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Punks Against Racism 3 (March 24th 2001 @ the Youth Center)
Well, this was the worst show i've probably ever seen. once again a weak lineup ruins the night. The bands were: (in no particular order)
-the metaleddies
-life blind
-extradition
-not just noodles
-bombs over providence
-the uninvited
-winkworth
i went to the show with craig, kenny, and jesse. I wasn't planning to go because i was still tired from lagwagon the night before, but craig begged and pleaded so i decided to grace them all with my presence. There was an incredible amount of technical difficulties such as mic's not working, a lack of patch chords for not just noodles, violent feedback, and the power going completely out during ex-tradition. For this entire show you could barely hear the lead vocals cause the bass on it was too high. and the lowlight of the night was lifeblind, who played really bad death metal. they were really bad, and they were on for almost an hour. There were some good spots though, such as ex-tradition (even though 2/3 of the band had throat infections), and not just noodles which provided pretty much the only ska all night. the metaleddies were also pretty good. but all in all it was a pretty lousy show.
i give it 1.5 out of 5 stars
craig loses 1 star for making me get up off the couch
Propagandhi (March 12th at the Opera House)
Well, this one is a long story...and you're gonna have to hear all about it. Me and Jon went downtown right from school in hopes of meeting someone who said they mgiht get some tickets for us...turns out that person wasn't even at the show.....so anyways, we thought the show was at 6:00, so we got there at around 5:20. And to our dismay the time had been changed to 8:00. somehow, we managed to spend about 3 hours eating pizza and sitting around. To waste some time (and money), we went into the 7-11 to get drinks. We decided on Jolt, because we figured we might need the energy. i, smartly, chose the cola. but Jon, not so smartly, chose to buy the grape. As it turns out, grape Jolt has absolutlely no caffeine in it. But it did have a chemical called "gwarana", and that's gotta be worth something. But it tasted like crap, so i had the last laugh...untill i spilt my pop on my pants...then we kinda both hung our heads in shame for a while...but i cheered up when Chris, the lead singer of Propagandhi walked by and stepped on my foot. it's as close as i've ever come to borderline fame...and i liked it! anyways, we were thinking about buying tickets at 30 bucks a pop from a scalper, but we decided we'd better not. Luckily we were the first people in the No-Ticket (aka "loser") line, so it didnt take long for us to find a couple tickets and get in.
so we got in and we went up to the balcony to watch Random Killing. They were old school. You know you've been around a long time when every single member of the band is balding...but anyways, they were pretty good. i tihnk that if i had some of theri stuff i would have enjoyed theri set a lot more. but they did do "too drunk to fuck", so that was cool. Next up was 60 Stories. As they were setting up we saw them bring a keyboard on stage. Jon summed up my thoughts exactly when he said: "this doesn't bode well". Let this be a lesson kiddies: emo+keyboard = stupid, pointless, annoying music. Next up was propagandhi, but first, we got our daily dose of political unrest when some lady made a 10 minute speach about the homeless. She made some good points, and got loud applause...but she just kept going. she should have left earlier on a high note. But eventually, Propagandhi got on stage. They were awsome. They played just about all the favorites (i was hoping to hear middle finger response, but oh well). And they played a lot of new stuff too. i think the old stuff is better, its easier to sing along with. but anyways, they did a good set. Came back on for a triple encore. Chris is the craziest guitar player i've ever seen.
all in all, it was pretty cool. Propagandhi compensated nicely for the first two bands' short-comings. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
-The door bouncer also gets one star for being Andre The Giant's identical twin.
This guy stepped on my foot. It was the proudest moment of my life.
