Wednesday, April 7, 2010

IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEONE LOSES AN EYE!

Written by: Dave Jackson

What an Easter Monday night! I went to Club Il Motore on Jean Talon to see Deer Tick and arrived at 9:30 for an 8:00 show. There were two opening acts that I’d hoped to avoid, since I’d never heard of them. To my chagrin, the first band had not even taken the stage. What a blessing in disguise. I spent the next three and a half hours in Rock n’ Roll bliss.

The first band to take the stage was The Sunfields, a recently formed local act from Montreal. Fronted by charismatic Jason Kent (formerly of The Dears), this band had everyone in the club paying rapt attention. The fact that these guys remain unsigned, can only be temporary. They played an inspired set that reminded me of Neil Young, C.C.R., and The Band. They have warm, fuzzy and distorted guitar riffs reminiscent of Cowgirl In the Sand. The keyboards would make Garth Hudson and the late Richard Manuel smile, and they can quickly change gears to come at you with southern sounds and lyrics typical of John Fogerty. Their new album, Palace In The Sun is ready and due for release this fall. Visit them at : www.myspace.com/sunfields

Next up, came Those Darlins. Three girls, Nikki, Jessi and Kelley Darlin on guitars with Sheriff Lin on drums. Hailing from Murfreesboro, TN, they bear no resemblance to your mother’s Nashville. They were a full frontal assault of every rock genre you could imagine with a hint of Patsy Cline thrown in. Add a touch of The Ramones and you start to get the idea. From their opening number that resembled a punked-up Dick Dale surf tune, they launched into a dozen or so, high energy, sometimes raunchy, straight ahead, rock, punk, country fusion numbers. All three accomplished guitar players took turns playing bass, and Nikki often played an amped ukulele. Their energy was infectious as they jumped off the stage and played guitar while they sang and danced with the throng of fans. They loved bantering with the audience and seemed genuinely at ease with cynical sarcasm. Many of the songs were off their self-titled debut album which has a touch more country influence than you get in live concert. To see them live, makes you wish that you could play guitar and drive around North America being a rock star! These girls are the real deal and leave nothing on the table at the end of the night. Another highlight was their cover of, Shakin’ All Over (written and recorded by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates and then made popular in North America by Chad Allen and The Expressions) They played it pretty much as written but with as much or more energy and attitude than most boy bands could hope to do. As an opening act, they left the stage with the crowd wanting more.

Finally, Deer Tick took the stage. Lead singer and songwriter John McCauley did not disappoint. Despite copious amounts of alcohol (especially vodka) he was amazingly lucid and clear when he began to sing. He hit every note, both verbally and with his guitar. It became quite clear that this band enjoyed a party. I haven’t followed this band long enough to know their entire backstory, but suffice to say, I believe that their classification as ‘Christian Rap’ is a sly inside joke. It reminds me of an episode of South Park where the boys form a band and then label themselves ‘Christian Rock’ to attract more followers. I applaud their irony! Their set was a mix of songs spanning “War Elephant” “Born on Flag Day” and their upcoming new release, “The Black Dirt Sessions.” The band was tight and the sound was clear throughout the show. As the drinks flowed, so did the songs. The set began with John announcing,“the last time I played this song, I ran off the stage and puked.” Next came, “Easy” and the intensity continued to increase for the next hour. As the set came to a crescendo with a rousing rendition of ZZ Top’s, “Cheap Sunglasses” The entire room was in a frenzy and hot with the anticipation of a smokin’ encore when the truly bizarre occurred. Everyone was watching and yet no one seems to be sure what happened. The keyboardist was wailing on the sax, one of the boys was shredding his axe while straddling an amp and John was playing guitar with his back to the audience. Unexpectedly, John launched himself awkwardly and face first into Dennis Ryan’s drum kit. He dove right onto the drums with his guitar and all. As the drums scattered and rolled away, Dennis attempted to continue playing. All eyes were on the fallen lead singer, wondering if he was ever going to get up. Dennis, the drummer abruptly stopped playing, gave a one fingered salute, and stormed off stage. As he got closer we could see that he was bleeding profusely from above his left eye. He looked like someone out of a Rob Zombie movie. He literally left a trail of blood from the stage to the back door. We all tried to figure out what had just happened. Was it a cymbal or guitar that did the damage? As the crowd stood in stunned silence, the erstwhile flying guitar-man ran back to apologize. The story coming from Dennis is that he had been hit with a thrown beer bottle. Wow! What an ending to a rock extravaganza! You couldn’t have written a finer ending (with apologies to Dennis.) No one knows what actually happened. Theories abound about a grassy knoll and one lone bottle. Apparently, three homeless looking concertgoers were seen leaving the show wearing new shoes.

Where is Mr. Warren and his Commission when you really need him?

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