Show Overview: Special Costello, Air/Fire, Fuck Montreal & The Famines @ Gus' Pub
@ Gus' Pub
Special Costello - http://specialcostello.bandcamp.com/
Air/Fire - http://airfire.bandcamp.com/
The Famines - http://thefamines.ca/
Fuck Montreal - http://www.myspace.com/fuckmontreal
Words/Video by Dan Nightingale
Photos/Video by Tiffany Naugler
This was the night of the two piece, with four great dualist bands on a chilly November evening. It kicked off with Special Costello, a drum/bass/vocal band. The bass through a guitar amp approach worked really well for these guys, with a grungy dirt sound that still had enough bottom end to sound full. Splashy, dynamic drumming complimenting simple bass riffary and echo-y vocals. These guys were super energetic and put on a great show with face paint and catchy songs.
Next up were Air/Fire, who employed the same setup as Special Costello but with a standard guitar. The sound was a lot thinner and shriller and I found myself humming basslines in my head that were lacking on stage. I can see where they were coming from, and a lot of people are very attached to the freedom of the two piece, but I could definitely hear room for another element in their otherwise finely crafted songs.
Montreal's The Famines did their best to over power the Gus' stage and certainly took the prize for the largest two piece that night, with frantic drumming, wild guitar playing, and all over the dance floor front man antics. They too tried a different arrangement to fill out the sound, and while not as full as the bass/guitar amp combo, the guitar/bass amp/guitar amp combo definitely beefed up the sound a little (as well as providing an inadvertent light show compliments of the poor tweeter in the bass cab). Their songs were harsher but still catchy and the band put on a great show regardless of the size of the crowd, which is always the hallmark of a good entertainer.
Finally Halifax's own Fuck Montreal closed off the night in their own two piece fundamental form of Alex Currie and Jenna Empey. Their songs, all ready stripped down in nature, didn't really lose anything in 2 piece form, with most of the focus on Currie's guitar wrangling and the high, stabby vocals. Employing either guitar or bass as needed provides a nice contrast and allows the band to use the best range for each song, to good effect.
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