Black Mastiff, Shooting Guns, Free Judges - in review.

March 24^th 2012 – New City Legion – Edmonton, AB

Black Mastiff, Shooting Guns, Free Judges
18+ $10 Advance, $12 Door

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deadcity.ca/press / onthewall-mag.blogspot.com

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Oh Saturday evening in Deadcity with many bands playing, and of those, quite a few that i wanted to see, however none more so then the show at New City. It isn't often i wander to the west side of the tracks on a Saturday evening, as the jocks, and preps, and general drunk frat boys just take a lot out of me, and I think back to when i was that age (early 20's) and hope that i was twice as drunk and half as much an ass hole. At any rate by the time we found ourselves walking through the red door on Gateway Blvd. and down into the basement that has become New City Legion. After squaring away the price of admission for MRD, I showed my deadcity.ca press pass, and my note book, and after being advised that New City has their own press passes (aka the Golden Ticket) and that I'd be required to earn one or work for one (I presumed through writing,) My wrist was stamped and I was let in. Almost immediately ran into the cats from Görgön Hörde, and Lindsay bought us a round of drinks.

FREE JUDGES

See we walked in part way through the Free Judges set, my first impressions before seeing the stage were big drums, Replacements style guitars, and droned out vocals. A couple songs later they certainly had started sounding more like Big Black say Headache EP era, and maybe it was the band, possibly the crowd but I’m just not sure that Free Judges were a good choice to open up the show, especially knowing what was coming next. Had this been a bill with Sangsara or Cockatoo they would have fit right in. The obvious lack of a drummer that had been replaced with samples became more and more apparent to me, and those around me as they neared the end of the set, and the crowd just wasn't really getting it. Closing out their set with a Nine Inch Nails inspired tune in dropped B ave me pause for thought, as i found it to be a promise that next time I saw them they would be better.

SHOOTING GUNS

Having never heard of Shooting Guns, I was going into this on the concept that Black Mastiff hand picked them for the bill, and rumour had it that they are an instrumental metal band. Leaning heavy on the doom side of the spectrum, chances are I would quite like them. At 11:20 they started the set, with five guys on stage,all decked out like a mid 90s logging company, and some classic metal drone over taking me, I knew i was in for a good ride. The crowd inched forward toward the stage as though they were about to be attacked by a black bear cub, but they still want to see it up close and give it a pet. Just before the second song takes off the only words spoken are “There's never a better time to get broken.” Something resembling the Melvin's + Witch – Vocals drenched in the sweat of hard working men emanates from the stage. Like a doom version of the ventures with a lead guitarist that reminds me of Tad Doyle, and a bass player that resembles Kim Thayil whacking out riffs like Mike Watt on the thud stick. The overall impression left on myself, my room mate, and a few others that i chatted with was that “They're really fucking good, `cept someone should sing.” Now to add a vocalist to this group might be a bit of blasphemy to say, but it would require a certain type of singer, not that scream/singing shit, but the pacing of Mike Patton, or King Buzzo to turn these amazing riffs into true songs. Placed on stage right before Black Mastiff this band makes perfect sense, and knowing that when they usually stroll through town they rock out with BM or Krang it all makes perfect sense. Certainly a band worth checking out, and required listening for anyone who has spent a winter at -30C.

BLACK MASTIFF

I'm going to lay this right out, I'm a fan. I dig these guys, though I've only seen them play live once before, and with an average song length of 4 – 6 minutes, not something folks would think I'd really be into. Either way, this worked out to be a perfect way to spend my Saturday night, being the broke son of a bitch that I am, I was unable to pick up a copy of the new LP but I suspect it will be found at all the usual Deadmonton haunts and record shops before long. I did attempt to buy a couple stickers with the $2.75 that I had in my pocket, and that worked out all right. 12:23AM the show really starts, Green pyramids emit a light from stage, three guys, huge sound, and a crowd that was ready to rock from the moment those drum sticks counted off a four count. The crowd tonight isn't one that I'm used to seeing, nary a spiked leather jacket or belt to be found, instead replaced with healthy looking, beef eating, kids in college sweaters, a lot of plaid (myself included), and people just looking to enjoy a show. The smell of bad, cheap, weed wafts through the air, people keep on piling in, rocking out, and Black Mastiff stands up and delivers. Personally I haven't really listened to much “new” “rock n' roll” in the most recent years, I've found most of it to be uninspired and BORING, and too damned long. Much like the guys in Görgön Hörde, Black Mastiff gives me hope for a genre I had given up on. Gone are the giant egos, and synthetic plastic, replaced instead with huge sound with each note given a chance to breathe, each word sinking into your skin, and it feels as though the drums are beating in place of your heart. Black Mastiff represents everything that I love about music, like I said, I'm a fan. Looked to me as though a lot of the audience was as well, and those that weren't when the show started certainly were by the time the band hit the mid-way point of their set. Maybe its that attitude that one is used to finding more at a punk gig then at a rock show, or the haze of weed and a groove so deep you could feel it's Black Sabbath roots, and a couple pauses for tuning that are used to thank the audience, the families, and dedicate a tune or two. As the crowd started to wait, either for beer, lack of sleep, or who knows around 1AM, Black Mastiff, brought out the big guns, four on the floor, in your face, doom rock that they built their name on, picking up the pace, and getting all of those that were there to come down into that groove with them. Lyrically dense and vocally strange each singer on his own isn't much to write about, sonically, but combined it feels as though they are channelling the late Layne Staley, tearing out their soul for you on stage dripping it into a dropper and shooting it up. “Feel it through the pyramid power” says more about it then it needs too, much like Black Mastiff, it's something you'll either get, or you won't.

