BigWig, Death By Stereo, Belvedere, Tsunami Bomb, Misconduct – May 18th, 2004

May 18th was a big day for the Edmonton music scene as one of the biggest names in the music industry was gracing the town. That’s right, Aerosmith was playing a rare show in E-town at Rexall Place. So many of the town’s regular concert goers were out rocking to the tunes of Steven Tyler and his pals, while a couple blocks away there were five up and coming punk rock bands rocking their hearts out to their dedicated fans at the Starlite Room; and what a show they put on.

Opening the night was Sweden’s Misconduct, and with the logo “Hardcore Lifestyle” printed below their banner, you knew you were in for a energetic treat. The band played a nice, short 25 to 30 minute set and didn’t miss a chance to get the crowd involved. Fredrik, the lead singer, constantly got the pit to put their hands in the air and shake their fists to the beat, he encouraged circle pits and dedicated songs out to the crowd and merch people. Their songs were full of angst and fighting back (take Shut The Fuck or Fight Back for example), but the best song of the night was Side By Side by far. Dedicated to the crowd, it got one of the best reactions and really capped off their show well. They also played a Gorilla Biscuit cover song, unfortunately, I forget what song they did.

Next came Kung Fu Records‘ artist Tsunami Bomb, and they really got the crowd excited. During their thirty minute set, they played songs like 20 Going On…, Say It Like You Mean It and El Diablo, and with each one they wowed the crowd. Agent M’s vocals were strong and powerful, although a little overwhelmed by the instrumentals. This was a disappointment at times, but it really wasn’t that bad. Agent M, along with Matt and Mike, had a ton of energy on stage and gave it their all. They jumped around, did head bops and interacted with the crowd. Agent M would high fan anyone reaching from the crowd as the guitarist commented on the crowd, “Woah, this is great. There’s one guy here with a lighter and another girl somewhere on someone’s shoulder; this is the best crowd all tour!” (or something around those lines). Their set was amazing, but unfortunately only thirty minutes. Afterwards though, Agent M hung around the merch booth signing things and talking to fans; which made the night even more memorable for some fans.

Afterwards came Belevedere, they played loud, fast, and hard. But in the words of NOFX, “All the songs sounded the same and kind of sucked“. There was no punch or anything, really not a good set. Next came one of the crowd favorites, Death By Stereo. Opening the set with Let Down And Alone, the quintet blasted through a 45 minute set with songs like “Waster Words”,” I Wouldn’t Piss In Your Ear If Your Brain Was On Fire”, “Shh, It’ll Be Out Little Secrets”, “What I Can’t Hear, Touch, Smell Or See Can’t Hurt Me”, “These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things” and “You’re A Bullshit Salesman With A Mouthful Of Samples“. Lead singer Efrem Schulz climbed around the speakers with a bright orange mohawk (not done up) and flashing TVs behind him, screaming at the top of his lungs and putting everything he could into. The band worked together pulling little tricks here and there to make the show more enjoyable and even let people from the crowd sing along. Despite normal concert rules, Death By Stereo even did an encore for the crowd at their request; even when they weren’t the headliners! That’s not something you see often.

Finally the night’s headliners came on stage. BigWig started it off with a bang by lighting their cymbals on fire and launching into the songs. Having gotten back to their regular four piece set since the last time I saw them, I was wondering what to expect. Luckily, they did not disappoint at all. At times the vocals were a little incomprehensible amongst the instrumentals, but that seemed to have been happening a lot that night, so it wasn’t something I took notice off. They ripped through a 50 minute set with barely any breaks with songs like The Girl In The Green Jacket, Friends, Sellout, and Blinded. They taught the crowd how to sing along with them for Friends and Tom even stepped aside for Sellout to let one enthusiastic fan sing it for him. The set was amazing and they ended dripping in sweat from head to toe. Unfortunately, the band was too tired for an encore, but instead left the stage by jumping off the front and talking to everyone in the pit.

Overall, the night was a success. It wasn’t one of by best concerts by far simply because there wasn;t a huge turn out. I guess its hard to compete against Aerosmith.