Punknews.orgPunknews.org Logo
Review Navigator

BackForward

Features

 




Reviews

Epitaph Records -- Millencolin

So, they day finally came. May 19, Alkaline Trio playing their first club show in Canada in a long while (they did play Warped last year though). I was really excited to see them, as they are my favourite band right now.

Okay, so the venue was the Guvernment, which is this dance sort of hall with the stage in the corner. The most striking thing about entering the venue was that you had to walk through the merch line to get to the actual playing area. The line wrapped around a wall or two and took about 30 minutes to get to the front. The trio have definitely picked up a fan or two.

So I missed Closet Monster, the opening band. I entered halfway into the set of Pitch Black from California. I'm unfamiliar with this band but I really wasn't a fan. The singers screech sounded pretty much like a crow. It was this sort of Halloweeny hardcore that licked some serious balls. They threw in some synth organs to be even more cheesy. They played some songs to an unresponsive audience for about a half hour? Felt like two though.

Next up was My Chemical Romance, who I have heard a little of but not much. These guys had some fans in TO as the crowd were pretty responsive. I was impressed with their set. The band had a shitload of energy, playing some hardcore screamo sort of tunes. Their bassist was as stiff as a rock, but one of their guitarists rocked out so well. His shaggy hair was constantly in motion, running around the stage and leaning on his bandmates. At one point I think he leaned on the other guitarist so hard that they fell down. The singing was pretty tight too. I think I'll check this band out.

Next up was Alkaline. They took the stage to some creepy opera music stuff and a shit load of cheering. They pretty much wore the same get up as on Conan last week, Matt even wore the same tie. Anyways, the set was really tight. The band exploded with 'We've Had Enough' and ended up playing about 6 songs from the new album (which rocks, by the way). Derek's drumming was really awesome I thought. His fills were on time and he played really well. Both Matt and Dan's singing were great, they both sounded pretty similar to the CDs. I always hate when you go to a show and the singer sounds really different. Anyways, the band didn't really talk much. I wouldn't say that they were in a bad mood but just not in a really fun mood. The set comprised of a great mix of new and old, playing a few tracks from each album. They took a couple requests in a pseudo-encore and played Clavicle, My Friend Peter and surprisingly Sundials. They closed with Private Eye. A couple people were pissed cause they didn't play She Took Him To The Lake or Radio, but if I were them, I would be tired of playing those songs. All in all, the show was really worth going, getting to see Alkaline play a solid set and MY Chemical Romance tear shit up. This is the start of the tour so I recommend you go see it!






Please login or register to post comments.
What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
  • Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
  • Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
  • Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
  • Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 12:48 AM (EST)

    Mikey Way (the bassist from MCR) does not have asthma. He said it himself.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, October 14, 2005 at 1:17 AM (EDT)

    MCR's bassist has asthma. He says it gets harder and harder for him to do shows because of that.

    Posted by arturoroxmysox on 2005-08-14 08:42:11

    "Pitch Black are waay better than MCR"

    anything is way better than MCR

    Posted by Passion_of_Destruction on 2005-08-13 11:32:14
    My Score:

    i love Alkaline Trio and MCR but i've never heard of Pitch Black. i'll check 'em out x

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 30, 2004 at 8:47 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Pitch Black are waay better than MCR.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 30, 2003 at 4:42 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    i saw the show in montreal and let me tell you, it fucking rocked. my only regrets is that they didnt play fuck you aurora or armagedon. but other than that it was purely awesome, especially when they played radio during the encore. also, matt did sound terrible...the crowd sang better than him...but wtv

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 29, 2003 at 4:39 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    alkaline has gone down hill. they are one of few bands that have progressivly gotten worse. matts voice has gone to shit. the only thing keeping this band alive is their mutual thirst for coke.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 29, 2003 at 10:31 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    "i saw alk3 at warped last year and i think it was the biggest waste of time i spent there. they were really really boring."

    Yeah, they should have parts of songs were they have synchronized headbanging to some faux metal riffs. Bands that do that are god like.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 at 9:38 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    The blending Continental into Emma thing isn't technically difficult or anything, but I always like it when bands try to make things a bit more interesting than just play their songs as they were written and we've all heard countless times. Alkaline didn't disappoint as they also changed up parts of Crawl, '97 and Radio if I recall... not drastic changes, but nice to hear a difference.

    Bands should always deviate from the recorded versions when playing their songs live -- unless you go to a show just to see the band, kinda lame. The Chili Peppers are great at changing up solos, jamming into and out of songs, etc.

