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By Mike Bresciani - The Lonesome Strangers - 07/19/2006

Peaches, featuring Eagles Of Death Metal?

Nope, I really didn’t see that one coming. Although they have each released albums with spicy titles such as Impeach My Bush and Death By Sexy respectively, this unlikely live combination seems just about as obvious (natural) as maple syrup and fish sticks… cucumber/earmuffs… Yanni and Garfunkel.

Even with the improbable pairing, there was no shortage of entertainment on and off the stage. Where else but at a Peaches show would you be able to see women in full-out dominatrix outfits (Editor's note: Um...)? This was without a doubt one of the sexiest crowds I’d ever been a part of, as there were wall-to-wall women seemingly pulled straight from those over-the-top American Apparel ads. You know, the ones popularizing ass cleavage? God I love them.

What’s even more impressive is that frontman Jesse Hughes noticed. More often than not, performers will play to the audience’s lowest common denominator in an effort to bond with its flock. Now although he might’ve re-iterated the need to “rock” one too many times, he was bang-on with one thing: “this was definitely the sexiest audience he had seen so far”. His band might not be the sexiest of the lot, but they sure as hell put on a fantastic show. With two solid albums in the tank, EODM should surely be known as one of the premiere new rock acts out there, instead of being known as a Josh Homme side project. Many fans were disappointed that he wasn’t touring with the band, as I’m sure his priorities with Queens Of The Stone Age and his new family might’ve kept him occupied.

This didn’t really matter since their opening performance was quite memorable. They played selections from both LPs, as well as a few covers that really caught the audience’s attention: “Beat On The Brat”, “Stuck In The Metal” and “Brown Sugar”, three reasonably well-known rock songs played to perfection. One would be used to seeing bands playing the most obscure of cover songs, but the choices helped provide this sort of all-inclusive mentality to the show. It gave people a chance to get acquainted with some classics, as well as some of their own goodies such as “Cherry Cola”, “I Want You So Hard” and “Speak In Tongues”.

I’m just gonna come right out and say it: everybody should listen to Eagles Of Death Metal. The name might rub you the wrong way -- initially -- since it doesn’t really reflect their style of music. I guess it’s just the result of throwing Don Henley and Slayer into a blender.

Shortly after their fantastic set, the artist formerly known as Peaches took the stage -- or should I say balcony -- of the Metropolis. With several friends dragging me near the front end of the stage, I felt more and more like a voyeur, or better yet a poseur in the middle of all these freakishly beautiful people. Everyone was dancing around, and in all honesty, I am a hilariously terrible dancer. What’s even more terrifying is dancing to songs you’ve never heard before. But to be fair, I had listened to some of Peaches' material, although I myself have never come to appreciate the artist that so defiantly flips the tables on our misogynistic music community. Some rap musicians sing about bitches, pussy and gettin’ crizz-unked. I for one never really gave two shits. Now, we have Peaches giving us the same sort of shtick, kind of. Singing songs like “Tent In Your Pants” and “2 Boys For Every Girl” just reinforces that ultra-horny vibe she can set off, which isn’t such a bad thing. I might not be a fan of her music, but at least she’s got the ovarian fortitude to tell it like it is. According to the book of Peaches, women are just as horny as men, if not more so.

The show itself was quite entertaining, as Peaches would dance around onstage, losing more and more clothing as the night went by. She’s got the sexual energy of the Material Girl, with the appeal of Weird Al (sans moustache) in a bikini. Again, not the most amazing combination, but it was all I was able to think about during the show. There’s a definite resemblance, and now that you’ve heard it, don’t tell me otherwise. That being said, the entertainment was certainly a big reason many enjoyed the show. Truthfully, how many times will you get to see someone perform CPR to a giant inflatable dick? Also, nobody gyrates like Peaches does, and now that I’ve said it, I’d like to forget it. I’d also like to forget about the man who tried picking me up at the bar while using the extremely popular “dance your pants off” technique.

Next time I go to the bar, I’m going two-by-two with my bar buddy.

