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By Jordan-na - Canadian Invasion - 01/14/2005

The first stop of Sum 41’s “Go Chuck Yourself” Canadian tour was a sold-out show at Montreal’s Metropolis. They were out to promote their latest release Chuck, featuring what they describe as a metal-influenced sound with a more mature outlook. Chuck was named after a UN representative that got the band out of a life-threatening situation during a War Child sponsored visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The lead single, “We’re All to Blame,” suggests that the band has grown up over the course of their last four albums and now cares about social issues and the current state of our world, yet their show suggests otherwise.

No Warning, a hardcore outfit from Toronto, opened up for Sum 41.“Montreal get yer fuckin’ fists in the air!” They played in front of a yellow curtain and flat lighting, reminding you that this is only opening act, make no doubt. But they are more hard rock than Sum 41 could ever hope to be. Parts metal, parts hard rock with a slight tinge of punk, lead singer Ben Cook delivered his vocals in an angry screamo style accompanied by heavy guitar riffs and loud banging drums. Cook’s favourite word seemed to be “fuck” and variations in case you didn’t get that they are hardcore: “Thank you very fucking much” “Shake your fuckin’ tits if you’re ready for Sum 41.” It was as if they were embarrassed about opening for a mainstream band and overcompensated by acting as what they thought were bad-ass hard rockers. The music was typical pissed-off hardcore stuff. Nothing really stood out as one song sounded like the next. Perhaps they should have proved themselves by working harder on their music rather than their image.

Sum 41 obliterated any lingering thoughts of No Warning with a high-tech multimedia spectacle. Their show started off with a short film of the band members playing a basketball game that ended in a comical bloody murder, complete with body parts puréed in a blender and fried in a pan.

The Sums took the stage which was set up like an elaborate playground for the band. The speakers were set up so the guys could jump off of them. Drummer Stevo’s kit was on a raised platform with ramps on either side. He sported a blood splattered apron from the video skit. The backdrop was the Sum 41 logo surrounded by TV sets playing random clips and images. It was perfect for ADD types, with televisions to distract you, flashing lights, the band running up, down and around the stage. . . and oh yeah, there was the music.

Sum 41 opened up with “The Hell Song”, written for a friend who contracted a fatal disease, perhaps to remind us of how the band has matured and showing off their serious side. All their hits were played and the band did a decent job of recreating their repertoire live. The set list was wisely chosen to please both old and new fans, taking songs from all the albums. The crowd was more into the new Sum 41 material, singing along to new songs like “Pieces” and “Still Waiting.” There wasn’t the reaction I expected for their first big single “It Makes No Difference.” This crowd was more into the “new” Sum 41.
Singer Deryck was the center of attention. The other band members wore black and white but Deryck cavorted around the stage in a red t-shirt, doing Elvis and George W. Bush impersonations. The highlight came when at the end of “It Makes No Difference.” Deryck left the stage and reappeared near the soundboard in the back of the mosh pit. A keyboard was brought out and he played the mellowest song of their career, a ballad titled “Pieces.”

The concert was harmless fun for 15 year olds. But the show left me a bit cold with its contradictory message. Sum 41 is now trying to project an image of a band that is going back to the punk roots of social rebellion by caring about issues that affect our world. Yet they present certain contradictions in their image by having their tour heavily sponsored by Rogers mobile. A big Rogers ad was projected above the stage before the show, imploring the audience to text and win! It just reminded us of how commercial Sum 41 is. You can’t be pissed off about society and want to change the world while having your tour sponsored by a major cell phone company. It just doesn’t add up.

[Tune in to Canadian Invasion every Friday 4pm – 6pm]

By Alex Huynh -Losing My Edge - 12/04/2004

December is quite a strange time, as it can represent a sort of final hurdle before goals are reached or misery is momentarily ended, replaced by hope for a new and better year ahead. It’s rather ridiculous to think of that concept so boxed up in a calendar year, but we seem to nonetheless fall victim to it due to endless conditioning. So just as the university kids and young professionals comprising this night’s crowd have that milestone on their minds, that last lap before they can celebrate and go home, Feist and her band had actually reached it as their second night at Cabaret La Tulipe represented their last date of a year-long tour that had, in oversimplifying terms, started at Le Cabaret earlier this year.

From the first note, Leslie Feist owned every single seat and snow-soaked standing spot in the venue with her light n’ tight mesmerizing vocals that were enhanced by the venue’s excellent acoustics. Wasting no time in getting the crowd in on the fun, she proposed a sing-along by the second number of her set, "One Evening" (a song about one-night stands, she told us, "you all know what I mean"). It was unusually early to go into audience participation but at the same time, it felt more like an honest attempt in sharing her celebratory mood with us rather than a forced concert cliché. The more Feist played, the more the venue grew hypnotized, breaking the trance only to applaud loudly after each number. For those who enjoyed Sideways and who liked Justine Bateman over Tina Yothers in Family Ties, her charismatic and sexy presence was preferable to Emily Haines’. The music itself was competent but make no mistake, the proverbial and the literal spotlight shone down on Leslie Feist as a performer.

