10 Reviews February 1, 2006 + Over the Edge Concert We Don't Want Our Nickels Back TABATHA LUNDHOLM Chad Kroeger led Nickelback to a spectacular concert at the CN Centre. TABATHA LUNDHOLM STAFF WRITER As the house filled out with kids young and old, my cohort Tanya Al- varez and I took to the floor to watch the hyped Nickleback show. Open- ets Danko Jones and Live were both quite good, and were really appreciated by the Prince George audience. The people that were pressed up against me seemed to like them, anyway. With some strange stage antics by CD Danko Jones, such as sticking out his tongue and wagging it around in a very Gene Simmons-ish way, Jones resem- bled something of a Geico lizard. The music itself was amazing, well-played and with an appropriate amount of suspense and sexuality. Playing most of their old stuff, with a few newer ones for good measure, they set the mood for the next act: Live. Now, after the brief commercial break, Live took the stage to a scream- ing audience, There's something about sentimental rock that just gets Prince George going! They were all scream- ing the lyrics along with the band, and erupting in joy when they knew what song was going to play by the brief musical intro. People sure are hard-up for recognition. All through the per- formance, I stood patiently behind an older lady who insisted on waving her arms to and fro wildly to the music, and even more wildly if she thought that the lead singer for Live might just glimpse her and show her a reaction. None were offered, but that didn't mean that she stopped. Hitting innocent bystand- ers in the head, and obstructing most people's views, this lady made watching the concert a little aggravating. All was forgiven when she went away and didnt make it back to the gate. Right, more about the concert... After Live did their set, with a very topless last few songs by the lead singer, the crowd seemed to just charge up and energize for Nickelback. People seemed to be getting increasingly drunk, too, and maybe that had something to do with it. By the time the intermission was over, I was up against the gate, in the place that the crazy arm-waving lady was, and I was ready to be enter- tained. All went black, and the audience erupted in screams and cries and whis- tles. After a few minutes the noise died down, and there was a sense of tension in the air. All of a sudden the stage ex- ploded in a fiery and sparkly frenzy of music and heat; heat from the flames that constantly flew from the floor of the stage. The whole audience jumped when the blasts from the pyrotechnics, but recovered quickly to start their screaming again. With the opening song being their current hit, “Animals” was an instant show-starter. Throughout the concert, Chad Kroeger would walk down the catwalk, the very front of which was directly above me. I could almost smell the gel in his hair and the sweat dripping down the small of his back. Does it sound like I have a little crush? Maybe, but he's a Fuck the Scene: Cover Album Rocks ALBUM Tony Hawk's American Wasteland ARTIST Various LABEL Vagrant YEAR 2005 STEPHANIE WILSON MANAGING EDITOR Some punk purists cried themselves to sleep when they heard that con- temporary neo-punk/pop-punk/hxc/ etc. artist were going to cover punk and hardcore classics by Misfits, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Gorilla Biscuits, and others, Surely Alkaline Trio cov- ering“ Wash Away (Beneath the Shad- ows)’, originally by T.S.O.L., is nothing short of a punk rock travesty, marring the absolute ethos of the genre. Well, fuck em. American Wasteland isn't so much an album of covets as it is reinterpretations of the classics. It’s immediately obvious that every single band on the album tried damn hard to pull their respective songs off and put a great deal of heart into their record- ings. Some artists got it and some art- ists didn't, but this album is far from a joke, Senses Fail vocalist Buddy Nielsen screams through “Institutionalized” with as much angst as Suicidal Ten- dencies Mike Muir. My Chemical Romance put their own spin on “Astro Zombies’ (Misfits), Rise Against de- liver “Fix Me” (Black Flag) with feroci- ty, and Alkaline Trio own“ Wash Away Bleedin’ Eels, Man ALBUM Blinking Lights and Other Revela- tions ARTIST Eels LABEL Vagrant YEAR 2005 ALBUM Found in the Flood ARTIST The Bled LABEL Vagrant YEAR 2005 KURT RUSSELL CONTRIBUTOR So last night, there I was, sitting at home, polishing off a few rails of coke, when my phone rings. It was John fucking McEnroe, and when Johnny Mac calls, you gotta be ready to hit the clubs and get as much cougar trim as fucking possible. So I says sue, I can get my paint stripped tonight, and while I'm getting pumped up, with a few more lines, I pop in this: Eels, Blinking Lights and Revelations. I got the shit up in me now, my boy E's laying down unmelody and depres- sion like nothing before. My next-door neighbor tells me to shut the fuck up during “Son of A Bitch’, but fuck him, I got the devil horns in the air and I'm punching the wall, screaming out the words to “Hey Man’. Eventually, the dick hole next door decides my awe- some pre-party is too much for a liv- ing shit like him, and comes over “just to turn down the music.’ Bitch has the nerve to say, “It's nice, we dont really mind it, but my baby’s trying to sleep, and, well, y'know.’ Right now, I got more coke in me than Columbia did last year, my eyes are popping outta my skull, so I show him my baseball bat (Beneath the Shadows)”. Punk is an elitist genre, which is ironic given that the whole point of punk is anti-elitism. If you cant handle covers of punk classics, then don't even bother listening to the album. If you're open to the idea, then give this album a listen. American Wasteland blends old a new, resulting in an honest homage to the bands that made punk awesome - perhaps one of the best to come out of the various neo/pop-punk scenes today, and tell shithead he can either go home and forget about this nice and easy, or Tl hit him like a Mac Truck. Johnny Mag, John McEnroe - I'm fucking late! So I put the body in the trunk, deal with that in the AM, my friend. Snag a cab down to Johnny's place, and get deep, if you know what I mean. Next morning, I gotta do serious clean up. I pop in The Bled's Found in the Flood. I get a little angry at them, imitating Grade so much, but it isn't all bad, “She Calls Home’, and“Antarc- tica’, are pretty tight. Long story short, I bleach out the walls, make a deposit on the side of the highway in a shallow hole, and get some more coke, damn good shit. Eels’ Blinking Lights... 3/5 The Bled’s Found in the Flood... 3/5 good musician, and a good guy, so it's not a crime against my soul. Two unforgettable events happened that night. The first was a very good and surprising drumming solo where the new drummer, Daniel Adair per- formed centre stage for the people of Prince George. It wasn't just the drum- ming (which was excellent) that blew me away. It was also that this was some underlying talent. Nickelback doesn't showcase their drumming as much as they should, especially if they've got a hard-hitter under their belt. The sec- ond unforgettable event was a sign that some fans had brought. The sign read “Chad, you're blocking our view of Daniel!” which once Chad saw; he immediately burst out laughing and re- quested to see the sign up close. After getting the sign from stunned and gig- gling girls, he showed it to the audience, and then stated that it would be seated in front of the drum set for the rest of the tour. This close interaction and rec- ognition of fans had to be the highlight of the evening, and Chad gained some more respect from me for be ing so down-to-earth. For putting on a great, pyrotechnic- filled, shocking, and musically great show, I give Nickelback two thumbs way up. Good For Any Season ALBUM Signs of Life ARTIST Poets of the Fall LABEL Big Records YEAR 2005 CAMERON ORR STAFF WRITER I'll forgive you if you do not recog- nize the name. Poets of the Fall (PotF) is not a band name common in North America. To be perfectly honest, you may need to travel to Europe to find the bulk of their notoriety. PotF is a band which came out of Helsinki, Fin- land, and is comprised of three people, who seem bent on remaining on a first name basis with their audience; Mark is the singer, Ollie is the guitarist, and someone affectionately referred to as “Captain’, as “industrial-machine- trance-man’, whose credit is unsure but is referred to on the Sam Agency Web- site, the agents who represent the band. These three people have managed to inspire some of the greatest music I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing and their work is compiled into their first album, “Signs of Life’. Anyone who has an interest in video games may remember PotF as the band that created the popular song “Late Goodbye” for the game Max Payne 2. Their album, “Signs of Life’, includes this single and also goes on to demon- strate their range of talent. Their feature song on the disc is “Lift’, an energetic piece of rock music which guarantees raised heart rate and insanity inducing repetition in your head until four in the morning. The truly bizarre thing about this album is its lack of anything below standards, Nearly all of the tracks on the disc are good. Poets of the Fall are comparable to REM’s work, in terms of musical talent and lyrics. PotF’s song “Sleep” contains both great harmony and a feeling of real emotion which is both beautiful and haunting which is reminiscent of REM’s own song, “Nightswimming’. Some tracks may not be as memor- able as their others, though, despite the overall quality prevalent. Their track “Shallow” lacks any sort of energy or catchiness which I would associate with the majority of the album. Some tracks as well do have some question- able stylistic approaches, such as their song“Don't Mess With Me’, where they use the Eiffel 65 approach to vocals and synthesize Mark's singing adding a ro- botic reverb to the sound. The entire song itself, I would say, is among their weakest, seemingly trying to incorpor- ate a “fight night” rock and roll track where they should stick to their emo- tionally driven alternative-rock style. Despite the weakness of that track, PotF's strongest tracks make you eas- ily overlook any flaws that any other of - their lesser songs possess. “Lift’, “Sleep’, and “Illusion and Dream’; among others in the album play list, is great music. This band deserves notoriety on an international scale. They are currently recording a new album, of which details are sketchy, but I can only hope that it will enjoy a wider release into the globe and find a larger western audience than ending credits music for video games. The Poets of the Fall website is found at www.poetsofthefall.com, From there, you can read their discography, buy from their online shop, listen to samples, read lyrics and view the music video for “Lift”. You can also order the album, Signs of Life, from www.ama- zon,ca. Be warned: you can only order it as an import title and is a bit above cost of typical CDs, but, in my opinion, the quality of the CD exceeds any extra monetary expediture.