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By Stephanie Ng Wan - We . Are . Canadian - 03/19/2008

Slightly Stoopid opened the show at precisely 8pm on the dot last week. They were a reggae-influenced group with elements of punk and ska that at times reminded one of the earlier stuff of 311, the night’s headlining act. While the Metropolis was empty when I walked in a little before show time, the room quickly filled up as Slightly Stoopid got more and more into their set. They played for a solid forty-five minutes and aptly warmed up the audience with their at times mellow and other times more upbeat performance.

After a rather lengthy intermission of over thirty-five minutes, 311 hit the stage. Now, I consider myself an “old school” 311 fan so my desire to attend their Montreal show was more for nostalgic reasons than anything else. And while the Nebraskan group was sure to acknowledge those in the crowd familiar with some of their earlier work, the concert was definitely geared to their newer fans.

While it’s a bit rare for an act to tour when they have no recent album out (311’s last full-length, Don’t Tread on Me, came out three years ago) or at least very soon on its way (the group only recently announced that they are in the initial writing stages for a record that is to come out sometime in 2009), 311 decided to arrange their Spring tour to include dates for Canada this time around. As such, one would think then that 311 would feel a bit more freedom to play whatever songs they liked from their repertoire because they have no actual record to promote or concentrate on, and while they did play a fairly generous twenty songs in total, it would have been nice to hear a few more oldies in their set.

311 did play twenty tracks, but the show only lasted about an hour and 20 minutes. The majority of the alternative rock quintet’s songs are fairly short in length and they seemed even more sped up that night. They played the tunes well but, it seemed, not with much passion or energy. The group has been together since 1993 and yet there was very little band camaraderie present -- in fact, all the members seemed located especially far apart. The drummer was on a raised platform near the rear of the stage with the bassist in one corner and the lead guitarist all the way in the other. The two vocalists, Nick Hexum and SA Martinez (who is also the DJ of the band) would take turns singing their respective parts, barely interacted with one another. They did dance and groove to the music as required (one of them doing a much better job than the other I might add), and the requisite “thank you”s to the cheering crowd were made but at almost forty dollars a ticket, I would have expected a bit more from the band than just simply and straightly playing their songs (for the most part anyway).

About halfway through the set, the band did go for a bit of a change of pace as percussionist Chad Sexton went into a drum solo in the middle of a song. The other members walked off to give him his moment in the spotlight -- literally -- as the rest of the stage darkened and only Sexton and his drum set were lit up. While the audience watched the performance, a small set change was performed under the cover of the dark and as Sexton started his finale, the lights went up to reveal the rest of the members of 311 back on stage, standing in a semi-circle in front of the drummer, each one with a single drum which they begin to hit in synchronicity along with Sexton leading the way.

Among the songs 311 performed that night were the singles, “Don’t Tread on Me,” “Amber,” “Come Original,” “Prisoner” and “Down,” which Hexum dedicated to all the old school 311 fans. These were the tunes that, at like any show, received the most enthusiastic response from the largely male audience. Non-single tracks that were played included “Freeze Time” and “Rub a Dub.” The songs that I wanted to hear that were missing: the 1996 hit from their self-titled disc, “All Mixed Up,” as well as “Beautiful Disaster” and “Transistor” from their 1997 LP, Transistor. The three-song encore included 2003’s “Creatures (For a While)”, taken from Evolver.

What I found the most interesting about the show was the fact that 311 certainly rock much harder live than they do on their albums, which are more melodious, and reggae or pop-sounding. I did not expect the mosh pit to get as violent as did during some songs, though during others, 311 did slow things down, for example, with a Caribbean island-style instrumental jam during one song.

Perhaps what the band needs is new material to be excited about; they have the fans, the songs, and the experience. With an album in the works, there is sure to be a tour to follow sometime in 2009. While I enjoyed hearing some of the songs I loved back in the day, I would also have enjoyed feeling more like 311 loved playing them just as much.

Tune in to We.Are.Canadian. with Stephanie every Thursday from 6pm-8pm

By Kelly Pleau - 03/14/2008

Fueled by an unhealthy amount of chocolate and dark coffee, two girls weary of work deadlines and the soggy weather ventured down to St. Laurent and Ste. Catherine’s to be soothed by the finger-picking of José González. Having arrived halfway through his performance at Le National three months earlier, we were determined to have our wrists stamped early this time.

We arrived at the Cabaret to catch the L.A.-based gypsy-folk chanteuse Mia Doi Todd playing her last few songs. Todd's haunting voice permeated the modest concert hall as she delivered a solid performance of "In The End," a melancholic musing on detachment and indifference. Despite the beauty of her unique voice, her songs all shared a similarly weighed-down sound that failed to thrill me.