Voodoo Glow Skulls (July 3rd 2001 at the Reverb)
I went down to this show with Pam. Jon was originally planning to come with us, but he was being a turd and he got a ride to the subway with his mom. So we took our sweet time getting down there, stopping for fish and chips along the way. Our timing was just about perfect because the show started like 10 minutes after we got there. The Reverb is a nicer place than the Kathedral (which is directly below it), but it was still a pretty dirty club. Luckily it was small so it took us no time at all to find Jon, Rob, Dave, Jason, a girl I recognize from school, and 3 other girls I'd never seen before. The bands started playing right after I had beaten Rob in an arm wrestle�with my bad hand...and he used 2 hands�
The lineup:
-Backside
-Ann Berreta
-Grade
-The Voodoo Glow Skulls
The first band up was backside, and they were pretty good. The singer reminded me of Jesse Michaels with how he moved when he was singing. I don't think anyone else really liked the band except me though. I was thinking about getting a backside shirt for Craig because he told me to pick him up something if they were cheap. I'm sure he would have loved a T shirt with "backside" written in big letters on the front. Anyway, the next band up was Ann Berreta. Blah. I know I probably wouldn't like them because of the songs I've heard, but I didn't expect them to be that bad! It seemed like they didn't even want to be there or something. They were so slow and mellow�and crappy�but oh well, I guess every show needs a downside. I got a punch from Rob's girlfriend after the show for bashing them, but they so deserved it. Next up was Grade. They were pretty good, even though the singer looked like a dirty 70's porn star on heroin. And he had a hole in the crotch of his pants and apparently you could see his balls. The where all pretty menacing looking guys, so it was hard to believe they played emo. But it was a special kind of emo�I call it "screamo". Anyway, they got the pit going really good. At the show there were a couple drunk idiots who would go really low and spin into people, from behind a lot of the time. Absolutely everybody got pissed off at them. Eventually one big guy in the crowd gave one of them a killer elbow right in the face. Good fun. Next up was the Voodoo Glow Skulls. As you would expect, they were crazy. They got a pit going with people skanking around the outside. I could actually feel the floor bend, there was so many people jumping. Eventually me and Pam got tired and we went and sat out the last 20 minutes on the couch. On the way back from the show we got triple thick milkshakes from the McDonalds walk-through. Needless to say we were wired. The drive home was pretty interesting because it was raining so hard we couldn't see the lines on the road. But we made it home safe and sound. I love happy endings.
I give this show 3.5/5 stars
I also get a star for being so damn cool. It hurts to be this cool. ow.
glow skulls in action
Warped Tour �01 (August 11, SkyDome)
I went down to this one with Pam and Kenny, and we left early. Way too early for my liking. I got up at 8:00�.8:00! Anyway, the day only got better from there. We got to the dome at around 10:30 or so, and we waited outside for a bit while a couple guys we met tried to find some tickets. They eventually did get tickets, but they paid a whopping for them, which is 2.5 times more than they�re worth. Anyway, we were soon herded into the building amid a barrage of flying pop bottles and shoes.
Eventually we did get in, met up with Ryan, and walked around for a while until anybody worth seeing played. We watched the Bouncing Souls from the bleachers, not really knowing it was them. The first band I went in for was H2O. They kicked ass as usual, playing all the songs I wanted to hear from them: guilty by association, faster than the world, 5 yr. Plan, family tree, one life one chance, everready. The next decent band up was A Fire Inside. I didn�t get in the pit for that one because I was busy staking out a good place at the other main stage for what we thought was going to be Rancid next. It turns out it was Cool Keith next and that I had missed AFI for nothing, oh well. So at the end of the AFI set we rushed in to get a good place for rancid and we ended up 2 off the rail. So we pretty much stood there for half an hour while Cool Keith did his thing. But eventually they did get on, and they rocked my face. I would have taken some pictures, but I couldn�t move my arm to get at my camera. We were packed so tightly together at the front row that we could barely move, and I kept getting kicked by crowd surfers. But it was all worth it. They kicked off with radio, then played roots radicals, St. mary, maxwell murder, loki, quite alright, black and blue�and I sang along to every word of every song. But it eventually came to an end, and me and Kenny spent the next hour or so searching for Pam who had dissapeared during Rancid. After about 5 trips around the SkyDome, we decided that we would have to find her later when we were supposed to meet at the wrestling ring. So then we went to see the Dropkick Murphys. The dome is a really bad atmosphere to see the Murphys in. I was really dissapointed, it was not even close to as good as when I saw them at the Phoenix. But they did play some good songs like barroom hero, boys on the docks, the gauntlet. Next up we saw Less Than Jake. They played really well, even though we were in a pretty crappy place to see them. For some reason I can only remember a couple of the songs they did: all my friends are metalheads, automatic, magic 8 ball. Anyways, I wish we could have got in the pit for that one, but we were still tired and bruised from Rancid and we didn�t feel like pushing our way through thousands of people. Me and Kenny left a little early from LTJ so that we could get in line to meet Lars Frederiksen. Ryan chose to go see Me First And The Gimme Gimmes instead of Lars. We finally met up with Pam again in that line. The line moved suprisingly quickly, and it was only about 20 or 30 minutes before I got to meet him. He said he liked my home-made sleeveless Hooligan shirt, and he signed my ticket and I got my picture taken with him. Kenny got his shirt and ticket signed, and Pam just got her picture taken with him. I would have got my shirt signed too, but I plan to wear it again and I wouldn�t want the signature to wash off. After that we went up to the bleachers and ate some food, and then Kenny went down for Pennywise and Sum41. I stayed up in the bleachers for those bands because my feet and my back hurt. But Pam dragged me down as soon as the Ataris (pronounced AH-TER-ISS for those who don�t know) got on. It was excruciatingly emo, and it made me want to put on a sweater and some dark rimmed glasses and cry. They were the last band so after their set we found Ryan and left.
