by Becca Lemire

If you happen to live right in the bustling Toronto core, or were taking an evening stroll last Sunday, September 12, you may have been beckoned by the sounds of rock n’ roll coming from an unassuming parking lot at 100 John St. At twilight, (the time of day, not the movie series) Canadian “strum n’ bass” rockers USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seekers) put on an exclusive free live performance, paired with dancers getting jiggy with it on a crate suspended many feet in the air, as part of the Smirnoff Nighlife Exchange Project.Smirnoff chose 14 countries, from Canada to Brazil to India to participate, and acts that capture the energy of the nightlife scene will represent their country to others around the globe. It starts with a performance close to home, and soon USS and 13 other acts all over the world will pack it up (pack it in, let me begin…) and swap countries for a crazy synchronized spectacular on November 27th, with full media documentation along the way.

Things started a bit unconventionally for USS the night of their first Smirnoff Exchange performance. After one hefty strum, the power completely blew, lights and mics went off, and as crews were racing to fix the problem, front-man Ash simply came to the front of the stage without hesitation, sat on the edge a few feet from fans and gave a hell of a 30 minute improvised acoustic set. It was a rare opportunity to see a performer unplug and show off chops and musicality (or the moment where they stumble and squeak, a la Ashlee Simspon on SNL) and he completely won me over. He sang some of their hits, like Hollow Point Sniper Hyperbole which you may have heard on the radio, and winded his way into slamming covers like “Jump Around”. Ladies swooned, everyone sang along, people held hands and flung up lighters and iPhones, wars ended, melted glaciers re-froze…okay, it wasn’t that intense, but it was pretty great. Ash (Ashley Boo-Schultz) has a raspy, soulful voice with just enough pop-rock spunk. ‘Technical difficulties’ on paper, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

Cue lights. The generator starts humming. Power’s back! Ash steps up to the mic and plugs back in, seamlessly switching to electric and proceeding to the next song without missing a beat. This is around the time a crate of dancers rises into the air suspended by a crane, a street spectacle along the lines of Cirque du Soleil meets Electric Circus meets a Gap ad. Then, all of a sudden, a blue and white starry constellation with a bit of a faux-hawk and plastic aviators soars onstage, and the energy -and vertical- levels goes from 1 to 2 thousand volts. Meet Jay Parsons, “The Human Kebab”. He’s the second member of USS and known as the DJ and “hype man,” which I cannot argue with one bit. He starts spinning warped-speed psychedelic jungle, and paired with Ash’s pop-rock folky guitar and crooning, the strong USS signature sound comes forward. Jay uses his tongue, a ladder, a guitar and his feet to DJ throughout the performance. He and Ash, at random times, do the splits, James Brown style. These boys must do some sort of pre-show workout to be able to move their legs like that. Dayyyum. Towards the end, Ash mixes a banana and other yumminess into a blender and they finish off the show with a synchronized crowd-encouraged smoothie chug.

I had the pleasure of meeting the boys and having a chat with them after the show in the glaring spotlights that had lit up the dancers. Before they walked over to their eagerly waiting fans to possibly sign some boobs, I soaked in the energy of Canada’s most concentrated dose of -in the best way possible- kinda nutsy dudes. Jay was pretty bouncy and off the wall, while Ash was stoic except when speaking philosophically and insightfully. Although, who can be too quick to judge when one has just one-handed-cartwheeled around stage for an hour, and who really knows if they put fairy dust in their finale-smoothies or not? Personally, I love a good oddball or two, especially when they are homegrown, hugely talented, hilarious, smart, and wicked gentlemanly. I would be the Canadian bacon in that BLT sandwich any day. Call me, boys 😉

You can watch a video mash-up of the performance here.