The poster artwork for the show on December 29th at Junction City Music Hall in Toronto.
After our last show at the Dakota, we were anticipating putting our feet up for the remainder of January. Yet when the chance came up to perform on a Saturday night, prime time, at the Junction City Music Hall, a venue on our hit list, we couldn’t resist.
We called up our friend Jay Cleary who is working on a new project called Black Turn Emergency to open up the show, and we had his support as DJ Quescecest on the turntables as well.
By the time we took the stage, the venue had some nice energy inside. Our first set featured Right Place Wrong Time by Dr.John and Come And Get Your Love by Redbone. During the second set we tried out a few new ones such as Let Love Rule by Lenny Kravitz, and If You Want Me to Stay by Sly and the Family Stone.
This month we’re back to rehearsing, and working on some new songs. It looks like we won’t be back on stage until February or March, so make sure to sign up to our list to be kept in the loop!
Our most recent show happened at The Dakota Tavern. On Saturday, November 10th, 2018, we played an early set in the country-western themed bar located at the trendy corner of Ossington and Dundas in Toronto.
Loading in our gear was tricky, as there is a bus stop outside the venue, and a very narrow alley to the side. Even though we were a smaller configuration of players that night, the stage is tight and every bit of space mattered. We finished a quick soundcheck as doors opened and grabbed a beer before hitting the stage at 7PM.
The turn out was great and the all-ages audience continued to grow as the evening progressed. Two sets of music gave the crowd an exciting night out. New to the setlist were the UPS original songs 2020 and Let’s Get High.
As is the tradition at The Dakota Tavern, we included a few funky cover songs including Brickhouse (The Commodores), Right Place, Wrong Time (Dr. John), Flashlight (Parliament) and Fan’s Mail (Thundercat).
UPS photographer Drew Yorke-Slader and videographer Stephen Schmidt were on-site to capture the event. Check out some of the video clips and images below.
New to the UPS merch table and online shop that night were baseball hats in 2 different styles. Check them out here.
Although we had to clear the stage fairly quickly at 9PM, we were able to stick around for a little bit to catch local band Le Barons album release party.
All in all it was a great night, and we’ll definitely be looking to stop by The Dakota Tavern again in the future. Thank-you to everyone that came out to party with us!
United Power Soul continues to work on studio recordings and their live show. Expect new experiences in 2019.
Just in time for the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada, United Power Soul takes on the tories with this tough as nails piece entitled "Let's Get High". No strangers to controversy, the band may have stepped over the line this time, by sampling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In any case, the new cyber-single is intended as a celebration of the great nation of Canada and the many freedoms we enjoy. Oh Canada!
Song is available July 1st on all major streaming services.
Jordin's nephew studies the Haggadah at the sedar table 2016.
Passover is an annual Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus from Egypt, culminating in the creation of the Ten Commandments starring Charleston Heston.
In modern times, it’s represented by two nights of dinners cooked to magnificent proportions, that are full of song (and dance depending on how freaky your family gets).
For years, Jordin and I have talked about writing new music to contribute to the Passover canon, but after eating too much matzoh and drinking all that manischewitz we’d forget, and another year would roll by.
How is this year different from all other years? Well, we’ve been busy writing and recording new music. So when the United Power Soul project got started, the first tracks that Jordin and I started with were actually songs from the Passover project, which is called The Order.
The artwork for Deliver Them features a photo of Cleopatra's Needle in NYC.
We're excited to release the first single, from the album, called Deliver Them, in time for Passover 5778. Like the track? Sign up to our list to be notified when the next piece of the passover album unlocks.
Sign up with your email address to unlock the next Passover song!
United Power Soul on stage at The Piston, Toronto. March 14th 2018.
The Piston is one of Toronto’s best bars for funky music, and so it was fitting that we would make a stop there on our Winter Tour.
Temperatures weren't quite spring-like on Wednesday March 14th, but with longer days here, Toronto's true funk crowd made it a packed house at The Spring Breakdown party. Joined by 2 other local groups, the Dave Borins Band and Phatback, we celebrated the end of winter with live music, dancing and $4.75 pilsners on Bloor Street West.
The band was accompanied by Shanty Sweets on stage, who had been practicing with us for a few weeks leading up to the show. It's a tight squeeze for a band of 7 on stage at The Piston and we had a few issues with the sound, but out front things were mostly intact. New songs in the lineup that night included our cover of Behind the Mask (originally by Yellow Magic Orchestra then covered by Eric Clapton, then covered by Michael Jackson), as well as Make Me Feel by Janelle Monae. Check out the recording below of our song 100 Percent to hear how we did.