Not long after Todd's set, González stepped on stage and took a seat in front of a tightly packed crowd. It was only after a few songs that the audience became completely receptive to the Scandinavian singer-songwriter, when he grasped everyone's attention with the recognizable melody of "Heartbeats." The Knife cover set the night off to a swooping pace. González then seamlessly executed songs from both his latest release, In Our Nature, and Veneer, released in 2005.

González' songwriting is introspective and challenging. He treats the heavy subjects of contradictions, indulgences and frailties of human nature with a similar grace to that which he displayed on this particular Friday night. After suddenly stumbling backwards in his chair and falling to the ground with his guitar in hand, he responded with a light-hearted and reassuring, "Why not?" He then reminded us with a grin that the next song would be “serious.” "Deadweight on Velveteen" kicked off an encore that treated us to an additional five songs. Among his final numbers was the much-anticipated "Cycling Trivialities," a searing exploration that mesmerized the crowd for a good eight minutes. González finished the show with an upbeat yet characteristically moody cover of Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy."

Continually probing human frailty with every pluck of a chord, González often leaves his listener quite stunned. Still, endeared by his onstage tumble, we left knowing that with the right combination of caffeine, cover songs, and a recovered capo, even an evening of melancholy can perk one up sometimes.

By Josh Mocle - The Kids are So-So - 02/19/2008

Late last year, I promised myself that I wouldn’t ask to review shows featuring bands I’ve already reviewed given the fact that it’s rare that I’d have anything new to say about them. However it’s about time I come clean: the last time I reviewed a Flogging Molly show, I knew shit about Flogging Molly. Yeah, I obviously knew who they were and a few of their signature tracks but that’s about it and I pretty much managed to bullshit my way through a thousand words or so for the last one. However, this time around I was much more familiar with the band and had a much better time as a result. (Shocking, I know. More on this later.)

Dusty Rhodes and the River Band opened the show and I will outright admit that from a musical standpoint, I wasn’t terribly impressed. My tolerance for jam bands, while not as low as it used to be, isn’t very high and at times I found the band grating on my nerves. However, these guys had heart: they very clearly loved to be doing what they were doing and didn’t really care that the crowd wasn’t that into it (which, with the exception of my lovely and mysterious co-DJ, they largely were not). They blasted through around a half hour of jammy goodness with a bit of a more rock edge than say, Widespread Panic, and were off almost as quickly as they were on.

Following Dusty Rhodes was arguably the most surreal and amazing musical experience I have arguably ever had. I’m referring, of course, to Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. Now, coming from my own experience -- I’ve seen many many different bands perform on that same stage, but nothing could have really prepared me to see a drummer who may very well have been thirteen, a rather large woman named Washboard Breezy with a REAL WASHBOARD hanging off her and the man known only as The Rev (who looked as if he could shoot you in the face, with a shotgun, or give you a massive bear hug depending on his mood) take the stage. Stylistically it was pretty basic “blues with a slide guitar + basic drumming + washboard scratches” formula (which I suspect many in the crowd were not familiar with and if they were, certainly not used to), but this performance was very much not about the music itself, but the power of music in general. Never before has such a basic musical set-up been so powerful and, unfortunately, there isn’t much more I can say about it. It really was a “you had to be there” situation, and if you were you probably would have been just as moved as I was (both physically and spiritually).

Which brings us to Flogging Molly themselves; I mentioned earlier that the last time I saw them I wasn’t that familiar with their material and thus didn’t have as good of a time as I did now. The reason for this, I think, is pretty simple: Flogging Molly is the kind of band you really make your own. You either get it or you don’t and there really is no middle ground. From the looks of things, a lot of people in our fair city really get this band, given the packed (and incredibly smelly) house that sang along to almost every word. Their traditional Irish folk meets traditional American rock sound hasn’t changed at all, despite putting out a new record (that sounds, surprisingly, like all their old records). Their live performance hasn’t changed much either, despite being a decent amount older than most contemporary rock bands, they once again managed to stuff a ton of energy into their work (and appeared to have a great time while doing it as well). I’ve said it before and I’ll most likely say it again many more times, but when a band enjoys what they’re doing, that joy is infectious. For the first time in my life I became “that guy who is so into it that when the band lets the audience sing the lyrics he can be heard well over anyone else” (which is not something that’s easy to admit). As far as consistently entertaining bands both recorded and live, Flogging Molly are still ranked near the top and I would imagine that is where they’ll remain for many years to come.

Tune in to The Kids Are So-So with Josh every Tuesday from 2pm – 4pm

By K-Man - 03/03/2008

O.K., here's the deal. I'm going to tell you a little story right off the bat to make the rest of this review make more sense. More than a few years ago, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss got together for a tour called "The Bad Boys of Kiss" and subsequently rolled on through Montreal....to the Metropolis. I bought a ticket without hesitation, as did two of my buddies that had been huge Kiss fans all of their lives too. Thick n’ thin, that's the way it goes.

