You could taste it in the air. You could wave your hand at it & feel it. It is the feeling that you know a good show is going to occur. I felt that this show was going to be something very different the moment I stepped into the concert room of the Music Centre.
Arriving late, due to work, I bought my ticket quickly and quickly walked towards the music. Luckily, I missed only 10 minutes of Lifestory Monologue, so I can still review them by the 3 songs I heard. Despite the music hall being packed with people, the crowd just wasn't into the music. I am taking a wild guess it was because of the main singer's on-stage antics.
When Richard Nuttell was not screaming or wailing into the mic, he was jumping and waving his arms around the stage as if he was on fire. Though he was very into his music & I believe his on-stage antics allow for Richard to feel his music and allows him to sing the way he does, I think that his dancing and waving of his hands may have taken away from the show and the brilliance of the band behind him.
Aside from the main singer, the music was incredible. Lifestory Monologue has BIG sound. With guitar effects and keyboard, their sound feels so large. Think Coldplay-gone-screaming.
I personally enjoyed their big sound and Richard's mix of screaming and 'screeching-singing.' You may review and judge for yourself their music at www.myspace.com/lifestorymonologue.
Cain & Abel - an old and ever progressing Burlington pop-indie-rock band. A nice break and interlude from the heavy distortion and screaming, Cain & Abel lifted the crowds spirits and lightened the atmosphere. Their set, as usual, was jam-packed full of quirky guitar riffs, mind-blowing drum patterns and a voice to love. There is not much more I can say about Cain & Abel because they never fail in pleasing the crowd and playing a great, all around show. Listen to them at www.myspace.com/cainandabel.
After Cain & Abel's, during set changes, I was hanging out with my buddy Graham, who is an avid mosher and has connections to a lot of bands and people within the 'scene.' I was telling Graham how excited I was for Body Break's set and Dead and Divine's set afterwards. He smiled down at me, with an all-knowing smile which turned into a smirk. He said, "You have no idea."
"Excuse me? I have no idea what?" I responded.
"Body Break's set, you have no idea what is going down. They are filming their set. 4 cameras."
Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but when a band knows they are being filmed, let alone 4 cameras, and some moshers know they are being filmed, EVERYONE is going to give their 120% into whatever they do. If it is the band playing as hard, as fast and as best as they can or if it is the moshers, throwing down as hard and as passionately as they can, or if it is making sure the circle pit stays big enough. You just knew something was going to go down.
Body Break opens their set with, "Welcome to our show mother*******, let's get this going." After their nice intro to get the crowd moving, all hell broke loose in a beautiful sort of way.
The band instantly entered a breakdown, with Logan, vocals, screaming along, using his voice to accompany the heavy riffs beautifully. The moshers were let unleashed, forcing their way into the crowd, forming a circle pit. The set progressed perfectly for 2 songs. But then a mistake occured. A fully unnecessary mistake. As I was watching the mosh-pit, I saw a fist raise into the air and come down into a guy's face. Let's call the guy who punched the other guy Mr. S just to make this easier. Instandly, 10-12 guys grabbed Mr. S and started a fight with him, then Mr. S's friends joined in. The people involved in the fight were all the moshers. The music stopped. Logan, very mad, yells out, "Shit! Stop the fighting, take it the **** outside. This is our set and we want no fighting. Get the **** out." They listened to him. The music continued. The set, was incredible, the fight, almost ironic due to the name of the band. Body Break. Don't mess with them. www.myspace.com/bodybreak
Welcome home the poster boys of Burlington hardcore. Dead & Divine return, after a long-awaited home town concert, from their tour.
Their set opened up with a recorded intro. A man speaking, crying & yelling about all the people he has killed and what he has killed them with, the recording ends with him sobbing ... enter Dead & Divine. Their set had all the favorites, with a few new songs added into the mix. The mosh pit, now absent of the fighters, is full with girls 2 stepping and guys dancing across the circle pit.
Almost each song was dedicated to someone during D&D's set, one being dedicated to Nicholas, a guitarist for the now broken up band, Bury Her Breathing. Nicholos died of cancer a few months ago.
Dead and Divine ended with their crowd favorite, "You Are Cordially Invited." www.myspace.com/deaddivine
All in all an amazing night for concert-goers and bands alike. Dead and Divine play with Body Break next at J's Place— near the casino — in Brantford on December 1st.
Until next time,
Jason Matos
---------------------
www.jasonmatos.com
Comments