Skinny Puppy – great interview and tour dates reminder

Many many moons ago, a guy from my math class – a dude with long blond hair and a necklace with an eyeball-shaped charm – came to class talking about seeing Skinny Puppy in Hamilton. I don't remember the guy's name, but I do remember thinking that was cool and feeling a little jealous, even though I was only beginning to get a sense of what Skinny Puppy was about.

just a quick post to say how awesome Heavy MTL was

Cryptopsy at Heavy MTL

With no Heavy TO this year, Heavy Metal Adam and I decided it was time to head back to Montreal for Heavy MTL. It's been a busy summer and I wasn't totally sold on a whirlwind trip in between work shifts, but by the time the fest was drawing close I was all excitement and no misgivings. Now, after it's all over for another year, I'm so glad we went!

summer of fun = summer of much live music

Still trying to make up for the vast concert-less desert that was the early months of 2010, my summer concert-going is very healthily heading toward mid-August.

This past weekend Hamilton's Gage Park hosted the annual Festival of Friends. I first heard about the fest in the early 90s when my sister lived in Hamilton. I can't remember if she ever took me or not (that is a long time ago, after all), but either way, now I've been myself. It was a short visit – a turn on the ferris wheel, a wander round the vendor stalls, one beer and one live set – but well worth the bus ride there and the FREE admission. The event draws an interesting collection of people (all the way from babies to retirees, I would say) and is pretty successful at drumming up a festive atmosphere.

I would've liked to check out more of the performers over the course of the weekend but decided to concentrate my attention on former Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy. Fresh from a flight over the ocean, Murphy and his band had pockets of black-clad fans dancing and singing along, but seemed to keep even the more 'ordinary' listeners well entertained. I was amused by the minor costume adjustments he managed to maneuver, not to mention his lithe movements around the front of the stage, and especially the bouncing during one song. The 'goth' was kept at a low to moderate level, maybe part of the outdoor environment and mixed crowd, but he did squeeze in an (expected) acoustic version of "Bela Lugosi's Dead."

A mere 24 hours later found me in a very different space, musically and materially. As the fuzzy picture above (poorly) documents, I made it to last night's Boris / Russian Circles show in Toronto. Lee's Palace was a little slow to let us in (giving me time for a couple of samosas) and we had to wait a little more after we got inside. Then Russian Circles came out on the tiny sliver of stage allotted to them, completely ignored the audience and wowed us with their entirely instrumental performance. It was highly amusing to watch a small sea of heads bobbing as the band slipped into a heavy, chunky groove at one point and equally amusing to feel myself responding the same way.

By the time Boris took over the venue was packed at rapidly heating up. I'm not that familiar with the band and ended up hearing a lot more mellow, melodic shoegazer stuff than I expected. Even those hypnotic wandering pieces came across loud and heavy but it was the doomier bits of the set that I liked best, and the final moments brought this side of Boris's sound to a satisfying climax. The drummer provided the most visual entertainment, with his flashy vest and huge gong (you can't see it really, but in this picture he's standing up over his drum kit after delivering his part of the finale).

Next up: Mares of Thrace at Casbah in Hamilton on Thursday, August 12. It's only $5!

cynic reviewed (live)

I've been enjoying much live music this spring and summer, but last night's Cynic concert may have been my favourite of the lot. It seemed to be the night of the drummer, with the percussionists from all three bands (Cynic, Intronaut, Dysrhythmia) being all over their kits plus one Intronaut guitarist banging on a few extra toms at the end of their set. With a perpetual interplay of complex rhythms the drummers were the ones propelling the machine, keeping up a driving momentum where the multiple layers and (self-indulgent? nerdy?) experimentation might have ground that forward power to a halt. Normally I'm more intrigued by vocal and guitar textures, melodies and harmonies, but this show had me drum kit focused.

