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What a day April 2nd was: it went up to 27 degrees.  So needless to say, I did not at all feel like being inside on any level.

When I managed to come out of my summer-like tizzy… I remembered that I had the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club concert to go to and off to La Tulipe I went. I so did not feel like being inside, but I do love listening to this band, so I made the ultimate sacrifice of leaving the most amazing weather ever for that time of year and was I ever thankful that I did. 

I showed up a bit late, however the first thing that got me was the light show. I have seen a lot of bands in my time, but not many that impressed me with such an impressive display of lights like that. 

It almost made me forget that they were playing a song, but when I shook myself out of the dazzling spectacle before my eyes, I realized that it was “Red Eyes, No Tears” they were playing and alas they hooked me.    

They then led into one of their older tunes, “Ain’t No Easy Way" from their 2005 album Howl. It was at this moment that drummer Leah Shapiro caught my attention. I had never got a chance to see her when she played for the Raveonettes, and I wondered what she would be like taking over from Nick Jago. However she shocked and surprised me by proving to be just as good, if not better as any male drummer I have ever seen. 

The stage had an air of sophistication in the sense that they did seem like a more seasoned band. I attributed this to the light show that continued to flabbergast me. It rendered me to wonder how this band was able to not get lost with all the flashing lights behind them.   

However just when I had this wonder, lead singer Peter Hayes began to play his cover of “Visions of Johanna.”   Midway through, he had to change his guitar.  It took him some time to get it together, but when he finally did the audience showed their loyalty and forgave him.  Was it because of it being Good Friday, only God knows. 

The house was packed to capacity. Regardless of how hot it was outside, which in turn created major heat inside the venue, but this did not stop the crowd from completely loosing it when they then played “Spread Your Love” from their 2001 album B.R.M.C. 

They then ended their set with “American X” from their 2007 album Baby 81, but it did not take much effort for the audience to get them back on stage for the 4 song encore, which included "666 Conducer" from Baby 81 and "Shadows Keeper" from their newly-released Beat the Devil’s Tattoo album.   

Heat or no heat, this band blew my mind away.  The light show was up there with some of the biggest bands I have seen.  Although it was definitely terrace weather, I am so glad that did not sway me from seeing this awesome band.  

Read and Produced by Gareth Sloan.

Stories by Chris Hanna, Jose Espinoza, Sarah Deshaies, and Emily Brass.

Read and produced by Gareth Sloan.

Stories by David Adleman, Matthew Phelps and Gareth Sloan.

One of my greatest concert regrets is that I've never seen Monster Magnet live.  Also, I'm sad that I didn't catch a tour that came close to me featuring Soilwork, Devildriver, Lamb of God, and a then-non-emo Killswitch Engage.  We all have live music dreams that are unfulfilled.  Without them, what would be the point of getting excited to see anything live?  Well, this past week, I was able to scratch one of my concert "To Do"s off my list. I finally got to see Protest the Hero.

I actually had an opportunity to see the band three times and missed out each time.  Once, I was NXNE and they played a not-so-secret "secret show" which was charging at the door, and since everything else was free at the festival I didn't attend.  Another time I missed them when they were on tour with All That Remains and Shadows Fall and they went back to Ontario to some college show near their home town.  It was the only date of the tour they didn't play.  And then, finally, I missed them the last time they came through Montreal and played Fortress in its entirety, all, again, because of monetary issues. But now, finally, on March 23rd, 2010, I got to see Protest the Hero.

Now, let me say that, like all of us, I have had to sit through some stuff I didn't like in order to see bands that I've wanted to witness.  I've sat through Silverstein to see Rise Against, and through the Chariot to see their infinitely superior "big brother" Norma Jean, as well as countless no-name, never to be seen again bands.  This time however, I was prepared for the worst, because I had the displeasure of getting to see Protest the Hero as they toured with Hawthorne Heights.

For those unfamiliar, Hawthorne Heights are a whiny emo band, who, I assume, think their parents are big meanies, are sad that their girlfriends broke up with them, and were just seen at either American Apparel or Urban Outfitters buying skinny girl jeans and other scene clothing.  I have a less-than-favorable view of them.  I'm not sure if you picked up on that.

Imagine my surprise and downright glee when I got to club and saw a sign that declared "Due to unforseen circumstances, Hawthorne Heights will not be here tonight."  Now, officially, the story according to their website is that they didn't have proper paperwork at the border and were turned away.  This is a believable and not uncommon story.  However, its not very entertaining, so I'm going to make up a more unbelievable story, which is that they got attacked by a stray Chupacabra, and are currently undergoing the lengthy process of having blood pumped back into their bodies.

Back to the show, though. I went through the whole "coat check/check out merch tables/look for place to park self for night" rigamarole.  First up on the bill was a band from Ottawa called simply Doll.  The four piece consists of two females, one singing and on guitar and one on bass, and two guys playing guitar and drums. 

They say on their site that they're, quote, "spearheading the new wave of Grunge music," which, after I read it I could see where they wanted to sound like Veruca Salt or L7, but at the time, all I could think was, "Oh Good Lord, this is so bad."  In their defense, I didn't think the mix was very good.  The lead singer's vocals were louder than anything else, and the guitar was buried so far down in the mix that I was never sure what it was playing aside from quiet distortion.  But really, I don't think that a perfect sound mix would make them sound appetizing to me.

Doll was followed by a band called Elias, who I guess were brought on to make Hawthorne Heights look like the most brutal metal band in comparison, had they not been laid up in the hospital after the vicious Chupacabra attack. This four piece were a mainly piano- and drum-driven.  As I listened I was reminded of pop indie rock bands like Mae and Something Corporate, though with significantly less energy.  I can pretty much sum them up with the phrase "inoffensive, yet boring."

They were followed by a band called Theset.  I'm not sure if its supposed to be spelled "Theset", or "The Set", but either way, this Victoria, B.C. band had some pretty high energy.  I know they sounded like some band specifically, but the best I could up to compare them to were bands like Thursday and The Sleeping.  The most innovative thing about them was that the lead singer had an effects board onstage for his vocals, so he got to create gang vocals with just himself, and boy howdy do I love me some gang vocals.  Also, apparently they were the first band to get the memo that interacting with the crowd is usually looked upon favorably by people going to see a show. Well played young lads, well played.

Finally, after the long wait, I got to see Protest the Hero.  Now I've heard many people bitch about how they have "noodley" guitars and how they generally just wank around on the guitar, but I'm a fan of talent, so it's pretty damn impressive to me to see someone move around the guitar seemlessly.  And, as far as I can tell, they don't speed themselves up in the studio like some "guitar wankers", *cough*Dragonforce*cough*. Also, their singer, Rody Walker, has a great set of pipes on him.  He can scream and croon, and everything in between, and for the life of me, I don't know how a human voice can do all those things for 30 minutes everyday and still be able to then talk.

I think they played a really good set of songs from both Kezia and Fortress. I got to hear all the things I wanted to hear: "Sequoia Throne", "Heretics and Killers", "Bloodmeat", "Limb from Limb", it was all there in all its glory.