Alexis O-week Fire

Johnny Truant were a brash metal band from the UK, that cursed and ripped through a decent set. They were pure screaming, though not screamo, tending towards classic metal stylings with a side of thrash. The shirtless frosh in the pit certainly enjoyed it, though the well-dressed timid girls in front of me didn't really know what to do with themselves. Dallas checked them out behind me until getting swarmed by girls, and Wade hopped on stage to rasp through a song with them as well.

After some disappointing showings from UoG frosh/crowds in recent years (such as the Moneen/Silverstein show with <100 people a few years back) I was impressed to see the gym rather full with rabid Alexis fans. The bands seemed to appreciate this and played off of it. Plus when I go to AoF again on Monday in Waterloo i shouldn't hear "you guys are so much better than those aggies down the road at Guelph."

Alexis opened with the Crisis opener, Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints which I believe I remarked on after their last show since that opening line of "This is from our hearts - sincerity over simple chords. It's a long time coming when you're givin' it everything" is a great opening statement. They were as tight as ever - playing the vast majority of Crisis actually with Boiled Frogs and Mailbox Arson being some standouts. Naturally there was the crowd-pleasing .44 Calibre Love Letter (straight from my heart!) and a smattering of older tunes throughout. I'd noticed that the guitar tech setting up the stage looked really familiar and my suspicions were verified when they asked Kenny Bridges of Moneen to join them onstage for a song (and AoF tune). Exciting news is that they are working on a brand new album and they busted their way through a couple new tunes from that. The first was rather screamy, call and response chorus that featured mostly George screaming. The latter allowed Dallas to showcase his vocals at points while keeping the energy up. Seems that the follow up to Crisis has promise - and I can only hope that it is on par. During one of the songs Dallas dropped an ode to Guelph by including a verse from the local faves the Constantines - "years from now, they will make water". They closed the set with Happiness by the Kilowatt which didn't seem like a suitable ending to me. Luckily they came back for an 8-minute jazz encore. At least that was the joke before ripping into a satisfying rendition of Accidents.