Good Friday Brawl, Shotgun Dolls, Action News Team

A random gig in review.

$10, 18+ At DV8

Ah saturday night in ye `ol Deadmonton Alberta, in March, a balmy -11C a couple new feet of snow, and after the windchill something similar to -27C.  So what could have been possibly the most talked about show happening on March 16th ended up feeling a lot more like a random band jam with a couple handfulls of their closest friends and some dudes who drove north for three hours to drink beer and make loud noise.  We rolled in around 9:30pm, just as Action News Team was finishing doing the load in.  A handfull of regulars spotted the bar, and a turn out that is similar to when i rock a solo show on a monday.  Not what anyone was expecting when this gig was booked, though the best of it was made by all, and really by the time Action News Team started a half decent crowd had wandered in from the cold and was about to get their ears rocked.

Now it's been quite sometime since I last saw Action News Team played (I suspect it might have actually been a bill similar to this one...) Actually I'm not even sure when they got a second guitarist and really beefed up their sound.  Also this might have been the first time I was actually able to hear Max sing, as he's grown leaps more comfortable up on stage, and certainly more with the microphone.  Now these cats come from a mostly punk/garage/folk background, so hearing them play with a bit more fleshed out sound, and two Gibson SGs really made for a total change in tone.  One big thing that I certainly noticed is that as they have grown as a band they really are leaving that garage/punk sound in the background, trading it in for more blues-ish riffs and a heavier Black Sabbath inspired sound.  One should never begrudge a band for growing and evolving in their own sound, the bigger beats, the harder riffs, certainly are destined to make their mark on the fine folks of Edmonton who catch them.  Though at what cost?  I feels as though these small changes almost robs the music of part of the very soul they were creating.  I may be the only one of this opinion, certainly in the crowd that was there.  The vibe in the room was certainly into it, and the signature Snoop Dogg cover near the end won over anyone else who hadn't already been a fan.

After a relatively quick tear down, certainly helped by sharing parts of gear, Calgary Alberta's Shotgun Dolls took the stage. Now I always have a strange feeling like I've shared a stage with these boys, but the fact remains that I've actually only seen them play once before. (Quite possibly with Action News Team, see first paragraph - Jim) So what can I tell you about our southern Alberta rock brethren?  They braved the weather, knowing that a 3am drive home awaited due to a shitty work schedule that had someone punching in at 8am, brought the gear, the mersh, and even the lights.  More then that though these kids brought their passion and energy, and a love for playing to anyone who shows up.  Talent, good tunes, grooves that will haunt your mind for days, they have it all, and are in the process of self releasing a debut album. What I hope you'll hear on the studio album is exactly what I heard coming from the small stage at DV8. Sludgy, skate rock, touching on what makes bands like Rebuild/Repair good, the Melvins & Jesus Lizard great, and Flipper awesome.  This "post stoner skate sludge", as someone coined a while back, is certainly a genre that not many really fit into, but the bands that do are worth checking out.  If you follow my instaLame/twitnerd feed you may have noticed a shot that I put up saturday night stating that what they have going on would fit perfectly in a Lowcard Mag / Blood Wizard Skate video. I stand by that statement.

Now it's been quite a while since I last had the cash ney, the opportunity, to see three of my friends rock out, in this configuration.  Miek, Nolan, & Bert are quite possibly the three nicest dudes in the deadmonton punk/folk/whatever music scene.  Now if you hand them some music makers, turn up the amplifiers, and just start feeding them the booze, all of that changes.  Miek has sass to spare as a front man, and it serves him well, Nolan rocks this sly smile and makes the thunderstick move you in ways you thought only the devil would do to you. As for bert, its hard to say, as all i see are a flurry of drum sticks. Now anytime Good Friday Brawl headlines a show the energy in the room just crackles, reminds me of when I first saw Against Me! tour, circa the eternal cowboy days. Dirty Music, Dirty People indeed.

So despite the fact that weather was shite, and the turn out subpar for a saturday night, each band came out and played the best show they had in them, the preformances blew pretty much everyone who was there away, I'm glad that the lady dragged me out on a half-hearted promise, as for me this will certainly sit in my top gigs of 2013.

Jim Nowhere

----139---
Full Disclosure. I was in Zero Cool with Andy Crackers (Action News Team Drummer) for four years.   Good Friday Brawl and I are signed to the same independent record label Dead City Records

Shotgun Dolls - Facebook
Good Friday Brawl - Facebook
Action News Team - Facebook