By Steve Newton
If you’re looking for a way to momentarily escape your worries about this war-riddled world and just load your troubled head up with catchy Canuck-rock melodies, then I suggest you head out to Coquitlam’s Great Canadian Casino on Friday (November 22) and check out a band called Toque.
Led by Todd Kerns–who was once described as “the most rocking Canadian bassist of the 21st century“–the quartet specializes in covering timeless songs by some of Canada’s most beloved classic-rock acts. (Kerns–who is best known for his time with ’90s alt-rock sensations The Age of Electric, ’70s-style rockers Static in Stereo, and for playing bass in American guitar hero Slash‘s band–now handles lead vocals and guitar in Toque.)
A setlist from a couple months ago reveals that Toque is capable of banging out tunes by Canadian groups like Rush (“Tom Sawyer”), Max Webster (“Battlescar”), Queen City Kids (“Dance”), Saga (“On the Loose”), Harlequin (“Innocence”), and Kerns’s old band The Age of Electric (“Ugly”).
Toque isn’t just about cover songs, though. The quartet–which also includes guitarist Cory Churko (Shania Twain, Kelly Clarkson), bassist Brent Fitz (Alice Cooper, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators), and drummer Shane Gaalaas (Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen)–just released a new radio-friendly single, “Broken”, that is bound to make the cut:
Opening up the show is Vancouver rock band Spendo which, from the sound of things, is worth getting there early enough to see:
Tickets are still available for this rifftastic good time with Toque and Spendo, and you can find them here.
To hear the full 29-minute audio of my 2016 interview with Todd Kerns–and my interviews with current and former members of such Canuck-rock bands as Rush, Saga, Queen City Kids, the Guess Who, April Wine, Big Sugar, Blue Rodeo, and Max Webster–subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 500 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with musicians since 1982.