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Concert Recap

Houndmouth, with opening act Briscoe, came to rock the stage of Toronto’s very own Danforth Music Hall. The Danforth Music Hall is located on the outskirts of central Downtown Toronto and shows here always draw in a great crowd. When I arrived at the venue there was already a huge line down the block! I saw Houndmouth live back in 2022, and they were incredible, so I totally understand why there were so many people aiming to be there early. Houndmouth is a bluesy rock band from Indiana that formed back in 2011.

I went in knowing nothing about the opening band Briscoe except that they were an Austin-based folkish rock band. The band is a project of the lead two members Truett Heintzelman and Philip Lupton (and from what I understand they are both still in university?!). The band took the stage and again, not knowing what to expect, you could imagine my surprise when Lupton starts off the first song with a saxophone! It was awesome. I am usually very picky about country/folk music, but I was very pleasantly surprised. They had such an interesting rock-like twist on their music that was really refreshing to hear, and both Lupton and Heintzelman had incredible voices. I think their standout song to me was ‘Hooped Earrings’, it’s been stuck in my head ever since the show.

After the killer opening act, it was time to impatiently wait for Houndmouth to take the stage. The crowd was buzzing with excitement! I had the opportunity to talk with fans at the front row who either were seeing their first Houndmouth show or were seeing them after many many past shows. Houndmouth is currently made up of members Matt Myers (guitar and lead vocals), Caleb Hickman (keys and vocals), Zac Anderson (bass and vocals), and Aaron Goodrich (drums). Houndmouth started the show with my personal favorite song ‘Darlin’’, it was incredible hearing again live for the first time in years. The lighting was very dark and moody, and there was a lot of fog that really added to the ambiance of the night. Myers and Hickman have some of my favorite live vocals, I am still so blown away by it. The band also played other hits like ‘Cool Jam’, ‘Palmyra’, and ‘McKenzie’. The audience sang along to every song with so much joy, it was so heartwarming to watch a room come together like they did for Houndmouth. As expected, they saved their most popular song ‘Sedona’ for the very end of the night, and it was fantastic. You can tell the band loves playing the song and they have so much fun and that really shines through in the performance.

Houndmouth is a band I think proves if you have fun on stage and performing, the music really shows it. Each member of the band is incredible at what they do. I am surprised Houndmouth isn’t a more well-known band because they make amazing music that I think everyone could enjoy, and they put on a great show. Check out Houndmouth if they ever are playing near you, otherwise you’ll regret it!