After playing two support tours with Good Riddance in Ottawa, Strike Anywhere took no time at quickly becoming a household name, every time winning over the crowd. Finally they’ve come back to Canada this time headlining their own tour, bringing with them the support of friends ‘The Exit’ and ‘The Explosion’.

I missed the opening local band ‘Miles Between Us’ because of an interview but I heard good things. Next to play was The Exit, their sound was definitely an awesome surprise to be on tour with Strike Anywhere nothing hardcore about these boys though, I even heard some compare them to a blend of The Police VS Something Corporate. They’re New York natives signed to Some Records and The Exit definitely proved that night they know how to open a show. Taking over the stage promoting their new release ‘New Beat’ the lead vocals were loud and clear never losing pitch, accompanied by a crazy talented guitar player, who was dancing around as he used an endless ridiculous amount of pedals. A few well received tracks they played ‘Trapped’, ‘Scream and Shout’ and ‘Sit and Wait’ definitely won them over fans in Canada, The Exit even though softer in sound without doubt were a sweet choice to add on this tour bringing something different to the stage, I’m looking forward to seeing them again.

The Explosion from Boston came and ripped shit up next playing the hardcore all the kids wanted to hear starting with a song called ‘These Times’ off their new EP coming out April 22nd ‘Sick Of Modern Art’. No one seemed, to not like these guys they did everything right on stage their guitar player was unrelenting definitely fun to watch and the singer was having a grand time watching all the fans scream their lyrics along. The singer’s voice reminded me of a bit of Dillinger Four and their sound had an old-school Ripcordz kind of style to it, they were the perfect opening band for Strike Anywhere. Some other songs they played that got a big response were ‘No Revolution’, ‘True or False’ and ‘Reactor’, if given a chance to see these guys live check them out, you’ll find them on tour with A.F.I through April and May.

Lastly the intelligently informed and exceptionally talented Strike Anywhere graced the stage. It’s no shock after only a few Canadian tours their melodic hardcore hard slog has established them as a solid force that can now sell out, it’s own headlining shows, every time outperforming their last appearance. Strike Anywhere’s message is as vital as their music and their existence on stage leaves an impress like no other from the moment they opened with ‘You’re Fired’ till their encore ‘S.S.T’ this crowd was there’s. They also sang a new song that’ll be on their upcoming record called ‘Til’ Days’ that sounded amazing but ‘Sunset on 32nd’ outstripped all the songs they performed. Anthemic live shows and sincere energy are becoming commodities at concerts that will never be with Strike Anywhere. They prove music is the art of thinking with sound and not something that can be orchestrated, ‘Change Is A Sound’ is the name of their record, buy it or go listen to all their songs for free at strikanywhere.org, you won’t regret it but you’ll learn from it.