NEW SWEARS AT THE MONARCH TAVERN IN TORONTO, ON

Opening the night of rock n roll were three bands. Two hailing from Toronto (Man Crush, Teen Archer), and one coming from Ottawa (The Thrill) where New Swears originate from. Each band had their own flair and uniqueness. Man Crush was colourful with their attire and fun with their punk sound. The Thrill was a little more on the grunge side with the long hair and guitar distortions. And Teen Archer were straight up punk. In usual Toronto manner, the patrons were pretty relaxed and enjoyed watching the new music.

The nearly 100 year old tavern filled up around 11:30pm just as New Swears were getting ready to hop onto stage. A sign with their name illuminated from behind them and the four band mates arrived. Two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer. They really "popped off" by popping confetti from someone in the crowd and jumped right into their folk/punk set. Their sound is a fun kind of punk that feels like it could be played at someone's country ranch by a bonfire. But it's not too country, just a fun little twang to a light punk sound. Experimental and niche, which is good. A small six-ish person mosh pit dominated the front of the stage and went on throughout their entire set. The confetti kept on coming as well. The band members were sweating a lot and stripped off their shirts, then the moshers imitated them in a frat boy sort of fashion. You wouldn't think a couple hours ago that these patrons who were just bobbing their heads along to the openers were ready to jump into action and sing along like this. They certainly have their fans around.

New Swears are promoting their fourth album Night Mirror which was released back in June of 2019 through Dine Alone Records. They are a very fun act to see in person. So if they're songs are catchy to you, the music will explode with energy when you see them live.