The Sound of Music Festival - Faber Drive and Marianas Trench

This past Thursday I went to the gorgeous lakeside Spencer Smith Park to take in the wonders of the Burlington Sound of Music Festival with some good friends and some great music.

Now it's no secret that I'm a fan of Faber Drive or Marianas Trench. I have been following them since before people knew who they were. I remember being at The Reverb in Toronto when Marianas Trench performed with a friend of mine's band (anybody remember Socialight??) and there were maybe 50 people attending. It's incredible how far they've come in such a short period of five years. As a fan of them I am extremely proud of them and I can't wait to see what the future brings for them!

Now, to review.

First off, it was the opening day to the four day long festival and it was packed with thousands of people. It was rumoured (according to a VERY reliable source) that there was approximately 25,000 people in attendance to view the show. There was very little standing room and by the end of the night I felt like I was well acquainted with more than a few people! Anybody want to snuggle with a stranger?

Faber Drive hit the stage at 8:15 p.m. and rocked out for a full hour to a much anticipated crowd full of fans of all ages. At one point I saw a fan as young as five-years-old singing all the lyrics to "Give Him Up" and ten minutes later I see a mom belting out the lyrics to "Tongue Tied". It was amazing to see so many people out for their music!

As I've said I've seen Faber Drive numerous times and almost every time I've been impressed with their performance. This time was no different to an extent. I felt that the sound wasn't loud enough to me. I don't want to ignore the fact that due to the overflowing capacity of viewers I only managed to get to the side of the stage and well back from the speakers. Had I heard them from a different perspective it may have been a different story!

What I love most about them is that they know how to engage the crowd and get them involved throughout the show. Dave Faber (lead) loves to get them rowdy by swaying their hands, jumping to the beat and singing the lyrics back to them. I don't know about you, but I love hearing a crowd sing the lyrics. It's just an amazing sound and I can only imagine what it feels like as a band member listening to that! It was nice to hear Jeremy 'Krikit' Liddle (bassist) work the crowd as well. It's only too often that only one member talks to the crowd. To me that just seems a little weird seeing as a lot of people are fans of the other members, not just the lead singer!

Another thing I love about Faber Drive is their ability to do cover songs. I don't think I've ever heard of a bad cover song come out of Faber's mouth. His voice is versatile enough that he can pretty much sing anything and make it sound great! Previous covers they've done ranged from Owl City's "Fireflies" to a medley of "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga, "Dangerous" by Akon and "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis! This time around they sang Tiao Cruz "Break Your Heart", "Rock your Body" by Black Eyed Peas and "In My Head" by Jason Derulo!! They really got the crowd pumping with these chart-topping hits!

Next up was Marianas Trench. As the event was pretty accurate time-wise, it was a little bit of a set back before MT hit the stage. Due to the large amount of people they had to get people to step back from the barrier at the front of the stage before they allowed the band to hit the stage. Intense!

Again, as I've said I'm a big supporter of Marianas Trench, but it seemed to me that they were not at their prime on the stage this time around. I usually have a great experience with the them but this time around I wasn't exactly impressed. I think the most noticeable thing to me (and others) was that Josh Ramsay (lead) seemed to be off his game. His voice cracked a few times and while hitting high notes he'd suddenly trail off. Now, I overheard Mike Ayley (bassist) talking to some fans and said he (Josh) wasn't feeling that great? I don't know if there are truth to those words but we'll take them. The things they did have down solid though were the tunes and the way they rocked the crowd. Their music playing skills are stellar and it's always been amazing to listen to them rock out. And although Josh wasn't sounding exactly up to par, he did work the crowd and of course they responded!

I guess I just have to say that I believe that Marianas Trench is an amazing band but I feel that they are much more suited to an indoor venue than an outside one! With their harmonies and vocal talents, I think they just get lost when there's nothing to bounce the sound off of except for thousands of fans and the open air! There is no doubt they have talent though and I wish them all the best!

Taryn McElheran

(On a side note I would like to wish the best of luck to both the bands at the up-coming MMVAs. They're both up for awards and they're both truly deserving so I hope they get some luck and win!!)

Photos are courtesy of Jenny Ellis