We stopped at the Harveys at Union Station and Kenny made so much of a mess with his fries that one of the employees actually came over and shoved a wad of napkins in his face. Ps, ryan is slow. Then we went home, making brief stops at Pams house and McDonalds. As soon as I walked in the house I collapsed, the end.
Although you can�t really compare this to a regular show because the bands only got 30 minutes each, I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. It loses .5 stars because the Sky Dome Sucks.
Kenny gets an extra star for being a slob, and we all get an extra star for meeting Lars Frederiksen. Ryan loses 100004502 stars for being so slow.
me and Lars
Leftover Crack (November 17th 2001 @ the Vandorf Community Hall)
This show rocked my face. You don?t understand how good this was. I pity all you foo?s who didn?t make it out to this one (that means you Craig). Me and Ken got there at around?idunno. Way early. So we waited around outside in the cold for a long time, and eventually some friends an acquaintances of Ken?s showed up and we hung out with them. Dave was supposed to show up with some people too, but he never came. He was also supposed to give me the he owes me, I guess I?ll have to beat it out of him on Monday.
When we got in the show we were surprised by how small it was, and also how the floor felt like it was going to cave in. We got a lot of people into that little place, probably between 150-200 by the end of the night. The first band up was a little strange, but cool in a dead kennedys sort of way. The lead singer wore a ski mask and a backstreet boys shirt, enough said. I don?t even know who they were, all I know is that they came from Uxbridge (suxbridge). They were pretty good though, they played the ?fat man stomp? which I think you would have had to be there to appreciate. The next band up was a new experience for everyone. It was a bunch of aging hippies playing bongos and tambourines, but really well. The whole place went crazy and everyone was clapping and stomping around. I think they got the loudest encore demand of the night, and I think they were really surprised how much everyone liked them. A circle pit even broke out for a bit?somehow. And then they left and I assume they went back to the nudist colony. Next up was the band I came to see, Five Across The Eye. As usual they kicked dangerous amounts of ass. They started it off with boredom and got everyone skankin and jumping, and as always they ended with a cover because ?we?re the only band in the GTA lame enough to do it. They did Sublime?s Sateria. Not as good as the original, but what do you expect? Anyways, that set was crazy and the night could have been a success if it stopped right there. At their merch stand they had no shirts in size fat for me, so I settled for a heatskores shirt instead. Next up was Constable Brennen. I was expecting crap because that?s what they provided me with last time I saw them with the satanic surfers, but they were really good this time. The bassist is my hero, I need a supah-fly inmate uniform like he had. After that me and Ken ran across the street to a convenience store which seemed to be the only store in town. They must have made good money last night because I think the population of Vandorf tripled. We got back right before the heatskores went on. As usual they were really good. That?s why they?re still The craziest skinny-tie wearing, foul mouthed, shit talking, stage trashing Ska-Punk band out of Canada since 1998. I got a shirt, it was cheap and big, the way I like it. Eddy is one fast singer, dat fo? shue. So next up was the band we had all been waiting for; Leftover Crack. Not only did they rock the 40 oz., but they rocked my face. Me and Ken were right at the front, and it was so awsome. I sang along with almost every song because most of them were Choking Victim songs. I knew some of their new stuff too like gay rudeboys unite and rock the 40 oz. The place went nuts, everyone was in a big thrash pit at the front. We had stage dives, crowd surfing, band members jumping on us. I got to sing into the mic for born to die, crack rock steady, and 500 channels. At the end I shook hands with ezra, alex, and stza after the show. I also got to hold stza up while he sung 500 channels for the encore at the end. A good time was had by all.
