Hanni El Khatib at Horseshoe Tavern – 04/23/12

Written by Shannon Farrell

A sea of beards, plaid shirts and thick frame glasses filled The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern late Monday night. It was a typically trendy Queen Street West crowd that came out despite the rain to grab a few drinks and enjoy the bluesy, garage rock musical stylings of Los Angeles native, Hanni El Khatib.

Following an enjoyable second opening act from fellow LA natives The Sundelles, Hanni and his band quickly set up their equipment, playing right into the first song of the night. They played past hits and new songs to promote Hanni’s debut album Will the Guns Come Out, released September of 2011.

In a short period of time, Hanni has amassed a solid indie following and has been well-received by fellow music acts. He’s opened for headlines such as Florence and the Machine and performed in festivals such as South by Southwest. His bluesy sound, comparable to The Black Keys and Jack White, has even been featured on shows such as HBO’s Hung and Californication.

Throughout the night, Hanni and his band played a mix of up-tempo and moody, mellow sounding tunes which transitioned seamlessly into each other. Before entering into the third song, Hanni took his first rare break to say hi to the Toronto audience. He said a quick “thanks” and gave props to everyone for “coming out in this shitty weather.”

It really was a good turn out considering how much of a cold and damp night Monday was. The weather certainly didn’t seem to have an effect on the majority of the crowd though. There were drunken stumblers, laid back dwellers and even a large crowd of enthusiastic fans who danced their way to the front of the stage by the end of the night.

The fun mood was supported by the raw bluesy style of music that Hanni and the band were producing. They kept the energy high throughout the night with a number of upbeat tunes and lively instrumental sections. With a “1,2,3,4” Hanni opened into a number of up-tempo songs mid-show such as “Loved One” and “Come Alive.” Nearing the end of the night he mellowed it down with tunes such as “You’re Dead Wrong.”

Noticing the increasingly rambunctious nature of the crowd, Hanni took another brief moment between songs. “It’s a Monday” he stopped to say, “You guys are acting a little Wednesday though.” With that he was off to play a few more songs to finish the night.

After his final encore, he ended the show with an Elvis Style “thank you very much.” The energy of the audience was high as Hanni exited the stage. If this is what the energy of his shows produce on an average rainy Monday night, I wonder what excitement he’ll bring to a larger weekend crowd. With talks of Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys producing his next record, I’m certain he’ll be bringing even more excitement to Toronto crowds very soon.