by: (Friday
The Vice Records tour with Vietnam (who appeared to never appear), Panthers, and Death From Above 1979 had doors open at eight, but the bands did’nt hit the stage untill eleven, leaving plenty of time for the crowd to be (unfortunately) sedated. From that point on though, the stage was on fire.
Panthers opened with a heavy, bluesy rock reminiscent of 70s bands such as Led Zeppelin and the Doors. A very good way to get people bopping their heads. With the absence of a third band though, the show seemd to be a bit too short. These days with the overly tight US security at the border it’s a suprise they let any type of artist past.
Throughout the night, Sebastien Grainger(drums and vocals), and Jesse Keeler(Bass and vocals) could be seen mingling with the masses, consuming various adult beverages, and looking as though they get security called anytime they enter a store. As soon as they were elevated above the rest of us on stage, they became rockers who knew how to make wonderful noise. Metallic and thumping like a train-wreck, it is almost more a feeling than a sound. Crowd pleasers like “You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine”, and “Romantic Rights” got a mosh going, while “Black History Month” seemed to almost comatose the already drunk. All in all a great show, just hard to tell how long a band can stay on top for.
You can get into the bands on www.vice-recordings.com which lets you stream entire albums, and they are all worth checking out, but DFA 1979 is definitely the shining jewel. The London show was the end of the Vice Records Tour with Vietnam and Panthers, but DFA1979 last show of the year was Dec. 30th in Toronto at the Kathedral with controller.controller and Aidswolf.