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.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Teenage Bottlerocket W/ Cobra Skulls @ the Kathedral
Last week I headed down to The Kathedral to check out a small punk show featuring Cobra Skulls and Teenage Bottlerocket. I haven't been to an intimate punk show for while, so I was looking forward to this. We got to the venue a bit after the doors opened and and there were maybe 50 people there.
By the time Cobra Skulls went on, there were about 150 people there, leaving the place half full. They are a three piece rockabilly punk band from Reno, Nevada. They've been around since 2005, but it's been just lately that they've been getting quite a bit of attention on the punk scene. I had been listening to their new record American Rubicon a lot, and since this was going to be their first show in Canada ever, I had to go check it out.
They played a 40 minute set which was about 13 songs. The three members had a connection together on stage which was cool to see. The crowd were enjoying themselves and there were even a few people singing along to the lyrics. The singer/bassist, Devin Peralta, had a strong stage presence and the singing sounded even better live than it does recorded. These guys are going to be big in a few years, so I'm glad I had the chance to see them play an intimate show like this.
Teenage Bottlerocket, a four-piece Ramones like pop punk band from Wyoming, attracted about 25o people (including 50ish guys in leather jackets) to the Kathedral for their headlining set. I only saw half an hour of the set, but I enjoyed what I saw. Most of their songs were around 2 minutes each, but you could tell they like to play fast. I kid you not when I tell you that they played 20 songs in 30 minutes. Less than a second after one song would be finished they would go in to the next song, and I highly doubt it was because they wanted to get the show over with as soon as possible. They looked like they were having way too much fun for that to be the reason.
By the time Cobra Skulls went on, there were about 150 people there, leaving the place half full. They are a three piece rockabilly punk band from Reno, Nevada. They've been around since 2005, but it's been just lately that they've been getting quite a bit of attention on the punk scene. I had been listening to their new record American Rubicon a lot, and since this was going to be their first show in Canada ever, I had to go check it out.
They played a 40 minute set which was about 13 songs. The three members had a connection together on stage which was cool to see. The crowd were enjoying themselves and there were even a few people singing along to the lyrics. The singer/bassist, Devin Peralta, had a strong stage presence and the singing sounded even better live than it does recorded. These guys are going to be big in a few years, so I'm glad I had the chance to see them play an intimate show like this.
Teenage Bottlerocket, a four-piece Ramones like pop punk band from Wyoming, attracted about 25o people (including 50ish guys in leather jackets) to the Kathedral for their headlining set. I only saw half an hour of the set, but I enjoyed what I saw. Most of their songs were around 2 minutes each, but you could tell they like to play fast. I kid you not when I tell you that they played 20 songs in 30 minutes. Less than a second after one song would be finished they would go in to the next song, and I highly doubt it was because they wanted to get the show over with as soon as possible. They looked like they were having way too much fun for that to be the reason.
The Adult Swim Tour featuring Mastodon + Dethklok @ The Sound Academy, Oct 23
A few weeks ago, I saw my favourite metal band, Mastodon, playing at The Sound Academy as a part of The Adult Swim Tour. Although I said that Mastodon is a metal band, they are much more than that. They play experimental-pyschedelic-stoner-metal. What a term, eh? Well that's what they are. They're from Atlanta and they just released their fourth LP, Crack The Skye, which is what a lot of people would call the metal album of the year. It has 7 songs but is 40 minutes long.
The Concert was a part of The Adult Swim Tour, which featured 2 Co-headliners, Mastodon, and this virtual metal band Dethklok--a cartoon on Adult Swim called Metalocalypse. I got to the concert 15 minutes before Mastodon's set, so I decided to check out the merch and, I have to say, I've never seen so many tshirts for two bands. Dethklok was selling at least 20 different t-shirts plus posters, hats, cds, and a ton of other random stuff, and Mastodon had about 12 tshirts. Dethklok was the last band to play, but it was clear that more than 2/3 of the crowd was for Mastodon, judging from the amount of shirts they sold.
