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By Idle Matt - Idel Minds - 04/11/2007

In the summer of 1989, while on vacation with my family in the States, I caught the video for Faith No More's "Epic" on MTV (when they actually used to play videos). From that moment on, I was a fan of not only the band, but especially of their talented and versatile -- and possibly slightly insane -- lead singer Mike Patton. I've followed Patton throughout his career and various projects: Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk and now his latest project entitled Peeping Tom.

Admittedly, Peeping Tom does not rank very high in my list of Patton-related bands; I've listened to the album a few times, but it never caught me. Although his vocals are great, the songs just don't hold up after repeated listening. However, fellow Idle Mind Sandré saw Peeping Tom the last time they rolled into town in 2006, and raved about it. So when the opportunity came up to review the show, I jumped at the chance.

I caught the last two songs of opener Pigeon John, and was actually quite impressed. The last song "Weight of the World" was an incredibly catchy hip-hop song with a great chorus -- one of those songs you would guiltily enjoy if you heard it on Top 40 Pop radio.

Speaking of which, Peeping Tom is purportedly Mike Patton's attempt to make a "Pop" record. Besides a few hip-hop/rap elements thrown into the mix, there's no way this would get played on Top 40 radio.

The show started with guest DJ Dan The Automator playing some atmospheric sounds on his turntables. Patton walks out, escorting vocalist Imani Coppola, and looking stylish/pimpin' in his suit, slicked back hair and hairnet. As a side note, Peeping Tom branded hairnets were on sale at the merch table, along with Peeping Tom branded binoculars, panties and mouse pads!

I really enjoyed the first half of the show; watching Mike Patton perform his vocal gymnastics is always a treat, switching between smooth crooning, screaming, and vocal sound effects. Considering they only had one album of material to play, the show was padded by solo performances by the guest musicians. The absolute highlight of the show was watching vocalist/human beatbox Butterscotch do her thing alone on stage. I have never heard anyone do the human beatbox as well as she did, or be able to sing a song while also providing the beat. Amazing.

However, about halfway through the set, I honestly began to get bored. As they did on the album, the songs performed live just didn't do it for me, and started sounding the same after a while. The rhythm section, Brooklyn-based The Dub Trio, performed a very underwhelming punk/metal instrumental song as their solo section. I've heard that they're usually quite good, but they did nothing for me on this particular night.

The most surprising thing for me was how much I didn't enjoy the banter. When Patton wants to, he can be incredibly funny. On this night, he started grating on my nerves after four or five songs. There's only so many times someone should ask "are you having good time Montreal???". The crowd answered you the first time, give it up. Also, his rap persona that he's donned for Peeping Tom is just not that entertaining to me, although I did like the fact that he wore a -- I believe -- fake bullet-proof vest for most of the show. Also, pouring some liquor on the ground in honour of the soon-to-be-departed Spectrum concert venue was pretty funny, in a bittersweet kind of way (I'm really going to miss the Spectrum. Good times.)

I was also a little disappointed that Dan The Automator didn't solo on the turntables. In the scheme of things, it wasn't the worst concert I've been too -- Arctic Monkeys have that honour) -- but if I had to sum it up in one word, it'd be "meh". It just didn't move me as a concert should. On the other hand, I do now have that hairnet I always wanted.

[Tune in to Idle Minds Mondays from 9pm to 10pm, for the best in punk... and stuff.]

By Katie Seline - Wrong Side of the Bed - 04/17/2007

There was something special about what would probably be the last show that I would see at the Spectrum. With my favourite venue scheduled to close its doors to be turned into a Best Buy or something equally atrocious, I think I could have gone to see any band and loved it. The Annuals, Walkmen and Kaiser Chiefs show may not have been spectacular, but it felt good to be back in a place that, in a way, I grew up in and to be able to say goodbye to it for the last time.

I’m usually late for shows and generally miss the first band, especially if there are three in the line-up. This time, however, because of the late scheduling of my interview with Matt Barrick from The Walkmen, I was able to catch the opening act The Annuals. This band absolutely blew me away. I had never heard of them before and completely overlooked them in the line-up, but was pleasantly surprised when they took the stage. Armed with about six or seven band members and two full drum kits with various other drums scattered between members, The Annuals packed a big punch. Their sound reminded me a lot of The Doves but louder, mixed in with The Music but better. Each band member added their own powerful dynamic and it seemed as though none of them were older than nineteen. The only downside to this band was that when I scoped out their stuff on the net, nothing I found compared to what I saw at the show. This is definitely a band to see live. For a close approximation to how powerful their sound was, check out "Brother" from their album Be He Me.

