Boys Night Out
W/ The Reason, Sights And Sounds, Sick City
October 19, 2007
Mod Club

Opening bands generally suck, whether it’s to make the headliners look better or because the bigger band are letting their friends open, it doesn’t matter. This time it was the opening bands that overshadowed the headliners. That said, this was one of the best put together tours I’ve seen in a long time. The bands all fit together seamlessly and are the perfect representation of how good Canadian indie bands are right now. I don’t know if it was because this was the last date on the tour, but all the bands brought the energy out in spades.

Sick City opened the show with maybe thirty people in attendance. The lack of crowd did nothing to lessen the bands’ attitude toward the set. Their emo tinged rock sound showcases the abilities of all the band members and their high energy set captured the attention of those who were there. Playing a good chunk of songs off their recent album, Nightlife, the band seemed to really enjoy being onstage. And bassist T.J. Stevenson is one to watch for. His nonstop movement gave you something to watch while you were listening. Definitely a band to watch out for in the future, and you’ll have the chance since it looks like they’re going to be on tour for a while.

Sights And Sounds are one of those bands that people are going to prejudge based on who’s in the band. Granted Andrew Neufeld is the singer for hardcore band Comeback Kid and drummer Joel Neufeld is also in Sick City (double drumming duty for an entire tour must have killed him), but Sights And Sounds aren’t similar to either of those bands. As it was mentioned this band is like punk makeout music. Solid musicians making punk based rock with a softer side, the music is good, but leaves you just a little bored. They might’ve kept my attention a little more if the songs were shorter, I don’t know. I just wish I loved this band a little more and I’ve been trying to.

I used to hate The Reason to the point where you couldn’t have paid me to see them and then they released their recent album, Things Couldn’t Be Better. The change in their sound had me convinced that it wasn’t even the same band until this set when you could see hints of what they used to be in songs like “Taurus.” But what they are now is so much better than anyone could’ve ever imagined. Opening their set with “This Is Just The Beginning,” they bounced into one of the best sets I’ve seen all year from a Canadian band. Singer/keyboardist Adam White danced more through the set than any band I’ve ever seen. With an album and live show this good, I’m just waiting for more people to catch on. They have the potential to be in the Alexisonfire/Billy Talent league and I’m hoping they get there.

Then Boys Night Out hit the stage. Although the band is great at what they do, after all the energy of the opening bands it just seemed a little anti-climatic. The biggest surprise in their set was that singer Connor Lovat-Fraser had gotten a haircut. They played the usual mix of both old and new material but it just left me wanting more. And after being blown away at their CD release party a few months ago, they were good but just not as interesting.

The night overall was a great night for Canadian rock and if we keep finding more bands this good, our music scene will take over the world. If only.

- Alyssa Caplin