Show Review: LLTQ Festival Fundraiser Night #1

Long Live the Queen is now in its second year, commencing on the Victoria Day long weekend- May 19-22, 2011.

AND WE'RE HAVING A FUNDRAISER!

Please join the Queen and her very special guests:

BIKE RODEO

http://bikerodeo.bandcamp.com/

MYLES DECK AND THE FUZZ
http://mylesdeckandthefuzz.bandcamp.com/
CURSED ARROWS

http://cursedarrows.bandcamp.com/

PEELER

http://www.myspace.com/peelerpeelerpeeler

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Gus' Pub
Friday, January 14th
10pm
$5 (donations will also be accepted at the door)

Since this was a fundraiser for a good festival, we chipped in and headed out to this show.
Peeler was up first, though I'd heard their name before I'd never seen the band. Fortunately they had everything you'd want from a metal band: ripping smooth solos, heavy grooving bass, and a wild and in your face front women with a major set of lungs. Though the guitars solo's could have been a little loud, Peeler did a pretty good job of living up to their name with their face peeling heavy metal.

 

Video:

Cursed Arrows debuted a good pile of new material for this show, and I saw some real improvements from their last set at the Seahorse. The fact that they can switch instruments and still sound like the same band speaks volumes. The new material sounds a lot more polished and there was no reliance on thin sounding drums machines.
There was lots going on for the usual poor sound at Gus' - vocal mics pointed at monitors, monitor's with guitar cases on them, crappy mics, but the band still rocked hard and sound big as usual. You can play great and interesting music without a bassist but it doesn't make the people dance as hard. That's why they invented the bass, but two bodies and minds are but two bodies and minds, and the way they danced on stage spoke to the connection that really does manifest itself in the music- being saddled with a 3rd member just isn't something that would work in this band for many reasons.

Video:

Myles Deck and Fuzz were up next, and as predicted the band played an explosive set; sadly, probably one of their last – you may have heard the internet rumors of their demise, and not to be a bring down but I spoke with front man Myles Deck and unfortunately it is the case.
Of course, never ones to let bad news bring the party down, the Fuzz packed an appealing amount of talent, showmanship, and chops into one short set. Despite the typical rock show cliches - drummer has to skip out to get another beer, singer needs more high end in the monitor, bassist's mic is turned off – the band put all their heart and sweat into putting on a great show. Al Hoskin's outstanding bass playing proved the above point and got the crowd moving in no time flat. Though the Halifax scene loses a great band, it gains 4 musicians who will go on to do great things.

Video:

Bike Rodeo, as usual, is hard at work on releasing another album, barely giving the one they just released time to cool off the presses. Still feeding off the energy of the Fuzz, the crowd jumped and rocked to the frenzied guitar solos and unstoppable, pumping bass lines. Of course the most crucial element of any good rock show, the stage banter, filled the spaces between swinging garage rock tunes new and old courtesy of singer Nigel Tinker (and a few beers). There were a few PA/monitor problems that prevented the vocals from being as high functioning as they should be at a Bike Rodeo show, but the band pressed on anyway and still sounded great. These guys aren't going anywhere yet, so keep checking out the live show for new songs and wait anxiously for the new album due out sometime this March.

- Review By Dan Nightingale

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See all the photos from this show HERE.
and all the videos on our YouTube page HERE.