The Gaslight Anthem @ The Sound Academy, July 14, 2009

On my blog I talk a lot of bands that have been successful bands that have been on a roll lately, but I truly mean it when I say The Gaslight Anthem is one of the most successful bands out there in the last few years. They released their debut album in late 2007, and have just put out their 3rd album, American Slang, and it sold twenty seven THOUSAND copies in it's First week. It's great to see that of New Jersey's finest rock n roll bands have been spreading their infectious music all over the world.

Of the first two support acts of the night, The Menzingers came on first. They're a young, up and coming melodic punk band from Philadelphia. Like most young punk bands, Menzingers are used to playing basements and small bars, but they were lucky enough (and so were the crowd), to open for Gaslight this one night. They just released their 2nd full length, Chamberlain Waits earlier this year. It's one of my favourite records of the year so far, and looking at its acclaim, I'm not alone on that. The two guitarists share lead vocal duties, and lead guitar duties. While one of them will play the riff that drives the song, the other one sings out these great melodic lyrics that sound great with the rest of the music. They were putting on the best performance they could, jumping and running around like nuts. I'm sure they caught a great deal of attention all of which they deserve.

The 2nd support slot was filled by punk rock veteran Tim Barry. Tim made his claim to (sort of) fame as the lead singer of Punk group Avail. Now it's just him and an accousitc guitar. He came on to stage, admitting that he was a bit nervous about playing in front of a crowd that big with only an acoustic guitar, and how it didn't help that his slot was right between to great rock bands. The crowd gave him reassuring cheers and he quickly started to play. His voice was so powerful, he couldve done fine with out a mic, same thing with his guitar. He may not play in a punk band anymore but he definitley has the spirit of a punk. His song's are about struggle with life, and dealing with the shit that happens. He informed the crowd how great an outlet music was for him. A few times in the middle of songs he would shout out "Fuck!!!" away from the mic. At the end of those songs he woud say,"You have no idea how good that felt." What was amazing was that not only was his voice and guitar powerful, the emotion that came with the music was just stunning. Just hearing him singing about life and shit comes with it made me feel amazing.

The first time Gaslight Played in Canada was on October 3rd 2008, at the sound academy in Toronto. They were the first of the three support acts opening for Rise Against. Less than two years later, they came back to Toronto and HEADLINED their own show at the very same venue to a venue packed of jersey rock n roll fans.

They come on stage with some annoying Jay Z song playing in the back ground. They wave to the crowd, and while the background music is still going on, the drummer Benny starts banging the beginning of their title track American Slang, and off goes the show. Lead singer Brian Fallon has his eyes closed at the beginning of the set while he sings, and more deep they got into the set he started to open his eyes and sing to the corwd. The set was made up of almost all of the songs from Amerian Slang, close to half of their sophomore album, The 59 Sound, and a few song of their debut Sink or Swim.

It's clear that Gaslight aren't shy about their new songs. 8 of the 10 songs plus the bonus track of American Slang were played. Something new that I haven't seen Brian do before, was hand gestures to the songs. He would act out the imagery using his hands, including the beginning of their new album's upcoming single, Boxer. In the middle of the set Brian starts taling to the crowd, "So I have stitches in my mouth. It's no fun, but I'm here. So kids, take this as lesson. Brush your teeth, or you will have stitches in your mouth." Needless to say, I brushed my teeth before going to sleep. For a guy who had stitches in his mouth, brian sang pretty damn well.

To make the night even a bit more special, in the encore Brian came on stage by himself and played the bonus track of American Slang, She Loves You, and when the rest of the band joined him, they did an awesome cover of Pearl Jam's State of Love and Trust. The encore also included the heartbreak anthem, Here's looking at you kid, 59 Sound closer, The Backseat, and their catchy and uber contagious new song, The Diamond Church Street Choir.

As the night ended, the beginning of their first North American tour supporting their new record had just begun. Thankfully before the boys walked off stage Brian reassured the crowd that they'll be back real soon. Thank god. I've seen them 5 times in less than 2 years, and I'm still aching for more. I know I'm the not only one who feels this way.

Ida call you woody, boys.

