CMW Critical Conclusions for: Stonetrotter

It is year 4 of PHM at CMW. Thanks to special contributor Kristina B for her review below.

Stonetrotter hails from, as they call it “the wilds north of Toronto”, Barrie, Ontario. Lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Allen, pianist Courtney Dubois, lead guitarist Ben Pearson, bassist/vocalist Ben Lemen, and drummer Evan Dwinnell formed Stonetrotter “out of a shared desire to illuminate the darkness of their surroundings”. In all honesty, I was not aware that Barrie was that dark… or wild.

Venue: Cameron House (Back Room). Last time I was at the Cameron it was late, packed and I was not sober. What’s with the vines and why did it seem bigger when there were more people in this back room?

First Impressions: The band has great harmony and their voices compliment one another. It must have taken hours to perfect that cohesion. The first song they played was a little sad and mellow but they picked it up with the second song which had a bit of a Motown meets indie feel.

Stage Presence: Unfortunately I couldn’t tell you what the names of the songs were because Stonetrotter interacted very little with the crowd beyond telling us who they are and where they’re from. Other than singing and playing their instruments, there wasn’t much else.

Crowd Reaction: No one seemed to be playing attention. Maybe it was still too early (8 PM start time) and this is the tail end of the after work cocktail crowd? The drums got louder at one point which seemed to hold people’s attention for just a second.

Random Observation: Dave Allen and Ben Pearson appeared to have come straight from their day jobs in dress shirts and sport coats. Maybe they hit traffic on the way down from the wilds of Toronto and didn’t have time to change?

Last Word: Stonetrotter’s song “What Goin’ On With my Love?” (song named obtained through the constant repeating of the phrase “What Goin’ On With my Love?” and then a Google search confirmation) was a lady crowd pleaser. Maybe they thought the song is about them? Overall Stonetrotter’s sound is pretty low-key but it was hard to tell on a count of the fact that their sound guy couldn’t do his job and their were constant sound checks between songs. Rating: 5 / 10.