 | Written by Alex Stojanovic NERVCAST / RADIANT DIVIDE / NOT THAT I CARE / PAIN IS BEAUTIFUL @ Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, ON, Canada / July 11, 2026 Presented by Neurotic Entertainment Okay, confession time. There was a period of time over the last few years where I will fully admit that I wasn't going to as many local shows as I used to. Back in the mid to late 2010s, we at Metal Master Kingdom were at full force at covering the local scene, and that will always be important to us. However, given that our team has decreased over the last few years, it left me with doing the lion's share of the work, which I don't mind, but combine that with trying to balance it with my own personal life, work and my own bands, I was definitely more selective with the shows that I chose to cover, including the big ones that came through town. I'm now at a place in my life where I still have everything in my life going, but that urge to get back out and start covering the local scene again a bit more frequently has started to come back to me and focusing on bringing Metal Master Kingdom back to it's more busier and active potential that we used to have. |
That being said, over the last few years of playing shows around southern Ontario and once so far in Quebec, I was introduced to many more great local metal bands that I've gotten to play with, or have seen the names pop up frequently on posters and online, and then getting to form connections and genuine friendships with a lot of them. Of course I've gotten to do that in the 2010s when we were covering local shows like crazy with Wacken Metal Battle Canada and such, but when you do it in the band environment as opposed to the journalistic environment, it takes on a whole new meaning, but the same results are still achievable in the journalistic environment too. Anyways, I digress. With summer being in full swing right now, it's the perfect time to be going out, to both indoor and outdoor events.
On a rather warm Saturday night on July 11, the Horseshoe Tavern got treated to a nice dose of metal and rock together with Nervcast, Radiant Divide, Not That I Care and Pain Is Beautiful, hosted by my dear friend Karina Davy and Neurotic Entertainment. Kicking the night off, and playing their second show ever, Pain Is Beautiful took the stage to a rather sparse crowd, but still managed to put on an entertaining set. With a sound in the vein of classic rock with a modern touch, while Not That I Care from Barrie brought more of a grunge vibe to the night, and even threw in a cover of Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name". What was interesting about Not That I Care was that it was probably the first time I saw a band where the women to men ratio was greater on the women's side. The ladies occupied the vocals/guitar, bass and drums, while the sole dude was on second guitar. It's a mere observation because you don't see that often. Radiant Divide was up third and brought a much more alternative rock flare. My indie rock band The Neverlies had the pleasure of sharing the stage with them earlier this year at the Horseshoe for our EP release show, so it was great to see them again. Front lady Veronica Rayne alternated between pure vocal duties and also dabbling on guitar as well throughout their set. They also joined Not That I Care in the company of bands that added a cover in their set, as they played "Zombie" from Cranberries.
Closing off the night were my buds in Nervcast, because they played with my band Xephyr at the Rockpile when we had our album release show, so it was cool to see and catch up with them again since then. By the time they hit the stage, the crowd seemed even more sparse with only a few people standing at the front, however Matt Humphreys on the drums was the most energetic, I must say. I did feel a bit bad for them having to just face a handful of people at the front, I'm not gonna lie. With an hour-long set, they displayed quite bombastic energy on stage, even with a really sparse crowd. You can tell that they really care about putting on a great show and giving it everything they've got, no matter the crowd size. Despite the really lousy turnout, it gave the show a much more intimate and cozy vibe, making the interaction between the bands and the crowd feel a bit more personal.
On a rather warm Saturday night on July 11, the Horseshoe Tavern got treated to a nice dose of metal and rock together with Nervcast, Radiant Divide, Not That I Care and Pain Is Beautiful, hosted by my dear friend Karina Davy and Neurotic Entertainment. Kicking the night off, and playing their second show ever, Pain Is Beautiful took the stage to a rather sparse crowd, but still managed to put on an entertaining set. With a sound in the vein of classic rock with a modern touch, while Not That I Care from Barrie brought more of a grunge vibe to the night, and even threw in a cover of Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name". What was interesting about Not That I Care was that it was probably the first time I saw a band where the women to men ratio was greater on the women's side. The ladies occupied the vocals/guitar, bass and drums, while the sole dude was on second guitar. It's a mere observation because you don't see that often. Radiant Divide was up third and brought a much more alternative rock flare. My indie rock band The Neverlies had the pleasure of sharing the stage with them earlier this year at the Horseshoe for our EP release show, so it was great to see them again. Front lady Veronica Rayne alternated between pure vocal duties and also dabbling on guitar as well throughout their set. They also joined Not That I Care in the company of bands that added a cover in their set, as they played "Zombie" from Cranberries.
Closing off the night were my buds in Nervcast, because they played with my band Xephyr at the Rockpile when we had our album release show, so it was cool to see and catch up with them again since then. By the time they hit the stage, the crowd seemed even more sparse with only a few people standing at the front, however Matt Humphreys on the drums was the most energetic, I must say. I did feel a bit bad for them having to just face a handful of people at the front, I'm not gonna lie. With an hour-long set, they displayed quite bombastic energy on stage, even with a really sparse crowd. You can tell that they really care about putting on a great show and giving it everything they've got, no matter the crowd size. Despite the really lousy turnout, it gave the show a much more intimate and cozy vibe, making the interaction between the bands and the crowd feel a bit more personal.
RSS Feed
