Time To Rock 2023: Teaze, the Canadian bulldozer
The canadian rockers first show in Sweden was pure magic.
The really wonderful thing about going to a festival is the number of bands you end up encountering. Sometimes voluntarily, other times obligatory, although generally it is a real pleasure to be able to move freely around a large venue and go to the call of bands that you normally do not have in your sights. In the case of Teaze, I must admit that despite knowing the band itself, I had never stopped to listen to them voluntarily, but the visit to Time To Rock helped me take the first step: approaching the Ticketmaster Stage to see what was going on the first day of the festival.
Teaze is a Canadian hard rock band born in the city of Windsor (Ontario) in 1975. From the moment of its formation until its dissolution in 1981, six years after its birth, the band released four studio albums. Their self-titled debut album was released under the Force One Records label -a subsidiary of London Records– in 1977 after producer Mel Shaw discovered them, giving the quartet great popularity in their first years of life
The band’s next releases, On The Loose (1978), One Night Stands (1979) and Body Shots (1980) as well as the live album Tour Of Japan (1979) were all released under the Aquarius Records label, a Canadian independent label founded in 1970 by Terry Flood. Despite Teaze‘s popularity at the time, vocalist and bassist Brian Danter left the band to follow his vocation for religion and eventually became a pastor. Due to Danter‘s departure, Aquarius Records label could not find a replacement for the vocalist and was forced to break the contract with the band, a fact that led to the complete separation of the lineup in 1981.
More than two and a half decades after their separation, in 2019, the original band decided to reunite again to continue remembering their legacy live, this time with Chuck Lambrick as a replacement for the now retired original guitarist Chuck Price, with Brian Danter again on vocals and bass, Mark Bradac on guitar and Mike Kozak on drums. However, as surprising as it may seem, the Canadian quartet has only given four concerts since their reunion (pandemic included) and, even more surprising if possible, they had never set foot on Swedish territory until their arrival at Time To Rock.
Forty-eight years had to pass before Canadians arrived in Sweden for the first time and they did so by invading the Time To Rock Ticketmaster Stage with the greatest possible elegance, dedicated from the first moment and with energy to give and give. They came out to the ring with the splendid Ready To Move from their second album, showing all their cards from the first chord, accompanied by two backup singers who, beyond contributing their voices at some point, had a great time on stage laughing and dancing during the hour that the show lasted.
What has surprised me most at first is the level of voice that Brian Danter has after so many years away from the band. It should be said that during his absence he has continued his career as a musical director in the church, in addition to being a pastor in his later years. In songs like Roses and Chrome is where the vocal work has been properly appreciated, but not before mentioning the two guitarists who make Teaze‘s authentic sound possible: Mark Bradac and Chuck Lambrick.
From their debut album (1977) we could only enjoy Rockin’ With The Music and Flames Keep Growing, just as the aforementioned Roses And Chrome and Boys Nite Out were the only ones that were heard from Body Shots (1980), while One Night Stands (1979) would enjoy a great presence throughout the setlist with cuts like Young And Reckless, Heartless World or Back In Action, with songs like Ready To Move or Gonna Have A Good Time Tonight from their second effort On The Loose (1978).
In short, Teaze showed that they are still in top shape despite having to hurry at the last minute of their concert due to several technical problems suffered by the Canadian quartet. The fact that Brian Danter had to stop on a couple of occasions because his bass cable had stopped working did not stop the band and audience from giving their all and enjoying an unforgettable performance
