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By Jackie Hall - Bridge the Gap - 08/05/2008

Who needs to see Rancid two nights in a row?  Apparently, lots of people do. As H2O played their set on night two, their frontman, Toby Morse, asked the crowd, “Who here saw Sick of It All open last night”? His response back from the crowd was a roar loud enough to make it known that at least half of the audience on night two had been at the Metropolis the night before. I was one of those dorks yelling at the question to prove that I was a true Rancid fan like half of the crowd. The funny thing is is that I was there more for both of the openers.

Night One: August 5th

The Brains took to the stage at 8pm sharp. The Montreal psychobilly trio generally play to a crowd of no more than one hundred people. On this night, they played to a sold out crowd at the Metropolis, although the venue was a little over half full during their set. No matter, the crowd ate them up, as most of the kids in the crowd were no more than 18 years old and therefore, very open to new bands. I myself was surprised at the quality of their set (I’ve only ever seen The Brains at venues like Café Chaos). The sound at the Metropolis made them sound better live than they do on record. Rene Garcia’s voice was so smooth and deep during songs like “More Brains” that I felt like I had been ripped off every other time I’ve seen them, as this was surely how they were supposed to sound live.

At 8:45pm New York hardcore legends, Sick of It All took to the stage.  I had interviewed the singer prior to their set and already had an idea of some of the songs they would play. For those of you into hardcore, SOIA is probably the best band you could ever see. Even after 20 years of steady touring, these guys have got it. The energy in the air is so thick you could slice it with a knife. The only thing damping the parade is that stupid barricade at the front creating a divide between the band and the audience. The best way to see these guys is with a stage of the right size for stage diving, truly.  However, I’m still far from being disappointed, so much so that I barely notice that my body is beaten and bruised.

Next up is Rancid. I’ve only seen them once before at Vans Warped Tour in 1998. I loved this band at that age, and left that show feeling ripped off that they had only played a 30-minute set. Well I obviously don’t have the same enthusiasm I did a decade ago, but I still enjoyed the majority of the set. Almost half of the songs were off of And Out Come the Wolves, which is my second favorite release of theirs after Let’s Go. The problem with the setlist was that half of the crowd was too young to know this album well, or like my pestering better half, too old to have really gotten into it.  So while I was partying my butt off, my conjoint insisted that we take off soon ‘cause he was bored.

Needless to say, mixed reviews on this one, depending on whether you are a fan of the band’s third full length or not. Highlight of the night: Matt Freeman’s bass solo during “Maxwell Murder.” This solo on the album is amazing; the live extended version was so exciting I felt I wanted to marry the man just so he could teach me to be half as good as he is.

Night Two: August 6

I had been hoping my father would be coming with me to this show. He loves Rancid,  but he doesn’t want to come because he says he’ll feel like everyone is staring at him because he’s old. My father is in his mid-fifties, and I think it’s awesome that he loves punk rock; most people’s dads are boring old fuddy-duddies. Oh well, I must write this review alone.

I missed the opening act, the Alley Dukes. They are a local rockabilly band that has announced that this will be their last show, thankfully. All of their songs are written in a style typical of a teenage premature ejaculator, with every tune named after a female body part or sexual act. They were funny the first time I saw them at Murphy’s Pub (now O’Hara’s on University street), and even then the first few songs were funny but I was bored after half an hour. I was not going to put myself through that again.

H2O’s turn. Another New York City act, belonging to the NYHC family, but with a very different sound. I think they have that early to mid-nineties California sound, but they define themselves as having a more eighties Washington DC sound, like Dag Nasty. It is a bit the same scenario as the night before; a lot of kids didn’t know this band, but accepted them with open arms. I was happy that they played a lot of their older stuff that I knew.  They just released a new album on Bridge 9 Records in May, and I was certain that their setlist would consist mainly of songs unknown to me, but it seems they’ll be saving that setlist for their upcoming headlining tour. They were awesome, tight, and full of energy. However, I’m impartial. I am a SOIA fan and had spent all my energy the night before, so I had little left to give to Toby and his gang.

Once their set was done we ran into some buddies who run the Hardtimes.ca site.  If you like hardcore or metal and haven’t heard of the site, I suggest you check it out. They’ve only been up and running since January, and already have over 100 interviews and live clips on there that they’ve filmed (including a ten-minute clip of the H2O set from this show). Anyway, we compared notes on the interviews that we both had with the band and realized we were all too old and tired to handle another late night, so we went home.  I was sure that Rancid would be playing pretty much the same set again. I’ve heard that they mixed it up a little more, but I cannot contribute any first-hand knowledge to this end.

All I can say is that for $20 a night, it was still worthwhile to go out to both nights. The openers were great, the headlining act was great if you dig every album they’ve ever done, and the ambiance was fabulous.

