On another insane, dual-show evening, I started out briefly at Deer Lake Park for the Arcade Fire. Now everyone tells me this show was uber-amazing. I suppose I can see how people may have thought that, as even from missing the beginning of the show and the end of the show and standing nearly at the back of the sloping field leading to the stage, it was somewhat impressive to see the members of the band break like billiard balls and start clambering about the stage, using anything within reach as percussion.







But that was just the start. Leaving, I could still hear the music even quite far from the venue. After a small stop for some Tim Horton's soup and annoying youth shenanigans at the neighbouring table, I found myself back at the Plaza Club for good old-fashioned hardcore. Now I was hoping to have a bit of input on this one from my Resident Expert on hardcore, who accompanied me this night, but he seems to have disappeared from creation (RR seriously, where'd you go? Lemme know where you be at.), so I will just have to do my best from mere observation on a genre and phenomenon I know little about. Here we go!









I missed the opening band, but got there in the nick of time to catch The End. See, I'm already lost! Hah. No, The End did their thing to a decent amount of enthusiasm from the audience. This was a great place to get ideas for marvelous tattoos. People have some beautiful artwork on themselves, and a damn lot of patience/tolerance to boot, I might add. Ouch. Bleeding Through was second in line, a fact that thrilled the aforementioned Resident Expert no doubt. The crowd was definitely into this band, launching forth and engaging into the staple hardcore circle pit. I mean, hey, it's cool, people are into the tunes and getting energized and getting aggression out in what I guess could be termed a healthy manner, but what danger! I did actually somehow expect things to be more intense than they were - possibly this was due to a crowd that wasn't anywhere near capacity. This type of show would probably be better served as an all-ages gig. Anyways, the contrast between many hardcore bands music, and their personalities, is something I always find really interesting. The guys (and sometimes girls) in these bands tend to be the sweetest, most closely-knit, gentle, appreciative and genuine folks ever, and then musically, they just rrrrraaaaaaaaaaage.









The vocalist in this collective is a particularly meaty fellow, tattoos-laden (of course), and adept at that low-toned growlyell that's so characteristic to the genre. Far behind him, in the shadows at the side of the stage, stood a keyboardist gal in skinnyjeans and suspenders, who I was informed was voted one of the 10 sexiest females in metal or something like that. I can understand this; she was quite the vixen. Anyhow, back to our vocalist friend... so active! Zipping back and forth across the stage and leaning with one leg on the monitors, singing nose-to-nose with folks in the crowd, encouraging the pits by informing the audience of things like "this is your last chance to move, let's GO!" It's cool how tight all these people are. They know exactly what's happening on stage even though they seem to not be paying any attention to it by being so involved in shoving one another around. Seriously testosterone.









Following this showing, there was a switchover to the Cancer Bats. Now even though I'm a silly girl who doesn't know her way through anything-core to save her life, I darn well like this band. Strong, yet has an easy flow. None of that vocals-don't-seem-to-mix-with-music stuff. Not too abrasive to handle. Not weak, ergo, irritating. This band's singer was even more spasmodic than the Bleeding Through guy. Suffice to say, by a few songs in, I had a decent amount of his sweat on my face, and I'd been whipped by his sharp lock of Danzig-spike hair numerous times. He has some amazing depth perception and headbang control, thankfully - how he kept from fracturing a few skulls (including mine, or his on the monitors/edge of the stage) was quite skillful. He managed to just brush everything with his hair and avoid head contact by millimetres. Hopefully that wasn't just luck, anyhow. Musically, they soar somehow. It's a very intense environment in the room. Even I can feel the love, and I clearly don't belong here. Unfortunately, I left a bit early to avoid the locking of a parking lot that would have jailed a vehicle overnight. In hindsight, I guess I should have stayed to the end of the show, but no matter, I got a good showing and solid immersion into this scene. Rad.









Gallery Time!

Bleeding Through







































Cancer Bats

Elsewhere

By Andy Scheffler
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : June, 2007.