Review and photos - Japandroids at Lo Pub, Winnipeg Sept 11, 2009

– text by eugene osudar/photos by Tammy Kimmel

it was loud.
so very loud.
deafening loud
(h)ear(ing)/damaging loud
all coming from
the vocal monitors.
Brian King, on guitar
and
David Prowse
on drums
co-raging-vocalists
insist on having
their
vocals boosted
to their maximum
dbs loudness.
“i love the sound
of my voice…”
says Brian
emphatically
jacking his thumb
in the air
wanting it
louder and louder
and Louder still
until,
i finally had to relinquish
my prime
spot right in front
of Brian…
despite
having ear plugs
(after 3 songs)

i surrendered,
i moved back
near the sound board
i felt the surge
of the urging
crowd.
sold-out
140 people
at the Lo
Pub

all packed to the front
of the bar
leaving half the bar space
empty
moving and pushing and moshing
and sweating
forward
pressing us,

and bodies raised high
to the ceiling
surfing
kicking and driving
and landing
safely on
the waves
of hands
laying them
back on solid
ground.

for what is
and will be forever
a legendary show
in Winnipeg.

www.myspace.com/japandroids

David scribbles,
in my journal
Japandroids 9/11

(the set list)

No Allegiance to the Queen
The Boys are Leaving Town
(a new song, no title)
Rockers East Vancouver
Heart Sweats
Darkness on the Edge of Gastown
Young Hearts Spark Fire
Racer X
Crazy/Forever
Sovereignty
To Hell with Good Intentions
I Quit Girls

one of those perfect
65 minute sets!

4 reasons sited
by Brian for this to be
a Very Special show,
1. it’s Friday night.
2. it’s Japandroids first time playing Winnipeg.
Having had to cancel twice before
because of Brian’s
health issues.
3. it’s Jared’s birthday (he’s the bassist from
Mt St Helen’s Vietnam Band) and
Jared needs “a punch in the balls”
(this becomes one of the evening’s motifs)
4. the last date of the tour for the opener
MakeOut VideoTape.

Vancouver’s
MakeOut guys played
to a smaller audience
afraid to bridge
the gap
afraid to move
rooted to the floor
to their poses, so
the band moved closer
to the audience
but ran out of cord
and this prevented them
from playing on the floor.
too bad. the last two songs
were clearly ferociously
pop delicious. and if the rest
of the set had been played
with equal intensity
i believe the statues
would have moved.

www.myspace.com/mtsthelensvietnamband

Mt St Helens Vietnam Band.
from Seattle.
Benjamin Verdoes. sings,
screams, roars, and plays guitar
writes the songs
Marshall Verdoes, drums.
okay, he’s 14 years old.
and he plays
the drums
with power and finesse.
tempo changes
complicated
beats
and
he Makes me dance.
Traci Eggleston, keys
and percussion, harmonies.
Jared Price, bassist
Matt Dammer, keys, guitar.

Who’s Asking
Cheer For Fate

these first two songs are great
but i noticed Benjamin’s lead vocals
are not nearly as passionate
as the rest of the set
and later i learn Ben’s voice has been
strained,
so he was warming up…
testing…

for what was unleashed
in

At Night
George Clark
En Fuego
On the Collar
Albatross Albatross Albatross

40 minutes.
of intense
playing, raging vocals,
on/stage theatrics
and soul/crazy dancing.

this is a band that can headline
anywhere.
inspiring
you to
dance just because
the 14! year old
drummer kicks
butts into moving.
never mind
that the band
is wound so
tight,
and the songs
are brilliantly
arranged and played
and sung
passionately
hard.

returning to
Japandroids…

Brian invites
Adam,
a childhood friend living in Winnipeg
on stage,
“the Jesus of Winnipeg!”
and launches into
a sales pitch
on behalf of their Single
friend. sexsexsex.
women, talk to him.
“ladies, this is the f#ck of the century.”
and for good measure,
“punch him in the balls!”
Adam blushes,
but he loves his boyhood
buddies and plays along.

now,

did he or didn’t he
get punched in the balls?
partake in the f#ck
of the century?

legendary shows…

Monotonix
at the Pyramid.

Japandroids
at the Lo.

i yell over
the white noise
distortion
buzzing
feed,backing
guitars
and
ear,ringing
vocals,
to Ricardo
the Lo’s sound tech,
and local musician,
Oldfolks Home
and Wonderful Pipes.

“is this the most mayhem
ever?”

Ricardo nods.
emphatically.

you see
the stage
suddenly
is packed

Young Hearts Spark Fire!

where there was two
in the very beginning
Brian and David
there is,
mayhem
chaos
anarchy
this after Adam
was invited on stage,

a spark(l)ing idea!

Brian’s invited everyone,
“don’t be shy!”
who wants to dance
and sing
and bang on cymbals
and tambourine
and beat/on the lamp
on stage
circling David.
and spreading out
everywhere
on stage.

this is a music video.
i wonder if anyone
took footage?

so there are 30 youngsters
dancing and singing
and the floor
is opening up, and i can move now!
there are still bodies surfing.
but i have space to dance.
and so i do.

song after song.
mayhem on the dance floor.
mayhem on stage.
beer
cans
glasses
broken glass
bare feet
dancers.
head banging.

Brian keeps telling
us Winnipeg rules
kicks more than Montreal
more than Toronto
after the craziness
and excitement
adulation
frenzied
dance masturbation.

and for the encore
he demands
a clearing of the stage
and a going crazy
once again
on the dance floor.
and so,
the youngsters
clear it and we go crazy.

and there’s
amazement.

my friend Mike says,
“now was The Tragically Hip
ten times better than
Japandroids and Mt St Helens
Vietnam Band?”

says i,
“of course not.”

The Hip
have better songs,
14? albums/cds.

but there’s nothing
like
youthful
exuberance
and a small venue.
and, a ten dollar cover.
as opposed
to a 100 dollar plus
ticket
in a 2,000 person
sit down
venue.

Japandroids
Mt St Helens Vietnam Band
(catch them before you
have to pay corporate
prices. buy their merch.
CDs are 10-12$!!!!!)
MakeOut VideoTape
Friday
September 11
Lo Pub.

ps. guttersnipe contributors
have written
raves about Japandroids,
Husker Du comparisons,
deserved praise/
the best two person
band i have seen since
Deja Voodoo.
completely different musical
styles. i can’t imagine
Brian and David
putting on anything
but
an inspiring set.
oh!
Little Foot Long Foot
another hot two person,
(bluesy) hard edged band.