Of all the musical pairings I've seen on Montreal stages these past few years, not many have been as inspired as this one: a collision of two of Canada's most enduring punk bands, both of whom have a penchant for twisted humor and social commentary - and surprisingly labyrinthine tunes. With the unenviable task of opening up for two long-standing punk institutions, locals Grand Trine did the sensible thing: they kept it short.

Now let me just start this review by saying I was slightly worried while going in to the latest Montreal appearance from Manitoba’s Propagandhi (and that worry had nothing to do with the overzealous bouncer at Club Soda taking the batteries out of my portable recorder for fear that I would bootleg the show…although I was then half inclined to go buy new batteries and bootleg it on principle…but that’s neither here nor there.) Rather, in the months leading up to the show I experienced the following interaction more times than I can count with dudes

The constant, hours-long rain spell that befell Montreal did little to dampen the spirits of those who showed up for the Riverboat Gamblers/Rancid/Rise Against show at Parc Jean Drapeau, on Ile St. Helene. The crowd appeared to be predominantly youthful and seemed eager for the proceedings to start and jockeyed for position in front of the stage well before the start of the show.

My admirably apt associate summed up the Warped Tour 2009 experience pretty well, so I won’t bore you with a second recounting of the day’s events. I also won’t bother with the obligatory “this was my sixth and last Warped Tour because I am OLD” spiel that encapsulated my reviews of the last two years of everyone’s favorite summer cash suck.

Around mid-to-late 2007, Florida’s own Against Me! were burning up the charts and landing on seemingly everybody and their mother’s “Best of 2007” lists with their major label debut New Wave. This sudden hotness of Florida’s folk-punk elite inevitably resulted in many assumptions (or accusations, depending on who you ask) as to who “the next Against Me!” would be. The forerunners of this ham-fisted contest were undeniably New Jersey’s The Gaslight Anthem and their fellow Floridians Fake Problems (and Texas’ O Pioneers who, despite being the closest to AM!