Let’s talk about music.
Rather, let’s GUSH about music. Seeing one of your favorite bands can be a big day. Seeing one of your favorite bands that haven’t been together since 1989 in their original form, while having your favourite member play an acoustic set before the wall of rock that would later leave you deaf … well, you can’t put a price on that.
Picture if you will: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on a rainy Monday night. You’re entering an old movie house, The Garrick, a place you saw the Star Wars redux with your Dad. But there is no film being shown tonight, no popcorn being buttered. When you enter this theatre, the seats in the center row have been removed for standing room. On a stage sit stacks of ancient purple Marshall amps, two drum kits and a chair with an acoustic guitar. Before you know it, there is a curly haired, bespectacled man holding said guitar.
“Hello, my name is Lou and I’m going to sing some very depressing songs for you”.
Lou Barlow played a thirty minute set consisting of solo material (“Legendary”, “The Ballad of Day Kitty”) and Sebadoh (“The Freed Pig”). He asked us what we wanted to hear, and when he informed us that he wrote most songs on a four string guitar (he was playing a six string) we were sad that we wouldn’t hear “Skull” or “On Fire” but what we got was something more intimate and sincere than any other solo acoustic show. We got our old friend Uncle Lou giving us a very sincere and appreciative performance of some songs that clearly mean a whole hell of a lot to him (and in turn, to us).
When Derek Stanton (vocals/guitar), Allison Busch (drums) and Michael Troutman (bass) took the stage soon after, I had no idea that this trio from Michigan would melt my face off. Awesome Color play songs that are very loud, very long and very fucking cool (and their self titled debut was self produced with Andrew Kesin & Thurston Moore). From the start of the night, I had a front row slot and I refused to move. I was engrossed with Allison’s intense drumming, Derek’s distorted yelps and thrashes, and Mike’s heavy bass lines. The kicker for me personally though came during their final song when Stanton removed his guitar, began beating the life out of it with his fists, ripped off the strap and began whipping it, grinding it against the wedge monitor and eventually … handing it off to me.
For those that don’t know me, guitar is not my strong suit (I dabble in bass). But I did what anyone would do when you’ve got 600 or so people standing behind you and a screaming frontman hands you his distortion blaring guitar: I rocked it out. Admittedly, I just strummed along heavily to the bass line, but it was a blast. Then I was worried I was being greedy so I motioned around to see if anyone else wanted a stab. Friends and on-lookers shook their heads and eventually a leather jacketed guitarist would appear from over my shoulder, remove a pick from his pocket, crouch down and wail a solo that seemed not the least bit improvised (I would later find out that it was the frontman of Winnipeg’s HAM, aka the Pixies’ opener three years back). But wait; it’s not over yet kids and kiddos. During this solo, a random punk in a Strokes shirt would appear, snag this guitar away, only to smash it against the stage. A fight breaks out. Faces are slugged. The set ends with Allison jumping out from behind her kit to tell this kid what for. Rock and roll.
Eventually Barlow would return to the stage, accompanied by Murph and a silver mained J Mascis. As they broke out into “Almost Ready” off of the recently released reunion record Beyond, ten seconds in Mascis noticed a sound he didn’t like. He then spent the next ten minutes fiddling with pedals and plug-ins, eventually finding the sound that annoyed him. What would follow would be ninety minutes of the loudest fucking distorted rock I have ever experienced. They tore us to pieces with new material, classics like “Freak Scene” and “Out There”, and even included a revved up version of their only true hit single, “Feel the Pain”. It was an insane show, and Mascis didn’t even open his eyes to see the smiles on our faces. The room was filled with all kinds: guys in their late 30’s, the mid twenties hipster crowd, maybe 15 girls and for some reason a group of insanely rowdy teens who insisted on moshing and crowd surfing (if you must do that, please remove your fake-spike encrusted pleather jacket). The crowd ate up the show, and I’m sure most other journalists were losing their shit for Mascis’ randomness, but I was eating it up. I knew there would be distortion. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hear the vocals. I knew they’d play whatever J felt like playing. It was exactly what I wanted it to be.
Sometimes when you wait this long to see a band, your expectations may not be met. In this case, it couldn’t have been a better night. I got to see my four string hero on bass and his acoustic, proving that he is the loudest and quietest man in music. I got to “jam” with Awesome Color. I got to hold my girl’s hand and nod to one of my best friends and experience something I never thought I’d get to see.
Now can someone send an email to the members of The Killjoys? I’d like that reunion soon. Please and thank you.
See you in the next reel …
Nicholas Friesen is a guy in a basement who owns drums.
For more information check out these links:
www.loobiecore.com
www.awesomecolor.net
www.dinosaurjr.com