Setlist: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-gaslight-anthem/2010/sound-academy-toronto-on-canada-2bd46cee.html

Silversun Pickups W/ Against Me!, and Henry Clay People @ The Sound Academy, June 29th

Silversun Pickups seem to have grown slightly attached to Toronto, as this has been their 3rd time playing here in the last 8 months. Although they're not my favourite band ever, there's no denying that they have a super tight sound. They also always come to town with other notable bands, and in the last year they've played shows here with bands such as Cage the Elephant, and Against Me! as support, and have even opened for Muse.

It's good to see that Silversun aren't still touring off their uber hit song Lazy Eye which was voted the #1 song on 102.1 The Edge's top 102 songs of 2007. Their Latest album, Swoon has done really well, as the first single, Panic Switch was actually #1 on the top 102 songs of 2009. Last night they returned to Toronto for a sold out show at the Sound Academy with support from The Henry Clay People, and my 2nd favorite band, Against Me!

The first act was LA pop rock group, The Henry Clay People. They served the crowd half an hour of fun rock n roll, and really took on the role as a "warm up act," getting the crowd excited. The singer had a voice that was fairly shaky, yet controlled, as if he we was just about to explode. It seemed that the rest of the band's energy was at an equal level. They were constantly moving around the stage, unlike a lot of bands that just stay on the same spot for the entire show. Even the drummer was moving as much as he could, flailing his arms intensely.

Instead of having a synth player like all the other indie rock bands, Henry Clay People had a keyboardist popping down some really quick and catchy notes that worked well with the band's energetic sound. They closed their set with an attempt at Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run. Before they played it they told the crowd that they just learned it, and to bare with them. I asked my dad, who went to the show with me, how he liked them and he said he thought they were pretty good until they totally tore apart Born to Run. At least it was a song that millions of bands have covered, which made it hard to take too seriously. I bought their record and when I got home I played it twice in a row. I think the songs themselves would be more enjoyable if you heard them recorded first. But their energy made for a really fun performance.

http://www.myspace.com/thehenryclaypeople

The main support act was the almighty Against Me! (the exclamation mark is actually included in their name). AM! just released their 5th full length, White Crosses, a couple of weeks ago, and although it obviously doesn't live up to their earlier material, it's still a great rock album full of catchy sing along anthems. Just like their earlier material, their live shows in their earlier days were a lot more energetic, but AM! still put on a great show and pulled out a great crowd that was clearly their just for them (including myself).

A great surprise was the presence of their newest touring member, Franz Nicolay. Franz was one of the original members of The Hold Steady and left the band a few months ago. Since then, he has kept on playing solo shows, promoting his own material, and lately has been adding raw talents to AM's live shows. He was originally only supposed to play with them on their European tour in May, but when AM came on stage in Toronto, there he was. They opened with the title track off their new album, White Crosses, with accordion played by Franz. Even though it was really cool to see him play the accordion, I could barely hear it--probably the sound guy's fault.

Their set was made up of half new songs, a quarter from new wave, and fan favourites from their earlier albums including Sink Florida Sink, Dont Lose Touch, and Pints of Guiness make you stronger. Their bassist Andrew was absent because he just became a father a few days ago, so he was replaced by a friend of theirs, Adam Traschel. He looked like he was just out of his teenage years, but he played with a lot of confidence for someone who most likely hasn't had a lot of experience playing for such a big audience. The lead singer Tom Gabel looked happier than I've ever seen him before. He was smiling and jumping from start to finish.

Silversun pickups have been building a pretty large fan base over the past few years. As I watched most of their set from the back of the venue, there was still hardly any free space. For their banner they had nothing but a blank white curtain behind them. They wasted no time before getting into their thick bass lines, synthesized echoes and fast drum beats. For almost all bands, the leading instrument seems to be guitar, but for Silversun Pickups, their bass lines add the most to their songs, for me anyways.

It was my first time hearing the bassist (who is the only female in the band) sing by herself, and she has a really nice voice that works for their sound. I also noticed for the first time how great the voices of the lead singer and the bassist sound together. I've given their records a listen once or twice but I just couldn't seem to dig the songs other than the singles. Now, having seeing them live, I think I have to keep trying, and I'll be able to hear what I heard at the show.