I've listened to a bit of all three bands before, Cynic much more than the other two. Dysrhythmia bowled me over in the best way possible, but revisiting their recorded stuff today I find it doesn't quite match up. Intronaut was a little more hit and miss for me, winning me over then completely losing my attention till they won it over again. As for Cynic, I'm surprised by how much their newer material has wormed its way into my brain, so that their special presentation of Focus in full felt like just a warm up to the tracks off Traced in Air, Re-Traced and Portal. Even now I've caught myself singing "The Space for This" and "Integral Birth" repeatedly throughout the day.

The Mule wrote an excellent review of the Vancouver show here. And the always entertaining Natalie Zed has a review up on Hellbound with photos by Adam Wills. But if you want to read my own 'professional' account of what went on last night, exclaim has it up here.

Cynic, then Boris

Two Mondays, two concerts.

Tonight at the Opera House:

Cynic, playing Focus plus some more recent stuff, with Intronaut and Dysrhythmia opening up. (look for reviews to go up at hellbound.ca and exclaim.ca)

Next week:

Boris, following an opening set by Russian Circles.

The summer of fun continues...

Heavy MTL! \m/ (the longer version)

You may have read my (de-personalized) exclaim review, or followed Adam Wills's live blogging at hellbound.ca (or checked out his fest photos). Now here's my more rambling account of my first Heavy MTL weekend in Montreal (and repeated avoidance of full sentences).

day 0:

Road trip begins. Uneventful for the most part except for random (Mexican?) metalhead sighting at 401 rest stop. After a nap, time for a vegetarian dinner - a somewhat randomly chosen Yuan Vegetarian, an Asian veg place on St. Denis. The food was decent, the service a little inattentive, the atmosphere relaxedly posh. After a little (not really necessary) walk, pirate-themed service, loud (mostly 90s) metal and reasonably-priced drinks at Cafe Chaos.

day 1:

Up early for free continental breakfast and to join the metal hordes clambering (and clamouring) on the Metro line out to Parc Jean-Drapeau. After a minor lobster claw incident, headed into the venue for our free press wristbands, Heavy MTL neck things, and fancy laminated schedules (all of which smoothed our way no further than the other side of the security check). Arrived pretty much in line with the beginning of the opening set - to find the women's washroom already alarmingly short of toilet paper and the limited merch and food/drink options pretty expensive and well, limited.

Things picked up with Skeletonwitch, who I found nearly as entertaining as I had in Hamilton a few days before (which was quite a lot). High on Fire sounded big but looked small. Auf der Maur was barely audible at first but absolutely beautifully amazing (see the earlier reports for the Peter Steele connection). Kataklysm also sounded good but it was getting incredibly hot out and it was already time for a bit of a break. One that lasted through Fear Factory. I still love them but prefer to keep a distance so the glow of memory doesn't get doused by the dullness of current reality.

Revived long enough to get caught up in the inimitable enthusiasm of Anvil (I've had a soft spot for them ever since watching the documentary), a bit of Testament (with another refreshment break), and the beginning and end of Halford. Between some weird sound issues and another bout of heat fatigue I didn't enjoy Mastodon as much I hoped and decided to view and hear Slayer from up on the hill. Having seen Slayer many times and the Big Four movie recently it didn't seem important to be all that close. Same goes for Alice Cooper (minus the Big Four part) although it would have been neat to see his stage show up close -- the distant view and big screen close-ups didn't quite do it justice.

A little later, the fireworks going off just beyond the trees seemed symbolic of my feelings about seeing and hearing Megadeth perform Rust in Peace in full. I wish Dave Mustaine's singing wasn't so visibly and audibly painful, but I'm impressed by the band's current line-up and only wish I had enough stamina for the "secret" charity show later that night. Instead we tramped across a precarious sea of crushed beer cups and aluminum bottles and joined the hot, sweaty and smelly stream of the dirty and black clad heading back into the city.

day 2:

Wanted to make it back to the Parc in time for Les Ekorchés, but when that clearly wasn't happening we decided to forego the other early bands for coffee, tea, and eventually a couple of tasty falafels from Basha (Ste-Catherine-Uqam location). Made it back to the festival site in time for Chimaira drowning out Three Inches of Blood on the side stage. Mocked a few outfits, got free, disgusting samples of Rockstar energy drink and spent a fair bit of time watching and listening from the relative comfort of the grassy slope.

