The first day on the last month of the year 2012 was a good one, because the night was capped off by a great night out on the town (or city). Vibonics has been a group I’ve had the pleasure of writing about and supporting for almost a year now. Since their debut EP, they’ve been progressing through group changes and making more music.

December 1^st marked the 2^nd year that they’ve held the ‘Party At Santa’s’ show located at a local bar/lounge (Bass Line), and in the spirit of the holidays, they decided to put on a show for some locals in the city, and outsiders that were down for the weekend. It was a great atmosphere, and it shows that there are people that go out and support local acts, which is important.

After the crowd had settled in and got comfortable, the group took the stage with a great audience applause greeting them with cheers and salutations. Since they were working on new music, it was only right that they treated them to it. Starting off with 2 fresh ones ‘Set Sail’ & ‘Two Feet Tall’, they were explosive right out of the gate, and the content of the songs had a positive feel to them, so it was a good start. The crowd was into it from the beginning, and it’s not easy to win over a Toronto crowd of any nature when it comes to music.

They have a new female vocalist, and she was really strong. Not to the point where it was overpowering, but she had a great range that gave the group a bigger dynamic than before; not to say that their previous lead wasn’t good, it was just a notch better this time around. Crossword’s delivery has improved since first hearing him, and his stage energy had people revved up as the show went along. The band held their ground and was solid with each song throughout.

One song that was sort of like a jump out of nowhere that not only caught me, but the rest of the crowd off guard (from what I could see), was when they performed something like a Halloween themed song, and the lead up towards it with the storytelling was a bit awkward, so it killed the vibe a little bit at that time. They picked it up afterwards with a song I think is called ‘All Day’, and after that they changed up their style by going with a Neo-Soul vibe (Crossword referenced it as ‘Love Jones’) and then changing it up again to a more Soca feel to it, giving it a West Indian flavour to their music. I respect their cultural jumps in sound and that they’re so diverse. You don’t really hear that these days, and I think that’s why people like them so much; because they’re different and that’s what the people want – something different.

Bringing some fun into the equation, they performed a song called ‘Banana Bread’ and 3 Banana mascots came out while they performed it. It was funny to see and brought a lighter side (if it wasn’t already) to the venue. It was a laugh, but it worked. They finished it off with a crowd favourite ‘Let’s Get It’, but with that and the other new songs they put out (In The Air being the other one), this was a success for the band, because there was a demand for an encore and with the free cupcakes & cookies that were served prior to and during the show, there was hospitality that made everyone feel welcomed. I applaud Vibonics for the great night, and I look forward to hearing new music from them in the New Year.

That`s My Word & It STiXX