Concert Review: Gino Washington @ The Horseshoe Tavern

By: Shelby Monita (@shelbymonita) –

On January 11th, a confusing and complicated selection of acts took over The Horseshoe Tavern to welcome Detroit R&B legend, Gino Washington.

Toronto’s Pins and Needles kicked the night off. The young five piece all girl band serenaded the small audience with their indie-stylized rock n’ roll. At first glance it appeared that these girls met while assembling themselves as the only cool people in their U of T dorm. Though with some research you will find they actually met in the summer 2012 at an all girl rock camp. With catchy songs and good writing already under their belt, all they need is a bit more stage confidence and experience and it won’t be long until these ladies take off.

Next up was another local act, Two Times, who are a guitar and drum duo in the style of the Black Keys. Or as Jack White might argue, a White Stripes rip off. All songs seemed to blend together, but they lacked originality. Not to say the musicianship wasn’t good and the passion wasn’t there, but there is something to be said for a group who jumped on the bandwagon of an already popular genre.

A blues inspired rock band out of the suburbs of Mississauga called The Honeyrunnersperformed next. Performing a blend of commercial sell out rock with a touch of R&B, these guys already sold out before anyone could call them on it. Brands like Bacardi and Coke-a-Cola have had their eyes on Honey Runners for some time now, giving them advertising jingle appeal, but if you want to hear a real band making authentic music, you might want to look elsewhere.

Toronto all-girl surf rock group The BB Guns took the stage with a bit of pop and pep. If they knew it or not, these ladies saved the night up to this point. Their charming songs and luring attitudes held the crowd’s attention that was growing in size by the minute.

Finally after a long wait and having to fight through a few exhausting, buzz killing acts, Gino Washington appeared. With great spunk and spirit, Washington had the crowd two-steppin’ along to such classics as his rendition of “My Girl”, “Puppet On a String” and “Around Town”.

Suited and brown and gold, an homage to the time when he was on top, well-known Detroit musician, Jeff Meier of The Detroit Cobras, backed Washington on this night, as Washington gave Toronto a wealth of love from the Motor City. Having the crowd sing along and joining in chants of “Hey’s” and “Oh’s” in a true Motown-R&B fashion, Washington made a smooth transition from a teenage starlet to a golden act.

While still in high school, Washington was the first act to be signed to Ric-Tic Records and had two hit songs, “Gino is a Coward” and “Out of this World” in 1964. Now with renewed interest in his work after the late ‘90s and early ‘00s saw a slew of remastered compilations, Washington has a second wind in his iconic career, and now it’s safe to say Gino Washington’s fan base is once again standing on solid ground.