Opening the Howling was (effectively) local punk trio Redundant in their second show in a three day span, as they tackled a Weezer tribute set... well, mostly! With bassist James White absent for unannounced reasons, the guys had originally enlisted Travis Sharpe to fill in for the tribute, but with his band Soundcheck playing at the Reggievelt last night, veteran local punk bassist Andrew MacDonald took over the low end instead. Great choice, and familiar to Justin Langlois and Rick White already from their old bands Fitswitch & The Scary Uncles, but how did the set proper go? As advertised, the guys covered a selection of Weezer songs like "Hash Pipe", "Say It Ain't So", and "El Scorcho" (albeit sans "No Scrubs" interlude), and despite warnings from Justin about their amount of jam time on these songs, they all sounded fine! If anything, some of the vocal rhythms were a touch off, but that's minor. If you're not a Weezer fan, than don't worry, as Redundant didn't just cover them!In a second half stretch, they broke out some renditions of Operation Ivy, Vaselines, and Rise Against tunes, and even one original ("That December" from their new EP), so that was a nice bonus for diehard Redundant fans! Andrew fit in very well on these songs, and everyone handled the Weezer end nicely despite any prep-time issues, so what more could you ask for! Justin even had a sweater on for "Undone"!
The second band last night was the one-off Tool tribute, who didn't have a proper name, though they did jokingly refer to themselves as the actual Tool. Comprised of alumni of bands like Redefined, Sense of Truth, Half Past, and Late Shift, fans familiar with those groups knew the talent on display from this quartet, and it's clear that they brought their A-games for this one! Tackling a range of Tool singles like "46 & 2", "The Pot", and "Parabola", their knowledge and handling of these familiar prog-metal tracks was crystal clear, and if this was a full time band, they'd already be worthy of headline status! I haven't seen John Barber and Anthony Gagnon on stage in a few years, and it felt like no time had passed, with John having a very strong handle on Maynard's distinctive vocal style, and both Steve Myers and Alain Fletcher had every song down pat, even if Steve's wig didn't survive long! These guys got the best crowd on the floor of the night, and with this excellent performance, can you blame them?
Headlining last night was the long awaited reunion set from local horror punk/metal favourites Frightlight, in their first public concert appearance since the Halloween party four years ago! Lineup-wise, this was a reunion of their 2011-2014 incarnation, albeit sans rhythm guitarist Kevin "St. Mayhem" Powe for unannounced reasons (though he did design this concert's poster.) Hopefully nothing bad happened! Much like their first 2009-2010 gigs, Frightlight played on as a quartet for a very nostalgic set that included their entire "It's A...Live!" EP, plus later originals like "World War Z", and a cover interlude where they tackled a GG Allin standard and, of course, three Misfits songs. It was great to see the guys don the face paint and member vests one more time, especially Rick Styles and Eddie Fright, who we haven't seen play guitar or bass on stage in far too long. Johnny Pints' vocals sounded rougher than normal, but his commanding stage presence was still intact, of course!
While a rhythm guitar presence was missed, Frightlight gave fans one more entertaining fright night for the Halloween season, and here's hoping there's more in the pipeline when the time is right! Overall, this was a fun way to cap off a busy Halloween weekend, and while there is more to come given the mid-week Halloween timing this year, hopefully this weekend's parties helped satiate your metal and punk desires! You can check out our photos and videos (which do work this time!) at this link or at our Facebook page, all courtesy of my new Fujifilm Finepix S8000FD, which is definitely proving to be a wise purchase based on the photo quality so far! There are still some kinks to work out, especially regarding how far I can push it's battery life, but things will become more consistent at future shows. As for our videos, here's Redundant covering Weezer's "My Name Is Jonas", the one-off Tool tribute band tackling "Schism", and Frightlight playing "Dead Town Anywhere"!That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
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