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.

eatin', lookin' at art, and musicking in Chicago (Anneke van Giersbergen and Novembers Doom)

A metalhead living close to Toronto has it pretty good. This is likely true of most any music fan, really (though it may depend on the particularity of one's taste). For me, anyway, the number of bands on my 'must see' list that haven't played southern Ontario at some point is relatively small. But once in a while a tour doesn't make it to Toronto, and there's no end to worthy festivals and special events happening elsewhere. When the draw is strong enough, it's time to head out on a road trip or hop on a plane. My latest music-related travels took me to Chicago to see Anneke van Giersbergen and Novembers Doom.

"Still Alive" (in a Nightingale-ish kind of voice) PLUS Schizoid live in TO!

Iron Maiden
Originally uploaded by kill eat exploit the weak

So, yeah, I haven't been posting much lately. But I'm still doing stuff!

Like giving guest lectures on heavy metal (yesterday). And co-hosting the Summer Metal Meltdown on CFMU 93.3 FM (Saturdays 10:30pm-midnight). And seeing Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper - twice! (it was awesome)

(Maiden/Cooper review and great photographic shots at exclaim.ca. I forgot you could give concerts exclamation points...)

But other people are doing interesting stuff too, like live taping side A of their upcoming CD/digital release. And by other people, in this case, I mean Schizoid (D-Trash Records). The show is this Wednesday, July 25, at Nocturne in Toronto, and it's only $5. You should go.

summer metal festing (Heavy TO and more)

Now that we're half way through June I'm starting to look ahead to my summer concert plans a bit more seriously. This year I'll be staying fairly close to home, but just in southern Ontario there's more coming up than I can possibly make it out to. Here's a rundown of some of the shows I'm considering or recommend.

I already mentioned this one - this weekend, Invasion Infernale Fest 2012, a two-day black/viking metal festival here in Hamilton. It takes place at The Doors (tonight) and The Corktown (tomorrow).

Though there are some more worthy events planned in June, I might save myself (and my money) until July 2, when The Scorpions hit Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto. If I don't see these guys before they retire my life will be incomplete.

The next couple of weekends look to be a busy one. 3 Inches of Blood are scheduled to play the Casbah in Hamilton on July 5. Plus there's a memorial event at the Opera House in Toronto for fallen metal warrior Rob Cranny on July 7.

Friday the 13th is Iron Maiden day in Toronto, another Molson Amphitheatre show, and they're dragging Alice Cooper along to Sarnia the day after for Bayfest. That same night Shockwave Festival, featuring Voivod and Fear Factory rolls into Toronto, swinging back around to Buffalo the following week (July 21).

Agalloch with Taurus and Muskox hit Toronto on July 23 - a highlight of Inertia Entertainment's strong summer line-up.

And it looks like our local metal festing culminates in August.

• Heavy TO: Last year was a blast and this year's line-up looks to be even more diverse. Never having seen Marilyn Manson or Slipknot, I'm hoping for memorable spectacles from both. Plus I feel a little warm and fuzzy about seeing old favourites like Overkill and Suicidal Tendencies. And I'm definitely looking forward to the bombastic onslaught of Fleshgod Apocalypse (or, as I prefer to call them, Fleshgods of the Apocalypse) and a host of other bands.

• I've never been, but Southern Ontario Metal Festival looks to have some cool bands lined up, including Blackguard and Unexpect.

• And August comes to a close with D-TRASH fest 2012 at the Cave, part of the wind-up to the release of a brand new Schizoid album. (more to come on that in future posts)

 Looks like I might have to stock up on vegan protein balls or something to power me through!
 

fall concert going is limited: thoughts on enslaved

I had never heard Junius before I saw them open for Enslaved at Toronto's Opera House. I was impressed enough to peruse their merch table but a few weeks later I find Reports from the Threshold of Death less inspiring than their live performance.

