Twas a bit of an odd pairing–and they weren’t touring partners–but Montreal psychedelic pop/rock band Elephant Stone and Atlanta psychedelic metal band Royal Thunder shared the stage at the Horseshoe Tavern last night.  I’d actually seen Elephant Stone once before, and it seemed to me they might have been showcasing the trippier, farther-out portion of their repertoire, in light of who they were playing with.  In any case, I dug a great deal of their set.

On the other hand, it was my first time seeing Royal Thunder–and the first time they’ve played Toronto, I’m pretty sure.  Their retrofied sludgy-rock sounds come across quite well in the live setting, and I gotta say, I was a bit surprised that both guitarists used Fenders to get conjure those heavy tones.  Mind you, they each had about a dozen pedals on their effects boards, so that goes some way in explaining it.  Frontwoman Mlny Parsonz was a little under-the-weather, but even if her voice was a bit hoarse, she still sounded pretty powerful.