In all honesty, I was weary about The Walkmen’s set. I saw them in the fall last year during the CMJ Music Marathon in New York when they played at New York University and was less than impressed. This was disappointing because I had heard how amazing they were live from many people. At first it seemed that this show would have the same fate as the sound in the beginning of the set was less than perfect; however as everyone seemed to get used to each other, the band completely redeemed themselves. Oddly enough -- and I am not saying this because I met the guy -- Barrick is one of the best performing drummers I think I have ever seen. It was impressive to see him do his thing and you could hear others in the crowd commenting on this as well. I get a huge kick out of the fact that this band still plays on incredibly beaten up equipment but still manages to sound amazing. I am thrilled that they sounded amazing in the first place considering my past experience with them. Word on the street is that they’ve sold one of their songs to the new Spider Man movie soundtrack, which is sort of sad despite the fact that this band is no stranger to licensing their stuff to commercial television and film, but other than maybe "The Rat" and one or two others, this song was by far one of the best ones they played. All of the new stuff sounded amazing, which hopefully will mean a fabulous new album on par with Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone and Bows + Arrows.

Last but not least, the Kaiser Chiefs took the stage. If you like what the Kaiser Chiefs do, they do it really well. I unfortunately really am not into what they do so their set didn’t do much for me. I am a sucker for a base drum and a synthesizer or a good hook so I enjoyed such numbers as "Na Na Na Na Na" but that’s pretty much where it ended. The kids had a good time and the band put on a good set. Frontman Ricky Wilson reminded me a lot of Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav in the way he interacted with the crowd and his general stage presence. That’s pretty much where the comparison ended. I didn’t stick around for the whole set but like I said, if you like them, they do their job well. Their fans seemed to eat it all up and love it.

P.S. You know you are getting old when you can’t remember the last time you went to a show where the kids are jumping up and down. I need to get out more.

[Wrong Side Of The Bed airs every Wednesday from 5 to 7 PM only on CJLO. Also be sure to tune in this week, April 25th to catch Katie’s interview with Matt Barrick of The Walkmen.]

By Johnny Suck - Turn Down the Suck - 03/20/2007

A sold-out Medley played host to Lamb of God, Trivium and Machine Head -- Gojira were there too, but nobody cares about them. It's a shame that it was at the Medley; actually it's a shame that all larger metal shows are at the Medley, as it's pretty much the worst venue in the city -- but that's a rant for another day...

Walking in during Machine Head's set, it was surprising to see how much the crowd was into them. It turns out that they haven't been completely forgotten and left behind, as maybe you would have thought. Good for them.

Trivium took the stage after some ridiculously long intro music. I guess no one bothered to tell them that they weren't headlining. Their first song was a straight-up Metallica rip-off, which I guess is better than if they played a straight-up Trivium song. Nastiness aside, I find this band to be completely directionless. They obviously want to be huge, but it seems that they just don't know how to do it. Still, the cheering fans and the horde of Trivium T-shirts indicated that they must be doing something right. One thing that I will give them credit for is their interaction with the audience. The last time I reviewed them, I criticized their Rock Star attitudes. I still stand by that but I will say that at least they are making an effort and they deserve some points for it. Despite my leanings towards the 'shut up and play' school of thought, I realize what they are trying to do and what they are accomplishing. There were certainly some kids who felt a real connection with their favourite band, and ended up having the night of their lives because of it.

My concert-going buddy, a big LoG fan, suggested that Lamb of God is a band that only really needs to be seen once. After you've seen them for the first time, they don't really bring anything new to the table and they don't really do anything that needs to be seen over and over again. Personally, I was looking forward to seeing them more this time than the first time I had seen them, partly because I ended up liking them quite a bit that time and partly because they now have "Redneck" as part of their repertoire, a song that is far better than anything else that they have ever written. Well, "Redneck" ended up being completely butchered and my prior "hey, that was better than I was expecting!" reaction was replaced by "hmmm, yeah, I guess that was on par with last time". So while Lamb of God was solid, they were nothing special. They didn't step up and unlike, say, Trivium, they didn’t even try to step up. Besides Lamb of God's redundancy, some notable tidbits: the way Randy Blythe stalks the stage is very effective, the let's - use - so - much - smoke - that - nobody - will - be - able - to - see - anything technique isn't effective at all, and Randy mistakenly/jokingly calling the crowd Toronto and being met by a sea of boos was hilarious.