Hatebreed sounded good but I still can't get fired up over them. Didn't really manage to stir up any significant appreciation until Alexisonfire. I'm never been a particular fan but I sort of get what they're doing and it was a welcome contrast to some of the more simplistic aural bombardment the afternoon had to offer. Following closely behind, Lamb of God were predictably intense and crowd-stirring. Again, I more or less understand the appeal, but I tend to like these guys best in short doses - a live set strains my attention. Mike Portnoy playing with Avenged Sevenfold was the highlight of that set, which mostly had me anxious for Rob Zombie to take over.

Zombie's performance was my Sunday highlight, hands down. I wasn't totally on board with the sound of all the material but the stage show was irresistible, as (openly) ripped off from Alice Cooper as it is. I mean, costumes and robots (including a framing Zombie's entrance on stage out of the flaming robot!) and monsters and horror film clips? He had me at the robots. After that, Korn's closing set was a complete anti-climax, despite their elaborate oil rig stage decor (which I didn't quite understand - was it an attempt at a political statement?) They sounded strong, had a loyal following in hand, and I even enjoyed the songs I know more than I expected, but I just had trouble caring after all the much more impressive performances I'd seen over the two days leading up.

We ended the night with craft beer and pizza at Le Saint-Bock and more drinks and metal with friends and new acquaintances at Les Foufounes Electriques and headed out, a little short of sleep, early Monday afternoon to return to Ontario and a vague sense of reality.

Can't wait until next year!

Rush, more concerts and reviews, and the summer of slacking

More than a month since my last post... But it's not for lack of love! It's just that time seems to be moving at an unusual rate this summer and I'm having a hard time keeping track of where it all goes. So, for the time being, here's a little recap on what I've been up to music-wise in the last several weeks and what's coming up in the near future.

On June 6 we saw Johnny Hollow open for Attrition in Toronto, though unfortunately missed Attrition's set. JH's acoustic cello opener was a particular highlight of the night.

A few weeks later, June 25 to be exact, I stumbled into a heavy gig at Casbah: Sexbeast (I'd run out of attention span by the time they came onstage) with openers The Electric Candles (who replaced their awol drummer with an ipod), SKULL (whose delightful doominess assaulted us from the back of the room) and the "amazing" and intense ViLipeNd (the band that brought me through the door in the first place).

June was a slow month compared to May. July has been quiet so far too but that changes tonight with The Creepshow playing at Casbah.

Then tomorrow night (Friday, June 16) we head to Toronto for Woods of Ypres playing with Battlesoul and The Great Collapse at The Blue Moon Pub on Queen East.

Then the noise continues Tuesday (June 20) when High On Fire roll into Casbah with Skeletonwitch and Priestess.

And if that wasn't enough... road trip to Montreal next weekend for Heavy MTL. A few highlights from the two-day fest I'm most anticipating: Melissa Auf der Maur, Rob Halford, Testament and Mastodon (all scheduled for Saturday). Full report here and at exclaim.ca to come.

I've only managed a couple new cd reviews in the past few weeks, but swing by the Exclaim site if you want to know what I thought of the new Nevermore and Witchery albums.

Last but definitely not least, if you're in need of a Rush fix (and even if you're not) you should peruse hellbound.ca for a while. If you haven't already checked out our Canada Day Rush feature be sure to have a look – we've got reviews of the new Rush documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage and an interview with directors Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, plus staff (and guest) picks of our favourite Rush songs and fav Rush albums. And as of today you can read Sean Palmerston's review of last night's Rush show in Toronto with photos by Adam Wills.