Tuesday, May 5, 2014
The C’mons – (9:00PM)
Toronto’s The C’mons opened up the night. Thanks to frenetic violinist Roslyn Green, the indie rock band’s short set was heavy but much more melodic than I originally anticipated. While set opener “Set a Fire” demonstrated the cool interplay of guy-girl voices between frontwoman Steph Bosch (vocals, guitar) and bassist Jamie McDowell, it was Bosch’s massive shreds and shrieks on “Poison” that revealed her as the venomous phenom that she truly was. Chilling standout track “Paper Walls” began with the barest of bones before positively erupting, crashing its way into the crowd’s eardrums. Despite their best efforts to encourage the small audience to move up closer into “the splash zone” that the front of the stage, even the dance undertones to last song “Only Ghost” weren’t enough to get them to comply. It would have been nice to see the band garner the response it deserved. Perhaps next time!
Interested? You can preview The C’mons’ latest EP, Places, over on their website.
Stuck on Planet Earth (9:45PM)
Stuck on Planet Earth, the boisterous alt-rock trio out of the Vaughan suburbs of Toronto, was up next. Bassist Al Capo led the assault of brash intensity, but with two vocalists in their arsenal – the other being guitarist Adam Bianchi – the band’s aggressive tendencies were super-charged. From first song “Gone” to set closer – and latest single – “Fast Forward,” their set was non-stop ferocity with a loud blast of fun punk appeal. While it was our first time seeing them, Stuck on Planet Earth have been making waves the past couple of years and it was obvious to see why.
If you want to hear more, all their releases are available for free download on Bandcamp!
The Dirty Nil (10:35PM)
It’s gotten to the point that if Hamilton punk-rockers The Dirty Nil are in town, you know better than to be anywhere else. Tattoo may not have been the typical venue you’d expect to see them in, but that was quickly forgotten once they took the stage, ferociously bombarding the audience with tunes both old and new. We got a real taste for the band’s newest EP, Smite, (the first pressing of which has already sold out) as well as a sample of what’s to come.
When frontman Luke Bentham (vocals, guitar) wasn’t assailing the audience with his agile, acrobatic back bends, it was bassist Dave Nardi stealing the show. Taking over lead vocals on a couple of new songs, including “New Flesh,” his high-voltage thrashing into the microphone was like a full-throttle punch to the face, forcing the crowd to collectively stop mid-sip of beer and throw down. A further set highlight ended up being an “oldie but a baddie” – “Bruto Bloody Bruto” from their 2012 summer mixtape, which Bentham sent out to friends Peter and Jeff of Teenage Kicks who were in attendance.
Unlike most Dirty Nil shows, which will explode into a raving ruckus almost immediately, this one took until set closer “Little Metal Baby First” to really rev up an appropriate mosh pit. We may even have caught a rare sight of Peter (Teenage Kicks) looking elated as he took part in the madness. After seeing countless Dirty Nil shows the past couple of years, we finally got around to buying these guys shots. And the next time you see them, you should too!
[Ed. note: We couldn’t find Dave for the shot, so we had someone sub in for him and then Amanda was kind enough to photoshop him into the photo. We decided to post both.]
The Reason (11:30AM)
Fellow Hamilton rock compatriots, The Reason, closed out the night. Having not played a Toronto show since November as part of their 10th anniversary tour, the room was filled with some pretty hardcore long-time fans. With ten years of material to choose from, the band chose to focus primarily on 2010’s Fools and their latest EP, Hollow Tree.
After requesting permission to share just one new song with the crowd, frontman Adam White apologized for the slower tune “That’s All I Know,” citing that he wasn’t “really feeling it” and promised the audience “just bangers from here on out,” fully delivering with anthemic hits “Drive Me Home” and “Longest Highway Home.” White also channelled Canadian great Joel Plaskett on a rocking Thrush Hermit cover. Perhaps what was even more appreciated however was his heartfelt expression of the importance of festivals such as CMW in opening fans up to shows, telling a story of at the ripe age of 17, getting to see Thrush Hermit play their last show at the Horseshoe during CMW in 1999. “Come & Go” had a little bit of Boss action with “Hungry Heart” thrown into the throbbing bass before their set ended with “Where Do We Go From Here?” From the insistent shouts for more, the answer to this question is quite simply: onwards and upwards, gentlemen.
There might not be any upcoming shows for the band in the near future, but the documentary filmed on their cross Canada tour by VIA Rail is currently being edited so look for it soon! –CD
buying shots for bands 
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