-Jim Nowhere
Shooting Guns photo by MRD, Black Mastiff photo by Jim Nowhere

Good Friday Brawl, Feast Or Famine, Freshman Years, Minuet – In Review

March 23, 2012 – DV8 Tavern – Edmonton, AB
Good Friday Brawl, Feast Or Famine, Freshman Years, Minuet
18+ $8 at the Door.
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deadcity.ca/press / onthewall-mag.blogspot.ca
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It isn't very often that I wander out my door and head out across town to catch bands, though it does happen from time to time, and I was excited about seeing the Cavalry Good Friday Brawl again, as well as catching Feast or Famine. See it has been a while since Feast or Famine has played at DV8 and I’ve actually never seen them play at all. Plus there looked to be a new band on the bill, Minuet, and I like checking out new bands. So around 9:30 MRD and I rolled into DV8, where i got to show my deadcity press pass and saunter on in, this was also followed by the question “Wait, you're Jim right?” so chances are i would have walked in without paying anyways. MRD however showed her press pass, payed cover, and then proceeded to buy me a beer.

MINUET

Having never seen Minuet before I sat and asked James Frost (Freshman Years) what they were like, his only response “They are better then us.” I took that as a solid sign. Shortly after Ten Minuet took the stage, and before even playing a note asked/told everyone to come towards the stage. They weren't gonna play to 15 feet of space and then people. They has a short 6 song set, that held my attention throughout, and is generally what you find in a new band. Had they played 12 songs, everyone still would have been into it. They have this solid 90s “alternarock” beat and enthusiasm. My first impressions of the band were good, they reminded me of HUM with Cancer Bats-esq vocals, but i could understand the guy. Super uptempo tunes, and lyrics about sharing cigarettes that just make me happy. If someone could put them on a bill with Rebuild/Repair, and Diehatzu Hijets we'd have a fucking early 90s punk revival on our hands. This by the way is a good thing. Great stage presence, and chill between song banter, they even managed to get the crowd into it a bit, kicking up some of that dust that is on the DV8 floor.

BRANDON JOHANNES

Next up was a surprise for us all as after the Freshman Years finished setting up James (Frost) introduced us to an old friend of his, and i thought maybe this dude was joining the band as a second guitarist, but even better he was going to play a couple tunes on an acoustic. Brandon “No Stage Name” Johannes reminded me of Jay Shitshow, or Jeremy Townsend, and would fit perfectly on a bill with either of those boys, or with myself (Jim Nowhere) for that matter. I really dug what he was doing, though it added a bit of a strange lull to the show, I feel as though he should have kicked the night off. Having said that, the crowd demanded an encore so he worked his way through another tune that I never caught the name of, but found myself nodding along and being lost in the lyrics. It worked as a really good interlude.

FRESHMAN YEARS

Around 11pm the Freshman Years took the stage, kicking things off with the well known crowd pleaser “You Got A Friend In Me”. Sadly the crowd that was out was kinda your average E-town crowd these days, and instead of dancing about and causing a ruckus, they just kind of stand their arms crossed, heads kinda moving, sipping beer. Myself included, but I’m old. Since last seeing these cats play in January it felt different, their sound is changing, less of the straight up mall/pop punk of “Riverdale” and it sounds like they have been taking cues from local mainstays Down The Hatch, & later years Wednesday Night Heroes, while still keeping the happy bouncy fun pop-punk beats. About midway through their set the crowd really got into it chanting along, clapping hands, and doing all that participation that you would find at a stadium rock show, here in our humble `ol DV8 as James (Frost) sings about Star Wars & Princess Leia. The lone heckler (Miek Headache) keeps shouting “That Shirt's LAME, Take it OFF!” Instead however the Freshman Years debut a new song, about Christopher Walken, alas i never got the name of the tune. It's got that Blink 182 M&M's Radio Vibe with an edge of early “Let's GO” Rancid. All part of that change I was talking about earlier, and with the smiles from the stage and the ever goofy antics of men who make you believe they are still in their first year at university I feel like the best tunes of this band are still to come, and the ones behind them are well worth checking out, either live or on their first album “Riverdale”.