After missing Alcest headlining in 2010 (for various unfortunate reasons) I was excited to see how they come across in concert. I enjoyed their set - they sounded good - but felt the atmosphere wasn't quite right: too big, too bright, too rock'n'roll? The stage-front fan raising a single leaf in emblematic tribute amused me (unanticipated entertainment). Am I misremembering, or did people try to get a bit going during the heaviest of Alcest's songs?

I was thoroughly wowed by Enslaved's set opening for Dimmu Borgir last December (and kicking myself for missing earlier performances). They were my main motivation for this Friday night run to Toronto and I was not disappointed. Grutle Kjellson's bad puns are no match for the stand-up comedy routine of Opeth's frontman but the jokeyness was cute. (in fact, I'm thinking there's a research project here on Scandinavian metal humour) And Enslaved, as a group, are fantastic performers, playing persuasively to a diverse crowd (including the guy yelling, "play some black metal!" behind me). There was no pyro or blatant theatrics beyond the charisma and talent of the band members themselves, but there might as well have been in terms of dramatic effect. Enslaved have secured a place near the top of my list of favourite live performers.

If you want a more coherent review with some excellent visual documentary evidence, check out the killer Walschots-Wills combo over at Hellbound.ca.

live folk metal and thrash in Toronto: Eluveitie, Death Angel and company

Feels strange to be into February already and experiencing my first concerts of the year.

Friday night was jazz, better than I had anticipated. I had heard Michael Occhipinti before but his new Sicilian Jazz Project has a dark, almost post-rock vibe, emerging from the fusion of traditional Sicilian songs (most of them rather melancholy) and jazz.

The traditional cultural influences continued Sunday night but in a very different kind of fusion - the folk metal kind. Pop by exclaim.ca for my review of Eluveitie's Toronto set (with an excellent shot of the band's frontman by Adam Wills). But here are a couple more thoughts that didn't make it into the review...

On 3 Inches of Blood:

After a couple familiar tracks the self-described "traditional heavy metal" band from Vancouver introduced a new song, their raw energy easily enough to get much of the audience clapping along. A little bass heavy but with leads rising to the top, they temporarily dropped a guitarist to play Rush’s “Anthem,” displaying their patriotic love of Canadiana (also extending to hockey and beer).

On Death Angel:

An acoustic intro welcomed Death Angel on stage, but the San Franciscans’ thrash onslaught quickly and drastically cut the niceties short. The classic act’s high-octane set was professional without artificial polish, whether reaching deep into their catalogue or hitting contemporary tracks. Between-song banter leaned on nostalgia with a strong dose of Toronto audience appreciation, recalling a show at the El Mocambo in 1987 plus a long-ago meeting with Danko Jones, who joined the band on stage for “Thrashers.” They played more off The Ultra-Violence, but Mark Osegueda’s channelling of Dio for an interlude of “Heaven and Hell” might have been the coolest moment.

Next up? Maybe Emily Autumn, but probably Finntroll with Ensiferum, Barren Earth and Turisas.

week of concert awesomeness (MAdM, then HevyDevy)

madm574
uploaded by kill eat exploit the weak

I had the double pleasure this week of back-to-back concerts. The first event had the added appeal of taking place nice and close to home. I've been waiting for what feels like a very long time to see Melissa Auf der Maur headline a club show, and (cliches aside) it was so worth the wait. The night started off, oddly, with numerous references to balls, and it took a couple of opening bands for me to get into the right mood. But I moved, I sang, I headbanged, and I eventually gushed - while MAdM herself signed a couple items from my huge bag 'o merch.

Concert two was another headlining treat - the Devin Townsend Project - my first time seeing HevyDevy headline since (I think) 2003. He was a delight, always an incredibly dynamic performer but in especially fine form, playing some of my favourite songs. As a friend commented, he's a fascinating and amazingly talented metal hippie muppet.

And to top it all off, there were time-space alien otherworld references abounding on both nights!

What could possibly have made this any better? Seeing both performers two nights in a row instead of having to alternate between them!

I reviewed one show but not the other. For more gushing over Auf der Maur check out exclaim.ca.

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!