Lion Ride Concert Review & An Apology For The Recent Lack Of Posts!!

Hey guys, I really apologize for the lack of activity over the last few days, especially considering that this past weekend had two shows I attended for reviews on the site, there was two Monday night concerts we couldn't properly preview (sadly), AND our big 4th anniversary plans yesterday. My computer finally became uncooperative enough where we basically had to bring it to Staples yesterday morning, despite my plans for the 4th anniversary surprises and the Titan's Eve show contest. We managed though, and I did unveil my announcements briefly yesterday, so at least you guys know. But I still want to detail the changes, the reasons, and the new stuff, but we'll do that tomorrow. Now that my computer's RAM problems are fixed, we can get back to work, and we'll get to each scheduled post in the order I intended, starting with my review of Saturday night's Lion Ride concert at The Rockstar Bar! How was it? Find out below, and my apologies if I missed anything from the show over the weekend. As for the new SMS page design? Stay tuned tomorrow for more on that!

So the concert started slightly later than I expected, and had a higher than expected cover too ($7 for a locals only bar show?), but I knew we'd get our money's worth! Despite The Rockstar Bar's advance coverage, local roots/folk duo The Boot Hill Crooners were indeed the opening band for the show, and though their style of music is way out of my typical preferences, they left a good first impression! Consisting of singer/multi-instrumentalist Sheldon Jaaskelainen and his brother Marshall on the upright bass, you may recognize them as bandmates of Lion Ride's Mikey Lion in Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide, so they are better opener fits than you might expect! This was my first time seeing them, and they delivered a mix bag of songs ranging from original roots songs to some more country based tracks, to select covers, including Nirvana's "All Apologies" and a curious folk rendition of House of Pain's "Jump Around"! Yes, I say folk, they didn't rap once but kept the lyrics intact. They have clear talent, and knew their way around numerous instruments and types of songs, with Sheldon navigating from guitar to banjo to violin to harmonica, even playing some percussion throughout! Not my thing, but very talented, and they have a nice on stage rapport and humour level!

And I'd be remiss if I didn't miss the bachelorette party that were at The Rockstar Bar during The Boot Hill Crooners' set. Very lively bunch of women, and the drunken dancing and fun they were having sure gave life to the dance floor! Now the easily offended might have been put off by their "suggestive" paraphernalia, particularly a "well endowed" blow up doll, but they had fun, and The Boot Hill Crooners had a good sense of humour about it, even as said blow up doll and a partier joined them on stage to help out! The party bolted between sets though, and once they were gone, the attendance was actually fairly average. This reminded me of Lion Ride's show at The Canadian over the May 2-4 weekend last year, where they had an uncharacteristically low attendance due to a show over a camping weekend. Similarly, the band blamed the attendance on camping, this time due to Canada Day weekend. I'd rather rock out than be stuck in the woods, but hey, that's just me. Hopefully Lion Ride don't book a vacation weekend like this again, cause now they've been hit hard by it twice in their last four local shows!

As for Lion Ride's actual set, they were on fire as always, and it's great to see that despite a low crowd, they come to rock at their best no matter who shows up! Musically, they sounded on par with their show in March, and that's a very good thing, as they sounded great then! It was kinda nice to not be so packed amongst people, but the environment was less with a smaller crowd. Lion Ride launched into a fast paced set of classic originals like "Trust" and "Sneak Attack", newer songs like "Snail Trail" and "Bang Bang, Bye Bye", and yes, covers of Motley Crue, Kiss, and The Pointer Sisters! I felt their set ran kinda short compared to some local bands I've seen lately, and I figure they could stand to lengthen it a bit if they threw in songs like "Lock Me In" and "Lazer Lover". That said, they did debut an untitled new song at the show, which sounded very promising, though I think I'm still partial to "Snail Trail" as my favourite newer original! The band's mix of speedy hard rock and punk swagger continues to serve them well, and from Marco & Marky Lion's proficient shredding to Mikey Lion's perfectly suited punk inspired singing, the band had no major flaws! Anything I'd have to say is minor, like that Cobra Carmander needs to make his presence felt more, he always seems buried behind the three Lions on the stage.

Very entertaining concert overall, despite the lower attendance, but as Lion Ride put it during the show "Fuck camp!" Their shows are always a fun blast of energy, and they went nonstop from start to finish, and I couldn't ask for more out of them! For my photos from the concert, click here or visit our Facebook page, but if you want the best photos from the show, Curt O'Neil is your man! The talented local photographer was on hand to take a few photos (11 in total) from the concert, and his black and white takes are now posted at this location! Great quality, and a bit different than usual, though I'm surprised Mikey isn't in very many. Also, I noticed that Curt hinted a possible Lion Ride show in the fall? Fingers crossed! And yes, I got a video, so check out Lion Ride playing their original "Cocaine Crazy" from this past Saturday below!



That's all for today, but our next post will detail our 4th anniversary surprises, including the new layout of the SMS itself and everything else I announced on Facebook yesterday! After that, it's the Titan's Eve review, and I should have all of the photos and videos up by early tomorrow, so stay tuned! Thanks everyone!