As for the musical content of the show, synth-heavy songs like “Shake Yer Dix” and “AA XXX” had the crowd following Peaches’ every move; however I preferred the selections that were played as a four-piece rock band, such as the obvious choice of “Rock Show”. The heavier power chord material got me thinking of my good ol’ Bikini Kill albums, as well as my other Riot Grrrl bands I’d come to enjoy. The Sleater-Kinney’s and the L7’s will always be more appealing to me as opposed to the amazingly filthy mouth of our homegrown hero.

"Fuck The Pain Away" was the last song I had witnessed, as I then decided to exit the venue. I had stayed much later than I had originally anticipated, mostly because the show was much more entertaining than I thought it would be. Peaches is an amazing entertainer and one can understand why she has such an amazing following. Her music just doesn’t do it for me, as it feels like too much of a novelty and less as an art form, but hey, that’s my opinion, so don’t shake yer dix at me!

In conclusion: I don’t like Peaches… I just like the girls… who like Peaches.

[Tune in to The Lonesome Strangers every Wednesday from 3pm to 5pm.]

By Johnny Suck - Turn Down the Suck - 07/12/2006

In my review of last year’s Sounds of The Underground, I had three major complaints against the festival. It was at a terrible venue, it started three hours late -- resulting in ridiculously short sets -- and the line-up was a mess. Luckily, all three of these issues were fixed when SotU made its return to Montreal on July 12th.

It was held at Metropolis, this city’s best big venue, instead of the terrible Stade Uniprix. It was coming from Toronto, so there were none of last years border problems, and was scheduled to start at 5:00 – which it did. And the line-up consisted of only seven bands instead of last year’s 16. Interestingly enough, Montreal, along with Las Vegas, had the fewest bands of all the dates on the tour; most cities have at least 12 bands playing. Bands that were on this leg of the tour but that didn’t play Montreal were Converge, Behemoth, The Chariot, Horse The Band, and Through The Eyes of The Dead.

Here are the bands that played:

• The Black Dahlia Murder were up first. The stage was clearly too big for them, a common problem at any festival, but they managed all right. I think they could have been more fun, but they still got a surprisingly decent crowd reaction. Actually, every single band went over better than I was expecting.

• Out of the seven bands, I was looking forward to 2.5 of them. Terror were the .5. They had really good energy, a solid stage presence and were pretty darn enjoyable -- if you didn’t think about it too much. To their benefit, and the festival’s detriment, they were the only hardcore band on the bill.

• “We aren’t here to teach you right from wrong. We’re here to smash your face in”. Ahhh… Cannibal Corpse, don’t you love them? Because, I sure don’t. They periodically sound like they’re on the verge of being good, but never quite make it. I need more groove in my death metal, but that’s just me. Just about everyone else in the crowd seemed to love them. To their credit, they had the best stage banter of the afternoon with their dedication of “Fucked With A Knife” to all the tittays in audience. Classic.

• Whereas Cannibal Corpse merely sing about certain things, Gwar actually get up on stage and do them (like cumming blood, for instance). They were the only band to return from last year and with good reason. Gwar were definitely the most important band of the day, as they helped keep things interesting. Their onstage antics of decapitation and ejaculation break up the monotony of endless calls for circle pits.

• Trivium kicked off the second half of the day, and boy did I hate them. I have no problem with bands that aren’t that good, but bands that get on stage thinking that they’re Metallica or Iron Maiden really get to me. I’ll admit that they sounded alright at times, but generally they were a mess in terms of both songs and sound. This band needs less rock star posing and more focus and tightness.

• Second headliner In Flames earned their spot with a quality show. They did pretty much everything right and almost made a fan out of me. They had just the right mix of performance and natural rocking out, and they really delivered that concert feel. Admittedly, the best part of their set was just watching people in the audience sing and gesture along. I realize that I also look like an idiot when singing along to my favourite band, but these people were just great. I think it’s due to In Flames’ particular mix of serious heaviness and pansy-ass melodies.

• To end the show, As I Lay Dying came out and smoked all the other bands on the bill. With the exception of Gwar’s visual entertainment, As I Lay Dying beat each band on all counts. How good were they? Good enough that if I didn’t suck at knowing lyrics, I would have been singing along to “Darkest Nights”, “Confined” and “Forever”. Yeah, they were that good. Give them one more album, resulting in a few more killer songs, and they should be unstoppable live.