FEAST OR FAMINE

This was the first time that I've seen Feast Or Famine though I did play a show a couple weeks back with the lead guitarist and front man Kyle Shabada, and I've heard their music on our own deadcity.ca pod casts and via CJSR, so I had an idea as to what to expect. This however was not a normal Feast Or Famine show, as they were rocking out as a two piece, though with James Renton (Fire Next Time) in the crowd I was still expecting a good show. They kicked things off fast around 11:50 or so and as I’m not familiar with the songs I have no idea what it is that they were playing. Even with only having a guitar and drums on stage the room still sounded full, rocking out some serious folk/ska/punk a little bit twangy, some heavy fuzz, and a lot catchy. The crowd really got into it clapping along, bobbing heads a low haze settled into the air on the DV8 dance floor, I was beginning to understand why these guys were one of the “Sonic Band Of The Month” alumni. As Kyle introduced the second song (Broken Bones) and explained that it was about breaking bones while skateboarding, I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it brought out those skate punk roots that I share with these guys. It didn't have the thrash of Shelank'd Shoulders, or the insane riffs of Lagwagon, but it was what one might expect to hear on CKUA or CJSR mixed in with those bands and so many others. It's understandable why Feast Or Famine has the reputation that they have here in the deadmonton scene. We even received a little bit of a history lesson midway through the set as someone (not me surprisingly, and not Miek Headache either) shouted “LESS TALK, MORE PADDY!” learning that when the band first started out in Drayton (Valley, AB) they were a two piece, so for them this was a little bit of a throwback historical set. Also explaining that their bass player Paddy is currently in Australia wandering about, but they weren't going to miss an opportunity to take the stage. After this they take the opportunity to break into a couple of brand new tunes that they just finished recording. A fantastic back beat, and a vibe that anyone could groove too. A little slow and pop punk for my liking, though the crowd was totally eating it up. I had the audacity to shout “Play something I know!” right before their last song, so they closed with another folk/ska song that I’d never heard before, making it a solid set by a solid band.

Good Friday Brawl

What can I say about Good Friday Brawl that I haven't probably already told you in person, or ranted about on Twitter or Facebook, they are not a band that is known to be a headlining act, despite having been grinding away through the scene for a little over a year and are deserving of the slot. I was to say a little surprised considering the other heavy hitters on this bill (Freshman Years, Feast or Famine) though it did allow for front man Miek Headache time enough to down his beers and get right up and smashed enough for his stage persona to be spot on (having said that, looking back on the evening, I don't think that Miek was even drunk...) Finally able to take the stage leaning into the wee hours of the morning at 12:45 the boys kicked it off good, keeping the attention of a waning crowd, and it felt to me like every time i looked around there were more people in the audience. They once again managed to live up to the reputation made for them as a true working class band, right down to the Joe Strummer Telecaster, with Nolan Bossart as always solid on the thud stick, Bert McClure looking scared of his band but pushing them forward on drums, and Miek spewing the spiel and playing guitar. Apexing mid set with “Caroline” the growl of Miek's voice was only matched by that of his guitar. With things in full swing and a crowd overly enthralled , I took the opportunity to re-introduce myself to Rusty for probably the fifth or sixth time, as I'm bad with names, but good with faces. Around this time KP (Zero Cool) showed up adding another layer of drunken beauty to The Cavalry's stage show “I'm fucking Ben Weasel bitch, though i might throw up on the monitors” was all Miek had to say to him. With a haze of dust sitting in the air Miek tells us he isn't a prophet, before blasting into another blues drenched tune. Yet I, the listener, know better. No matter how many times I see The Cavalry they just keep getting better, with punk rock chicks dancing to their noisy blues inspired spiel, I felt as though the rest of deadmonton, nay, the world needs to take notice and start showing up, as they are missing out on something very special. To close the night off in the most classy way that they know how, Miek shouted “This is our last song, FUCK YOU!” Though after some mild coercion (mostly by me) Miek begrudgingly played a solo one song encore.

- Jim Nowhere

Photos by MRD.