AWmusic

Day 2 of Canadian Music Week saw me heading downtown to the Opera House along Queen St. to see a quick performance by As Blood Runs Black before hitting the road again and heading off to the Reverb for the rest of the night. Little did I know that it was the Opera House where I should have spent the entirety of my night.

Getting into the Opera House I was treated with a spacious room which in the past would have most likely been a stage for opera shows but had now been transformed into something for more or less a rock type of scene. Since it was an all out metal show that was going on tonight the huge open space between the bar and the stage was ideal for the full on mosh pits that were bound to happen throughout the night.

As soon as I entered I found that I had arrived just as the band were finished setting up. Soon as I knew it they started things up and a circle pit automatically formed, one that I almost got involved with. As Blood Runs Black played an amazing yet very short set before finishing for the night, but in that time they were able to pack the place and have them moving the entire time. The vocalist seemed to be amazing at motivating the crowd to do anything he wanted. He even got a bunch of the crowd to hop the barricade and come on stage with them for a couple minutes and at one point threw the mic into the crowd to have them sing along. The band played some complicated and crazy guitar riffs while the drums turned out to be mainly cymbal and double bass driven. The vocals were pretty solid as well ranging from a good screamo sound to a full on death metal sound. Everything seemed to mesh together perfectly throughout their set. Although they were able to play fast, some of the solos and breakdowns just sounded off and some just didn’t feel right in the song. “My Fear Has Become Phobias” was generally my favorite song they played during their 20 minute set not just because it was an energetic and intensely booming song, but at one part the guitarist went through the bassists legs and started playing guitar there for a good chunk of the song. The backup vocalists were not given any mics at all which I found weird, so they were not heard in the least, but generally they were able to play an amazing set especially since they were not the headlining band and still packed the house to maximum capacity getting the crowd totally pumped and into it.

After leaving the show I decided to head back in the other direction towards The Reverb where I thought I would be treated to an amazing set by rock legends CKY who I had been promised an interview with later that night. As soon as I got into the Reverb I was disappointed with the news that CKY had bailed out of the show at the last minute and had instead promised to be back in June of this year. It was the biggest let down of the night, I was in shock, I had been promised an interview with one of my favourite bands, and to go out to see them that night and be told they weren’t going to even be playing that night, it just downright ruined the rest of the night for me as well as for many others who decided to leave right after the news hit. I decided to stick around for the show nonetheless and see what talent might be showcased throughout the rest of the night.

The Reverb was pretty spacious although not as much as some other venues and also felt a bit grimier than some of the other venues as well, with a whole lot of incents burning at all times filling up the room. Now because CKY didn’t end up showing each of the three performances were lengthened to an hour to make up for the lost set, but this didn’t help my negative mood at all so I just sat back and waited for what was to come.

Bleeker Ridge were the opening band that night and it felt as though they just totally flopped that night, especially when they had an audience of maybe 20 people who wouldn’t even go near the stage for the most part of their set. There opening song had me feeling like they were trying o be a Gun’s N’ Roses wannabe band but came off a whole lot messier and for the most part just didn’t look the part either. They generally were able to play fast but at times they would actually screw up on the openings of some songs and would have to start again. One of the guitars also sounded really out of tune in one song, I’m not sure if it was planned to be that way or not but it just didn’t sound right to be honest. Some of the playing just sounded totally broken at parts and I’m not sure if it was just my negative attitude or what, but for some reason this band was doing it for me at all. They went on to play a slow song for the 10 or so girls that were in the audience who all seemed to be fans of the band as they each knew all the words to each song. The one entertaining aspect of the band though was the drummer, he played those drums so wildly and amazing he actually came off looking like the drummer Animal from the Muppets. They played a song called “Alibi” which they had apparently just written within the past week or so which actually came off as really catchy, had a great opening guitar riff and a great little breakdown and chorus. In the end it seemed like they really didn’t get anybody pumped as there was a total lack of movement save for four drunken guys who crowded the stage and begged for an encore after they were finished their set.