The merch table was looking good, with new UPS Stickers. David slapped one on his bass without hesitation. We were glad to see that Phatback had buttons and t-shirts for sale along with their delicious coconut cookies.
We also want to give a big shoutout to The Piston. Located in the authentic Bloorcourt neighbourhood, this bar not only serves up some finger lickin' good snacks and ale, but really supports our local funk scene. They have bands during the week, and DJs on the weekend such as the famous Beam Me Up! disco party.
After two Wednesday night shows, we will be saying goodbye to that day of the week in Toronto as we upgrade to Thursday, April 12th at The Horseshoe Tavern. We’ll be closing off a lineup that includes four other bands (yes you read that right!). It'll be a much later start time than we're accustomed to, but it's always great to be back at the legendary Horseshoe.
Stay tuned for our new single, Deliver Them which will be out in time for Passover 2018!
The new UPS sticker looks good on David's 5-String.
Sensei Elliott focused on the keys.
Shanty Sweets joined UPS for performance.
Moving Fast 4 U at The Spring Breakdown party.
Elliott, Ryan, Jordin and Brandon rehearsing for a gig.
Every band rehearses in their own way to prepare for a gig and often the rehearsal time determines the quality of a band’s live performance.
Kennedy and Jordin taking a break at rehearsal.
When we formed United Power Soul in October of 2017, we decided it was important to establish a weekly 3-hour time slot at a local rehearsal space in downtown Toronto. The objective has always been to get together and work on delivering a great live show.
The band is a unit and unity is everything when it comes to becoming a tight act. Obviously, showing up, is number one, but doing your homework, making a set list and having a positive attitude is important as well. Small details make a big difference when you’re on stage, and developing well-structured rehearsals is the first step to a polished performance.
UPS DELIVERS MUSICIANS ON TIME.
There are a lot of dynamics at play when bringing together 7 musicians. Scheduling conflicts do arise, but we’re lucky, in the sense that all members of United Power Soul are committed to the band, respond to emails and show up for rehearsals on time and with their gear, ready to play as if it were a gig. The other benefit is that with a large band, the cost of rehearsals gets split between the members. Some bands like to use scheduling apps to coordinate rehearsal time, but I find a group email works well to get confirmation from all members.
David thumping away at the rehearsal space.
We assign a separate time during the week for writing and recording in a studio space. Song writing mode is a very different mindset and I find it’s easier to work out songs in a different session. The rehearsal time is for just that – rehearsing as a band. It’s a time consuming endeavor to put a band that gigs together, not to mention the sweat and blisters.
I find it helpful to have our songs recorded (even as a simple demo track) and written down (as a lead sheet), so everyone knows what lane they’re in. Additionally, we always record our sessions in the rehearsal space on my iPhone or Elliott’s Zoom portable recorder for post-mortem listen back sessions. Rehearsals are all about improvement and the common goal is working out any kinks.
Practice makes perfect, but rehearsal time is not practice. There is a big difference between practicing and rehearsing. Practicing is something done at home, usually alone. Each member of the band spends significant time each week practicing the songs on their instrument, so that when we get together as a group, everyone is comfortable playing the song and we’re not reviewing chord changes or lyrics. Of course, issues come up during the rehearsal, but that’s why we have them and if everyone is well prepared, the rehearsal goes much smoother.
I’ve learned that sometimes less is more in a band and it’s okay if you’re not playing all the time. We try to work on sound dynamics when rehears ing, and playing together is not a competition. It’s also important to warmup and set levels. We try to have a quick 5-10 minute jam where we do something completely new. This sets the mood and gets the band on the same wave length. After the warmup, we’ll rehearse for 1 and a half hours and take a 15 minute break that may or may not include a beer, before going back at it for another hour.
We’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us as a new band, but rehearsals are a good barometer for our progress. We seem to be getting the hang of it and our sound is certainly benefiting from the structured time. We still tend to move along in our setlist without going back into songs, which is something we have to work on, but listening back to our rehearsals since October shows we’re on the right path and keep getting better.
At this point we’re rehearsing for our upcoming show at The Piston. We’re in the process of writing some new material so it may or may not be ready for this gig, but it’s always good to keep things fresh and try out new ideas. We’ve also decided to rehearse a few cover songs, which we may include in our setlist. You’ll have to come out to The Spring Breakdown on March 14th to find out which songs we play.