Propagandhi Last night!

So last night was the Propagandhi show here in Toronto at the Fun Haus. I made the trek there myself as I could not seem to convince anyone who might like their music, and who wasn't already previously booked, or in some other way busy, to go with me.

No matter really I've been to shows by myself before it's not that bad, but I must admit I did feel somewhat trepidatious before heading out to this one. This one being the first concert that I've ever gone to alone in Toronto.

Luckily I was scheduled for a hour jog last evening so I chose my route so that I would jog by the Fun Haus, a place that I've never been too, so that I would know how to get there when the time came. Luckily for me it was a simple streetcar south down Bathurst to Queen then east for maybe a half a block, so not difficult at all.

Sadly when I got there I was greeted with a line up that stretched right around the corner of the building so I was forced to wait in line for the entirety of the opening act, Attack in Black. Which is too bad since even though I know nothing at all about them, their tunes on their myspace site don't sound half bad. But what can you do?

It was also sad because I was forced to stand in line and listen to people going to the same show that I was use terms like "faggot", "gay", and "bitch." Great guys (they were of course all guys) I'm glad Propagandhi's message is getting through to you.

But all of that melted away when about 10 minutes or so after I got inside GFK took the stage. Now I'm not that familiar with GFK but when the lead singer began the intro to their first song in his Quebecois accent (they are from Quebec city) and announced that it was about Canada's role in atrocities in Africa (Ghana perhaps?) and entitled something like "The Myth of the Barrie Gold Mine Company" (I may totally be wrong about that) I knew that everything was alright, even before the loud angry hardcore started. Granted I have no idea what the lead singer or the band were saying, since the singing was mostly unintelligible screams, but if you tell me that your hardcore songs are about feminism or women's rights...I'm all behind you. All-in-all a very tight band that I really enjoyed seeing and listening to, even if hardcore generally (with a few exceptions) is not my cup of tea.

Up after GFK was supposed to be the Toronto based Hip Hop group (collective?) Dope Poet Society, but as far as I can tell they didn't show or there was some sort of a problem. There were two hip hop acts, the first was only on for five minutes and was pretty good, and the second was on for longer but lost confidence with some audio problems and a crowd that grew more and more hostile as their performance wore on. In the end the crowd began to boo the act, which I though was in bad taste, but truthfully it wasn't going that well.

Sadly by that time the bar had inexplicably ran out of beer? Is that what they do in Toronto to control people at these things? Limit the available beer supply so that it runs dry by 11:15pm? Seriously very weak, the vodka and seven's did nothing to assuage my anger.

Up next were Propagandhi and they did not disappoint. I hung out near the back on the steps, with the other people who want to be able to see the stage but don't want to get in the pit, bobbing my head, and singing along. As I do with all bands (as I informed Rod the next day) when I know all of their lyrics and who've changed my life. Yes Propagandhi has changed my life, if it wasn't for me spending that entire summer at the cabin when I was 16 years old with Jamie Wall's copy of How to Clean Everything in my Walkman constantly, I don't think that I would be the same person that I am today. So obviously I have a slightly biased opinion of the band, but I chalk part of that up with their ability to keep me enamored with every album they've released since I was 16, which amounts to only three, but three great albums.

I've seen Propagandhi play a number of times but this was the first concert since the addition of David (The Beaver) Guillas, and as I said before I was not disappointed. They put on a great show and the crown being behind them at all times was a great help. Sweaty fists in the air singing along to all of the old and most of the new tracks (songs from the last album dominating the set overall) was a great way to hear them again. And sweaty it was in there, man by the time the show was over I was dying.

So at about 12:30am I found myself on a streetcar heading northwards up Bathurst to Bloor ears ringing and sweat finally drying in the cool air. Then after a quick beer at Clinton's (what you can't expect me to go right home after being force into Vodka Sev land can you?) in bed beside my wife falling asleep.