It rhymes, see?  Maybe I’ll make all my post title rhyme from now on…

Anyways, Billy Talent was here last Wednesday and I haven’t reviewed the show yet because I’ve been tired.  Also, I’ve finally recovered physically from the bruises and limps acquired at this show so I can judge it without the pain skewing my opinion.

So first up was Cancer Bats, and they let us know that as their lead singer repeatedly explained: “WE ARE THE MOTHERFUCKING CANCER BATS”.  I kind of like this group and they sounded good- I expected the guitar and vocals to be very noticeably inferior to those recorded but they managed to make every pinch harmonic resonant, and every scream piercing.  Their cover of the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage was definitely the highlight of their set and was one of the best songs of the night to mosh to.

“Children of nothing this is our song”

Moshometer rating: Moshish

Next up was Against Me! who I seem to like enough to have devoted a post solely to them a while back.  The first half of their set was all unreleased songs off of their upcoming album White Crosses.  I felt kind of lost during this part because I hadn’t heard any songs off of the album but I really enjoyed one called Suffocation -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y0us6-PXJg 

That’s the only video I could find of the song, ignore the random parcour dude and just listen

Their last few songs were off of New Wave and I happily sung along in recognition.  Tom’s raw voice came off great live and Against Me! was really a joy to listen to.

“Protest songs in response to military aggression, protest songs trying to stop the soldier’s guns.  But the battle raged on”

Moshometer rating: Minimal Moshage

Alexisonfire took the stage next and the second the first “alright!” erupted from the depths of George Pettit a second into their opener Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints the fairly docile crowd turned to madness.  I actually posted a video of the explosion of intensity- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_mZVS3439I

Their set was mostly satisfying- There was a dry spot around the middle with a few of their more forgettable songs but they redeemed themselves with The Northern and their grand finale This Could Be Anywhere in the World

“The streets are in distress.  The sun suffocates behind the darkened skies”

Moshometer rating- Moshtastic

So moshtastic, in fact, that the only picture i managed to get was of their giant poster before they came on…

Finally, Billy T had their turn and they did not disappoint.  I used to really love them a few years ago so every song from the albums Billy Talent 1 and 2 was a wonderful blast from the past while the new tracks from Billy Talent 3 were a demonstration of where the group stands now.  The performance of Saint Veronika, my favorite song from the new album, was practically surreal as the crowd went completely nuts, I crowd-surfed during the climax of Line & Sinker which was fantastic and the grand finale Red Flag may have been the most intense 3 to 5 minutes of my life.     

“In a crooked little town they were lost and never found.  Fallen leaves on the ground”

Moshometer rating- Moshsplosion

Ian D’Sa, Billy Talent’s guitarist, rocking out at the Bell Centre last night

So muse played a show in Montreal on Wednesday at the Bell Centre for more than 16,000 people, one of which was me.  The trio clearly has a knack for show business and made this apparent after their explosive anti-establishment performance loosely based around the concept of George Orwell’s 1984.  The highlight of the show had to be Muse’s ridiculous stage- consisting of 3 giant 4-sided pillars, each with a band member standing in the middle.  Each of the monstrosities had screens all around its surface, above and below each performer, showing a live feed of them along with effects and some mind blowing videos.  The platforms also moved up and down during and in between songs, allowing the Brits to get off of their respective towers and play all together on the stage in front.  I’ll upload a video I took of Muse being revealed on their stage after I post this.  

Edit: I can’t figure out how to upload something right to Tumblr or if it’s even possible so here’s a video of their intro and their crazy stage- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Ly0JJYc8E

The setlist was hearty and featured hits from all of the bands 5 albums, obviously with a slightly heavier focus on their most recent album which the tour was promoting.  Lead singer and guitarist Matthew Bellamy delivered impressively on-key vocals and an interesting solo reminiscent of Tom Morello’s scratching which he played on a little Kaoss pad he has installed in his guitar. For those of you who are not sound effect enthusiasts- a little glowing thing that made noises when he touched it.  Drummer and Bassist Dom and Chris respectively had a crazy solo while Matt was off getting his keyboard-synth-guitar thing that has been coined the ‘Helsinki’ Jam, Helsinki being the first city in which it was played.  Check it out (this isn’t a video i took myself, in fact it’s in a different continent but this ones much better quality than mine)-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=593z7lVWBE8&feature=related

All in all, it was a completely over the top show.  From the drummer’s spinning platform, to the raining down of giant eyeball balloons filled with confetti during the climax of “Plug In Baby”, not to mention the nonstop laser show.

If Muse is passing by your hometown on this tour, I highly suggest you see them.  You won’t be disappointed.