I never feel more patriotic than at a Marianas Trench concert. Of all the people to be proud of as Canadians, Josh Ramsay, Matt Webb, Ian Casselman, and Mike Ayley are some of the most influential for alt and emo kids, teens, adults, and elders. It is truly an all-ages show (as long as you don’t mind profanities and innuendos), and with the band debuting in 2006, some of the kids (and teenagers) in the audience have never known a time before Marianas Trench exploded onto the scene.
I will be candid about my bias in writing this review. I’ve been listening to Marianas Trench since I was taking a classic yellow school bus to middle school on my MP3 player with wired headphones. This is my fourth time seeing them live (I saw The Last Crusades Tour in Ottawa in 2016 and the Suspending Gravity Tour twice in 2019, once in Ottawa and once in the UK). Weirdly enough, Marianas Trench’s discography is so comforting to me that hearing them play in England single-handedly cured my homesickness.
Aside from when I saw them in England, this is the first time I’ve seen them on Canadian soil without my mom. Even as an adult, I trucked back to my hometown to see the Suspending Gravity Tour with her, so it warmed my heart to see kids in the crowd with their parents. For anyone who’s never met my mom, you would never expect her to love Marianas Trench, but one of her favourite songs is Desperate Measures. I think it’s probably a funny sight to see a church-going lady with curly grey hair in a cardigan scream-singing in the car with her neon-haired concert photographer daughter in head-to-toe black, jamming out to Celebrity Status as we make our way to Costco.
MTelus was PACKED for Marianas Trench. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so full with such a wide variety of concertgoers. I saw every single age and era of the band represented by T-shirts, pins, and personal style. The band knew they had a large range of fans and played a few songs from every album, but not necessarily the ones you’d expect them to. Even though Ever After got me into Marianas Trench, I have to admit that, personally, Astoria is my favourite album. I even wore my Last Crusades Tour shirt in the photo pit. I thought the stage would be high enough to cover the letters, leaving me in concert blacks, but when Mike Ayley got up on a box at the edge of the stage and I took a step back, I think I gave him a brief moment of panic, reminding him of a tour that’s almost a decade old.
Alright, enough waxing nostalgic and whimsical anecdotes. Let’s get back to the beginning of the concert. The excitement in the venue was palpable when the first few notes of Thunderstruck by AC/DC started playing. I wasn’t alone in thinking that Marianas Trench was going to race out and open the show, only to be greeted by a man in gardening clothing with a lawnmower. I expect whimsical theatrics from the band, but if you gave me 826,483 guesses, I don’t think I could have come up with a landscaper mowing the lawn.
Although it drew some laughter, it did lead to an unfortunate mix-up with security, who counted it as the first song for the photographers and tried to clear the pit before I’m Not Getting Better was played. Luckily, the band’s publicist sorted it out swiftly and efficiently. This also meant that I got to enjoy I’m Not Getting Better from about a foot away from the band, which was pretty magical.
It’s hard to follow I’m Not Getting Better, but Rhythm of Your Heart kept the people dancing. Desperate Measures got the profanities started with a very hearty and joyful “MOTHERFUCKER” echoing through the theatre, and Mike Ayley took over the lead vocals on All To Myself. It was indescribable. Mike Ayley’s voice was only rivalled by Matt Webb, who took the lead vocals for Who Do You Love, and, of course, Josh Ramsay’s iconic vocals that make the band so noteworthy in the first place.
All the members of Marianas Trench have such unique voices that make their harmonies so unbelievable. It was incredible to hear the sound of everyone’s voices isolated, including Ian Casselman, who rapped Anami Vice’s portion of Pop 101. I am personally pleading with Marianas Trench to release the Cross My Heart/Celebrity Status/Shake Tramp mash-up they played because it was like a shot of adrenaline directly into my bloodstream. I think I could get through even the roughest days with it by my side.
As a concert photographer, the set design of overgrown grass was a little rough to shoot around, even as a relatively tall person. But as a fan, I loved how kitschy and dynamic it was. The contrasting colours, the lightning flashes, the wardrobe changes, and the bright colours of the set design were fantastic. This was a very aggressive change from when I saw them on the Suspending Gravity Tour for Phantoms. Their tech team is always incredible with their lighting choices and how angelic yet rock-and-roll they look, somehow larger than life and yet human and believable.
As for their music, I am a simple girl. All I ask is that there’s synth, a heavy bassline, some good guitars, gratuitous drums, mildly to extremely profane lyrics, and a lead singer who loves to hit those falsetto notes like they owe him money. Marianas Trench deliver. Every. Single. Time. If they made a Canadian flag with their faces on it, à la Nicki Minaj American flag meme, I would be first in line to buy it. Make Canada proud and listen to Marianas Trench today!
Setlist:
- • A Normal Life
- • Lightning and Thunder
- • I’m Not Getting Better
- • Rhythm of Your Heart
- • Desperate Measures
- • All To Myself (Mike Ayley on leading vocals)
- • Down To You
- • One Love
- • Worlds Collide
- • Pop 101 (Rap by Ian Casselman)
- • Haven’t Had Enough
- • Who Do You Love (Matt Webb on leading vocals)
- • Cross My Heart/Celebrity Status/Shake Tramp Mash-up
- • Fallout
- • Turn and Run
- • Good to You
- • Stutter
Encore:
- • Haven
Review & photos – Ashtyn Turner
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