Band of Horses @ Toronto Island, June 19th

Band of Horses, The Alt-Country rock band based out of Seattle has been having a pretty busy year, with their new album, Infinite Arms, just dropped in stores in May. Not to mention that they supported Pearl Jam on their US tour a couple of months back. Now they're still touring all over, performing at a handful of festivals this summer, including the Reading and Leeds Festival in England, and the Summersonic Festival in Japan.

They just played the big Toronto Island Concert on Saturday, which also featured Broken Social Scene, and a recently reunited Pavement. Their slot was right before BSS, and they had a nice 10,000 people strong audience. They rolled through a 14 song set which contained just about a 3rd of each of their 3 albums. It was great seeing how much fun the band was having. Even their roadies were singing along. They looked just like 5 guys having the time of their lives, doing what they love to do. They faced the sun with smiling faces spreading their joy among the crowd.

The band's singer and core-songwriter Ben Bridwell spoke graciously to the crowd, introducing all of the band members, and even one of the roadies. For one of the songs he introduced the key player Ryan Monroe, and said "Ryan's gonna sing this sing he wrote for our new album. Take it away Ryan!" You can tell how big a difference it makes on the band from how strong and modest their leader is, just like Ben. Band of Horses is an amazing rock band, and this performance has gotten me stuck on them. If for some reason you haven't heard any of their songs yet (even if you don't think you have, you probably have), go check out their myspace, or search'm up on youtube.



Here's a video from the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvBisUuWFVI&feature=related



and here's the set list:

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/band-of-horses/2010/toronto-island-park-toronto-on-canada-13d415ad.html

Against Me! @ The Town Ballroom, April 24

A few weeks ago my dad and I roadtripped to Buffalo, New York To see one of my favourite bands ever, Against Me. I`ve been a been a HUGE Against Me Fan for al;most two years now, and if it wasn`t for them, I doubt I`d have this blog about concerts. They are one of the most iconic punk band of the decade, however their more recent work isn`t as appraised by their fans. In my opinion since the lead singer Tom Gabel started Against Me! as a solo act in 1997 to today, each has been very solid, but has gotten cleaner and cleaner throughout all their releases. Unfortunatley since the release of New Wave in 2007, a good portion of their fanbase gave up on them because of their more radio friendly sound.

They opened the the show with High Pressure Low, a track off their new album White Crosses, which hits stores June 8th. The album leaked in March, and the frontman Tom Gabel posted all the lyrics on his blog soon after. Quite a few people sang along, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it, but you could tell that everybody wanted the older stuff.

The second song, Don't Lost Touch, was slightly older. It was released on their last record, Fat Wreck Chords, before signing to the major label--Sire Records. This is one of those songs that has a really catchy bass line, and everybody can sing happily. That's exactly how the crowd reacted, jumping up and down and singing along. The band followed with a great mix of songs from their discography.

A pleasant surprise was when they played Amputations, which is off Tom Gabel's solo EP, released in October 2008. As much as I love Against Me!, there's no denying that their energy has diminished. In the past they were known for their high energy in the punk world, and they still have great energy for a rock band, but it's just not the same. Their new drummer as of last year, George Rebelio has a lot of respect in the punk world for being the drummer for Hot Water Music, but even he can't replace Against Me's old drummer Warren Oakes, who left the band last June. George is no doubt a great drummer, but he just doesn't have the same energy and intesnity as drummer like Warren. It feels like there's a missing peice trying to be covered up by a shiny new one, but it just doesn't feel right.

As much as Tom and the rest of the band seem to enjoy touring, from the look on their faces, you could tell they were having fun, but they just wanted to be home. I noticed that the earlier the song was in their discography, the better the crowd's reaction was. For example, when they played the title trak off their major label debut, New Wave, people sang along, and an easy paced mosh was going on, but when they played Pints of guiness Make You Stronger the crowd went absolutley insane almost outsinging the band. It was that song that brought every single person in the crowd together. I'm sure that made the night of all the old school Against Me's fans who can't stand that night. Against Me is one of those bands,where you only need to love one album by them, and hate all the rest, butyou would still support them because of how good that album is. It was a great show, even though Against Me don't have quarter of the engery they used to.

