Live Review: Dilana and Magni, Thirsty Toad Pub, Ottawa, ON, October 7. 2006

Two of the top four finalists from this summer's hit series "Rock Star: Supernova" touched down in Ottawa on this beautiful, crisp fall afternoon for an acoustic gig.

The crowd was warmed up by four local acts: the Adams Avenue Band, who played a basic set of classic rock covers like Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Neil Young; Camp Best Friends, an extremely lame reggae act that may possibly be one of the worst groups I've ever seen (thanks in part to their cover of the Sesame Street theme song); the Channel One Band, which was your basic rock radio band, sort of like Collective Soul but with a heavier edge; and finally, the Sam Hill Band, which did covers of Ozzy, Nickelback, Journey, Bon Jovi and Whitesnake. (Naturally, I loved 'em.)

Shortly before 4, Magni and Dilana took the stage with the Sam Hill Band to play a couple of plugged-in numbers, including Magni's "Rebel Yell" (Billy Idol) and Dilana's "Can't Get Enough" (Bad Company), before taking things over themselves with only their voices and acoustic guitars. Fans of "Rock Star: Supernova" would find themselves familiar with much here, including versions of tunes such as Radiohead's "Creep", Stone Temple Pilots' "Plush", Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire", the Police's "Every Breath You Take", Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle", Live's "The Dolphin's Cry", and Nirvana's "Lithium", alongside Magni and Dilana's originals, respectively, from the show. The stage banter was easy, the mood casual, and the vibe loose. A highlight for me was when they played Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and the audience was very appreciative of Dilana's take on hometown girl Alanis Morrisette's "Hand In My Pocket". Britney Spears' "Baby, One More Time" even got covered. The voices of these two "rockers" meld extremely well together and they put their own stamp on things, and even tunes that I pretty much hate like the Cranberries' "Zombie" and Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother" went down easy given their treatment.

Watch for more reviews coming up over the next few weeks as other personalities from the show such as Storm Large and Ryan Star land at the Thirsty Toad.

Overall ratings:

Adams Avenue: 5/10
Camp Best Friends: 0/10
Channel One Band: 6/10
The Sam Hill Band: 8.5/10
Dilana and Magni: 9.25/10