    Posted by thriceequalsgod on 2003-05-28 15:15:26
    My Score:

    i saw alk3 at warped last year and i think it was the biggest waste of time i spent there. they were really really boring.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 at 7:22 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Man, is this review for the same show I saw??? I was VERY disappointed with this show - especially after seeing Alkaline Trio rip it up at Warped last summer.

    Matt's mic sounded terrible, and judging from his yelling at the monitors in front of him, I think he knew he sounded like ass. Could it have been why they didn't come out for an encore? That's another thing, no encore? In my years of seeing shows I can't remember a band not playing an encore - especially when the crowd is chanting for one for 5 minutes. It seems like really poor showmanship to me, and very unprofessional. Maybe there was an explanation for it, but without one, I remain very disappointed.

    Dan's mic was fine and the songs he sang were far superior sounding, especially Maybe I'll Catch Fire - the highlight of the night in an otherwise drab experience.

    -at_the_drive_in81

    Posted by meganbk2thamax on 2003-05-27 16:40:47
    My Score:

    I really hate it when the singers sound different from their cd when they play live. It blows. That is one of the reasons I love Alkaline so much. They are Freaking crazy...

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 at 4:05 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    "Always? Funny. Look at the playlists on the official site."

    Yeah look at 25 sets from a band that used to play hundreds of shows a year.

    Posted by preacher on 2003-05-27 12:38:53
    My Score:

    Always? Funny. Look at the playlists on the official site.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 at 12:17 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    alkaline trio always plays sundials. they always play 97 too. i think an older alkaline trio fan should do a review. drink beers, love girls. goodbye.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 at 10:26 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    yeah sickboi and i are going to major in business, engineering, or go pre-med

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 at 9:37 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    You're an english major? Well, I hope you like flipping burgers, because thats about all that degree is worth....

    -sickboi

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 at 9:34 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    "there aren't exactly english majors going to this site"

    i'm an english major. for music reviews i think a journalism degree would be more helpful.

    cobra

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 at 1:29 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    preacher-nuts, i was merely saying that the concept of the review is pretty much dead and that people don't so much review things as they recount facts and say what they liked or didn't like. that's fine. but it's not particularly interesting. it's nice for an alkaline trio fan to read and say "oh they opened with stupid kid... cool" or "when i saw them they played radio and it was a big sing-a-long and it was a blast." blah

    Posted by rockinout on 2003-05-27 00:45:42
    My Score:

    yea they only got sundials together recently.

    Posted by inagreendase on 2003-05-26 21:03:11
    My Score:

    most reviews seem to suck because there aren't exactly english majors going to this site. however, it's like the "million monkeys typing a million typewriters for a million years" theory - when you have a load of people there are bound to be a few great, and mostly decent writers getting reviews posted. this to some people is just what makes up that second half of "decent." with a strong NO OFFENSE INTENDED to scott adam aubin and all, an opinion of an album or show is attempted much more strongly from someone who actually paid for that cd or show admission. but that's just my opinion.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 26, 2003 at 8:04 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    "Continental/Emma (they blended the two in one -- very cool)"

    -not hard to do, all their songs have the same structure/sound

    cobra

    Posted by preacher on 2003-05-26 07:12:38
    My Score:

    Instead of complaining, how about YOU write a good review? Everyone is a fucking know-it-all around here, but doesn't do anything about it.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 26, 2003 at 12:04 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    this isn't anything on the guy who wrote THIS review, but most show reviews aren't very good. they usually go something like the crowd did this the band played these songs, i liked it. or... the crowd did this, the band played these songs, i didn't like it. oh well

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 25, 2003 at 11:45 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    they must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel to post this kind of stuff...

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 25, 2003 at 10:49 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    hello sir, i wrote the review. so far as i know they read the reviews first and if they dislike them they dont post them. it's not fucking shakespeare but i've written much worse. go cry about something more important than a show review on a website.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 25, 2003 at 8:20 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Scott - how about some quality control with the reviews/writers - this guy writes like an eigth grader. I'm sure we all care how long the merch line was, or if a few people were "pissed" because they didn't hear their favorite song.

    Posted by Icapped2pac on 2003-05-25 19:15:59
    My Score:

    I've seen the trio 5 or 6 times, with every drummer they've had, going back to just after "goddammit" came out, and I've never heard "sundials" live.

    Posted by sickboi on 2003-05-25 16:08:28
    My Score:

    Oh and is it me, or does "Private Eye" never sound good live? And I hate that shit where he adds the city's name....

