GOLDFINGER + The Bottom Line + Black Maria @ Club Soda

By Mikey B - The Lonesome Strangers - 05/01/2005

It is no secret to most people that know me that I love Goldfinger. So this review might be slightly biased since I’m getting the chance to review one of my favorite bands. For years, I’ve been going to every one of their shows and I’ve never left disappointed. I go absolutely berzerker, singing along to every song and I usually get the shit kicked out of me. Sunday night’s show at Club Soda was no exception.

As usual, I arrived to the venue late, and I caught the end of The Bottom Line’s set. Although they did have great presence mixed with upbeat stage banter, the band was forgettable. They basically sounded like a middle of the road Drive Thru Records band. If you’re over 18 years of age, you’ve probably outgrown most of these poppy whiny New Found Glory-esque bands by now. Sugary and sweet, they attract the younguns and their appeal wears off once you’ve listened to better punk music… or real punk music.

Actually, it wears off when you lose your virginity. There, I said it.

Enough hatin’. Those guys aren’t even on Drive Thru! After their set, I gave all my personal belongings to my hottie friend Amelie, so I could get into that pit for Goldfinger. Five minutes later, I realized that their was ANOTHER band playing.

GODDAMMIT ! I am here to see Gold-fucking-FINGER! I don’t give a FUCK about opening bands! To be fair, The Black Maria did put on a pretty damn good set. I did feel a little sketch when I saw them get onstage; I had a feeling I’d be seeing another one of those lame-O screamo/emo/hardcore/douchebag bands. You know, the kind who talk big and tough about slitting wrists and suicide, then you see their 100-pound bassist wearing cosmetics and sucking in his cheeks like a guy who ate a sourball. The Black Maria were entertaining, like a harder version of The Used -- they do lie somewhere on the brighter side of that whole screamo scene. The difference with The Black Maria was that I was almost able to decipher what they were saying on stage, something that doesn’t really happen with a lot of crappy nu-punk hardcore bands. I’d have to say that they’re one of the better Victory Records bands out there. For example:

Catch 22 & Voodoo Glow Skulls… GOOD
Atreyu & Hawthorne Heights… BAD

Waiting for Goldfinger was like waiting for porn to upload on your computer in 1997. The wait was well worth it, even though there was no naked Posh Spice at the end of the spectacle. Yeah, you heard me.

"The Final Countdown" was blasted over the speakers as Goldfinger took to the stage. Greeted with insane cheers from the eager audience, they surprised even me when they came out playing "I’m Down" as the opener to their set.

”I’M DOWN, AND YOU’RE KILLING ME… I’M DOWN, BUT STILL YOU MEAN NOTHING TO ME!”

It’s as if everyone knew every word to every song being played, with each song being a personal favorite for someone or other in the audience, from the poppy ex-girlfriend ranting of “Counting The Days” to the anger-fuelled madness of the song “Question”.

”YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT PAIN IS,
YOU HAVEN’T SUFFERED ONE IOTA SO JUST STOP YOUR WHINING,
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT PAIN IS…
STOP COMPLAINING POINT YOUR FINGER, I’LL TELL YA WHO TO BLAME”

A few times during the song, John Feldmann jumped into the crowd and sang while crowd surfing. He did it a few more times during the show, to the audience’s delight. While playing “Open Your Eyes”, Feldmann got onto one of the giant speakers 15-20 feet high, and jumped into the crowd just as the peak of the song hit. An impressive feat, considering John Feldmann & co. have been touring rigorously throughout the past ten years. It seems as if no one has ever seen a bad Goldfinger performance. Sunday’s show was supposed to be played at Montreal’s Metropolis, which holds about 2500 people. Instead, the show was moved to Club Soda down the street, which is considerably smaller. You wonder how a band might react after such a change in venues. It didn’t seem to affect them one bit; all the energy, all the fun and all the excitement of a punk rock show was displayed during their amazing 16-song set, which featured mostly older songs. This did surprise me since I thought they were touring in support of their newest album Disconnection Notice. They also did just release a greatest hits CD/DVD package not too long ago. It doesn’t really matter, because it didn’t really seem like they were there to promote anything.

The only thing that did bother me was the overzealous attitude the boys in Goldfinger have towards a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. For people who don’t know, John Feldmann and the Goldfinger crew believe strongly in animal rights, and have been large advocates for a vegetarian lifestyle for quite some time now. This doesn’t bother me that much, since I am against animal cruelty, fur and all that kind of stuff. However, a vegetarian lifestyle is not for everyone, especially for a guy who’s part of an Italian family, and has a father that loves hunting.

Asides from the veggie propaganda that laced each and every Goldfinger show, the spectacle was just too amazing for words. The high point of the show was when Feldmann invited fans on stage to sing along to their classic “Mable”. This has always been a Goldfinger tradition, and boy is it a great one. Yours truly got onstage, sang along and went totally nuts. Then, I performed a totally botched stage dive after the song. Yeah, I still ache all over.

I walked out of the show covered in sweat with no voice, holding onto half a drum stick with my dear life. My co-host Spanky G made off with a drum cover, so we proceeded to play with them once we left the stage area. During their last show, we each made off with a setlist autographed by the entire band, something I have hanging on my wall of fame. This time, I’ll just have to settle with a jagged piece of wood.

Great show, as always. I’m not all that surprised.

[Tune in to The Lonesome Strangers Tuesdays 12pm – 2pm]