Florence and the Machine @ The Kool Haus, April 10th

Florence Welch AKA Florence and the machine has had an insane year. She released her debut album Lungs in the UK in July, and in less than a month of its release, the album sold over 100,000 copies. She made her Toronto debut at the mod club in November. Soon after it was announced she would play the Phoenix on April 10th. It sold out in less than week. because of overwhelming demand, the show was moved to the Kool Haus which can fit twice the amount of people that the Phoenix can. Soon after more tickets were released, it sold out once again.

At around 10:12 p.m., Florence's band usually referred to as "The Machine" got on stage and got in their places. Two minutes later, fiery red headed Florence Welch walked on to the stage wearing a funny kind of hat. She picked up a pair of drum sticks and then started banging on the bass drum in front of her, which lead into the fourth track of her S/T record, Howl. The second song that was played was her rock n roll hit single, Kiss With a Fist. That was the song that really got the crowd excited as Florence jumped and dance around the stage to her high energy pop anthem. At the end of almost every song, Florence would put on her hat, and then take it off again before getting into a new song. Her backing band, The Machine was made up of 5 musicians. For the most part a typical band lineup: guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboardist, and then a guy playing the harp, which is totally rare. The man would pick it and it made more of guitar like but enchanting sound which flowed with the band quite gracefully, but more so with Florence's powerful voice. Florence seemed really comfortable with her band as she completely moved with the music. Every step she took was along with the beat. After almost an hour of playing they played one of her most popular songs, Dogs days are over, The crowd went absolutely nuts as the harpist plucked the opening tune, and at the chorus everybody was shouting "The Dog Days are over!" while jumping up and down. Right before they played their last song (Rabbit Heart), Florence was completely enthusiastic and overjoyed by the crowds reaction (this seemed to be a vice-versa feeling between her and the crowd) and thanked them for helping her get out of her touring blues. She closed the show of with one of her most powerful songs, Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up). Whenever she put up her hand the crowd would yell out "Raise it Up" feeding her with more energy to end the show with a bang. After this concert at the Kool Haus, there's no doubt she'll be back, but at a bigger venue which will most likely sell out as well.

AFI W/ Gallows@ The Sound Academy, Novemeber 11th

A Fire Inside (commonly known as AFI) have been around since 1991 and have sold more albums than any other punk band in history. They now have a much softer and more materialized sound, but still have a bit of fire inside left in them (ha ha, see what I did there).

The Sound Academy's 3000 capacity space wasn't packed but it was definitely not empty. With AFI's reputation of being an "emo" band for the last few years, I was expecting a mob of emo kids in black and heavy duty eyeliner under the age of 16. Although there was a fair share of them, there were a lot of guys and girls in their mid to late 20s who have probably been listening to AFI before all the emo kids were even born.

Gallows, the British punk band of the year with a brutal live act, was the support for this tour. If it wasn't for Gallows, the crowd would most likely be a few hundred people short, considering that Gallows is a raw intense punk band. And then there's AFI, which is why it's sort of odd that the two bands were touring together. A regular Gallows show consists of a a very wide circle pit with their raging ginger of a lead singer, Frank Carter in middle of the pit, shirtless, screaming and moshing with the fans.

This night, however, he was a little more chilled, as he was wearing a hoodie and a vest and wasn't running around too much; but there was a human pyramid with 10 dudes including Frank. There were people who know the lyrics and singing along with him, but the Gallows fans were overpowered by the bored and slightly frightened AFI fans, which messed with the vibe and caused Frank to leave before the last song was even finished. Gallows are coming back to Canada in March, opening for the highly anticipated Billy Talent tour with Alexisonfire and Against Me!

AFI may be viewed as "sellouts" in the punk society for going into mainstream emo rock, but they still have a punk edge to them that they unleash during their live shows. They got on stage with a white suit-wearing Davey Havok, and played Torch Song off their new album Crash Love. Havok sang with a passion and shared that passion with the entire audience, looking straight down and making eye contact the entire time while running around the stage.