    Posted by sickboi on 2003-05-25 16:07:53
    My Score:

    Pitch Black rocked it hard last night, I liked PGMG, but not a good choice as the direct opener, kinda dulled me.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 25, 2003 at 2:10 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    i was at this show and thought it was pretty great. the Trio played some of my favourites (sundials, snake oil tanker, maybe i'll catch fire). it kinda ticked me off though how the crowd didn't give Pitch Black a chance at all. I thought they were decent. better than MCR who keep...well, boring me. not that they're a bad band or anything, they're just nothing special.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 25, 2003 at 1:13 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    set at pittsburgh show, in a rough order
    1.snake oil tankers
    2.maybe i'll catch fire
    3.goodbye forever
    now out of order
    4.continental
    5.emma
    6.while you're waiting
    7.sundials
    8.cringe
    9.all on black
    10.private eye
    11.weve had enough
    12.another innocent girl
    13.if we never go inside
    14.i lied my face off
    15.my friend peter
    encore
    16.97
    17.radio

    pretty sweet set if u ask me, but short

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 25, 2003 at 1:05 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    yea the trio do play short sets. it seems to be the norm with more recent bands. oldschool acts like lagwagon and less than jake play 20 to 25 songs a set, but alk 3 rarely play over 18. for the money i like bands to fill an hour. oh well.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 25, 2003 at 12:42 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Yeah I really dont blame you if you think my review sucks, I'm no good at writing or reviews or anything. Anyways there are some good pics of the show up at www.kidwithcamera.com

    Posted by preacher on 2003-05-24 20:34:23
    My Score:

    In case anyone's interested, there are three really good online concert here...

    http://www.dcn.com/contest/band_page.jsp?artist_id=268 0

    Posted by preacher on 2003-05-24 18:52:00
    My Score:

    >worst review ever

    You reckon? I thought the review of "Good Mourning" was worse. And I'm sure there are even shittier reviews lying around.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 6:01 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    ever ever?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 3:38 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    worst review ever

    Posted by tenderbransonx on 2003-05-24 14:28:53
    My Score:

    less than a week... oh yeah, ALK3 in orlando-
    Steven www.murdertheturtle.com

    Posted by sickboi on 2003-05-24 13:53:47
    My Score:

    You're a moron, I'm going to the DC show tonight primarily for Pitch Black.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 12:40 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    I put the setlist for the MONTREAL show. The set was much better for Montreal except the absence of a few great songs (Sundials, My Friend Peter). The Toronto show was a good one, but they were kinda boring that night. They went off for Montreal, probably because the crowd did as well.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 12:30 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    they always seem to play short sets. I've rarely seen them play over an hour.

    Posted by CaptainCrunch on 2003-05-24 12:08:12
    My Score:

    I am not a big Alkaline Trio fan, but I went to their Detroit show. I have never seen them headline, and I was very disappointed. They played well, but they only played for 45 minutes. Thats one of the shortest sets I have ever seen a headliner play. Seriously, I recently saw Motion City Soundtrack and they played for a little over an hour and they have about 1/6 of the material that alkaline trio has. How can a band have 5 full lenghts and only play for 45 minutes? It just seems odd to me. Since I don't know a lot about them, could someone tell me if thats always how long they play or did I just Detroit just get unlucky?

    Posted by inagreendase on 2003-05-24 11:41:20
    My Score:

    "both Pitch Black and My Chemical Romance (The Used?)"

    please don't compare my chemical romance to the used. i'm very insulted, lieutenant. my chemical romance know how to make a good pop-punk song (headfirst), are a little complex and differentiated/varied in their lyrics (vampires), make some cool-ass riffs (honey, this mirror), and are not media whores. oh, and john feldmann doesn't write their lyrics.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 11:35 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    This is sweet, I wrote a review and it got on here. But to the guy who put in the setlist, there was no radio or 97

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 11:23 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    The worst thing about that show was the beer tent. I felt like a chicken at a slaughter house, I couldn't move.

    Posted by porkpie on 2003-05-24 10:13:59
    My Score:

    "His shaggy hair was constantly in motion, running around the stage and leaning on his bandmates..."

    that's the funniest thing that i've ever read.

    -brent

    Posted by preacher on 2003-05-24 08:42:39
    My Score:

    Kickass, Sundials is my favorite Alk3 song. Now, if they'd only come to Norway...

