Feb 4, 2009: Time To Laugh, Kingston, Ontario
Locals Fall to Ashes opened the show. Bunch of clowns if you ask me. The 2 guitarists were wearing Ferris Bueller sunglasses. The vocalist didn't even take off his coat.(it was FUCKING cold out) and the whole band just basically stood there and bobbed their heads. They couldn't even chug-chug-noodle-noodle-deathcore growl their way through a half-hour set without playing a cover.(Parkway Drive) Good effort boys but you have some work to do.
Guelph's Arise and Ruin know how to put on a show. They recently parted ways with guitarist Greg, and brought in a guy named Sam to fill in. He was a fan of the band and knew all the songs cold anyway. He did a great job. They played mostly stuff off their new disc, Night Storms Hailfire (released Feb 17). From what I heard, it sounded pretty killer. I'll have to pick up the disc and give it a listen in a more controlled environment. Vocalist Ryan Bauchmann assured me he's not going to mellow out anytime soon and guitarist Brent Munger let me know that they really like Sam and will probably keep him. Thanks to Mike the merch guy for the sweet deal on the hoodie.
I will admit that I didn't pay attention to Toronto's Dead and Divine because they were too emo for my tastes. Besides, I am an asshole and the singer was wearing a long coat and a scarf and looked like a real metrosexual, so I automatically dismissed him as a douchebag. Proabably a real nice guy though.
I didn't want to like Born of Osiris but they weren't too bad. I could do without the keyboards and the Human Abstract/PTH guitar work but for being just kids, they really know their way around their instruments. The drummer was particularly impressive. I'd watch em again but I am not going out to buy the albums.
I set my hopes too high for Darkest Hour. I listened to all their back catalogue a couple times and was really excited. I speculated about the playlist, tried to remember lyrics and brought my copy of Undoing Ruin to get signed (didn't get it signed). Alas, I was let down. Their performance seemed almost choreographed to me. Up on the monitor, back down, switch positions, up on the monitor....It might have looked better were I in a different position. I was 3 or 4 deep, off to one side so I could only see half the stage. Maybe if I had gone to one of the high tables at the back, I could have seen better. And it would of had a different effect. They played a bunch from Deliver Us, and a nice mix from about Hidden Hands....on up. They put on a good show, (plenty of kids losing their minds) I just think I wasn't in the right frame of mind that night. I high too high expectations, I was exhausted before I even got there, I was disappointed I didn't get the chance to interview them for this blog, and it was only the second in show in YEARS that I attended stone cold sober. That being said, as out of it as I was, a good enough show would have been able to snap me out of it. Worth the $15 anyway.
Lesson learned though, so I won't get as excited before the Cattle Decapitation show in April.
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