Truck Violence Signs Off An Explosive Night At Traxide

When you plan to go see a concert you probably follow the usual formula of buying your tickets in advance online, looking up the venue the same day of the event, and pulling up early to save your spot in line. Traxide, however, is not this kind of venue. 

Just trying to find out the address for Traxide can prove to be difficult for first-time attendees since, well, there is no address! They function on a strict ”Ask a Punk” basis where the only way of finding the place is by being involved in and knowing others in the community. That might sound like a hassle that many would rather not go through, but I think anyone who stepped foot into Traxide last Saturday to see Truck Violence headlining alongside The Potholes, Empty Nesters, and Jetsam would agree in saying that when it comes to seeing electrifying punk crowds and outstanding up and coming punk and metal acts in Montreal, it doesn’t get much better than Traxide.

The Potholes, who came in as a last-minute addition to the bill, started the night off by offering some fantastic surfy guitar riffs that instantly got the crowd moving and excited. While they definitely stood out compared to their fellow hardcore bands on the card by being a surf rock band, they certainly pulled no punches in their energy, playing some punchy new originals and ending their set with a cover of the classic Mexican folk song “La Bamba”, creating one of the silliest but fun moshes of the night.

Empty Nesters followed suit bringing in a much more raw hardcore sound compared to the usual shoegaze sound that I remembered them having when I had last seen them months prior. They completely shifted the tone for the night with some beefy and driven bass tones that got the whole crowd pumped up with each track feeling effortlessly catchy. Until their very last song, they kept up this relentless energy while not shying away from showing their experimentation by marking off their set with their guitarist even playing his guitar with a violin bow.

Jetsam are slowly cementing themselves as one of my favourite acts in Montreal that I recommend seeing live whenever you get the chance. Being only a 3-piece, It’s honestly fascinating how they’re still able to produce so much noise every single time they hit the stage. From the very first song they came with relentless intensity, echoed by their lead vocalist Jack making sure to include powerful statements in their set regarding social issues such as queer rights and prison abolition in North America, putting themselves at the forefront of showing to everyone what it means to be in the Montreal punk scene and why everyone should be following their example.

The night was to end with headliners Truck Violence who, in the past few months, have been setting the punk scene alight with their heavy sound and energetic presence on stage and luckily for concertgoers they did not disappoint on this expectation they've set for themselves. Their energy showed off some of the best of what Traxide has to offer with huge open moshes and audience members diving into the crowd from the second floor while their vocalist bled his emotions into the mic, delivering punching vocals reminiscent of a Show Me the Body show. Their set concluded with the band members, and even some concertgoers, jumping into the drumset, capping off another huge performance ahead of their sophomore album releasing within the next month.