Hamiltonians love live music. And they were able to enjoy more music once again at this year’s annual Festival of Friends. The Festival has been offering free live music every Civic Holiday long weekend continuously since 1976. For this year’s 50th anniversary edition, it had mega stars anchoring the playbill, with Dallas Smith (holder of 14 No.1 Canadian country singles) and Feist (multi-Juno award winner, and perhaps more importantly, also having proudly played a children’s version of her popular song, “1234” on Sesame Street).
But the real musical treasures from the Festival of Friends were not only with the headliners. Every musician on the bill was enthusiastically greeted and appreciated.
One particular performance caught everyone’s attention. We were treated to a stellar show by Toronto-based band, Chlorine, where the band members all held the stage with authority and charismatic chemistry. The band members were, for that afternoon, honorary Hamiltonians, and their song-playing was brimming with festival fun. The audience was attracted to their creative bass and drum grooves, the familiar and yet distinctively unique guitar riffs, and the keyboards that were being played with love and abandon. The only unsupportive element was the hot humid weather, which forced the band to re-tune their guitars several times during their set.
Chlorine’s popular song, “Electric Chair,” was especially powerful as the lyrics were presented by lead singer, Radin Vahid, with a deep and yet tender emotional chord. The band’s playing was spot-on perfect. I felt that this live version of “Electric Chair” far exceeded the recorded version or
even the official video version viewable on YouTube.
Chlorine has been busy playing multiple shows this summer. Your next opportunity to see Chlorine will be at the Rivoli on Friday, August 21, 2026 at 8 pm. They will be celebrating their EP release with special guest Meteor Heist.
Tickets and more information can be found at www.rivolitoronto.com.
Chlorine’s band includes:
Radin Vahid (Lead singer, rhythm guitar)
Ryan Chan (Lead guitar, backup vocals)
Johnny McCrae (Keyboard)
Jacob Badali (Bass)
Aristides Love (Drums)