Feist was determined to break the fourth wall that night with lots of banter and giving us a peek at the shy girl underneath her confident stage performance. This created an atmosphere that made the music all the more delightful as cynicism was checked at the (poorly set-up) entrance. She communicated to us her nervousness in performing her Françoise Hardy cover, "L’amour ne dure pas toujours", as she thought that her French would not be up to par and fool the Quebec audience. Of course, she pulled it off magnificently as called for by the script, but it was easy to let yourself lulled into it. She then encouraged people to slow dance to the next song and pitting us against Friday’s crowd. One guy volunteered to dance with her onstage and she gamely accepted this gentleman’s offer, singing at the same time as she was being held in what were probably the moistest hands in the place.

Just like the previous night, she went into her own rendition of her sometimes-bandmates Broken Social Scene’s "Lover’s Spit" that lacked the heartbreak of the original. Perhaps that was the one criticism I can come up with about the whole show: her songs and especially her voice, while beautiful and easy to be smitten by, are simply too light to have any real emotional impact. Though the entire band’s energy and Leslie Feist’s own presence more than compensated for it, the magic evaporated the moment you stepped outside the venue, just like the snow that had started to fall before showtime.

Alex co-hosts Losing My Edge Sundays 2pm-4pm and Tuesday 8pm-10pm. It took him an enormous amount of will power to use only a single variation of the word "sex" in this entire review.

Angelica - BVST - 11/27/2004

November 27th. I've been looking forward to this date for weeks. Today was to be the day that Diego and I would see Motörhead in their hometown, and at the Hammersmith Apollo (THE venue associated with the band, and the namesake of their first live album No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith), no less. Of course, I didn't take into account that, in their hometown, Motörhead make like Iron Maiden and sell out the equivalent of the Bell Center in a matter of days. Of course, London is chock full of "ticket brokers" (read: glorified scalpers), who graciously offered us tickets at 45 pounds a piece (that's about $110 Canadian, for those of you keeping score at home). A week later, the price was up to 75 pounds a piece (yes, that would indeed be about $180 bucks). Uh, no thanks. But why waste a perfectly good Saturday night?

As luck would have it, The (International) Noise Conspiracy happened to be playing a rock club that night, and for a much more reasonable price. I have tried (and failed) to see them in Montréal on three separate occasions: once because I was too tired, once because of a term paper, and once because I was sick as a dog. Suffice it to say, I was just hoping to not get hit by a bus on the way to the show, 'cause there was no way I was going to miss them a fourth time.

By the time the band took the stage at 1 am, the crowd was buzzing with anticipation, and the band didn't disappoint. They came on like a firecracker, ripping through familiar hits like "Up for Sale" and "Capitalism Stole My Virginity" with a fierce, fiery energy unlike any I've ever seen before. Leaping and prowling across the stage, the five-piece didn't just rock, they careened uncontrollably, barreling through their set with abandon. The incredible stage presence of the band members and the way in which they fearlessly, aggressively interact with the audience and each other is nothing short of transfixing. Of course, it didn't hurt that there was more than a little homoerotic horseplay...

The only downside was the length of the set, a whopping seven songs. Not the band's choice, of course. Rock clubs here in London are basically dance clubs with band appearances, and those appearances are always kept short. In fact, The (International) Noise Conspiracy pushed the time limit of their set with an extra song: the blistering single "Armed Love" from their new release of the same name. The crowd went bananas, screaming and leaping along with the band. And then, before we knew it, the dance floor lights were back up, and the band was gone.

I was lucky enough to chat with lead singer Dennis Lyxzen and bass player Inge Johansson after the show, and they were unbelievably approachable, friendly and charming. Of course I asked about an upcoming Montreal date, but it seems that because of label trouble, the new album isn't being released in North America, and therefore there aren't any dates on the horizon for us. Too bad. After this little taste, I'm looking forward to more.

Angelica hosts BVST every Wednesday 6pm – 8pm. The fact that Diego was quickly dropped from the story makes us suspect foul play.

By Omar Goodness - Hooked on Sonics - 11/20/2004

The last time I saw Jimmy Eat World live was at a packed-like-sardines sold-out show at the Rainbow a few years back, right before Bleed American blew up. A few months after that they played a show at Metropolis and the amount they’ve grown, now playing a sold-out show at Le Spectrum, reminded me of how Thursday grew over the years (who themselves played Rainbow a few years back and came back to play a packed Spectrum). After their platinum success of Bleed American, the band returned to Montreal to promote their great new album Futures, which, debuting at #6 on the Billboard Top-200, is proving to be quite a success too.

Arriving late, I missed openers High Speed Scene and just missed Mr. Onelinedrawing himself, Jonah Matranga’s new band Gratitude. Former lead singer of emo-popsters New End Original and the influential post hardcore outfit Far, Matranga’s new band (recently inked to Atlantic records) was apparently so-so, and featured the hilariously over-the-top dramatics of Matranga. Yes, I regret missing that, but I did however manage to catch the fine house music being played before Jimmy Eat World came on (Guided by Voices, Hot Snakes, Pinback…goooood times).

