Ripcordz/Halloween Party Concert Review!!

It's now time for my review of last night's eighth annual Halloween Party from local concert promoter J.D. Pearce! Moving to The Roosevelt Hotel this year after spending 2012 at The Algonquin Pub, The Rosie was of course nicely decked out in Halloween decorations, and sound was provided this year by White Wreckords, but while there was a decent turnout, I wonder if it would have been bigger if recent "incidents" hadn't happened there? Luckily, nothing bad went down, and everyone had a good time and were dressed well for the occasion! Later start time too of 11:00 PM, but here's all that went down for the bands!

Opening the night was local hardcore punk quintet Destroilet in their first appearance at this annual Halloween weekend event, and most of the band was in their Halloween best to start their set, including Mike Hull's half-shaved head & goatee! Their setlist was again packed with tons of generally short originals & covers, including every song from their self-titled CD, a handful of non-album covers (including Dayglo Abortions and Descendents classics), and a new song late in the set with an odd name that definitely fit well with their other tracks! Musically, they were on form from past concerts, though with a bit more of a rawer chaotic vibe to go along with the seasonal themes, but like before, Mike's vocals could have been louder. John Conway was particularly impressive on guitar, and it was good to see a nice contingent of fans rocking out to their stuff last night! Very solid set, and don't miss Destroilet as they open for Bam Margera's Fuckface Unstoppable in their Canadian Nightclub debut in December!

Local punk/metal quartet Jack Spades replaced frontman J.D. Pearce's main band Frightlight in the co-headlining slot last night due to Rick White's ongoing injury recuperation, and they kept the same sort of vibe for much of their set, including covering two Frightlight songs and covering some of their own Misfits standards! The new band had their own flavour though, including covering SNFU, Pennywise, and Judas Priest material, and playing a triptych of mid-set originals (including "Breakneck Speed") that fans seemed to enjoy! J.D. (as Batman) delivered another fun vocal performance, with help from some fans on vocals on a few covers, and the other band members did well also! Justin Lam's bass work was as solid as ever, Johnny Belanger's black metal facepaint didn't impede his ability, and Tiffany Stocco did a fine job as usual on guitar and backing vocals! Jack Spades remind me in many ways of T-Rex Manning with more of an original emphasis, and hopefully they keep that angle up at future concerts as they continue to make their own name!

Headlining last night's show were Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz, and if you missed them in April, they were back in full force at The Rosie with another very entertaining and hard hitting set of punk and hardcore original songs! Must have been nice to come back here, as they even had a special Sault Ste. Marie-exclusive t-shirt on sale! Over a dozen of their classic songs and newer originals were in full force, including "Hardcore", "Ghosts of Griffintown", and "Riot", and though the crowd levels for their set were sparser than I'd expected, the mosh pit was very active and fitting of a Ripcordz show (my knees felt it at one point!) Paul Gott and company were just as good musically as they were in April, aside from an early bass string malfunction, and his singing and guitar work were as solid and often heavy as ever, which is a good sign compared to some other veteran jhardcore punk bands who haven't universally held up the same. Another great show, and hopefully The Ripcordz come back to the Soo in 2014!

Very entertaining concert, and another fitting edition of J.D.'s annual Halloween series, but hopefully Rick White gets better soon so we can see him on stage for next year's edition! The Rosie was a fitting host, I wonder if it will be back there next fall? I did get photos that you can check out at this link or via our Facebook page, and I also posted videos there of each band, so here's Destroilet playing their original "Truly Infected", Jack Spades covering SNFU's "Drunk on a Bike", and The Ripcordz playing their classic "Army Boots"!







That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!