As soon as I bought a Mastodon tour poster I ran towards the stage through the side bar and nabbed a decent spot, just as they were getting on stage. There was this massive screen at the back of the stage instead of having a large banner. On the screen they had clips of old fashioned movies plus a bit of their own animation to go along with the music. They played their new album Crack the Skye in it's entirety, for half of their set, and then an assortment of songs from their previous albums for the other half.
I love seeing this band live because whenever you hear them, the music takes you to places, so to see this music being played live for me is absolutely insane. The mosh pit was really funny because there were like ten 14-year-olds who were moshing, so everyone else stopped and the pit looked incredibly soft while the kids thought they were totally bad ass. Mastodon's drummer, Brann Dailor, is one of my favourite drummers, so it was awesome to see how crazy he plays live.
The Concert was a part of The Adult Swim Tour, which featured 2 Co-headliners, Mastodon, and this virtual metal band Dethklok--a cartoon on Adult Swim called Metalocalypse. I got to the concert 15 minutes before Mastodon's set, so I decided to check out the merch and, I have to say, I've never seen so many tshirts for two bands. Dethklok was selling at least 20 different t-shirts plus posters, hats, cds, and a ton of other random stuff, and Mastodon had about 12 tshirts. Dethklok was the last band to play, but it was clear that more than 2/3 of the crowd was for Mastodon, judging from the amount of shirts they sold.
As soon as I bought a Mastodon tour poster I ran towards the stage through the side bar and nabbed a decent spot, just as they were getting on stage. There was this massive screen at the back of the stage instead of having a large banner. On the screen they had clips of old fashioned movies plus a bit of their own animation to go along with the music. They played their new album Crack the Skye in it's entirety, for half of their set, and then an assortment of songs from their previous albums for the other half.
I love seeing this band live because whenever you hear them, the music takes you to places, so to see this music being played live for me is absolutely insane. The mosh pit was really funny because there were like ten 14-year-olds who were moshing, so everyone else stopped and the pit looked incredibly soft while the kids thought they were totally bad ass. Mastodon's drummer, Brann Dailor, is one of my favourite drummers, so it was awesome to see how crazy he plays live.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Gaslight Anthem @ The Kool Haus, Oct 13
A few weeks ago, I saw my number one favourite band, The Gaslight Anthem, play their 2nd headline show in Toronto at the Kool Haus. This was my fourth time seeing Gaslight since last October when I saw them open for Rise Against. In march they played what may have been one of the top shows of the year, at the Opera House which fits about 850 people. That show sold out very quickly and a lot of people didn't have a chance to see them. This time, they played at the Kool Haus, which is 3 times bigger than The Opera House, and although it's a nice venue, I really wished they had played two shows at a smaller venue instead of this big one. However, I'm happy for them that played and filled up such a big place.
I got to the show about 15 minutes before the doors opened so I could get a good spot. There were at least 50 people in line when I got there and another 50 people behind me by the time they started letting people in. As soon as I got in, I ran to the stage and got a spot right by the barriers centre stage. I'm usually too lazy to get that early to a show and wait 4 hours until the band goes on, but for Gaslight it was a must.
There were three openers. The first opener were a pop punk trio called Broadway Calls. If you visited their myspace in the summer, you would have noticed all the big time bands they were doing tours with. The list included Gaslight Anthem, Streetlight Manifesto, The Offspring and The Bouncing Souls, and not to mention they had a spot on the NME stage at the Reading and Leeds festival in England. I saw them when they opened for Streetlight Manifesto a few weeks before. This time they played 12 or so songs, and I found them rather enjoyable. The drummer seemed strong and on beat, and the bassist and guitarist had a good connection with the crowd.
The 2nd act was this singer Jesse Malin from New York who was backed up by a band. He was definitely the least interesting acts of the night. He seemed quite arrogant, which is ok if your music is good, but his music wasn't that good. It was just regular rock music you would hear on the radio.
