IDNS/Catharcyst Concert Review!!

Hey guys, it's finally time for our review of Saturday night's IDNS concert at The Oddfellows Hall! Video uploads were slower than expected yesterday (Rotopsy's video gave me a lot of grief), hence why the review is only up now, so our apologies for the wait. The attendance on Saturday was mixed at best, with The Apocalypse Afterparty surprisingly getting the day's peak crowd, but the constant fans indoors kept up a good energy level, and I liked the time management for the sets! Before we get into the actual bands, I'll note that the announced co-headliners, Winnipeg hardcore punk band Bring The Fight were forced to drop out due to mechanical problems, according to promoter Tyler St. Amour before showtime. Disappointing, but hopefully we see them in the Soo at some point!

Saturday night's concert began with local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore, who put on another reliably heavy set to kick things off! Early fans of Tyler Gibson's solo work were on hand to take in original songs like "Orthostatic Hypotension", "Seshing In June Bugs", and the newer "Entrepreneur", and if you've seen past C.T.W. shows, you'll know exactly what went down as an overall experience! Even with minimal people at the set's beginning, Tyler laid down a solid and energetic set of goregrind that definitely has it's audience, though attendees who don't take to the genre or minimalistic lineup still won't have been convinced. Tyler's guitar work was solid as ever (though I'd like to see him play some more solos), and those pig squeal vocals are well controlled! Another unapologetic and spontaneous set from C.T.W., and Tyler had more where that came from later that night! Is it surprising that Crucify The Whore were the only local band on Saturday that had a live guitar for their set?

Second was the 2014 debut of local punk/grunge solo project Telephone & Address, who I've surprisingly never seen in concert before (Chris Shoust's appearance at Soo Band Roulette aside.) I'd went in expecting an reserved vocal/guitar set, but Chris surprised us by breaking out an acoustic bass and drum machine for a fuller live band sound, which seemed to go over fairly well! As announced prior to the event, Chris did indeed release his new Telephone & Address CD "Need Not Apply" for $15 after his set (along with selling his older "Rotten EP" and some of his writing and video work), and he did play songs from it like "Army of Losers" and "The Way It Goes" during his set. His stage presence was looser than at the roulette, and he was in his element playing his own originals, which compliment his unique singing voice pretty well! That said, his set could be seen as a change from his recent unplugged guitar recordings, but if he ever expanded back to a full band like his older local music work, this would be a good starting point! Solid change of pace, and stay tuned for our rundown of the packaging and songs on "Need Not Apply" this week!

Next was the first public appearance (and last local set of 2014?) from new local rap/metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty, and these masked bandits definitely left a strong impression for the day's peak audience! While their Smokin' Heroines support was more muted than expected (despite the presence of Wonder Woman), X & Z delivered a spunky and hard hitting set of original songs like "Glory & Gore" that got fans moving! Stage names and personas aside, the connections to the "songwriters"' old bands were clear as day, with old Fury standards like "The Crowd" and "Rebel Scum" returning to the public stage with gusto, but if you were to compare the two bands, The Apocalypse Afterparty are heavier, feature more rapped vocals (and British accents), and are visually more creative. Z announced near the end of their set that this will probably be the last time you see the band for 8 months, believed to be related to Steve Mozarowski's return to the Toronto area until next summer, but they went out with a bang, and hopefully we'll hear more from them sooner than that!

Last of Saturday's local bands was C.T.W.'s Tyler Gibson's other active live grind band Rotopsy, who picked up where Tyler left off with more goregrind originals and a fun and bouncy stage presence! Originals like "Shovel Packin'", "T.F.T.", and "Let Us Rot" were among the older and more recent tracks played on Saturday, and even as a duo, Dylan and Tyler have great chemistry on these tracks! Dylan's vocals are slowly becoming more diverse too beyond scattered grunts, and hopefully he keeps that evolution going. It'd be interesting to hear Rotopsy originals done with a guitar rather than (or along with) a bass too, but maybe this is an intentional choice to differentiate them from C.T.W., who Dylan guests with on occasion already. Still a polarizing band for some, but Rotopsy are having fun, and their brutal originals made their mark as always!

With Bring The Fight's dropout, your co-headliners on Saturday were Sudbury blackened death metal quartet Catharcyst in their long awaited return to the Soo, and I thought they were awesome! The guys powered through a set of brutal and crushing original songs from their long run like "A Spell Has Been Cast" & "Endless Torture", which had the death metal style with some blackened shrieks and tinges, and I'm also very impressed at how they embraced the crowd despite the very noticeable dropoff in attendance after the local bands. Frontman Paul Cipriani and bassist Kipp Grose were especially warm and engaging during the set, and that was great to see, while guitarist Brady McCoy laid down some very cool solos throughout! I'm more disappointed with the crowd level and lack of moshing (I didn't catch anyone starting a pit), but I think Catharcyst made some new fans all the same! Very entertaining set, and hopefully we see Catharcyst back in the Soo soon!

And finally, Toronto crust punk quartet IDNS took the stage on Saturday night for their own hard hitting and chaotic set, and they ensured fans left on a high note! Playing a near relentless set of hardcore & crust-influenced punk with some death metal touches, you know a band is going on all cylinders when they're hard to photograph, and singer Sean was all over the place in that regard! Plenty of short, no nonsense, and grimy action to be had, and Matt, Preston, and Darren all held up their ends of the bargain as well, and while they lacked the technicality of Catharcyst, they made up for it in intensity and punk attitude! Late fans definitely enjoyed it (I know Ringsnaps did), and if this show was an experiment into future Heavy North Entertainment shows with punk headliners, I think it passed with flying colours on a critical level! I just hope there's more fans the next time out. IDNS delivered a great set, and hopefully there's more to come!

Photos & videos of each band can now be checked out at this link and our Facebook page, and remember, we will be outlining copies of Telephone & Address' new CD this week in a separate post. As for videos, here's Crucify The Whore playing a new untitled track and "Bunk, Shake, and Headache", Telephone & Address playing "Go To Hell", The Apocalypse Afterparty playing "Glory & Gore", Rotopsy playing "Swamp Donkey" & a track whose name begins with "Lesbian Luxuries...", Catharcyst playing "Burn Elvira Burn", and IDNS playing original songs to be named!













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