AWmusic

The Whippersnapper Gallery is a small place located on College just west of Bathurst. Finding parking was a nightmare, and after finally finding a parking spot I would have to take a loan out to pay for, I went looking for the venue. After walking by it a couple of times before actually realizing it was the place, I entered the place. It is a small, intimate space and as is fitting for an art gallery, is really just a long narrow hallway that opens into a larger room. The stage was at the far end of the gallery which looked like it could hold maybe 150 people scrunched in. It was probably a bit bigger than that, I suck at judging the numbers of people in a crowd. Lots of interesting artwork/prints on the walls and if that is something you like, it would be worth checking them out.

The show started just after nine with Bayonets taking the stage. This is a balls-to-the-wall punk outfit that relishes in loud, cacophonous music. Their style is truly reminiscent of old punk, the frenzied throw-yourself-around, loud till it hurts kind of stuff I grew up with. “What Is It” was a fast-paced b-52’s-ish song that lasted maybe 30 seconds but it was 30 seconds of pure sweat and guts. In fact, all their songs were very short, 30 seconds to about a minute in length but the band poured every drop of energy into those precious few seconds of music. Did I enjoy them? You bet I did. The sound wasn’t the best but that is to be expected from a place that really isn’t set up for live music. It suited this kind of rawness anyway, some of the later bands suffered because if it. This is really what I think of when I hear the term “punk”, this raw, no-holds-barred, loud, seemingly unstructured, grating, grinding, caterwauling, unmelodious, raucous music that’s just all out fun. Would I go see them again? Yep, and they are playing both tonight and tomorrow night so if you like music that makes your ears bleed, check them out. You can catch them tonight at the Polish Combatants Hall and tomorrow night at Sneaky Dees. And you can listen to a couple of songs on their MySpace page.

Stay Young by The Bayonets

Friendly Foes were next and unfortunately for them, they had a hard act to follow. I have to say that I really wasn’t impressed with them, they sounded flat and uninteresting. Their songs were more melodic and the vocalist was very earnest but I just couldn’t get over the fact they sounded like every other pop/punk band out there. I think we have enough Simple Plan/Blink 182/Fall Out Boy-like bands now, we really don’t need any more. However, I am in the minority as the crowd seemed to like them well enough. By now the Whippersnapper Gallery was beginning to fill up and these guys were well received so what do I know. I just found the melodies derivative and obvious, the bass lines routine, the vocal delivery uninteresting and the writing miserable. But that’s just me. You can listen to them on MySpace and see what you think.

My Body by Friendly Foes

Now on to a band I was really hoping wouldn’t disappoint me and they didn’t. Dinosaur Bones are a local band that make haunting and unsettling indie/pop music. They are on the darker side of pop, their music has a lot of interesting elements from the jazzish drum beats of “Life In Trees” to the jittery “Royalty” with it’s hard rhythm section. They, more than anyone else I think, suffered from the lack of a good sound system and the smallness of the venue. They really do belong in a bigger venue where you could really hear more of the unique arrangements and interesting play between the guitars, the guitar-keyboard, the drums-bass, and the vocal phrasing and delivery. The vocals more than anything else suffered from muddiness and fuzz often being unintelligible, almost overpowered by the other elements. However, that really didn’t seem to affect the fans as each song was given an enthusiastic response.

Dinosaur Bones has a maturity, professionalism and sophistication that many other bands lack, hard to believe that they’ve only been around about a year. “My Divider” is certainly an outstanding song live or in the studio building from a simple drum/guitar intro into an intense and scintillating end and is a good example of this maturity. Many bands would be tempted to overdo it live with lots of solos but the boys kept it honest and yet making it sound much bigger and infusing it with much more passion than the studio version. Unfortunately, the inadequate sound system often meant that the vocals were unintelligible at times and other times sounded fuzzy or muddy getting lost or overwhelmed by the other elements. However this did not diminish the enthusiasm or charisma of the boys on stage and the crowd clearly loved them. Would I see them again? In a heartbeat. And luckily they will be playing various locations around Ontario through to August 2nd with key dates being a stint in the Edge Studios on June 6th, a showcase at NXNE on June 19th and playing the Edgefest in Downsview Park on June 20th. For info on the other tour dates which include Ottawa, Kingston, London and Montreal go to their MySpace page.

Royalty by Dinosaur Bones

And last Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains, the band I had been most looking forward to. Now I don’t know if it was that I had enjoyed Dinosaur Bones too much or was tired by this time or what but I was wholly unimpressed with this band. For starters, and this is not the bands fault, I just could not stand his voice. Not his fault and maybe it was a victim of the lower quality sound. But I tried to overlook this and listen to the band as a whole and just could not find anything original. They just sounded like so many of the other bands out there, a big disappointment to me since I was a big fan of Death From Above 1979 Grainger’s former band. In any case, this is another band the crowd loved. I’m really sorry to say that by the time the fifth song rolled around, I had had enough and left. I just couldn’t listen any longer. Not to say that they weren’t good, obviously I was the minority and there was a crowd waiting to get in when I left. I’m sure most of them left disappointed since the gallery was packed. I’m not proud that I bailed on this band, I always like to give a band a good shot at changing my mind and in any case who knows what they would have sounded like once they got into their groove. Perhaps I was too hasty. Would I give them another shot? Probably, it could well have been on off night and the venue wasn’t the best place to see a band. You can listen to him on his MySpace page and judge for yourself if you aren’t already familiar with his music.

Love Can Be So Mean by Sebastien Grainger and The Mountains

Tonight I’m off to see Hunter with Ulysses & The Siren, The Narrative & Cool Dad at Sneaky Dees. I’ve never been to Sneaky Dees so this looks like it will be fun. You can find info on other acts and venues at Over The Top Fest.

Tags: concert, Over The Top