The last act before Gaslight Anthem was an americana folk rock band from Indiana called Murder By Death. They had a normal lineup consisting of a lead singer/guitarist, a bassist, a drummer, with the exception of a cellist/keyboardist in the band. It was definitely the cello that made it the most interesting. All the songs were fairly dark but were quite catchy. There was a bunch of people in the front with me who were clearly there just for Murder By death, who were singing along with all the lyrics, and making comments on how they were way better than Gaslight Anthem, and saying they should play for the rest of the night. Although I disagreed with statements like that, I let it slide because they were so good.
Finally, after more than 4 months of waiting since this show has been announced, Gaslight Anthem got on the stage after tuning up their instruments with the help of who I'm guessing is their new roadie. They opened up with High Lonesome, the 4th track on their acclaimed record The 59 Sound, which has brought them huge success in such a short period of time. What was awesome was how so many people knew the lyrics to most of the songs, and you could hear the crowd really well, which always drives the energy level of a concert so much. They seemed stronger than the last time I saw them in March, this time having a banner, and their sound was stronger live. They played around 9 songs off The 59 Sound, 6 from their first LP Sink or Swim, and two songs off their ep, Senor and the Queen. The lead singer, Brian Fallon, gave the impression that he really likes Toronto, saying that even for a weeknight Toronto has the strong feel of a Saturday night. Gaslight Anthem will play their last show of the year in December in New Jersey, before they start to write and record a follow up to The 59 Sound.
I got to the show about 15 minutes before the doors opened so I could get a good spot. There were at least 50 people in line when I got there and another 50 people behind me by the time they started letting people in. As soon as I got in, I ran to the stage and got a spot right by the barriers centre stage. I'm usually too lazy to get that early to a show and wait 4 hours until the band goes on, but for Gaslight it was a must.
There were three openers. The first opener were a pop punk trio called Broadway Calls. If you visited their myspace in the summer, you would have noticed all the big time bands they were doing tours with. The list included Gaslight Anthem, Streetlight Manifesto, The Offspring and The Bouncing Souls, and not to mention they had a spot on the NME stage at the Reading and Leeds festival in England. I saw them when they opened for Streetlight Manifesto a few weeks before. This time they played 12 or so songs, and I found them rather enjoyable. The drummer seemed strong and on beat, and the bassist and guitarist had a good connection with the crowd.
The 2nd act was this singer Jesse Malin from New York who was backed up by a band. He was definitely the least interesting acts of the night. He seemed quite arrogant, which is ok if your music is good, but his music wasn't that good. It was just regular rock music you would hear on the radio.
The last act before Gaslight Anthem was an americana folk rock band from Indiana called Murder By Death. They had a normal lineup consisting of a lead singer/guitarist, a bassist, a drummer, with the exception of a cellist/keyboardist in the band. It was definitely the cello that made it the most interesting. All the songs were fairly dark but were quite catchy. There was a bunch of people in the front with me who were clearly there just for Murder By death, who were singing along with all the lyrics, and making comments on how they were way better than Gaslight Anthem, and saying they should play for the rest of the night. Although I disagreed with statements like that, I let it slide because they were so good.
Finally, after more than 4 months of waiting since this show has been announced, Gaslight Anthem got on the stage after tuning up their instruments with the help of who I'm guessing is their new roadie. They opened up with High Lonesome, the 4th track on their acclaimed record The 59 Sound, which has brought them huge success in such a short period of time. What was awesome was how so many people knew the lyrics to most of the songs, and you could hear the crowd really well, which always drives the energy level of a concert so much. They seemed stronger than the last time I saw them in March, this time having a banner, and their sound was stronger live. They played around 9 songs off The 59 Sound, 6 from their first LP Sink or Swim, and two songs off their ep, Senor and the Queen. The lead singer, Brian Fallon, gave the impression that he really likes Toronto, saying that even for a weeknight Toronto has the strong feel of a Saturday night. Gaslight Anthem will play their last show of the year in December in New Jersey, before they start to write and record a follow up to The 59 Sound.
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