The house lights then went dark, and the band took the stage. Drummer Zach Lind started the set off with a pounding snare beat while the rest of the band coaxed shards of noise from their instruments as bright white spotlights flashed out into the crowd. In time with the drums, guitaristsTom Linton, hunched over at stage left, and Jim Adkins, spazzing out at centre stage, launched into the opening riff of Bleed American's title track, much to the delight of the kids up front, who were now completely losing it.

Following a solid version of Bleed American‘s “Authority Song” and Futures’ title track, Linton, who I think has a stronger voice than Adkins, took up lead vocals for Clarity's “Blister”, much to the crowd’s delight. Having not contributed a single song to Bleed American and this year’s Futures, Linton really has to get back in the songwriting game, as his songs are some of the bands best.

"If You Don't, Don't", one of Bleed American's weaker songs, came across a lot better in the live setting. Adkins had his guitar ran thru a smooth phaser effect while Linton provided a heavy palm muted rhythm guitar line that gave the song some needed bite. But the true surprise of the evening was the fantastic transition from the atmospheric "Drugs or Me" (performed behind a backdrop of blue and purple lights) into the Guided by Voices-style power pop of "The World you Love."

Neither are Futures’ strongest tracks, but their performance, especially that of "The World You Love", which included an improvised bridge of pummelled octave chords that almost started sounding like a noise-pop version of the Pointer Sisters' "Neutron Dance" (how cool would that have been?), was the highlight of the evening. But while some songs did translate better, not all did. "Kill", a catchy, albeit weak and weepy song off of Futures came off as just that. Also, Clarity's should-have-been-hit "Lucky Denver Mint" was performed solidly, but lacked the zeal and punch of the recorded version.

Futures‘ “Nothingwrong" saw them truly hit their stride with Lind pounding out the song’s fantastic beat while Adkins and Linton traded vocals during the call and response verse. Futures‘ soon to be second single, ”Work", was also performed perfectly, with Linton singing the backing vocals that Liz Phair performs on the album version. Clarity‘s fan favourite, “For Me This Is Heaven”, had the kids pulling out lighters (I think they only do this in Québec still, heheheh) and singing along, but it was their hit single “The Middle” that provided the rush of kids to the floor. Complete with Adkins' improvised finger-tapped solo, it was the song that truly started packing in the floor, and had the table dancing* couple sitting in front of me flipping out in the aisle (*for a proper description of “table-dancing”, watch re-runs of The Cosby Show).

“Thinking, That's All” was a personal highlight of the show (it's my favourite song by them), but sadly, it was the only song played from their fantastic '96 CD Static Prevails, and Adkins, as he has in a while, sang rather than screamed his vocals or simply provided harmony to Linton's vocals during the chorus which somewhat stole away the song’s urgency. I guess they’re too old for the hootin’ n’ hollerin’ now. The band then indulged in their art rock tendencies with the My Bloody Valentine-esque wall of white noise preceding the sequencer heavy intro to "Get it Faster." The lights went dark except a sole white light on Adkins as he sang the intro before the band kicked in at full throttle, racing along up until the bridge where Adkins and Linton locked in and played the lead in-synch together flawlessly.

Nearing the end of the set, Adkins promised “some older songs” and the band kicked into Clarity‘s "Goodbye Sky Harbor." The eighteen-minute long epic was cut down to about seven minutes, as they’ve been doing in the live setting for a few years, and ended on more of a rock edge then the album’s more ethereal version. While the eighteen-minute album version is pure genius, the live version itself was also fantastic. Crowd favourite "No Sensitivity" was then resurrected from their split EP with Aussie pop punks Jebediah to much singing along also (and had some shaved headed dude on the floor doing some seriously smooth air-guitar action - he was feeling it, yo). They then closed out the set with "A Praise Chorus", with Linton once again picking up the slack and singing the vocals ex-Promise Ring frontman Davey Von Boehlen sings on the recorded version that appears on Bleed American.

Back for the encore, they started into a loose version of Rammstein's "Du Hast", much to the crowd's enjoyment, before launching into "Pain" and closing the set off with a rousing rendition of long-time fan favourite and show-closer "Sweetness," a song that had been floating around the internet long before it's actual release on Bleed American.

I guess the main complaint one has about Jimmy Eat World live is their lack of energy. The performance is solid, tight, and the songs come across great live, but it's still missing something. Most of the time, aside from Adkins bouncing around and his ridiculous dance moves while he sings, the band members practically don't move. Bass player Rick Burch stayed steady on stage right, and contributed backing vocals here and there but was practically invisible. Linton is usually solid as a rock unless he's huddled over his guitar, scraping out sounds, and Lind, who is a great drummer, looks extremely bored when he has to play the more simplistic straight ahead 4/4 beats of most of their songs. You get the feeling that they're very close to putting on a perfect live show, but with the lack of vibrancy they fall short.

Nonetheless, a fun evening and a good show from one of the best rock bands out there.

Omar co-hosts HOOKED on SONiCs every Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm. Check out the HOOKED on SONiCs site for other reviews, yo.