Highlight: Sorry, but I'm not going to say. I like to pretend that I have some class. Not much, but some, so I'm going to keep this one to myself

Highlight #2: Nope, I can't tell you this one either, it's not something that can be officially endorsed in a CJLO review.

Highlight #3: Post-show, when people were milling around the coat check area, some kid's mom walks in and tells a security guard that she's here to pick up her son. The guard shouts out over the din, "Billy! Your mom's here!!" Everyone around laughed. Good times.

[This is a motherfuckin' invitation to tune into Turn Down The Suck.]

By Katie Seline - Wrong Side of the Bed - 03/30/2007

It seems lately like every time I go to see a show at Metropolis, something ridiculous happens. I am going to make no effort to hide the fact that I hate this venue, namely because it allows for a much higher population of concert goers who couldn’t give a hoot about the band or the people around them per capita compared to some of the smaller, more pleasant venues around Montreal. But I digress.

After getting cigarettes flicked on me from the upper balcony at Interpol, almost getting in a fight with a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey-wearing guy at the last Tragically Hip and constantly trying to push my way away from loud, screaming, obnoxious fourteen-year-old girls at every show I’ve ever been to at Metropolis -- namely in order to avoid getting their beer spilled all over me as they jump around taking photos of each other -- I finally encountered the ultimate stupidity: couple who stand in front of a girl in a wheelchair and refuse to move. To top this, the bouncer didn’t even bother to make them move, just shrugged his shoulders and walked away. I miss the Spectrum already.

Anyway, on to talking about the music. I reviewed Snow Patrol not too long ago so you can check out my love for them (no I’m not joking) here. Their headlining set was basically the same, but this time a little louder, a little stronger and with probably the best light show I’ve seen in a long time. I was standing just above the lighting guys and I think I was more fascinated by them than I was by the band. Also cool: for their performance of "Set Fire To The Third Bar", a song performed with Montreal native Martha Wainwright, the band decided to pull up a fan from the audience to sing the song with them. I would have preferred Martha Wainwright but alas for the second time, she was absent. The first girl frontman Gary Lightbody pulled up onto the stage was all mic'ed up and ready to go before she bothered to tell anyone that she not only didn’t know the words, but also didn’t know the song at all. Round Two saw the presence of a girl who was a huge fan and a great singer to boot. Great success.

All around, Snow Patrol’s set was solid and powerful and worth it just to see all the silly little girls whip out their cell phones and digital cameras for the performance of "Chasing Cars", creating a sea of lights throughout the packed venue. I also managed to meet Lightbody after the show and turns out he’s a pretty righteous guy. He took the times to sign autographs and talk to the fans, which was cool for a band that’s made it so big and constantly has to fend off cougars -- I wish I was joking but there were about seven hanging around waiting for him -- and fourteen-year-old girls and their obedient boyfriends.

OK Go were the second opener to perform and this was also the second time that I had seen them. The band seems much better suited for bigger shows with their energy level shifting upward exponentially, considering the number of people in the crowd. They’re a fun band to watch even if their music bores me just a little bit. I was disappointed however at the lack of treadmills or choreographed dance routines.

The band I was really there to see were openers Silversun Pickups. Their last album Carnivas was my favourite of 2006 and they blew me away when I saw them at CMJ Music Marathon in New York. Unfortunately, it would seem that they are a band that fits better with smaller venues in contrast to OK Go. It almost felt as if Metropolis completely ate up their sound and their energy. Something was missing from their set and I know now that it is the intimacy of a smaller venue and the feeling that this band is just yours. It was kind of cool to see all the little girls shouting for Nikki Monninger every time she came back on stage to clean up her gear after her set. It was nice to know that the band is making it big even if it meant that I was sharing them with a bunch of kids who only knew about them from their stint on The O.C. Watching all the girls scream for Monninger sort of made me smile a bit knowing that maybe a few of these girls would discover more non-commercial music and maybe even take up guitar and join a band.

[Tune in to Wrong Side Of The Bed every Wednesday from 5pm to 7pm.]