Saigon Hookers Concert Review, Plus Info On Late & Loud's EP!!

It's time for our review of yesterday's Saigon Hookers concert at The Rockstar Bar, which had a solid attendance (if somewhat of a late start), and I did pick up a certain band's debut disc which we'll talk about at the end of this post, but first, let's discuss the concert! The opening band was local punk/metal quartet T-Rex Manning in their Rockstar Bar debut, and for the most part, their set was entertaining! The guys tore through a bunch of Misfits covers along with everything from Blink-182 to Judas Priest, and they seemed to have a lot of fun as you'd expect! J.D. Pearce's singing was on form, and in his last concert with T-Rex Manning before moving out west, Daniel MacDonald had one of his better drumming performances that I've seen of him live! However, their set wasn't under ideal sound conditions, ad something happened with guitarist Tiffany Stocco's amplifier (I think a tube broke, I may be wrong though.) As a result, the sound had some technical difficulties, but overall, T-Rex Manning delivered a solid set of metal and punk covers (and their original "She Banged The Mayor"), and hopefully they'll be back soon!

Next up was local classic metal quartet Late & Loud, making their own Rockstar Bar debut in their first concert after their September breakup! Just to get it out of the way now, no on-stage indications were made on if this show was a one-off return or not, but we should find out either in the next few weeks. Despite some self-deprecating stabs at how they sounded, the Sault Humane Society Battle winners tore through most of the originals from their EP and some extra tracks, and aside from guitar sound issues similar to T-Rex Manning's set, they delivered well in their return! Like most of their past concerts, my only steady quibble was in Late & Loud's lack of a formal singer, but the guys know how to control their voices to suit their material best, and no matter what instrument, they were rocking it and driving the energy high! Jon Tiberi and Brendan Christie of course stood out well on lead guitar, and it was nice seeing Josh Hatherley switch to vocals and guitar for "Rock N' Roll" again! Judging by the fans up front last night, I know I'm not alone in hoping they're back for good, but if this was Late & Loud's last show, they went out on a high note!

And finally last night were your headliners, Kitchener hard rockers The Saigon Hookers! Over a year after their last local appearance, the guys were back for another set full of their entertaining original material, including songs from their brand new EP "Feel Like Murder" and numerous other cuts from across their discography, and on the whole, they seemed tighter than they did last summer! On a few songs though, their audio sounded somewhat muffled, and Tommy Smokes was occasionally hard to hear vocally, but you could tell they were on their game! The guys' energy seemed high, especially bassist Lee Brook and guitarist Ron Cybulskie, but I wish they'd played a bit longer or identified some more of their songs live. Very entertaining return set though, as The Saigon Hookers' blend of metal, punk, and classic rock fits very well here in the Soo, and hopefully it won't be more than a year for their next local stop!

Overall, this was a fun concert, if somewhat plagued by audio twinges, but the bands were all on form, and hopefully we'll see them all again soon! I did get photos & videos, so click here to see my photos from last night, or visit our Facebook page! Apologies for the quality, that was the best spot I could get where I wasn't blocking the view of the bands. Before we discuss Late & Loud's EP, here's my videos from the concert, including T-Rex Manning's original "She Banged The Mayor", Late & Loud playing "Heavy or Bust" (including a Josh Hatherley drum solo), and The Saigon Hookers playing 2008's "Grab On/Fall Down"!

And finally for today, here's what you should know about Late & Loud's demo EP that they released last night! We already showed you guys the artwork, but I can now confirm that the title is indeed "Heavy Rockin' Hard Metal", as credited on the spine and back of the case. The first 5 tracks ("Fast As A Bitch", "Rock N' Roll", "Machine Gun Maiden", "Heavy Or Bust", and "Whisper of the Damned") were recorded with producer Dave Pihlaja (presumably at what's now the Smoke & Oak Room Studio), while the two bonus tracks ("Love Letter Lockdown" & "Never Again") were self recorded. It'd be nice to have songs like "Live For Excess" included too, but beggars can't be choosers! Though packaged properly (including liner notes, credits, and band photography), song lyrics aren't included, and the CDs themselves feature handwritten art that varies by disc, similarly to Changing Waves' free demo from last year. For example, mine has the band's name and members' individual autographs on the disc.

Copies of this pressing weren't completely sold off last night, so if you still want one, contact the band at this location (or Jon & Josh directly), and while they still cost $6, throw in an extra $4 for a Late & Loud t-shirt, which was also sold yesterday! With that all said, I'll announce right now that "Heavy Rockin' Hard Metal" will indeed be our CD review at the SMS for November 2012, with Mike Haggith's "Neighbourhood Watch" now likely for December to avoid any biases (following our review of his band Haggith's first CD last month.) Stay tuned in the coming weeks for our Late & Loud CD review, and for more news tomorrow, including some new concerts and a preview of TOMORROW'S Adelitas Way/Theory of a Deadman show at Kewadin Casino! Thanks everyone!