Logicbank Media

And on the fourth week of Toronto Rock Camp, the summer humidity started to peak outdoors, making the students — not to mention staffers — all the more grateful for the air conditioned interior of Our Lady of Lourdes School. The trend toward more eclectic, if not eccentric, cover tune choices continued as well. A large part of the creative conversation involved discussing the context in which new and old rock songs were written and created. These legacies influenced what every band member brought to the concert performance on Friday afternoon — if you’re going to take on a well-known song, the motivation is to do it some justice.

But the more seasonal weather also increased the irreverence level throughout the classrooms. Songs with heavy messages were approached lightheartedly, fun numbers were given a bit of extra weight, and band names generally reflected these contradictions. Rock Camp instructors were typically appreciated for their ability to connect with their charges — all musicians themselves, they helped crank up all the attitude that rock ‘n’ roll has to offer. And, with time crawling into the last days of July, everyone was ready to turn down the volume for a long holiday weekend.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE

COLLATERAL DAMAGE (L to R: Jonathan, Joanna, Charlie, Logan T., Logan K.) focused on a pair of grandiose modern rock songs, putting their collective showmanship on display, yet harming no eardrums in the process. Their performance consisted of MGMT’s recent spirited hit “Kids” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger” via the fractious siblings of Oasis.

THE E IS SILENT

THE E IS SILENT (Chloe, Max, Eric, Adam) brought some intensity to the proceedings with a couple of ambitious history-filled covers from the early 1970s: Led Zeppelin’s “Misty Mountain Hop” and the immortal Kent State current events report by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, “Ohio”.

THE JONAS BROTHERS COVER BAND

THE JONAS BROTHERS COVER BAND (Jaden, Lucy, Miles) was the band name they chose on a lark, but stuck to it, helping immortalize the teen pop sensations of 2009 for years after they’re forgotten. Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality” would probably be out of the Jonas Brothers’ grasp, though, to say nothing of the anxiety-filled “Everlong” from the Foo Fighters.

THE TRIO

THE TRIO (Austin, Desmond, Cindy) dabbled in some heavy-thinking melodies to show off their collective musicianship. They channeled the legacy of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” — although they were just as partial to the Guns N’ Roses version from a generation later — and lightened things up to tackle “Can’t Stop” by Toronto Rock Camp perennials the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

UHH

UHH (Sean, Thomas, Derrick; not pictured: George) picked the most guttural name of all the bands during the summer, wanting to reflect the primal attitude of their music, with a noise for which there is no word in the dictionary. You can hear evidence of their intensity in two rounds: an original “Blues” and “She Said” by Nirvana.

WHEN PIGS FLY

WHEN PIGS FLY (Zack, Ben, Livia, John) is a suitable description of the circumstances that would find fans of Nirvana and the Scorpions getting along with one another, but things change after about 20 years. For this group, “In Bloom” and “Rock You Like a Hurricane” proved to be part of the same rock ‘n’ roll vocabulary when all was said and done.

More images of week #4 here.