This year Toronto Music Camp celebrated our 10th year anniversary with style. Our campers surprised us with their incredible talent. All of the vocal and rock camp groups did an amazing job creating a unique sound and worked hard to pull off fantastic performances with only a few days rehearsal.
At the end of the summer as we worked to create a list of the top 5 music videos, we unexpectedly wound up with 8 – and we couldn’t bear to part with any more of them. Here they are, the top 8 TMC music videos of 2015:
1. Can’t Explain, Union Jack. Union Jack nailed this cover of this iconic 60s track from The Who. We can’t explain. Union Jack’s strong vocals, perfect timing and harmonious instrumentation made this video a hands-down contender.
2. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, The Jammers. The band’s sound was a unique style of classic rock, which is a necessity to successfully cover Led Zepplin. The lead singer stole the show with a breathy, raspy voice that merged jazz into the heart of classic rock. The Jammers created their own unique sound and it worked brilliantly.
3. Mysterious Ways, Saucy Deep Fried and the Unsure Chum. We are wondering which one of these chums was unsure, but their saucy deep-fried sound was far from mysterious. They stole the title for the best band name of the summer and mirrored the signature complex U2 sound fantastically, right down to the impeccable guitar solo.
4. I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Breakfast and the Lunchables. This food-obsessed band gave a solid nod to the late Queen of Pop, Whitney Houston, with one of her breakout 80s pop tunes and made it seriously rock. The singer kept true to Whitney’s vocal character, making this both original and classic.
5. Sweet Dreams (are Made of These), Black Ice. When Beyonce and The Eurythmics meet up in song, it can be a sweet dream or a disaster. In the hands of Black Ice, it spelled a delicious medley. Their beautiful vocals, well-timed rounds, and harmony would make them the envy of most Glee Clubs. There is no doubt that this mashup packed a ton of talent into a few quick minutes.
6. Say It Ain’t So, The Cancerous Cigars. When you cover Wheezer you’re covering the essence of 90s post-grunge alternative. The Cancerous Cigars did us one better by performing this song with a serious coffeehouse vibe. It made us so nostalgic that we all donned our flannels and Doc Martens to give this soulful, harmonic rendition a listen.
7. What You Need, The Creative Process. What we need is some funky sound and a saxophone, and The Creative Process delivered. Covering Inxs is not for the faint hearted. This group of talented teens pulled it off successfully, capturing the intricacies of this tune with notable style.
8. Highway to Hell, Burning River. Burning River was undaunted by the fact that they were the junior-most camp group of the summer. That’s probably why they opted to cover AC/DC with the kind of talent we usually see in the older groups. With exceptional instrumentation, a great guitar solo and unexpectedly fierce vocal vibratos, they are definitely are well on their way.
Every week of Toronto Music Camp is filled with these unexpected twists and turns. We love to see the campers work so hard to quickly develop a unique sound, rock their music selection and support each other throughout the whole process. It’s a long way to the top, but moments like these certainly make it worth the journey. We offer Rock Band and Glee Club throughout the school year for those kids who want to continue the journey throughout the year. Otherwise, we can’t wait to welcome you all back to TMC 2016!
