It was an exciting weekend for the Montreal hardcore scene with a lot of great shows and exciting bands playing and the Drain show on Sunday night was the crowning piece. A handwritten note on the door let everyone know that Bar Le Ritz was sold out. The venue was completely packed for what was going to be one of the best hardcore shows of the year.
To start the evening, the new and very exciting Montreal hardcore band Scaramanga were invited to join this evening celebrating hardcore. Scaramanga played a short but intense set featuring material from their recently released Demo. Their moshy crossover hardcore sound was a hit with the crowd who was out and ready to dance. The Montreal hardcore scene is going through a renaissance, and Scaramanga are front and center of it. If you haven’t checked out their demo, do yourself a favour and go have a listen here.
Keep Flying where next to hop on the stage. I must admit, I was quite wary when I saw them set up with their brass section composed of a saxophone and trumpet. Once they started, I enjoyed their skate-punk sound with horns with some hardcore influences sprinkled in. They offered a powerful and emotional performance and played their hearts out to the crowd. However, it was a timid reception unfortunately as most of the crowd was out to mosh to some rhythmic heavy beats, and their lighthearted sounds didn’t resonate with the audience.
Life’s Question, who recently released their newest album, “World Full Of…” on Trible B Records were next taking the stage. It was their first time in Montreal, and I am sure they will remember their experience. Before they started their set, they told the audience to pretend they were Drain and to stage dive and mosh as hard as they could. As soon as the first notes started, bodies started flying, and the pit opened to let everyone dance. I was not familiar with the band before the show, but they convinced me with their energy and unique hardcore sound. Their sound has a flair of old-school New York hardcore with some metallic guitar melodies and female backing vocals. They fit into the current hardcore trend but manage to stand out and have a style of their own. I highly recommend you check them out, and without a doubt, they have gained many new fans after their performance.
Punk rock band Koyo was up next. The New York supergroup was offering their brand of melodic hardcore punk. The band stormed the stage with ferocious energy as the crowd piled onto each other to sing along to the powerful and emotional lyrics. Life’s Question vocalist Abby came out and performed her guest vocals off the track “Diamond One.” I have a newfound appreciation for their melodic, emotional hardcore punk after seeing them live. They performed their short set with heartfelt emotion, and it resonated with the Montreal crowd.
The hype and anticipation of the evening were building up to this moment. The crowd was to welcome California hardcore band Drain for their first Montreal show. The crowd was anticipating their performance and people in the crowd were wearing shark hats; one audience member was dressed in a complete shark costume, complete with a boogie board. The audience was ready to party as soon as the theme from Jaws started on the PA. As soon as the first sounds of “Feel the Pressure” were heard, the stage was flooded with people ready to dive into the crowd. It has been a very long time since I have witnessed such a fun, rowdy, and sweaty show. It felt like the whole club was turned into a mosh pit and everyone was bouncing along. Drain’s set list was short but full of energy and fun.
They played many crowd favourites like Watch you Burn, Hyper Vigilance, Sick one & Army of One. They also performed a new song and promised the audience they would return to Montreal with a new album. For their last song, California Cursed, they invited everyone in the crowd to storm the stage to dive and mosh. In between songs, the vocalist Sammy took a moment to acknowledge all the great hardcore coming out of the Canadian scene and send out a shout-out to Shut Away from Montreal and Gavel from Ontario. It was a chaotic ending as a massive number of fans climbed on the stage to dive and mosh. The chaos got the guitarist and drummer bumped into crashing their gear, with the band barely able to finish the song. After the ensuing madness of their last song, frontman Sammy took the time to meet the fans, take pictures with them and thank everyone for coming out on a Sunday night.
Hardcore is alive and blooming in Montreal. This was an amazing evening that all who attended will remember fondly. Thanks to Dave from Extensive Enterprise for keeping our scene so vibrant.
Review & photos – Jason Maher
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