Friday night concerts provide astonishing variety to ones life. I suppose that a writer must be well educated in all forms of humanity.

On to the reviews…

With a name like “Cancer Bats” it is relatively easy to assume that as a band they belong to the most base remnants of society.
Perhaps it was my terribly closed mind that refused to allow me comprehension of the harshly screamed words – yes, perhaps that is it.

I suppose that when the pounding in your head synchronises with the pounding in your ears you might consider yourself to be on some kind of unnatural high – or in hell. Either-or really.

There is certainly an art to the way they flung their hair – strippers would be jealous of the skill those boys possessed.

You just knew they had to be playing sober or they would have been falling over themselves after a few moments of their frenzied gyrations.

In the darkness of the arena you could see the young in the crowd bobbing along like so many marionettes.

My greatest excitement induced from this performance was the fact that it has given me something to blog about.

I don’t understand the point in shaving the sides of your head and leaving the middle long. Especially when it is left un-spiked. If you can explain this minor confusion away for me I would appreciate it greatly.

In the end I was left with only questions – one in particular is burnt into my mind. Were those really words??

Listening with great attention to the ‘music’ – I could almost appreciate the skill – if only he would have stopped screaming at me.

/end Cancer Bats

The stage was cleared – and replaced by ‘Against Me’ – a band I was much more capable of appreciating. All dressed in black – they sported more normal hair which I found a great deal less distracting. The flashing lights involved in their performance made writing difficult, though I suppose I can’t really blame them for that. After all I’m sure not many writers scribble in notebooks while at a rock concert.

My final opinion was that their music was great – though as entertainers they did not do much to get the crowd going – truly men of few words.

After the delightful reprieve to my senses – Alexis on Fire just had to take the stage.

By the screaming of the crowd I could assume that they were popular. But there was little noticeable difference between them and the Cancerous Bats. No. I stand corrected. There was an occasional verse that was sung and not howled, blatantly landing them in a higher category.

At one point I heard an opinion voiced, they described Alexis on Fire’s sound as a “Steamroller over a cat.” I am inclined to agree.
If they euthanized the screamer (he blatantly lives in constant pain) I would accept them back into society.

I observed a ritual that made little sense to me – a hat tossed back and forth above the crowd. Significance??

The band said they were trying to get a message across but their words were so unintelligible – no one would ever understand. One phrase was clear – “There’s no police, ok now what?” I fear they will be trying to get their point across for aeons to come, with little success.

Am I too young to say “is this what punks these days listen to?”

If I had a chalkboard spine and Alexis on Fire were finger nails scraping along it – I think I may have enjoyed the experience more.

As I sat back and waited for the last act – I could only hold my breath and hope it would be all worth it in the end.

Billy Talent were – Billy Talent.

There were no crazy theatrics like the gouts of flame from the Three Days Grace concert which resulted in a somewhat warped ceiling.
Damaging a public building – not so great.
Flames that can be felt across the building – well that’s just hot.

However I can say, even with my limited musical knowledge – that they have a sound absolutely unique to them. A feat that can be attributed to their 34 year old lead singer.

A man who I am inclined to like due to the Crosby jersey he pulled on during his performance. Any man who blatantly shows his patriotism to dear Canada I must like.

End decision: The concert was worth it – if only for Against Me and the enjoyment of seeing Billy Talent live and indeed – talented.