Shit Liver/Winkstinger Concert Review, Plus A Band's Name Change!!

I'm back from last night's Shit Liver/Winkstinger concert at Feedback, which marked my first concert at the Queen Street bar since Dismembertainment's Rich Moreland purchased, renamed, and renovated it last month! Also, it was actually my first show at this location since the wooden stage railing was removed from the then-Foggy's stage earlier this year, and that's sure an improvement for seeing the bands with! As a reminder, while Feedback is (on the inside) largely similar to Foggy Notions' basic look, there are changes, like the soundproofing and wooden bars covering the old rock wall on the stage, the removal of the "Foggy's" sign in the stage area, and a nice selection of local artwork for sale on the walls. Things are shaping up nicely at Feedback, but how about the bands?

Opening last night's concert was returning extreme metal quintet Winkstinger, playing their first local concert in 4 months and making their Feedback debut! It was good to see them back after so long, and I'm glad to say that they sounded on form with their past shows! Along with a selection of original songs like "Chudnugget" and "Sadist" (plus their little Blues Brothers homage), they threw in a set ending new song that sounded nice and heavy, if a bit more standard compared to their past original fare. Jesse Cook (and his orange toque/mask) tore it up on guitar as you'd expect, and Alan Wells' brutal screaming stood out as always, but I think Ryan Sherman's bass was a bit high in the mix last night, and at points, a bit of rust was evident in their sound, though they never once sucked! The audio level was lower too than I'm used to from past Winkstinger shows, but I can understand why if the bar's trying to combat a possible noise complaint. Nice return from Winkstinger, and hopefully we'll be seeing them rocking a local stage again sooner than four months from now!

And your headliners were local grimecore trio Shit Liver, making their second appearance at Feedback since it's re-opening, and they delivered a nice long set of original material for fans last night! Though the attendance numbers seemed slightly lower, the moshpit was even larger and it almost never stopped throughout the set! Their set was bookended with OBCD and Macabre covers, but the rest was Shit Liver original songs, including the debut of their new 6 minute song "Shit Will Prevail" which seemed to go over well! Musically, they sounded just as crust and grimy as ever, though I did find their vocals were a bit inaudible at points, though that could be a casualty of their growling styles. Josh Penno showed some slick moments on guitar during their set, all three members growled and screamed with the best of them, and fans seemed to enjoy everything well enough! Solid set of death metal from Shit Liver last night, and if you like your metal rough, to the point, and crusty, you'd definitely agree!

Overall, this was a fun first metal concert at Feedback, and with no police calls for the noise, you know it was a success! The metal ruled, even if the night ended a bit early, and hopefully Rich brings some more great metal shows to Feedback in the coming months! I did get a bunch of photos, so click here to see them or visit our Facebook page, which also has this concert's "Tag Yourself!" photo. And I did get videos, so here's Winkstinger's song "Sadist" and Shit Liver's new original "Shit Will Prevail" from last night! Apologies for a brief sound issue in the Shit Liver video, I don't know what caused it to quiet down early on.





And finally, let's cap this post with updates on a prominent returning local band, but they'll have a new identity now, as local hard rockers Stillbroke have officially changed their name to Borderline Divine. A reason for the name change hasn't been publicized, but the new name was confirmed on a new Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Sirie launched earlier today. Personally, I find the new name's a downgrade, but considering the lineup changes and lengthy break since the last Stillbroke concert in March 2010, this could be good to signal a new chapter in the band's history. As such, the new Borderline Divine page confirms that the band's lineup still features longtime frontman Jesse Frigault on vocals & guitar, Mitch on guitar & backing vocals, and Sam DeDominicis on drums, with no new bassist found yet. The Facebook page does say that Borderline Divine play "original music driven by emotions" and a diverse cover selection, with Mitch saying on his personal page that they'll be playing soon at a bar near you. It's good to see the band progressing more towards a full fledged return, as it's been way too long since we last saw Stillbroke, but hopefully Borderline Divine can continue their legacy and grow to new heights in 2012! Become a fan at the above links, and stay tuned for updates!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week, along with our review of Theater of Night's "Christmas Night" album on Wednesday! Thanks everyone!