Tune in to Bridge The Gap with Jackie every Tuesday from 8pm – 10pm

By Döc Holidæ - Phantastiq Cypha - 07/22/2008

“Ether.” It was all I could think about as I made my way to the Nas concert. Would Nas spit the track that some called be best diss track ever written? Now that Nas and Jay-Z have put their dislike for each other behind them and have even collaborated on tracks together, it was safe to say he wouldn’t go there…or would he?

Let’s start from the beginning of the evening though. I got to Metropolis at exactly 8pm (when the show was suppose to start). Lucky for me, two guys were break dancing on the floor and drew attention away from the stage. I snuck my way to the front, bumped into my friend Roberto and we found ourselves dead center of the stage.

After an hour of nothing, a young, shy looking DJ took the stage and started to set up his laptop and turntables. He started to scratch, then Jay Electronica jumped on at 9.05. I was annoyed; this was the second show in a month that I went to that was running a lot later than it should have been, but Jay held it down. I’ve never heard any of his stuff but I can easily say I liked his performance. The first thing he did was throw his cane into the crowd, and people went crazy. He continued to make dedications to NY’s finest, dropping a Biggie verse and spitting a few Nas lines. His performance wasn’t only good, it was smart. He spoke to the crowd, jumped down to get close to the front row, and did everything to help the crowd forget the long wait. I say that because by the time he left the stage, I completely forgot that the show started an hour late.

After another twenty-minute wait, we we’re graced with the presence of Talib Kweli. Now. I know a lot of people who only went to the show for Kweli, which I can understand because personally, I’m a bigger fan of Talib Kweli than Nas. He performed numerous tracks from almost all his albums and collaborations. If you ask me, take a verse from “Definition” off of Black Star, sprinkle a little of  “Move Somethin” from Reflection Eternal, add some “Get By” from the Quality and top it off with “Hot Thing” from Eardrum, and you have the perfect performance. Kweli joked about losing his voice a few tracks in because we had him so hyped up. Trust me -- we were only giving back what he gave us.

As Kweli left the stagem the girls that were standing in front of us decided to head upstairs to look for seats. Roberto and I moved forward and waited patiently for Nas to take the stage. The wait was a little long but when he did get on he was well received. While I was a bigger Talib Kweli fan and still hadn’t heard Nas’ new album, I was anxious to hear some of the tracks. As he introduced the song “Sly Fox,” he spoke about his dislike for FOX News and Bill O’Reilly much to the pleasure of the crowd. He went on to perform “N.I.G.G.E.R.,” “Black President” and “Breath” from his latest release, Untitled. If these songs are just the tip of what that whole album is like, I’m definitely going to buy a copy. For those who love the older stuff, Nas dropped “Got Urself A,” “Made You Look” and “Life’s a Bitch” from Illmatic. Each and every song was delivered with more energy, building up right to the end, when the crowd started chanting for “Ether”…which brings me back to the beginning. Would he spit the track that some called the best diss track ever written? Regrettably no. Knowing that the battle with Jay-Z was behind him, Nas opted to not perform it, but instead gave us an extended set with some freestyle tracks.

I forgot to mention that his tour DJ was none other than DJ Green Lantern. In one night, I saw Talib Kweli, Green Lantern, Nas and was introduced to Jay Electronica -- definitely a concert worth seeing. If you’re reading this and they haven’t been to your city yet, go get your tickets now.

Tune in to Phantastiq Cypha with Brian every Friday from 9am-12pm

By Adrian - Eclectricity - 03/09/2008

KRS-One’s 1994 Montreal concert is the greatest concert experience of my life. With the exception of The Roots or Femi Kuti, no concert, hip-hop or otherwise, has managed to dethrone KRS' impact on me. Not even his 1997 Montreal concert could top that night. Since 1997, there have been a lot of changes on my part. Nothing is stagnant. Things change for better or worse. My views on hip-hop music and concerts have changed. KRS' Montreal concerts have obviously changed as well, bringing us to March 9, 2008 at National.

When I learned of KRS' Montreal date, I was leery. I didn't want anything to ruin my already high esteem of him and that 1994 night. There was a strong turn out that Sunday night despite the weekend's snow storm. One realized that the night was going to be memorable judging by the crowd's reaction to "MCs Act Like They Don't Know," one of his set's earliest tracks. To see the icon performing live in front of you is worth the cost of admission. After the initial moment of being star struck wore off, I prepared myself for what was to come.

The night was filled with highs and lows. Among the lows were factors within and outside of KRS' control. Never have I heard a performer comment about technical difficulties as much as I did that night. He couldn't get the lights turned down when needed, he occasionally asked if he was being heard, and he could not get anyone to turn off the air-conditioning. There was an overall feeling that this concert was makeshift and nearly did not take place. It is not certain whether there was a communication breakdown due to language barrier, but one could feel there may not have been a lot of preparation for the night.