  An interesting thing about As I Lay Dying is that they revealed how weak Trivium really were. Their songs actually work, their screams are actually powerful, their melodies are actually clean and catchy, their performance is actually tight, they actually know how to work a crowd, and they don’t come across as a bunch of dicks. In particular, AILD definitely lacked attitude. They pointed out how lucky they were to be such a young band headlining over the likes of Gwar, Cannibal Corpse and In Flames. They acknowledged how much fans paid to see them, and they appreciated it. They were just totally a class act in every way. My only real complaint is that the singer talked over the intro to “94 Hours” -- he should know better.

Only having these seven bands was definitely an improvement over last year’s 16, and was preferable to the 12 or 14 that played most cities. It was not quite the perfect number though; nine is probably the sweet spot. Throw on one more hardcore band and one other miscellaneous band and everything would be balanced just right.

Of course, a good festival is more than just the bands that played. In this respect, I think Sounds of The Underground was lacking. There was really nothing to give it that festival atmosphere. A proper festival should somehow feel special and this one didn’t. It just felt like a regular show with a lot of bands. It’s possible that the confines of Metropolis held back that festival feeling. If that was the case then fine, it’s an acceptable trade-off. It seems though that the organizers could have stepped up and done something to make Sounds of The Underground more than just another metal tour.

Overall, the second installment of Sounds of The Underground was a definite improvement over last year’s. Being at a decent venue was the main reason, although that may have only been happenstance due to the World Beach Volleyball tour taking over Stade Uniprix that week. Regardless of whether the venue change was intentional or not, it was for the better, even if it meant that certain bands did not play or that some atmosphere was missing. In Flames, Gwar and As I Lay Dying all played excellent sets. The crowd was very enthusiastic and appreciative, if a little sparse at the beginning and end of the day. And all in all, Sounds of The Underground 2006 – The Montreal Edition was a success.

[Tune in to Turn Down The Suck Mondays from 6-8pm.]

By Alex Huynh - Losing My Edge - 07/10/2006

Making their seemingly annual June visit to Montreal, Wilco stepped up to a feverish and slightly bro-tastic audience and after the two first songs, I had this review all written up. Kicking off with "The Late Greats", they seemed in great spirits but there was something too perfect in their rendition. I had maintained after last year's show that we will look back at their A Ghost Is Born tour (yeah, which one?) as their peak, as after years of well-documented turmoil inside and outside of the band, the addition of multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone and of course, guitarist/fuckin' genius Nels Cline seemed to have revitalize Wilco and Jeff Tweedy in particular. While the two new members didn't work on the album, they had fleshed out AGIB to a point where it wouldn't be so wild to call Wilco the best touring act on the medium-size venue circuit. Well, on this night, something just didn't seem to kick in. Following the opener, "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" was decent, but given the musicianship assembled on stage, they could shit out "decent" in their sleep -- a state I was rapidly approaching myself.

Then it happened. "Hell Is Chrome" was simply arresting, like a poisonous dart right through the heart. It was as though time stood still, as Tweedy's presence was felt for the first time and when Cline's solo kicked in, Wilco was finally in the building and my mental review was trashed. Continuing with "Handshake Drugs" and a monstrous and crowd-pleasing version of Summerteeth's "A Shot In The Arm" (where drummer Glenn Kotche slightly inched out his bandmates for the song's MVP), the band was hitting on all cylinders and delivering a beautiful performance. Half of the set consisted of AGIB songs, not surprising as it was during those moments where you saw what Tweedy calls the defining Wilco lineup really come out. You really felt then that they loved playing together and it wasn't just Jeff Tweedy's backing band.

Yet, it was difficult to ignore the fact that the setlist was nearly identical to the last few times they came to Montreal. Only a handful of new songs were unveiled, though I suppose that is hardly a common complaint. There also seemed to be a slight evolution to the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot songs, a "let the good times roll"-ification, if you will. Songs like "Jesus Etc." and especially "War On War", desolate and heartfelt on the album, were rollicking and fun here. This is not a complaint, however, because the studio recordings reflected the band's (and their nation's) situation at that point in time and here we are, four years later, Wilco emerging as triumphant survivors -- their nation, not so much -- so the current versions reflect their outlook today. It was like they had to reinvent the YHF songs to get away from their 2002 selves and again, it is obvious that Wilco is in a much happier and saner place these days.

