Vista Kicks @ Adelaide Hall (Toronto, ON) on February 25, 2018 [Photos & Show Review]

Los Angeles four-piece rockers Vista kicks rolled through Toronto for the very first time on the weekend and got some local booties shaking at Adelaide Hall. Primarily performing material from their debut album Booty Shakers Ball, Vista Kicks pulled a few tracks out from their 2016 EP Chasing Waves this evening as well.

Adorned in matching burgundy loungewear, Derek Thomas (vocals), Sam Plecker (guitar/vocals), Trevor Sutton (bass), and Nolan Le Vine (drums) worked their way through almost a dozen original songs this evening. Song highlights being “Gotta Get Away,” “Gimme Love,” “Giuliana,” “Love & Paranoia,” “Marceline” and “Monkey Business,” the latter added in at the last minute as an unplanned encore.

Vista Kicks are four twenty-something-year-old friends who have been performing together since middle-school. They got their start doing Frank Sinatra covers at school, eventually settling into their original material which lifts from the sounds of the late 1950s American rock along with early 1960s British Invasion rock ‘n’ roll.

It only took a few moments to recognize the band as something truly special as they very competently worked their way through their material to a crowd of new ears this evening. All of their songs came off nicely, the energy in the room building exponentially with each additional song the band performed. By the time the band was midway through their set, there were girls on the floor spinning each other about as they ballroom danced their way through the back-half of Vista Kicks performance.

Unbeknownst to anyone in the crowd, it was a stroke of luck that this show even happened. The day before the band was to hit the US Canadian border, Nolan Le Vine realized he’d left his passport in LA. A friend flew up to Buffalo and met up with the band who drove the extra distance to meet her at the airport before they crossed the border to come into Ontario.

This was a superb live show. The talk in the room as the band was tearing down their stage set-up was very positive. I’m sure the band will double their draw the next time they perform in Toronto, as everyone who saw them this evening will bring friends along to their next performance.

Vista Kicks “Marceline” – Adelaide Hall, Toronto, Ontario – February 25th, 2018.