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 5:13 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Oh, and they most definitely did play My Friend Peter at the Toronto show. That was one of the only highlights of their performance for me.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 5:09 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Weird, I was at this show and found Alkaline Trio to be incredibly boring. They did nothing interesting, said nothing between songs and Matt's vocals sounded bad. The lack of an encore and a bad (IMO) setlist really made this a disappointment, although I wasn't expecting much. MCR was BY FAR the most entertaining band of the night.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 3:33 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    they haven't played sundials for a couple years because derek just recently learned it, and i'm not sure that mike ever did...

    so yeah, if you've only seen them recently, you probably wouldn't have heard it...

    Posted by turdcorn on 2003-05-24 03:13:11
    My Score:

    I juust got back from the Philly show. Ehhhhhhh. Too many 14 year olds. But hey, whadda ya want?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 3:00 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    They always play sundials?? what?? I have seen them five times, the first in 2000, and they have never played sundials. I have never even heard of them playing it live until this reviewer mentioned it. I wish I could see this tour and witness that song live. Yes and Tuck Me In as well.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 2:33 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    am i the only one that is getting the feeling that the trio are burned out? from what i've read from this tour...it seems like they might be in need of a break...

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 24, 2003 at 12:24 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    The Toronto show was alright... not as good as the Montreal show the day after, at least that was the sentiment from all the Montreal fans who drove to Toronto to see that show and then saw the home show the night after.

    Pitch Black were really nice guys... the music kinda boring though.

    My Chemical Romance was weird, the first half of their set was absolutely terrific, but the second was terrible for some reason.

    The Trio was awesome. The creepy music they came out to was Tubular Bells from The Exorcist. Their set list, in case any one cares, is as follows:

    We've Had Enough
    Snake Oil Tanker
    If We Never Go Inside
    Maybe I'll Catch Fire
    Continental/Emma (they blended the two in one -- very cool)
    Cringe
    Tuck Me In
    Another Innocent Girl
    100 Stories
    Fatally Yours
    I Lied My Face Off
    Crawl
    Goodbye Forever

    Encore:
    Private Eye
    97
    Radio

    No Sundials, All On Black or My Friend Peter... but Tuck Me In was a pleasant surprise. Anyone notice how they aren't playing much off Goddamnit? Only Cringe for Montreal... aw well. Awesome show nonetheless.

    Posted by lieutenant on 2003-05-23 22:24:54
    My Score:

    I don't know, its been a while since I've heard them or heard about them play Sundials. Then again, I guess I have not been studying all of the setlists from cities I haven't visited.

    Posted by lieutenant on 2003-05-23 22:22:49
    My Score:

    Alkaline Trio tore the shit up. Naturally, I had a great time. Unfortunately, I couldn't feel any of the opening acts, both Pitch Black and My Chemical Romance (The Used?) were, what I found to be, rather uninspiring, while Closet Monster may cater more well to a younger audience in Ajax, Ontario. Of course I went home happy, though, having seen my favourite band. Unfortunately, I really could not stand the guitar sound the club was emitting, though otherwise they had a great presence, though quiet between songs. Unfortunately, I found their setlist to be a little disappointing, of course I would have loved to hear Radio just another time, as well as All on Black, You've Got So Far To Go, etc, etc, etc. Sundials made up for most of it, though. Yes, I have just typed a number. But I mean it, this was wonderful.

    Posted by tiff on 2003-05-23 21:20:24
    My Score:

    MCR was great at the show. They had so many more fans at this show then any other ones I have been to, thats for sure.

    Posted by WackyWabbit on 2003-05-23 21:00:36
    My Score:

    i'm glad PGMG is on the show here, along with a few other bands but worth the 3 hour drive to austin to see them. Do they play My Standard Break From Life live?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 23, 2003 at 8:15 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    I am glad that for my date Pretty Girls Make Graves will replace My Chemical Romance...not that they are bad but I really want to see PGMG.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 23, 2003 at 8:12 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    pitch black = decent, my chemical romance = AWFUL, alk3 = good, but not nearly as good as they used to be (both on record and live).

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 23, 2003 at 8:03 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Yea dude, they always play sundials. You must be a new fan.

    -feedmynightmare

    Posted by _911 on 2003-05-23 19:51:25
    My Score:

    i was at this show.. my chemical romance rocked..

    Posted by timis on 2003-05-23 19:45:48
    My Score:

    i saw my chemical romance with thrice and they SUCKED bad. their drummer was horrible. and the singer said alot of stupid shit....however their cd is AMAZINGLY good....go figure....

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 23, 2003 at 7:43 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    "surprisingly Sundials"

    I've seen them many times over the years and they almost always play this song.