WISDOM IN CHAINS / GRAVE MAKER / BACKTRACK / EXPIRE / HARRIERS / HEAD CHECK IN MTL: A REVIEW.

i went to Berri metro to meet up with Victor, while waiting for him i bumped into JF Pepin (of Mental Crew Canada fame) and we chit chatted for a little bit. he had just bought a ton of records and was catching a bus back to Sherbrooke. anyway Victor ended up showing up and we made our way to the venue. when we got there the doors were just opening, i said what's up to everyone as i made my way inside. there was like 6 bands and i don't have the best memory but i'll try to wrap this up real quick.

Head Check played first, they're a relatively new band and they play a 90s nyhc style with some other influences. anyway they were pretty good, the guitars sounded a bit thin and out of tune at times but it was a fun set, kids were moving a bit. good way to set it off. oh yeah those dudes are all like 15-16 so they're only gonna get better. im stoked to see what this band will grow into.

next up was Harriers, another newer band from Montreal. they have a more modern sound, alot of breakdowns, a lot of mid tempo parts and some fast parts too. they sounded fucking great, their set was tight. you could tell a lot of people were there to see them because the room felt a lot more packed when they started, as soon as they began their first song kids started moshing immediately. some even knew the words to the songs. it was dope to see. another good addition to the MTL HC scene.

Expire got up on the stage after, i saw them in Philly at This Is Hardcore this summer and they were pretty good. last night was no different, they play a hard style of NY influenced HC while incorporating other things that make them a bit more distinguishable. a couple kids were into it, for their first time in MTL it was awesome. oh yeah and they covered Hatebreed - Empty Promises. sweet.

Backtrack were next, opening with Killing Time - Backtrack. i dunno what's wrong with people here but me and victor were the only two singing along and moshing to it. oh well. they played a couple of new jams from their upcoming LP as well as the 7", demo and AHC comp songs. i've seen them a handful of times now and last night is definately up there. nothing else to say about them except lots of fun.

i had to catch my breath so i went to the store to get a water after. i didn't really feel like watching Grave Maker (im sure they were good, just not my cup of tea) so i ended up chilling outside talking to some people about bands when this drunk dude that stumbled out of the bar across the street asked us what we were talking about, then went on to say he loved Iron Maiden (awesome) then told us how his left ear has been ringing ever since he was 17 along with some other shit i can't really remember right now. we went back inside and hung out in the staircase (the best inbetween from the heat of the venue to the freezing cold outside) were a bunch of us just shot the shit for a while. we made it back upstairs to go watch Wisdom In Chains.

now i'm not too familiar with their material and i hardly ever listen to them, but i gotta say that they are definately awesome live. Joe shouted out Yan and Alexa for  travelling to see them all the time which i thought was dope. i was hanging out on the side just watching but did end up in the pit for "Die Young". lots of pile on and sing alongs, it was cool. after it was all done we hung out there for a bit then took off. last night was La Nuit Blanche which meant there was shit going on all night and the subway ran around the clock as well, so there was tons of cops and people all over the place. there was a toilet on a street corner, i took a picture sitting on it for lolz then we got in the metro. there was this girl passed out face down on the floor, probably from mixing pills and booze... welp. some other dude had gotten into a fight. the night was just getting started when we all got on the Green line going towards Honore Beaugrand toward a good night's sleep. 

RIVAL MOB / FREE SPIRIT / COKE BUST / VACCINE / LIBYANS / GIVE / MOB MENTALITY / STICK TOGETHER IN MEDFORD MA: A REVIEW.

it's been a few months since i've updated this. i wish i had an excuse but im just fucking lazy. who cares. i'll try to update more often though

anyways! so just looking at the title, you could guess there was way too many fucking bands playing this gig. but it's all good. there's a couple i didn't watch cuz i needed to snack and get a cold drink and shit but i'll do my best to review this. off we go... oh yeah, go check out pics of the gig on Future Breed.

so heather and i got to the venue around 7:15, the show was supposed to start around 6 so i was kinda illin' cuz i figured we'd be late. i also thought we were lost + didnt end up at the right spot but when i saw people walk around with guitar heads i figured we were at the right place. we got inside and stick together was setting up cuz some of the bands from DC were late or something. i had time to say what's up to some buds and shoot the shit with everyone for a bit before it started so that was cool.

so stick together kicked it off with X treatment, and everyone got moving quick. i still had my jacket on but made the wise decision to chuck it halfway thru the first song. i might retire from varsity jacket moshing unless it's at edge day. anyways, i don't really have much to say about their set except the banter between songs was funny as usual, everyone moshed and everyone had a good time. most people knew the words to both the demo and 7" songs so it was a pretty constant sing along up front. they covered ssd - glue and side by side - living a lie. word. and of course they had some ill merch.

mob mentality played after, i never heard of em but i thought they were pretty cool. i was hanging out on the side cuz i was already winded and it was hot as fuck in that place. + the fact that i didn't have water and ate like crap before the show didn't help things much. anyway i thought their set was pretty cool, a couple kids were moving around too but i think the heat was alredy starting to suck everyone's energy out. i dunno how to describe them but check em out, it's worth a listen.

give got up on stage after, for those who haven't heard them, keith summed it up as "if swiz and supertouch had a baby". i can't help but agree. for their whole set everyone was just chillin' in front of the stage bobbing heads and having a good time. i can't say i'm very familiar with their material but last night was definately a good incentive to check em out in more detail. i caught word that theyre playing with Mindset in toronto in the spring, so im gonna try to go out there and check that gig out.

after their set me and a couple others decided to go where the concession machines were in some other building, and basically it was a pain in the ass to get our shit cuz one machine didnt work at all but gave change (basically spit out dimes and nickels), one other machine didnt work either, one was fine and the last one only had diet coke left... but after figuring out logistics i managed to walk away with my bag of nacho cheese doritos and a bottle of diet coke. drinking something felt good. we all just hung out there for a while, shooting the shit, talking about sneakers and other random stuff which caused me to miss the two next bands.

when i went back to the venue vaccine was just wrapping up their set and coke bust were about to play. im not usually a fan of really fast shit but they do it right and they were fucking cool last night. not a band i'm very familiar with but they had some cool songs, i was just hanging out on the side watching. people got into them and shit so that was cool.

free spirit played after, it was basically what i came to expect and a bit more. good songs, people moshed, everyone had a good time. they played a Rampage cover, that was fuckin cool. they played the intro from the demo which i was stoked on. asides from that it was a blend of demo and 7" songs. again, a good time.

rival mob wrapped up the night and i was chillin on the side of the stage for the first half of the set trying to recoup from what was a pretty hot/long night. i did end up in the pit after tho. anyway, unless youve had your head up your ass for the past two years you know what the fuck they sound like. it was a average rival mob set: funny shit being said between songs, jabs being taken on BOLD*, people going off hard and the band being mad tight. nothing else to say about this. awesome as usual.

so after a long night of pitting, snacking, singing along and some other things we picked up, said goodbye to our buds and left. we put in denny's in her gps but i guess her thing is outdated cuz we ended up at a pub 99, which was closed. with no dennys in the immediate vicinity we settled on burger king. i was a bit skeptical at first cuz the veggie burger in canada is mediocre to okay, but the one in the states is made with a morning star patty. it was probably the best veggie burger ive had in a while so i was stoked on it. we put gas in the car, i got a gatorade and we hit the road, back to her house. i crashed immediately.

p.s. stay away from McDonalds Ice Cream. 
p.p.s. *i love BOLD