Next up was a band called Dommin, an suffice to say I really think they should have been the band headlining the entire night, because their set blew away the other two bands by a good mile or so. First of all each member in Dommin looked the part; each wore some form of black attire with some sort of styled black hair. They even started off their set great with a synth lead in including some thunder effects that led into a catchy guitar riff and then some soothing yet dark vocals. Each song had some sort of depressing presence around it but the guitars and drums helped to ease the dark tension by bringing about a more intense exciting sort of atmosphere. By the middle of their set they actually attracted almost a full house, and kept that audience rocking right until the very end. Not even the headlining act had a full audience. To my surprise I actually found that there were no screamo vocals added into any of the songs, they kept the vocals clean for the entire night. The synth was probably the best aspect of this whole bands performance as it added a new atmosphere to each song and even had a new effect to go along with each one. The guitars followed the synth into a great lead in each and every time and I also found that each song would start off a little slow but would work into a much faster pace. “Dark Comedy” played like creepy carnival organ grinder music, but if you added in vocals, a wailing guitar, and some booming drums into it. It was by far by favorite song of the night other than their Depeche Mode cover of “People are People”. As soon as I heard them play this cover I was finally able to pick up on the influences brought in by them which helped to make a much more dark and intense version of the band. Overall the band was an outstanding no hold bars dark rocking good time, they played in tune and in sync with each other and were by far the best performance at The Reverb that night.

The final band of that night was Port Amoral which I had heard some good things about beforehand. It turns out that a lot of the crowd had left right after Dommin had left leaving less than half the crowd there to listen on. The first thing I noticed about the band was the out of shape drummer, all he was wearing was a headband, socks and shoes, glasses, and some bright red underwear. It kept more than a few people distracted from the actual music at hand. These guys definitely looked the part and played alright for the most part, but it was weird, I just found myself not enjoying myself anymore that night. I couldn’t stand them after the fourth song. The songs just overall felt somewhat repetitive, I think that they were definitely a poor choice to choose as the final act of the night. The one guitarist actually stood in place the entire time I was there repeating the same head banging motion the entire time. He didn’t do anything else other than that, and for some reason it just annoyed me that he didn’t try to move anywhere else on stage, it was as if he was one of those old music robots that would be bolted to the ground at those old pizza/ballroom places that just felt cheesy to watch. It seemed the one that was enjoying himself the most on stage was the drummer flailing about on his kit, always with a smile on his face. I decided to head downstairs after the fourth song was over, I couldn’t take any more of them that night.

I headed downstairs to the Kathedral to catch the last half of legendary Canadian punk band SNFU, straight out of Edmonton. Ken Chinn of SNFU is an ecstatic and hilarious vocalist for the band and has been with the band since they were first conceived in the 80’s. SNFU has actually changed the history of punk as we know it today, and is one of the leading bands out there today still in the genre. Kenn Chinn aka Mr. Chi Pig is probably the main reason for going to any of SNFU’s shows as the antics he has going on onstage are like nothing else, and are definitely a live band not to miss. They had the whole crowd going the entire time, singing along to each song, joking around, it was great. One thing to note here was that I was having a much better time than I had at the Reverb. This band was more alive, more powerful, and energetic. They had the punk look and played some of the best music of the genre that I have heard to this date. Seriously in all honesty my mind was basically blown by their entire performance, it was just that good.

After the show I asked Ken Chinn if I could get an interview with him for the site, he promised me that if I waited just a few minutes he would be glad to help me out. Throughout this waiting period he would walk by me and tell me another thing he had to go and do before doing the interview with me. After a full hour of waiting, he comes out of one room fully geared to leave, asks me what the hell I was still doing there, tells me to f**k off because he had better things to do. This was one of the biggest insults I’ve faced from any band. The next time maybe before they promise an interview and have someone waiting around for a good hour before being let down, maybe SNFU should just STFU.

As for the night in general, I think if I had stayed at the Opera House or had of gone to see The Trews right after having seen As Blood Runs Black, the night would have been totally saved, but because of all the let downs and disappointments that night, I can only hope that Day 3 of CMW will be better.

My Fears Have Become Phobias by As Blood Runs Black
Fuck You by Bleeker Ridge
My Heart Your Hand by Dommin
Devils In Denial by Port Amoral
Drunk On A Bike by SNFU

Tags: cmw, concerts