It’s hard being The Best. About six months ago, that valuable life lesson was learned by the motley crew of T.O. rock all stars behind the monthly Loving In The Name Of parties. This weekend, founders Joseph Shabason, Jeremy Finkelstein and Christopher Sandes mark a year of rocking both live covers and DJed versions of hits — or, as they put it, “The best songs ever!” — though the trio and their ever-expanding band, who go by The Best, haven’t made it this far without encountering obstacles.
Specifically, Shabason was loitering outside during one of the Loving In The Name Of nights when he was confronted by a gang of pipsqueaks from Scarborough.
“They were these three kinda hip-hop dudes,” chortles Shabason, their sax player. “And they were in a band called The Best. I went up to them and was like, ‘Hey guys, how’s it goin’? You’re The Best, we’re The Best….’ And one of the guys asked me to break up our band because there couldn’t be two The Bests. I suggested that we could peacefully co-exist, seeing as we’re a cover band and we only play once a month. He was like, ‘No, you’ve gotta break it up’ and he said I should ‘get my boys down here’ so we could ‘talk about it.’”
As he recounts this tale of heroism and bravery, Shabason’s “boys” — a collection of local indie rock talent including Sebastien Grainger, Josh Reichmann and Matt Murphy in addition to Finkelstein and Sandes, all having a “band party” at The Roxton — burst into hysterics.
“So, he challenged us to a band-off,” Shabason continues. “I was, like, ‘Sure, anytime,’ and then told him that the only way they’d get us to change our name is if they got a lawyer to sue us. It ended with him saying, ‘You’ll hear from our lawyers.’ And they don’t even exist on MySpace!”
In case any of you pussies in the other Best are reading this, Shabason’s Best are ready and willing to take you in a battle royale. Heck, why not show up at Lee’s Palace this Saturday (Dec. 13), where they’ll be celebrating their first birthday. You can marvel at this month’s hot set of killer dad jamz, which are rumoured to include T-Rex’s “Get It On” and Prince’s “Purple Rain” — both of which will feature stellar horn and string sections.
As Finkelstein explains, he and his Best buddies started up Loving In The Name Of because they discovered they “all wanted to play in a cover band and had very similar tastes in pop music.” Though their mission to play “the biggest hits of all time” may evoke bad wedding entertainment, the band insist they avoid kitsch. (One foray into ironic territory involving Spin Doctors’ “Two Princes” resulted in a tragedy that they refuse to discuss.)
These guys take what they do very, very seriously. Just coming up with each month’s five-song set list is a full-on war of attrition, with Sandes, Finkelstein and Shabason mounting vicious email campaigns in the interest of selecting the perfect tracks. There’s a brotherly camaraderie shared by all The Best dudes, but they seem even more united by their commitment to taking the awesomest dad jamz to new heights. Admittedly, covering well-loved hits is daunting — if you fuck up, then everyone knows.
“It’s a challenge for all of us,” Sandes states. “We’re all amazing musicians. But really, it’s amazing for us to scheme about a song, add an amazing singer whose music we’ve been listening to for years, and then see what transpires. Everybody has to put their chops to the test. This is no schlock-jobber karaoke corporate luncheon boredom bullshit.”
Watch: Sebastian Grainger and The Best performing Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" at Loving in the Name Of