Bad news: this Friday is your last chance to see Lazy Daisies perform. Good news: it just happens to be a free, all-ages show at Grace Family Church featuring Partner, all the way from Sackville, N.B.
More good news: if you’re a fan of the local “cutie-pop, dream-punk, best-friend experience” that is Lazy Daisies, don’t worry. This may be their last performance, but all the members say they’ll stay involved in Sudbury’s music and art scene.
“I will always try my best to give back to the community that made me, I’d be nothing without this amazing city,” said lead singer Shawn Kosmo.
Lazy Daisies was the brainchild of four musically inclined youth, first conceived of on long walks Kosmo took with drummer pal Matti Scherzinger. They’d both played in other bands — Kosmo in The Chads and Scherzinger in Uncle Charlie and The Willow-Wren — but they wanted to do something new. In 2015, they officially started jamming with another friend, Drew Maki, on bass. Shortly after, their fourth member Kyle Ormsby joined on guitar.
In the three years since forming, Lazy Daisies has charmed audiences in Sudbury and beyond with their energetic, surfy garage rock.
They’ve played the beach stage at River & Sky Festival in Field, Ont., a surprise show in front of the Sudbury Fire Hall for Up Here Festival, played intimate shows at local settings like Sew Local Stitch Lounge, released a full-length album independently on cassette, and played all the way down in Toronto.
They said Sudbury’s changed a lot since they first started playing.
“I feel the space has become way more inclusive compared to when I was starting out. People are really passionate about their creative community in Sudbury,” said Kosmo. “There are so many great festivals, like River & Sky and Up Here and Northern Lights Festival Boreal; so many great opportunities to discover new art.”
That isn’t to say things are perfect now though. Kosmo’s worried there’s a lack of young blood in the music scene, and it’s something he wants to see change. He hopes free, all-ages shows like the one this Friday will help.
“There hasn’t been a great outlet for all-ages shows in Sudbury lately, our aim is to promote a free all-ages show every few months,” he said. He and Scherzinger have been booking local shows for years.
The Partner show is just the beginning. Described as “genre-defying and terrifying: part musical and part teenage diary,” Partner is a five-piece band whose action-packed shows and debut album “In Search of Lost Time” have garnered them nation-wide acclaim, and even American media attention.
While Sudbury is lucky to get Partner performing here, Kosmo said many of the bands he and Scherzinger have booked in the last few years appreciate the city and feel lucky to be here themselves.
“Whenever I talk to out-of-town bands, they always tell me they are surprised and amazed at how passionate our city is towards our art scene,” said Kosmo.
Booking bands is just one of the things Kosmo’s been busy with: he started a stand-up comedy night called Hot Mess, a music video company called Here Kitty Kitty Productions, and has played in several other local bands over the years.
There’s no drama in Lazy Daisies’ conclusion; everyone is just moving along to pursue other projects. Kosmo moved to Toronto for his music video career, and plays in a band there called Pony; Scherzinger is an active graphic designer; Ormsby is playing with a newish Sudbury band Kommissars; and Maki is “planning on being a little cutie,” Kosmo joked.
But between the all-ages shows they’re planning, local musicians needing music videos, and all of the bands they play in: the four musicians will be very active in Sudbury’s scene, even if it’s not as Lazy Daisies.
Their immediate plan?
“After the Partner show we’re going to get Wacky Wings and then check out the after-party at the Townehouse Tavern,” said Kosmo.
Friday’s free, all-ages show is at the Grace Family Church at 426 Burton Avenue in the Donovan. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
It will be followed by an after party featuring Goodbye Honolulu, Easter Dogs, and The Ape-ettes at 11 p.m. at the Townehouse.
Check out the event page here. Check out the after party page here.
UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Partner has had to back out of the show, but the show must go on. Toronto party rockers Goodbye Honolulu has stepped up to the plate to fill in.