I noticed a trend with KRS Montreal concerts that stems from 1997. Unlike the 1994 concert where he was the central figure on stage, in 1997 he brought more people on stage with him including BDP members and breakdancers. In the beginning of the show, he was the sole figure on stage aside from the DJs, but by the middle to the end, it was a free-for-all. He asked audience members to come onstage and dance. Within moments, he had a scene from "Step Up" or "You Got Served" going on. That was interesting but suspect at the same time. Next, he invited audience members to go on stage and rhyme while he drew on blank white t-shirts and shot them into the crowd. That moment looked like 8 Mile onstage. Was all this filler or planned? On one hand, I felt that he was recreating a Bronx block party on stage, but on the other I was wondering if he was saving his energy for a bigger venue the next night. The jury is still out on that issue.

Still, KRS is such a seasoned performer that he overcame any difficulties he may have had on stage. Something that was difficult to accept was his sampler style presentation of his music. With over twenty years of material, he is not expected to perform all his songs in one night. The problem was that one verse of each song is not enough KRS. Few MCs have the charisma and stage presence of KRS. I know that, the audience knows that, and most importantly, he knows that. When you add the technical problems and relatively limited time on stage, you get the feeling you were lucky to see him that night.

A lot has changed for me, KRS and his Montreal concerts since 1994. I had the privilege of attending the greatest concert of my life and he was a major factor for that night being so memorable. Perhaps some people in the audience at Le National thought that was the greatest concert of their life. One thing is undeniable. KRS has what it takes to make any performance memorable. Thanks for '94 Kris.

Tune in to Eclectricity with Adrian every Sunday from 2pm - 4pm

By Andrij Radio (aka DJ Dreeko) - West African Hour - 07/15/2008

Black Umfolosi are an a capella group that hail from Zimbabwe. With five members, all incredible singers, the band’s style is similar to Ladysmith Black Mambazo with rich and warm harmonies. They also love to dance, and so they entertained the crowd at Le National with their various dance styles. Besides the music and the dancing, thes show also had another great virtue: the engaging presence of the band.  I’ve seen a lot of shows lately, at the Jazz Fest and at Nuits D’Afrique, and Black Umfolosi standout as the group that I saw which was most successful in developing a warm and intimate rapport with the audience. They talked of their homeland and of Montreal, and were extremely funny when they danced and sang, describing and imitating, through movement, humorous situations. Most groups see it as pivotal to establish a connection with the audience, and sometimes their efforts, and the audiences, can seem a little forced. But not so with Black Umfolosi, who seemed very natural and authentic in their affection. Their music, which featured strong voices surrounded by silence, encouraged a sense of intimacy.

Black Umfolosi started their set with a song about a steam train, acting out the movements of being on a train (including the conductor’s steam whistle pulling) and thus producing some very martial-arts style dancing. They followed this with a haunting song filled with sadness and hope about being alone in the darkness and crying all night, and being rescued by the love of friends. The lights on the stage were very dim, and you couldn’t see their faces, giving the song a very mysterious feeling. They then sang a song about Zimbabwe and it became apparent by some of the jubilant cries that went out that they weren’t the only people from there. They encouraged people to dance, saying it didn’t matter what style we danced, and then they made fun of the crowd, saying the Montreal way to dance was to cross one’s arms and tap one’s foot. I thought that was pretty funny, and I’m sure in Zimbabwe the crowd reacts a lot more physically, but their music really didn’t strike me as dancy at all, so I just danced in the Montreal style. Then they sang the old national anthem of Zimbabwe, to more cries of excitement from the Zimbabweans in the audience. When they announced a song about flirting with a woman, I noticed a fair number of women getting excited around me.

After a brief interlude, the band sang a song about summer, and each member of the group took a turn at center stage and danced in his own fashion. The crowd went wild for their dancing and the humour they conveyed through it. After this came a number of songs with interesting lyrics, speaking of parties in Zimbabwe, orphan lives and the instability of the current political scene. Starting to wrap things up, they bust out “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” encouraging everyone to sing, and I was happy to oblige (it was my favorite song as a child). Just when I thought it was about to end, the group busted out some gumboot dancing, which is and amazing dance style similar to tap except with gumboots being slapped by ones hands to create a rhythm. They were all decked out in coal miner suits, since the gumboot evolved from coal miners in South Africa who would dance along to the work songs they’d chant.

All in all, it was a great show, and although the music was not very energetic, the onstage presence of the group was as good as onstage presence can be, with the dancing bringing a lively feel to the night. Black Umfolosi is not the kind of group you would see for dancing or partying, but a great band to sit back and appreciate on a more reflective, spectator level. I also noticed that the ladies went wild when the performers took their shirts off and I wondered if this was like the South African equivalent of a boy band. Five guys who just sing and do choreographed dancing together…Sound familiar?

Check out Andrij on the West African Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm