As my band headed out once again yesterday to play our latest show, we were excited to be opening for Montreal's own Subsistance. Having seen them once earlier this year at a basement show, and having them melt my face with their awesomeness, playing this show was definitely something to look forward to.

The promoter told us to be there by 5:30 sharp, so off we went dodging rush-hour traffic...only to be blocked by a major accident a few blocks from the venue. A good 20 to 30 minutes later we arrive a little late, although we would soon discover it didn't matter.

As we arrive, we quickly realize no one else is there yet, although we're informed by the owner that the gig was moved to the bigger downstairs venue. So far so good. The other bands eventually arrive, everything is set up and we begin the agonizing wait until showtime.

Eight o'clock rolls around and the crowd outside is...less then what we're used to to say the least. Oh well, the show must go on, and on it went.

As we tore into our opening track "Zero Hours Left", we play and realize...we can't hear ourselves. Seems Mavericks decided to put a new guy on sound (as opposed to our friend Ben from the Sewer Rats who does an awesome job) who either didn't know how to work the controls properly, or just didn't care. I think it was both. We made the best of the situation and tried our best to play through every song without losing rhythm or timing and with the exception of 1 song, I'd say we did pretty damned well. The crowd ate it up and our Friend Jessica took some pictures so our band finally has something to show. Props to her!

The Obscene Bastards put on a very fast aggressive set a la 80's UK sound, while the Suicide Pilots afterwards sounded almost IDENTICAL to the Dead Kennedys, Jello-esque voice included. In their mosh pit, there was a lady who must have been at least 50 years old, and couldn't have weighed more then 110 pounds, and lemme tell ya she kicked the shit out of us youngsters. It's good to see people stick with it throughout their lives and never give up on what they believed when they were younger, but I digress.

Machine Gun Dolly hit the stage next playing old favorites from their last self-titled CD, and giving the crowd exactly what they wanted. Never a disappointment, and I'm looking forward to their new album in a few months.

Subsistance was up next...and no one could have prepared me for one of the best live sets I have ever seen in my life.

If I had to sum up their performance in one word, it would be relentless. Blasting through some of my favorites like "Police State", "Keep up the Fight", "Quiet Revolution" and "Lacrymogène" off of their full-length "Bleed, Sweat & Strive"(which I will be reviewing this week, so watch out for that). Throwing in a cover of Agnostic Front's "Gotta Go" got the crowd going like no other.

If the fact the sound was against them like all the other bands throughout the night, or if that crowd was smaller then usual, it was impossible to tell. Blending the perfect amount of crowd interaction, epic sound and stage presence, they were a force that no one would dare reckon with, and that remained unchanged for their entire set.

I think the thing that really stood out to me, is that they seemed to care about what they were singing about. And they had fun while doing all of this. They brought back the atmosphere I used to feel when I was a lot younger and going to shows.

After the show, Jesse from Machine Gun Dolly, my friend Sarah from The Dead End Kids and I headed out with Subsistance to the Dominion Tavern, the local punk bar not too far from the show and shared stories over pitchers of beer. The lads from Subsistance told me they were impressed with the crowd at the show. Even though there weren't as many as I had hoped, for them it was a good local turnout.

"Hardly anyone in Montreal comes out for all-local band shows anymore" their lead singer and bassist Matheo informs me. "If there's a bigger band, sure they'll come out, but all local bands?", "Forget It!" he says. "The kids here in Ottawa, they move, no one moves like that in Montreal anymore". With those words, I suddenly felt proud to be a part of our punk scene here.

We ended up staying at the Dom until about 3am when they kicked us out. We all piled back into the Subsistance van, where we made our way across the city to Jesse's place to pass out and find some grub, after nearly getting arrested by the cops, and getting lost twice.

I live for this kinda shit.

Band Listing:

www.myspace.com/subsistance (Or search 'em up on Mohawkradio!)

www.myspace.com/machinegundollymob (Or search 'em up on Mohawkradio!)

www.myspace.com/thesuicidepilots

www.myspace.com/zerohoursleft (Or search 'em up on Mohawkradio!)