McMaster bred Ascott Royals perform live 

Written and Photographed by Tom Beedham

When a band’s axe man kicks off his sound check by knocking off an electrically injected Beethoven lick with the nonchalance of someone blowing rogue hairs out of their face, said band earns some sanctions to tease the crowd for keeping to the back of the bar or huddling around candlelit tables when the show gets underway.  If there was a lesson to be learned at the eBar last Thursday, April 7. The Ascot Royals were there to usher in the idea that sometimes openers deserve just as much observation as their headliners.

Filling in opening duties for Young Rival and Medicine Hat, it wasn’t long after The Ascot Royals laughed off the initially disengaged audience that as if by some kind of sonic magnetism the crowd flocked from the bar’s recesses to the stage’s fore, hanging on every beat and dancing along.

But just because guitarist Joey Vinegar can rock some Ludwig van with his six string doesn’t mean this is a band that serves up prog-infused symphony interpretations – indeed, to say that this is what attracted the crowd to the stage would be a misrepresentation in every way.  After all, Vinegar’s classical noodling didn’t faze many during sound check.

When it comes down to it, the sound The Ascot Royals serve up is one that manifests the philosophy that music is just as much about expression as it is wielding the fruits of technical erudition.  Swapping between arena-worthy guitar solos and shreddy verse riffs – even serving up sunny ska chords on “Sandy” – while catchy hi-hat runs, walking bass lines, stompy synth blasts and frontman Jimmy Chauveau belts out lyrics and jumps around the stage, The Ascot Royals arrive at a dance-infused rock sound that challenges audiences not to get moving (and they do a mean cover of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell,” too).

Joey Vinegar having obtained classical guitar training in several post-secondary programs and bassist Jesse Gilroy instructed in classical musicianship as well, the band’s having its beginnings in 2008 at the academic setting of McMaster University seems appropriate.

The Ascot Royals have put in the time to get their book learning, and still neglect to flaunt the skills that resulted from it. This attests both to the fact that the band has a commitment to making music conducive to a good time, as well as to a level of technical restraint that goes well beyond avoiding alienating its audiences.

Given their background, it’s no surprise that The Ascot Royals went above and beyond the expectations of an opening band on Thursday night.  Since the band’s inception, The Ascot Royals seem to have developed a track record of having little trouble impressing.  Just a year into their run, they won Edge 102.1′s Steam Whistle Indie Club competition in 2009, and the boys recorded an episode of Master Tracks at Metal Works Studios in Toronto in 2010.

As of now, fans await a new EP.

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