As the shining sun and budding trees melt away the city’s collective seasonal depression, this Toronto-raised kid’s playlists are currently riddled with illScarlett’s signature brand of punky reggae-rock. Their Friday night show at Petit Campus served as a perfectly timed taste of home, and I was stoked to witness a live show from the Mississauga-based local legends for the first time since moving here.
First up were Pacific Youth, a local power-pop group that wouldn’t look out of place at the same Warped Tour that the evening’s headliners got discovered at. Decked out in Hot Topic attire, the three-piece surprisingly lacked a guitarist and was resorting to backing tracks doing a lot of the set’s heavy lifting.
That emptier sound put nearly all the focus on the lead singer, who sang with that over-exaggerated California timbre, attempting to mask a Québécois accent. It was distracting at best but was further hindered by the fact that he wasn’t nailing the notes. Weak falsettos, 7th-grade-level lyrics, and familiar chord progressions didn’t leave much to write home about.
Pacific Youth was fun, though, and at least leaned into their cheesiness, playing covers of Stacy’s Mom and Never Gonna Give You Up, which shot the room’s energy into the stratosphere. If nothing else, I appreciate the fact that this band brought a sizable chunk of the night’s audience. Having a big group of young, enthusiastic friends cheering and singing along to a band’s music is never a bad thing to witness.
Double Experience was next to grace the stage. I’ve seen their name a lot, surely from cutting their teeth on the Ontario circuit over the years, and I was stoked to finally catch a set. My initial impression of them was way off-base, as I was expecting an over-the-top, campy band that wore its nerdiness on its sleeve.
What we got was an absolute class act that took influence from rock throughout the decades. Their sound was so much more refined, with Ian Nichols’ rock-solid voice and a strong stage presence commanding attention. Their themes must be more than surface level, buried in their lyrics that, admittedly, I wish I could have heard a bit more clearly. No aspect of the live performance was sacrificed for the sake of the gimmick, and I hope Double Experience makes the short trek out to Montreal from their hometown of Ottawa for another show sometime soon.
illScarlett’s live shows have varied in quality more than most bands throughout the years, both in performance and crowd enthusiasm, but that Friday night was a rock-solid showing from the four-piece.Frontman Alex Norman’s voice was on point, and the band was tight thanks to the always locked-in Swav Pior behind the kit. As the tried-and-true opener “Who’s Got It?” got the crowd bopping and singing along, the energy never dipped from there. Good vibes kept flowing through their infectious party anthems, with the odd mosh pit forming during Nothing Special and the tail end of NTF.
Their setlist consisted largely of old favourites, including songs I haven’t heard them play in nearly a decade, like First Shot and Milkshakes & Razorblades, some unexpected covers thrown in for good measure, and even a couple of new, unreleased tracks. That’s right, the boys are cooking in the studio for the first time in a decade, and Alex was happy to personally send song demos to fans after the show as he walked the floor and chatted up the crowd.
illScarlett surely isn’t as active as they used to be, but that only makes every post-pandemic show so much more appreciated. Their influence on the scene is undeniable, and everyone has an illScarlett story. Friday night’s show was another story for the books, and I hope they keep coming back.
Review – Mathieu Perrier
Photos – Alexander Di Staulo
