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| Strung Out / Snapcase / Rise Againstlive in Edmonton, AB2002 live show  Review by: homie See others by this writer Fat Wreck Chords (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on August 27th 2002 Red's is a bowling alley/pool hall/retro restaurant/concert hall smack dab in the middle of the world's second largest mall. Not the normal venue for a line-up like this one and although I had seen SNFU play here a couple years ago and The Misfits are scheduled to appear in the next month or so, it typically hosts R&B acts, tribute bands and washed up 70s and 80s acts. It is a decent place to see a show and normally has a good sound system, but more on that later. I missed theLine, so I can't really say much about them except they had more merchandise than any other fourth band on a four act bill I'd ever seen before. More than any other band on the bill, I reckon. But I guess that's what you get when you've signed to a major. Rise Against is one of the newer bands on Fat Wreck Chords and rose from the ashes of 88 Fingers Louie. I have to admit that I'm not really familiar with Rise Against's music besides a Fat sampler here and a free download there. But after seeing their live show, their new album is on my list of must-buys. Vocalist Tim Mcilrath's voice battles from hardcore screaming to campfire sing along cheery. The highlight of the set were those songs that both Mcilrath picked up a guitar and formed a more complex and layered sound. The band had great energy and should be headlining their own tour after they release their new album. Buffalo's Snapcase followed Rise Against and although I had hug expectations for them, they actually surpassed them. The energy of the entire band and their extremely tight playing was beyond most other bands I have seen, lo these many years. There is not really much to say except that I went to the show with two people who are not into hardcore or even punk rock, and they both loved Snapcase. As good as they are on CD they are better live and they played something from entire catalogue. The only downside was that they only played for 30 minutes or so. Otherwise, fantastic. After about 20 minutes of A-Ha, Big Country and Mr. Mister playing over the sound system (we're in a mall remember), Strung Out came out to hundreds of chanting fans. In the past I've seen them play twice. Once headlining with Diesel Boy and once opening for Bad Religion. Both times they were great. Tight, heavy, melodic. Tonight was a different story. It wasn't so much the band as it was the sound itself. It was a horrible muddled mix. The only thing you could hear clearly was Jordan's bass drum. Jason's vocals were non-existent. A real shame when the headliner has the worst sound, by far. Even though I know almost all of their songs, I had trouble picking out about a third of them live, but it sounded like they played something from all their FAT albums. On the plus side, the band whipped up the crowd by giving it their all and watching Jordan, one of punk's best drummers, is always a treat. A good effort ruined by bad sound.
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Rise against is very good Yeah, I have a friend who's done sound tech at reds and she tells me their system is terrible for sound and that the building isnt even set up to sound good. It wont get better unless they get a better sound system, so theres not much you can do. Strung Out kicks ass by the way. "Bad sound is something you get in one-two shows per year and just have to take in stride. We had it at the NJ warped tour this year, however Strung out in NYC sounded crystal clear." Well evildeadalive, to answer your question, I merely stated I was "not a big fan" of Strung Out...this does not mean I do not like the band, only that I listen to them occasionally and would not, therefore, consider myself a "BIG FAN". As for Rise Against, I was interested in what they sounded like having never seen their live performance yet. Bad sound is something you get in one-two shows per year and just have to take in stride. We had it at the NJ warped tour this year, however Strung out in NYC sounded crystal clear. As much as I HATE red's, it was a good show. Security was in full effect on this particular night, booting anyone they saw crowd surfing. It wasn't as bad as snfu though, since you'd only get booted, not beat up. the best strung out show here was in 97 (or 96, it was a long time ago) when they played with straight faced & LAMS at a local hall. Meh. All teh bands were good, except I couldn't really get into the Line. Isnt West Edmonton Mall the biggest mall in the world?? Where is one bigger now then, cause WEM at least used to be the biggest. Hey Vancouver dude at the very bottom of this thread, what the fuck were you doing at this show if you don't really care for any of the bands playing? I cant wait for the new snapcase, ive seen them a few times and each time is better than the last-oldpunker- snapcase is incredible live...nothing else needs to be said...last time i saw them at a toys for tots benefit show, they blew the roof of the showplace theater...buffalo hardcore owns your mother... The Line plays with Strung Out frequently...you are right about them having a lot of merch! I think they are signed with Volcom Records though, which is not a major label. Its a bummer Strung Out's sound was fucked up, they put on incredible shows when the levels are right. They played a coouple of new songs, Coagulate and another one I don't know the name of, and they did rock. What songs did Snapcase play? Any new ones? The played a couple news ones at Krazy Fest and they were INCREDIBLE. Completely different from anything the band has done before, but incredible nonetheless. Hats off to one of the only bands in hardcore that isn't afraid to try something new. Well, all I can say is, the earth must have moved between the time Strung Out and co. left Vancouver and got to Edmonton. |
