The Great Sabatini @ Gus' Pub - INTERVIEW, Show Review and MUCH more!

As mentioned in our last post, Noisography (formerly PRLoveAffair) worked with Isaac Thompson, from Unfiltered Smoke, to bring you an exclusive interview with the guys from The Great Sabatini.
We met outside of Gus' Pub, in the cold, and had a little chit chat while the opening bands set up and did some sound checking...

After the interview, we all piled into Gus' for one of the loudest and most energtic shows I have seen at that bar for a LONG time!

The night opened up with Cicada, from Halifax. They certainly had an interesting setup, with a hand drum and a pretty full looking drum set (I counted at least 5 cymbals and 3 toms, if not more), plus guitar and bass. They were definitely of the modern metal variety, and the first half of their set did sound a little generic – over technical, as some bands are prone to – too many scales and textbook drum patterns with a lack of melody.

But the second half of the set actually improved, with the band at one point actually pulling out something that sounded like a standard chord progression from an AC/DC song. A good contrast before plunging back into heavier territory. All 3 members at the front of the stage provided vocals of varying styles, which was nice to hear after too many one note, one scream lead vocalists. Over all the crowd dug them and they put on an energetic set.

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Next up was Fistfight, another Halifax staple. These guys have been around for a while and really know there stuff. They clearly came from the same territory as Cicada, but they were able to stretch the sound a little further – the riffs were clearer and catchier, with more defined chords and melodies. Their lead singer really worked the crowd (and the growing mosh pit) and had a really wide range of vocal technique - sometimes deep, deep growls, and sometimes higher pitched screams that really worked well adding texture to the music. Clearly the vocals are not just an after thought to the music.

Their sound was definitely unique and it was a good to hear a heavy band with their own identity, instead of a copy of copy. Over all the progression of bands made sense, as Fist Fight pumped up the crowd for the Great Sabatini, who would prove to take the typical metal sound and expand it even further.

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After another short change over (metal bands never seem to be able to share gear), Montreal's The Great Sabatini took the stage. The crowd was still pretty pumped up from the previous bands, and the Great Sabatini didn't let the energy down. Once again the band started from a very much standard metal origin, but branched out even further. The music had a good range of tempos, starting from stoner/doom slow to a good Iron Maiden/Metallica speed, which is pretty much the top range for me for metal. The breakdowns and song structures clearly showed that these guys had a huge range of influences, from Tool to Neurosis – heavy, thrashy metal riffs with deep screams would transition to ethereal, washing post-rock guitars; dissonant distortion blast beats would switch up into chunky rock beats, and there was even the tiniest hint of dub and progressive rock floating around.

Once again multiple members handled vocals with a pretty decent range – not as far as Fist Fights singers but everything worked. Only screaming with no singing might seem to work against a band who incorporate metal with rock and experimental components, but in this case it worked – heavy riffs warranted heavy vocals, and spacier breakdowns held their own thanks to tight instrumental work from two guitars and bass.

Over all all three bands kept the crowd majorly riled up: there were at least 3 stage dives - with at least one ending up face first on the floor, oops – and one or two crowd surfs, and no one went home disappointed. The Great Sabatini continue on with shows in Trenton, Moncton, and PEI.

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Check out all the bands on MySpace:
The Great Sabatini - http://www.myspace.com/thegreatsabatini
Fistfight - http://www.myspace.com/fistfight666
Cicada - http://www.myspace.com/cicadacorps

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Interview - Isaac Thompson
Video - Tiffany Naugler
Video Edits - Daniel Nightingale
Photos - Tiffany Naugler
Show Review - Daniel Nightingale