I’m a big Bedouin Soundclash fan. Thus, when I got a heads-up about the solo record and Toronto date by front-man Jay Malinowski, I gave both my full attention.
The night started out with an in-store performance by Arts & Crafts’ newly-crowned indie rock heroes Zeus at the famous Soundscapes record store. Although having nothing to do with Jay, a quick pop-over to Little Italy and, strangely enough, all-you-can-eat sushi at Sushi Island was a good way to start the night! As good as it sounded, I barely caught a glimpse of Zeus in the packed store…they’ll have to wait. The sushi was fantastic though 
We left Little Italy and made our way down to Queen Street West. Jay was playing The Rivoli and the small venue would treat him well. Picture a small, quaint back room of a lounge/bar fit for roughly 200 people. It almost seems like a secret back there, but is definitely a great-sounding, classy place.
Jay wasted no time in delivering his lead single “Santa Monica”. Most don’t know it, but this is actually an old Bedouin Soundclash tune from their first record ‘Root Fire’. Added to that, BSC rarely played this song live, for reasons left untold. I’m not sure if everyone else in the venue appreciated hearing this song live as much as I did, but it was appreciated either way!
The set was a broken-down one, with musicians hopping on-stage to perform at various times throughout — the most memorable of which being the duet of “Into Fire” with Kenny Bridges of Moneen. The set was also closed out with Eon Sinclair of BSC, of which a new BSC song called “Let Me Let Love In Again” was debuted.
Malinowski seemed to be finding his live-legs as a solo artist. At times the spotlight appeared too bright (stopping one song mid-way to chastise an over-eager fan at the front of the stage) while at other times, it was more-than welcomed. This was understandable as the generous crowd in attendance was, after all, very supportive and were obvious fans of Jay’s work, both past and present.
I really enjoyed this show. Jay’s solo record ‘Bright Lights & Bruises’ was a big surprise for me. I had no preconception of what this record was going to sound like, but tracks like “Into Fire” definitely gave the record a singer-songwriter type of feel that works well for Malinowski. This was a fresh injection of great music in my life.
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