Sunday evening marks the end of another rest period, and this time, the herald finds himself back at Lanalou’s, where a delectable collection of offerings put on by Leghound Booking awaits collection. With two touring bands presenting tonight, the herald enjoys the taste from outside our scene, seeing what bands consider tour-worthy material.
With the herald arriving just after the opening band starts, the crowd is already decent-sized, with a handful up front getting into the groove. Within a few moments of arrival, the herald has slipped into the front and begins his sacred duty.
CONVERSATION
The first offering on the night was a visitor from Toronto bringing us a worthy dose of emo/screamo. They were loud and hard with a huge sound and great energy, giving me plenty of opportunity to flail and headbang.
The lead singer has a fantastic voice, with lots of deep growl yells, even soaring at times. Enjoyed the fuck out of the mic spin, whipping that thing around like a pro. They informed us they had been sick recently, so the guitarist took over parts of the singing duties and fucking nailed it.
The bassist was all over the place, with crazy energy. Bounding and bouncing on stage, they jumped down and mixed it up with us flailers a few times. The drums were on the same wavelength, full of little fills and rolls as they ripped through their tight and polished set, showing fantastic touring shape.
The crowd got more animated as the set went on, with a mini pit opening up for the last couple of songs in what was a killer set. These were great signs of a good night to come.
DANGER BOX
Next was a quartet from Nanaimo, giving us a high-energy dose of pop/skater punk, mostly, with an extra level of heavy they would unleash on occasion. Everything was amped up to the gills as they delivered a kick-ass performance.
Multiple singers, with the lead singer and drummer swapping at one point. Bouncing around the whole time, barely able to contain all that energy. The guitarist would come down and mix it with the bouncing mass of humanity, who repeatedly knocked over mics in their flailing good times.
The drums were thunderous and constant, beating at a wicked speed, giving us that great punk vibe and a constant source of bouncing smashy smash.
The front was energized and engaging. They constantly talked with the crowd and were always enthused. They were fantastic at swirling the crowd up right to the end.
The crowd was all over this one, with a steady mosh pit going throughout and lots of good time flailing. They even brought some of their crowd with them from the island, which has to be an amazing feeling to have your crowd with you on the road, helping bring that energy.
BIG CITY GERMS
Repeat offering from this stalwart quartet, continuing with all the high energy on the night. A whole spread of influences is apparent in this band as they put on a fantastic show with a mix of old songs and new songs.
A new song was given to the band by their friend, who said he heard it through the walls. It was hauntingly beautiful with an industrial feel, just one of the many genres represented, along with punk, nu-metal, and hard rock, all woven into their finely constructed tapestry.
The iconic blindfolded bassist is always an impressive sight. Somehow, they are able to play all over that fretboard with ease and style with killer riffs. The lead guitar had so much squealy goodness peppered all over this killer set; very animated and engaging.
As the set went on, and with so many killer songs in their repertoire, I was worried they wouldn’t play my favorite. Still, I got that burst of joy when they busted out their ode to one of the greatest directors of our day, James Cameron, to close out in fine style.
The crowd thinned out some, as is to be expected on a Sunday night, but that just meant more flailing room for those who remained. So much flailing good times were had.
He was delighted with this evening’s offerings.