We Are Balboa
El Mocambo
Sunday, June 15^th, 9:00 pm

This four-piece band from Spain formed in 2003, and have been very, very busy ever since. They played the NXNE closing party at the El Mocambo on Sunday night, and the honey smooth vocals, blended with harder guitar work, had the crowd up and dancing.
Stunning lead singer Lua divided her time equally between gyrating with her guitar and playing it, but in that little gold dress she was sparkling in on stage, she could get away with it. With her vocal stylings and skilled accompanying musicians, it's easy to see why this group won the Global Battle of the Bands in their native country – they have a style all their own, and it will be interesting to see how their fan base expands over the next couple of years.

- Lana Winter

Matt Mays & El Torpedo
The Horseshoe Tavern
Sunday, June 15^th, 12:00 am

Matt Mays and El Torpedo are the dirtiest, sweatiest bunch of rock and rollers in Canada, and they are amazing. Playing to a capacity crowd at the Horseshoe that the bouncers described as feeling like “a Turkish bath”, Matt and his crew of unshaved, long maned rockers absolutely slayed their set Saturday night. The room was raining with sweat, as drips of something wet were literally falling from the roof during the forty minute set. Playing a good chunk of material off his forthcoming album Terminal Romance Matt appeared to be channeling Born to Run-era Springsteen as he let out gutteral vocals over pounding piano chords and squealing guitar solos. Oh, and the jean jacket with the sleeves torn off helped ease the comparison too. The crowd was equally impressed with the virgin material as they were for older tunes like “Move Your Mind” and “What Are We Gonna Do Come The Month Of September?” which featured some amazing harmonized guitar solos. The only lull came when during some adjustments to the drummer’s set Matt decided to try out some schtick comedy to fill the time, only to be met with figurative rotten tomatos. However, all was forgiven when Matt and El Torpedo cranked out that first E minor chord of “Cocaine Cowgirl” the band’s biggest hit, that the crowd truly lost their mind and all hell broke loose. A thunderous applause cheered the band off stage and only when they knew the set was truly over did the audience collectively step over the smashed glasses on the floor to hit the washrooms to take the piss they’d been holding in since Matt hit the stage.

- Sam Stilson