Criss played a full set of the most mind-stabbingly bad tunes I've almost ever witnessed since his first solo album. The four hundred or so fans had pretty much dwindled down to about one-fifty by the time Ace hit the stage, with his apparently loosely thrown together band. The volume at which the show started at had, by the end of the first song, driven all but yours truly and his two buddies (Lud, and good ol’ Billy Danjubic respectively) running for the back of the club. We momentarily escaped the utter onslaught to our auditory systems (fully in red alert by this time and I have seen some L O U D-assed shows in my day, boy) to the men’s room and collectively used like four rolls of toilet paper between us to stuff our ears shut. Did I mention how butt-fugly their tour shirt was? Man, I'll never get that image outta my head but the goose bumps will fade in a sec...

We then sauntered back to the front of the stage. There’s only the three of us now -- nobody else around for a hundred square feet, and we're asked personally by Ace if he was loud enough, to which we responded, and I quote, "No Ace…turn it up!" At this point, he turned around to his already almost maxed out rig and turned the f**ker up. This is when, I would say, 90% of the club literally up and left. The band was that bad. Cocain is ugly after 30 years of abuse. There were like twelve people in the place including the bar staff by the time it was over. We rocked it hard and went home a little dead inside.

So, back to present times. Last night, March 3rd, 2008 at the Metropolis, more than ten years later, full circled, I get out of a cab and I'm wondering to myself: Is Ace going to burn out or fade away or what? The wonderful Miss Caroline had a juicy pass waiting for me at the guest booth (thanks Ant, you rock) and I walked in a little apprehensive of how this show might go down. I get a Heine and low and behold, there's Lud. Like old times -- all good. We get to our spot, and Ace hits the stage.

By the second note, I'm looking at Lud and there is an equal look of complete relief. Four notes later, it's a look of pure joy as this goddamned rock legend literally got his shit together, hand picked three other guys who f**king love his music and ripped the shit out of "Rip It Out." I always loved hearing two Les Pauls at once. It's something. They were bloody loud, but just under the annoying mark. From the same first solo album he then played "Snow Blind" and a cool little medley of "Torpedo Girl" (from Kiss’ Unmasked album) and from his classic solo album, the song "Speedin' Back To My Baby." I could have easily sat through a full version of the latter (the only disappointing thing that evening) -- I freakin' love that song.

I never liked his later solo albums; they were musically weak, but would you believe he revised a bunch of those tunes, and they were s o l i d -- "Rock Soldiers," "Trouble Walking" (a song that needs no explanation whatsoever), all spruced right the hell up. His solos were note for note and his tones…oh his tones were back like the old days."Shock Me" was sick. Shock you? Shock me! I've seen Kiss with Ace Frehley five times: three back in the day, and two during the Kiss comeback tour -- in what, like '96? He was on the money tonight. Did I mention how utterly speechless we were?

From the fourth side of Kiss Alive II, he wailed on "Rocket Ride," another ingenious little medley of some of his '90s tunes and "Love Gun." Very crafty and well arranged, this band was kickin' the shit out of the venue and everyone in it (about four hundred or so). He then pulled out one of his many customs and lit the stage and his guitar up(literally) for his N.Y.C. anthem, "Back in the New York Groove" and the place went a little nuts. The New York attitude was oozing out all over the place. Someone threw up a top hat during one of the songs and in true New Yorkese, he sayed "I know Slash purrsonally, I just can't fuckin' weh that thing."

Ace left the stage only to return with a full Kiss encore set. I felt like a kid in a freakin' candy store. The sweet, sweet sound of "Deuce" rang out like the anthem of an era. '74 New York sleeze 'n' roll. The drummer sang the Stanley parts and the bassist sang the Simmons parts to a tee -- it was eerie. Kiss was playin' Daisey's and The Coventry and other nasty Jersey/Queens/Amity clubs while downtown at Max's Kansas City, The Mercer Arts Center, the Dolls were lovin' over themselves struttin' around, waiting to crash the Kiss party after their show. Frehley along with, Thunders, Ivan Kral (Patti Smith group ), Lou Reed, and a few choice New York guitarists of that time really carved a sleezy, sultry, standoffish, (nihilistic) niche in one of their city's trademark sounds/styles.

When he kicked into "Love Her All I Can" from Kiss' second release Dressed To Kill, I freakin' couldn't believe I could remember all of the lyrics. I would have wept if I wasn't such a hard c**t. He ended it all with the awesome "Cold Gin," with a craftily placed outro to "Black Diamond." F**king classy all the way down the line. What can I say? I was absolutely as shocked as I was relieved.

That sick, filthy, raunchy, (sh)city honky-punk always fit neatly under my skin. I don't know what it is, but I just got a major fix of it and all I want to do is nod off with the songs swimming in my head...which brings the answer to my earlier question: will Ace burn out, fade away, or what? Well, it's or what, if “or what” means like a true legend, he will simply rock on.

Tune in to "Beyond That Graveyard! III" with K-Man every Friday from 9pm - 12am