So after the dust cleared we found ourselves outside in the cold again waiting for a ride home. The end, bitch.
I give the show 4.9/5 stars for being so damn pissah-cool. And me and Ken each get 100000014 stars for going to the best cheap local show EVER, and Ken gets an extra 2 points for grabbing the setlist off the stage. Craig loses any stars he might have previously earned by working at Blockbuster all night.
The Leftover Crack setlist Ken grabbed because he's so damn smart. We're gifted.
Bad Religion/Less Than Jake/Hot Water Music (March 16th 2002)
Today was quite an adventure. Me and Craig left at about 11:30 to pick up Kenny and Jon. We decided to go so early because we were gonna see all the stores and all that stuff. Of course, we did that thinking that the show was at 6:00?but it turned out it was actually at 8:00 (craig loses one ?special star? for getting the time wrong). After an uneventful subway ride in which craig didn?t test out any new karate moves on jon, we got to the Eaton center. There we ate and shit like that. Yeah. After that we went to queen street to look at all the wonderful ?stuff? lying around. At the black market jon bought some pants, neat eh? Then we walked all the way down to Rotate and looked around, but didn?t buy anything. On the way back we got some food, and as we were leaving Pizza Pizza, we saw Colonel Sanders being molested by a homeless man (true story). Some dude was videotaping it too, so I?ll have to try to find the video. Then we bought a few cans of whupass, hoping to get super-hyper and forget that we still had like 4 hours. Then we went to the Eaton center again and spent a while eating and looking at things and riding on the fun, fun elevator. After that we headed down to the waterfront to wait for the concert.
As it turns out, winter is cold. Very cold. Especially when one is wearing shorts (ie: me and craig). We kept warm by playing hacky sack (very poorly) for about 1 hour. We had to start our own hacky circle because we were all too crappy for the ?good? circle on the other side of the parking lot. So me and Nikki (the girl with the hacky sack) gave them dirty looks. And when we snuck up and took pictures of them, they gave us the finger because the flash made them drop the sack. After about an hour of this, we finally got in, but not before flashing each other with the camera numerous times?that should make for some interesting pics when I get them developed
The first band up was hot water music. I chose not to pay attention to them because I figured they sucked. I was probably right?but I can?t be sure because I wasn?t paying attention, remember? I pretty much hung out with craig and nikki and her friends for this one. I think ken went off with some girl from his school, and jon was off with kurt, andy, ryan, ainaz, and jenny or something like that probably. Next up was less than jake, which was pretty cool. The had the stage set up so that there was tv sets on it, and they showed weird random clips throughout the whole show. Craig went into the pit, so I stood around with people on the outside. They played all the favourites as one would expect, and finished off with all my best friends are metalheads. That part was cool because they had these big canons that shot confetti and shit into the crowd. Between sets we had an argument over which bartender was the hottest. Me and nikki chose the brunette, while craig and gigi chose the blonde. Craig quickly switched sides when he saw the blondes face?men are pigs eh? Next up was bad religion of course. I went in the pit for that one, and it kicked ass. Then after about 40 minutes of us yelling at the band, and the band yelling back, they finally played generator. Oh, and before that Greg kept talking about how much better Montreal is than Toronto?but I forgive him because it?s probably true. They also made fun of the ?kool haus? because it was way better as the warehouse. Also quite true. They played a DAMN long set, and you could tell everyone in the pit was ready to pass out by the end. But finally it ended and we all were herded out like sheep through the tiny bottle-neck exit of the ?kool haus?.
We then found each other, and headed to the subway station. We got harassed by some dude for money so he could buy a hotdog for about 5 minutes, but we finally managed to shake him. On the way to the subway we found jenny, ainaz, nikki, and matt. And we all went to the subway in a big scary group. Then we managed to squish 6 of us into craigs car (legally, somehow?) and we went home. I got in at about 2:50 am. The end.
All in all, an excellent day. i give the adventure 4 out of 5 stars
(Craig loses 1 special star for getting the time wrong. the rest of us lose 500000000000 special stars for listening to Craig.)
ken, me, craig on the roof of the Eatons Center
me and some people we met there. the one with reddish hair is nikki, i can't remember the others
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