For 9 years, Toronto Music Camp (TMC) has given young aspiring musicians a place to rock out and experience life as a musician. There’s no other sumer camp in Toronto like it! In five short days groups come together as a band, learn new skills, attend clinics and rehearse their song. On the fifth and last day of the week, they record a music video. The results are incredible, especially considering that the group only had a few days to develop their collective sound and rehearse their chosen song. While many groups cover contemporary rock tunes from the likes of Green Day, The Muse and Soundgarden, some of our bands take on the true classics of rock: The Beatles, Led Zepplin, The Eagles and many other greats. Taking on the rock giants is no easy feat, but these three bands (and many others) did a great job of covering their songs and adding a bit of their own influence.
Here are three blasts from the past, delivered by some of our TMC rock stars.
The Final Countdown. The Banana Jelly Ice Cream Vanilla Thang didn’t have a spaceship parked outside, but you could’ve fooled me. Their cover of The Final Countdown, by Europe, blasted me back to the 80’s with a dramatic intro reminiscent of the original tune. With the added backup vocals, complements of one of our Voice Camp groups, the song was well performed and every bit as fun as the original.
Get Back. The song Get Back, by The Beatles, is known for heavy guitar riffs, fast tempo and strong vocals. TMC’s Rock Camp group Dischord managed to pull both off with style, and they clearly had a lot of fun doing it. The talented kids in this video give you a real sense of what gets accomplished and how close campers get during the week.
Good Clean Fun. The Allman Brothers need to watch their back! The Almond Brothers of Toronto Music Camp have given them a run for their money with a funky cover of Good Clean Fun. Their addition of the saxophone pulls a jazzy element into the southern rock anthem that sounds like it was there all along. Surprisingly, the original song and video doesn’t have a sax. The Almond Brothers played the tune right on the money; by adding the sax they made the song better than the original.
There were many great classic covers last summer. We can’t forget The Cookie of Life’s rockin’ rendition of Led Zepplin’s D’Yer Mak’er, nor can we pass up the chance to compliment Sweet Suggestion for their playful cover of The Eagle’s signature hit, Hotel California. There were even more than that, and you can find them on our YouTube channel.
All of our rock bands do an amazing job of pulling together a tight sound in a short week. We are proud of you all and hope to see you back here in 2014.
