SCENE REVIEWS
EXCLAIM out LOUD!
Review By: Anne Cautious
What am I to do when I was sick as a dog and I have tickets to a sold out show I’ve been dying to see? Then my good friend calls and advises me that yes, perhaps I should stay home. That is, until I told her what event it was and she then proceeded to tell me maybe I should go and do a review. You see she also happens to be my editor-in-chief. So, off I went with plenty of cold medications to aid in my night out.
“The Exclaim! Spring Fling Tour” at the Phoenix promised to be a highlight of the week and an excellent intro to the holiday weekend. The four bands were ‘You Say Party! We Say Die!’ (YSP! WSD!), ‘Malajube’, ‘Chromeo’ and ‘DJ Champion’.
Arriving a little late, my friend and I found a spot closer to the back away from the fray of people gathered near the stage. Having not been to Phoenix in quite a while it was nice to see the place had not changed much and still afforded us with enough space to move and get our groove on. Although, I must say having to wait in line to go out for a single smoke and freezing my tush was an annoyance. Smoking by-laws...grrr.
We arrived just in time to catch the last few songs by ‘You Say Party! We Say Die!’ The energy was flowing and people were jumping to the pulsating beat. Lead singer, Becky Ninkovic, was holding court, whipping the crowd into a frenzy as she bounced, hopped and shimmied. As an old skool punker from the 80s, I felt myself going back in time. YSP! WSD! is a band to watch out for.
Next up was Malajube from Quebec. This group was more intense in their delivery and offered some hardcore tunes. I found myself a little startled by the change at first but soon got into it. The blends provided by the guitarist and keyboardist were quite interesting and diverse. At other times, I found they would drown each other out and the music became quite muddy. Also, on a few occasions the vocals seemed to be more of a screaming match. This too was reminiscent of my punker days, unfortunately not in a good way. All in all though, I found them fast, hard and quite entertaining.
Chromeo. What can I say? I’ve never seen them before but my friend has played them many times so I was quite pumped for this and only slightly disappointed. The music was quirky and fun. The light show, though simple, was awesome. Pee Thug was rockin’ that talk box and keyboard, whilst Dave One was hitting all the right notes on guitar. Have to say the vibe between the two is awesome and they really draw the crowd into their fun. My only disappointment? They played what sounded like only seven songs.
The next group was DJ Champion. Have to say, I love Champion - or loved Champion. I was really looking forward to this set. Knowing how well they did at the Casby Awards would definitely be indicative of their show. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. They started up with Maxime Morin coming out and beginning the set. Slowly, one by one, the other members of the group joined in. It was quite the intro and got me all pumped up… Then, nothing… While the music is geared towards building to a climax, it took forever. Their peaks, once reached, were brilliant, but then came the valley which provided nothing. Usually, you’ll hear someone throw in something different or something interesting to keep the crowd pumped, I didn’t hear it. All I heard was the same repetitive tune between each hit.
I barely smoked or went to the bathroom the entire night. It was amazing how many times I needed a cig... Oooh climax! Dance like a fiend! Then, hmm, I have five minutes to kill before the next buildup…”Going for a smoke!”
Near the end of their set, I asked my friend if we should get our coats to avoid the inevitable lineup at coat check and he agreed. We were of the same mind... Not a band I would want to see again unfortunately.
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