Perhaps that contributed to what I felt was a certain confidence -- bordering on cockiness -- in their performance. Whereas the two previous Montreal shows had the band experimenting with the AGIB tracks with the aforementioned addition of Sansone and Cline (though never tentatively, one has to add), they were now sure of the places they wanted to go and were nailing the songs with almost clinical precision. Whether this enhanced or detracted from the show is debatable and certainly a subjective matter. However, even without the element of surprise or fresh perspective, one can't help but be moved by moments like the solo kicking in at the start of "At Least That's What You Said" or the genuinely good vibes of the set closer "Hummingbird".

To their credit, the encores mixed things up a little bit, showcasing the folkier side of Wilco, some Being There tracks ("Forget The Flowers", "Kingpin", "Monday") and the already good-times of YHF's "Heavy Metal Drummer" and "I'm The Man Who Loves You". So all things considered, Montreal got a relatively diverse performance from the present incarnation of the band and while nothing absolutely new was unveiled, they still preserve the title of the best touring act on the medium-size venue circuit.

A little word on fellow Chicagoans and openers The M's: while I still think that they lack a bit in the songwriting department, their performance grew on me just like their album Future Women did. They sounded great despite the initially cavernous Metropolis -- I thought it was background music being played on the house speakers and not a live band when I stepped in. The Elephant 6 element was downplayed live -- I didn't see any xylophones! -- but the four-piece were rockier and had great harmonizing, as pointed out by an idle mind. Worth a few listens, because just one might not do.

[Tune in to Losing My Edge Sundays 2pm-4pm and Tuesdays 8pm-10pm.]

By Johnny Suck - Turn Down the Suck - 06/12/2006

Even though it’s lame, I still like to go slumming now and then. So you better believe I jumped on a free Godsmack ticket...

On my way over to Metropolis, I passed through the Francofolies site, which had Andrée Waters performing on the main stage. Stopping to watch for a few minutes, I was surprised by how good she was and even thought about sticking around for the whole set, Godsmack be damned. I don’t make light of commitments though, so I grudgingly continued on.

While not entirely eager to see Godsmack, I still thought that there was a chance that I’d like it. Come on, they can’t be one of the biggest hard rock bands around for nothing, right? Well, in the end my general impression of the show was one big meh. Their songs weren’t interesting enough to keep my attention for 3.5 minutes and they weren’t nearly heavy enough. While I probably would have loved Godsmack back when I was 14, I’m way past them now. I realize how incredibly snobby this sounds, but I think the 2000 cheering fans needed to be enlightened in that ways of Rock. Still, for the unenlightened masses -- I’m pretty sure I’m being sarcastic -- it was definitely a good show. I only recognized a few songs but pretty much everything went over well. Front man Sully Erna did a pretty good job of working the crowd, although the repeated "Thank you Canada"’s were silly. It bugs me when a single crowd of people is treated like an entire country. Seriously, the people there were Godsmack fans first, Montrealers second, and Canadians third or fourth.

Nitpicking aside, Sully Erna is still a solid singer with a pretty nice voice, which made it surprising that the best song was an instrumental. I’m a sucker for percussion, so when Erna exchanged his mic for a second drum kit and started getting all tribal, you know I smiled. Throw in a bunch of quality riffing, some "Moby Dick", a bit of "Walk This Way", a touch of Metallica and extend it, extend it, extend it and you’ve got the song of night, hands down. It was exactly the type of thing that you want to hear in concert, rather than just all the same songs that you’ve heard 100 times before, played exactly the same way as on the album.

In the end, I’ll admit that they were alright, just not at all for me.

Highlight: Watching a tag team catfight break out between two Barbie-doll blondes and two ‘big’ girls. The blondes would have gotten pummeled had the fight not been broken up by a couple of idiot guys. Apparently some people don’t know the meaning of the term "erotic hilarity".

[Tune into Turn Down The Suck Mondays from 6-8pm]