a spin on Chappell’s catchphrase, “I’m your favourite performer's favourite performer.” Into her next song, “Are You Scared Yet?”, another mosh-pit broke out for the evening, I clutched my camera and kept photographing the show, hoping I didn’t get knocked, but thankfully the group in the crowd was respectful of us who were attending the show with expensive equipment.
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Midway through her set, JULES IS DEAD spoke to the crowd, asking if they had ever written a diss track or poem about anyone. Going along the lines speaking about how it can be therapeutic for your soul. She also said you’ll write these things, especially if their name starts with “J,” and went straight into her song “Jason Hate Club.” Playing cover songs like “Hey You” and originals like their new song “Eternally”, Jules kept the energy high, performing amongst the crowd, and unleashed some growl and screamo vocals. Jules finished her set with “My Own Hell” and “Red.”
She thanked the crowd for attending her show and let everyone know that she had just finished filming the music video for her song “Eternally”. She also thanked Justin and Sydney for opening tonight and left the stage after an unforgettable show. JULES IS DEAD is already making a great name for herself, and I believe that she is someone that has so many more great things yet to come!
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You can stream her latest song, “Eternally”, below:
