Date of show: February 21, 2013
Written by: Chiara DiAngelo
Releasing their digital 7” during Reading Week while all of their friends were in town, it was a crazy party from the moment Toronto’s Dangerband took to the sweaty stage. We’ve seen Dangerband play a few times now and are always impressed with how much tighter they get, this time being no different.
They got things going with “Sink,” the B-Side to their single. Asking the crowd if they were also drinking all the cheap beer, it was pretty obvious from the drunken rowdiness that ensued that many of the poor students had spent their few dollars on exactly that. Packed to the rafters, the freedom of not having school the next day may have influenced the extreme amount of raging moshing going on. The floor positively shaking with all of the jumping, those at the front were constantly barraged into the barrier preventing them from falling onto the stage. The crowd likely didn’t need any additional encouragement to go wild, but the band’s cover of “Song 2” by Blur definitely pushed them over the edge. Someone from the audience even ended up on stage at one point.
Infectious and anthemic, “I Don’t Wanna” manages to capture the essence of lazy teen angst and transforms it into something incredibly catchy. While normally it gets the crowd singing along, this time it even also inspired some crowd surfing! They ended their set with the reason we were all there – “Stupid Boyfriend.” Responding to the crowd’s unrelenting demands for “one more song,” the band noted that they actually only knew one more song, so that’s what they played – covering Blink 182’s “All The Small Things.”
Jealous of the crowd’s youth, we unfortunately had to take our bruised thighs and head out soon after the band was finished – and then drag our inevitable hangovers to work the next morning. Dangerband‘s 7” is available for free download on their Bandcamp so there’s really no excuse not to pick it up!
It was with trepidation that we took our place at the front of the stage for the start of Pkew Pkew Pkew (gunshots) set, however as they launched into their first song, we quickly noticed that there was strangely no beer shower raining down on us. The show still went on however, complete with the drunken sing alongs, hand-clapping and gang vocals Pkew has become known for. I worried that I might be disappointed without the normal over-rowdiness of the crowd element to their set, but the band proved that even without it, they still deliver one of the most fun live performances all on their own. We still easily could have been on the set of a frat house party scene in a movie.
Not just partiers however, vocalist Brodie Bocelli offered the crowd Pkew’s own brand of life advice with “Friends Don’t Let Friends Move In With Girlfriends” – coming off the stage to sing directly into the faces of the crowd. Daring the crowd to prepare to be amazed by their upcoming Beach Boys cover, they teased us with just the intro of “Kokamo” before changing gears into “Clever Girl.” Unable to contain themselves the entire set, the band’s main followers soon fought their way to the front; while the beer didn’t slosh, the unruly boisterous factor was definitely raised a few notches at this point. It was only appropriate then that the band finished off with “Asshole Pandemic” and “Glory Days” – two of their most undeniably catchy tracks.
Vocalist/guitarist Mike Warne ended their set by promoting their recently released 7” Red Ass as well (streaming on their Bandcamp) – proclaiming that it was 7 inches of vinyl for only $5 – a steal at less than a dollar an inch! I’d also recommend you pick it up, but most importantly be sure to experience them live the next chance you get!
Oshawa’s alt-rockers Viva Mars started the night off. With lighter poppy vocals provided by frontman Thomas Helliwell, a steel tone to the guitar, and a whole lot of whistling throughout their set, they were significantly more low-key than the two bands that followed them.
Helliwell mentioned the band is in the midst of putting out a double record, with the first half Yes, Indeed, You Are Right, That’s It already available and the second half currently in production. It is intriguing, though sounds like kind of a massive task to undertake for a band still relatively new on the scene. Their set included both new and old material including among others, “Pride” and “Calvin’s Blues.” They also threw in a cover of “Do You Wanna Dance,” originally by Bobby Freeman. From the response received, apparently at least a couple of guys in the front did indeed want to dance. They closed out their set with “Uneasy,” sending it out to Brandon from Scotland. He was pretty excited at the gesture. Or maybe just drunk. But probably both.
You can check out Yes, Indeed, You Are Right, That’s It over on Bandcamp.
buying shots for bands 
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