Gag
The very first thing I saw when I walked inside Foufounes Electrique was the very long line of people waiting to go upstairs. The show was completely sold out, which didn’t surprise me as this lineup was packed with insane bands who were all ready to show Montreal a chaotic night.
First up was Gag, a hardcore band from Washington state. They shared some fun banter with each other during their set and had great chemistry with one another as they played. They were heavy and full of energy. Every member danced around the stage and made sure to encourage the audience to mosh around as well, even frequently checking in on them.
They played some great songs such as “Still Laughing” and “Wal-Mart Reality”. The vocals were beautifully scratchy, yet still super clear. Their lead vocalist had a great grasp on the crowd’s attention through his screams, and the audience made sure to let him know by moshing and thrashing for the entire duration of their set.
During their song “No Cops”, Gag’s vocalist shouted out “Free Palestine”, which earned a roaring of cheers and whistles from the crowd. Everyone in attendance was clearly loving Gag’s performance, and as upsetting as it was that their set came to an end so soon, the band made sure to hype up the three other bands that were up next. This was only the beginning of the night, and things were about to get crazier.
PeelingFlesh
The second band performing was PeelingFlesh, all the way from Oklahoma. The moment they started their set, the energy in the room took a turn towards gore and discord. Death Metal had entered the room and the crowd was just eating it up. The moshing raised in intensity, people were climbing up onto the balcony from the pit, and the members of Peelingflesh pointed it out to one another with expressions of amazement as people were hanging and swinging off the railings attached to the sides of the balcony.
Peelingflesh had diabolical energy. Their set list included songs like “Make A Move” and “12 Gauge Autopsy,” perfect tracks to get a crowd fired up. Their drummer went crazy hitting those cymbals, and their guitarist expertly danced his fingers across the fretboard while throwing his head in windmills. Long hair and dreadlocks were flying around left, right, and centre as the members of Peelingflesh headbanged in unison to their songs.
Their set was so good that there was a chant for an encore once it had ended, which, unfortunately, didn’t happen. The crowd had to watch as each member packed up their gear, leaving everyone with insane amounts of anticipation for the next two performances.
Jesus Piece
Next up was Jesus Piece, a well-loved metalcore band from Philadelphia. Before they started their set, lead vocalist Aaron Heard offered a sweet greeting while his fellow bandmates prepared their instruments. “Salut, bonjour,” he said, and the crowd cheered back to return his greeting. Their set had a very strong start with their song “Tunnel Vision.” Heard stood in the front and centre of the stage and watched the audience start going ballistic in the mosh pit as he screamed his lyrics into his microphone.
They had a really solid and fantastic stage presence. They heavily encouraged the audience to get on stage and dive off back into the crowd. Heard would share interactions with people as they ran across the stage. Their audience was clearly loving every second of their set, the room was in pandemonium as Jesus Piece played some beautifully heavy tracks like “FTBS” and “Fear of Failure.” Their drummer and bassist were in sweet unison, totally locked in while the crowd cheered and thrashed along to each song.
Things kept getting more and more intense as their set went on. Their lead vocalist didn’t stop jumping around stage, kicking his legs in the air while he and the rest of Jesus Piece encased the room with fast-paced tunes and amazing fry vocals to accompany it all. Heard took a short moment to thank their Montreal audience for how crazy they were behaving and mentioned his feelings about touring; “This tour has been astronomical. All the best bands together, it’s insane man.” His audience cheered loudly in agreement.
Their set continued with more chaos from the crowd as people kept swinging from the sides of the balcony, running round and round in tight circle pits. The Jesus Piece members ate it all up, and never stopped encouraging everyone to keep moving.
As Heard introduced their song “Oppressor”, he made sure his beliefs were clear for the crowd to hear. He held his microphone with both hands as he yelled, “JUSTICE FOR FUCKING PALESTINE. FUCK GENOCIDE. FUCK YOU, FREE PALESTINE.” The audience screamed alongside him, sharing a collective moment of unison with one another.
They gave their last song their absolute all and refused to let the crowd rest for even a second. As Heard vocalized the lyrics to “Conjure Life,” he demanded that the crowd run faster in the circle pit to keep moving and release any pent-up energy that they brought to the show. The audience was clearly sad to see them pack up and leave, but with one last band left on the schedule, I know that everyone felt as amped up as I did to see it.
Sanguisugabogg
Finally, it was time for Sanguisugabogg to take the stage as their own. Death Metal found its way back on stage again, but this time it came from beloved Ohio. Lead vocalist Devin Swank gave a curt greeting before he laid down his one rule for the crowd, which was “Fuck this place up.” The song “Black Market Vasectomy” immediately followed after his words, and Swank headbanged his hat right off his head.
The crowd instantly started going crazy, following Swank’s orders to fuck the place up. Driven by the bewilderingly spectacular drumming that Cody Davidson was performing, the audience thrashed around to the flow of the beat, looking at one another in amazement when satisfying and consistent double bass pedalling filled everyone’s ears and brought a rumbling that I felt deep in my chest. He did not quit for a second, and his playing really stood out to me. I just started learning how to play the drums and seeing that performance made me wonder if there was any way in hell that I could possibly get to Davidson’s level.
Sanguisugabogg had great stage presence as a collective; the guitarist and bassist stood in strong, sturdy poses as they shredded up every note. Swank moved back and forth on stage, patting the backs of those who crawled their way on the platform to stage dive. He consistently encouraged the crowd to go crazier, to run on stage and jump into the crowd and be caught by the audience. Everyone was more than happy to listen to his demands for chaos and delivered an insane energy that you can only find in Montreal’s death metal scene.
They played some really excellent tracks during their set, such as “Hungry for Your Insides,” “Skin Cushion,” and “Face Ripped Off,” which Aaron Heard joined in on since he is featured on the song. The crowd absolutely loved it all and did not rest for the entirety of Sanguisugabogg’s set.
Swank took a moment to compliment his audience; “This was brutal Montreal! I’ll tell you what, Montreal does everything right. Metal, beer, weed, all of it!” As the crowd was cheering, he moved on to propose playing a game with his audience that he calls Metal Ball. He brought out a football for the crowd to pass around for the duration of their next song, and whoever was the last person holding it once the song was over would get to choose an item of Sanguisugabogg merch for free. He then introduced the next song for the game: “This song is about getting dragged by a fucking truck. It’s called Dragged by a Truck.” Which, I can’t lie, brought me to chuckle.
The crowd cheered once their last song was finished, demanding an encore. After soaking in the adoration from his audience, Swank asked the crowd to cheer if they wanted another song. Once the crowd’s collective voice died down, he asked if they wanted to hear TWO more songs, which earned double the cheers. With a nod, Sanguisugabogg moved on to playing “Mortal Admonishment” and “Dead as Shit,” which Swank ordered the crowd to split down the middle, opening a Death Wall to end the night on a brutal note. Their set ended in glory, and I’m sure that everyone in attendance at that sold-out show left as satisfied as I was. This was definitely a show to remember.
Review – Jamie Siddall
Photos – Steve Gerrard
