This was an unusual pairing for this Canadian double-header: a veteran political punk band, and a modern progressive metalcore band without a political bone in their collective body.
Rios was full to bursting to witness one of punk's truest heroes in Propagandhi, and one of metal's rising stars in Protest The Hero. Each band had brought in a large number of fans of their own, but judging by the complete shift from stage to bar between the two, there wasn't many who had come to see both.
The opening act, Leeds' hardcore metal outfit The Final Crisis, were the sort of band that could easily fit in as support to either. Technically proficient, with breakdowns and shouty vocals in abundance, their slick performance was decent enough to help half an hour pass as the masses made their way through the doors. Sadly though, the lack of memorable tunes means that that is where they are likely to stay.
Next up were Strike Anywhere, an American punk band that easily won over the crowd with their energetic performance. Their striking resemblance to the headliners meant that there were plenty of fans in attendance to help sing the catchy choruses as frontman Thomas Barnett's voice started to desert him towards the end of the set. Most of the people in the venue knew all the words to their most popular hit To The World, which provided one of the biggest sing-alongs of the night.
As the punk crowd joined the gigantic queues at the bar, the younger members of the audience took to the floor to welcome probably the biggest metal band in Canada at the moment (unless you consider Nickelback a metal band). Protest The Hero packed out Rios the last time they were here back in February, and they have had a number one album in their home country with latest album, Fortress. This time, as a support band, their setlist was much more truncated, featuring songs only from that album.
There were definitely some who had been prepared to hate their brand of fiddly technical metal, but as they launched into opener Bloodmeat, fists were pumping and fans from the front to the back were doing most of the work for the slightly inebriated frontman, Rody Walker. Thundering their way through singles Sequoia Throne and Spoils, the shortened set was over all too soon. Although they clearly won over some new fans, it was clear that the majority were here to see the headline act.
Punk has kind of lost its way over the last decade. Turn on a music channel, and any punk chart is plagued by pop bands such as Fall Out Boy and Bowling For Soup, bands with as much in common with punk forefathers Black Flag and The Damned as Britney Spears or Westlife. Canadian veterans Propagandhi are one of the last bastions of punk, with their furious riffs and political rebellion in every lyric.
The opener, Supporting Caste, title track from their latest album, represents everything that has made this band great over the previous 20 years or so, and quickly whipped the crowd into a frenzy. There was a good mix, with old favourite Nation States sitting side-by-side with the more modern Bringer of Greater Things.
There was rarely a deviation from the fast, no-frills guitar-work that characterises the genre. That is until the band returned for an encore with Clive Jones of 1970s satanic rock band Black Widow playing the flute. After a bizarre version of their notorious hit, Come To The Sabbat, it was back to the rock, closing the set with recent hit Dear Coach's Corner and Anti-Manifesto from their 1993 debut album.
If this gig proved anything, it proved that punk rock is still alive and well, regardless of what you might see on your TV.
Gig Date: Tuesday, 1st December 2009 | 339 page views.
