Young Empires Showcase Rock Star Moves at Juno Fest

Even though the Junos are in town this we tekend, JunoFest was just a minor sideshow to the usual meat market adventures at Toronto's Drake Hotel, where the city's most beautiful people go on weekends to exchange smoldering glances. Fortunately, up-and-coming electro-rock trio Young Empires' blend of house-y beats, new wave-meets-African-highlife guitars and singer Matthew Vlahovich's stylized yelp was close enough to what the Drake's DJs would usually play so they got away with it.

It also helped that the band could have stepped off the stage and blended into the crowd; from Vlahovich's porkpie hat to guitarist Robert Aaron Ellingson's V-neck T-shirt, and all three's very carefully curated haircuts and facial hair (they probably spent as much time getting ready to go out as the audience did).

Young Empires emerged on the local scene almost fully formed, with their rock star moves well-honed and their cred firmly cemented by an appearance last spring on Maison 10, one of the compilations by respected Parisian dance label Kitsune. At the Drake, Vlahovich introduced the slinky, moody tune, 'Glory of the Night,' adding, "This came out on a label called Kitsune. It's from France."

Admittedly their songs had plenty of hooks, but whether it was the spillover effect from the vacant-eyed women and boorish men standing around -- one dude inexplicably made a point of yelling "Young Money!" in the middle of one of the songs -- something about Young Empires' sound felt entirely too calculated. The jury's still out on them -- in fact, the jury is off doing tequila shots at the bar. We may have to declare a mistrial.

Watch Young Empires' 'Glory of the Night'

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