Havok wasn't the only one making the whole show, the entire band brought it. The guitarist and bassist were moving around the stage the whole time as well, connecting with audience and their band mates. About a quarter into the show, the band treated the crowd to some old school AFI by playing Triple Zero, from their third LP, Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes, and dedicated it to Damian, the lead singer of the Polaris Prize 2009 winning band, Fucked Up (who was watching from side stage).

A little later they played another one of their old school songs from their hardcore days, This Secret Ninja. They played 6 songs off their new record, Crash Love, which is their poppiest record to date, although it's still a well done record. The final song of the primary set was the synth pop anthem Love Like Winter, from their previous record Decemberunderground.

You could hear the crowd singing for the whole show, but when they played love like winter, the crowd just completely overpowered the band, and made a sort of bad song sound really cool. AFI had fantastic energy and put on a show that almost anyone who listens to punk could enjoy.

link to the setlist: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/afi/2009/sound-academy-toronto-on-canada-23d7389f.html

The Creepshow @ The Reverb, November 6th

Toronto Physcobilly punks, The Creepshow have just reached a fine point in their career, as they were just signed to one of the biggest punk labels in the world, Hellcat Records. The band roster of hellcat includes such acts like The Slackers, Tiger Army, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, and Rancid. Being on a lineup like that, The Creepshow knew that it was their time to shine, so they immediately packed up their organs and stand-up basses and went on a 5 week North American headlining tour. This tour included a stop halfway through the Canadian leg of the tour, in their home of Toronto, to get 400 kids packed in an upstairs nightclub dancing and moshing the night away.

The Canadian dates on the tour were a part of the Stomp Records Tour which also featured support acts, The Hypnophonics and The Dreadnoughts. The first band up was The Hynpnohonics, who opened up the show with some old school physcobilly with a hint of hardcore punk. The band has great energy and was entertaining, but they took the psyhobilly image a bit too far. All four members were dressed up in dress shirts and ties with unoriginal, but still cool, physcobilly haircuts. The lead singer was all over the place and and sang with a real hard punk voice which made them really interesting.

The 2nd opener were Irish punk rockers from Vancouver, The Dreadnoughts. I gave these guys a listen before the show, and I instantly fell in love with the song "Antarctica." Strictly Celtic sounding with the obvious likes of Flogging Molly and The Pogues, but also Gogol Bordello, which is a reference to the gypsier side of their sound. The lead singer/guitarist was an older guy somewhere in his mid 30s, and the rest of the band was probably in their mid 20s. Each member had rocked with his own style. The violinist was the crazy kid in the old school punk rags and moehawk, wildly executing either the fiddle or the accordion. Then there was the 6 foot 6 giant of a bass player having a blast, always smiling and involving the crowd by threatening that he will stage dive on them if they don't sing. Like said previously, he's quite a big guy, so they sang.

There was also the average punk drummer who takes his shirt off halfway through the set, and then there's the focused member in the band, the mandolin player, who goes by the name of "The Dread Pirate," referencing his dreadlocks. Last but not least, the lead singer and guitarist was obviously the leader of the band, and most likely the main songwriter. He was probably one of the oldest guys at the show, but also the most energetic.

The Creepshow was all ready to go for what was supposed to be "their last show in Toronto for a long time," but then at the end of the show they announced that they will playing a New Years Eve show. Liars. Anyway, as soon they went on, kids in leather jackets started bouncing off the walls, and from there on the night had officially started. Many underage kids were moshing and singing along, which one wouldn't expect at a physchobilly punk concert. The face of the band, Sarah "Sin" Blackwood played well but didn't pay attention to the kids screaming the lyrics with her, which is disappointing if a band has dedicated fans. You should appreciate them and at least look at them when they're right in front of you, instead of just checking for the crowd's overall reaction.

The drummer, Matt Pomade, is great. He isn't just playing normal stuff on the high hat, he's going all over the toms and the floor tom creating these very catchy beats that go really well with stand up bass. This was my fourth time seeing them, and the 2nd of their headline shows I've been to, and as far as fun goes, their live shows are great, but there's nothing new. They played all the same songs (even the same cover songs) as before, and when they did a "repeat after me" with the audience for their song Rue Morge Radio, it was the third time I saw them do that. The Creepshow make great punk music, and if you've never seen them before, do it because you will have a lot of fun.