By Glen Ess (The Cascade) – Email
Punk shows in the Basement (a nickname for the basement of the Trinity Memorial United Church) are always fun, casual, and usually end up featuring at least one inexplicable event. On Friday, May 20, at a show with Nic Fits, Slow Erase, Riot Porn, and Like Bears, the aforementioned inexplicability came in the form of a bright green vibrator.
Nic Fits, who recently recorded for the first time at CIVL, opened the night with their particular brand of angry adolescent punk music about the vile nature of milk, and age restrictions. As always they brought something along for the crowd to play with. This time they chose two wooden folding chairs which were, in no time, reduced to scrap by the audience members in the pit in front of the stage. At one point two enterprising audience members, one of whom was Like Bears’ guitarist and singer Leo Nickel, took upon themselves to hold an impromptu combat using the remnants from the chairs.
Slow Erase, a Vancouver-based punk rock and metal trio, followed, with bassist Jillian Papp sounding like a cross between sludge metal and a more frenetic punk sound. Meanwhile, lead singer and guitarist Dave Hallman had to scream his heart out to be heard over the din.
Montreal’s Riot Porn would take the stage next, and Emily Tank’s particular brand of environmental anarcho-punk was thought-provoking. While I doubt it’s normal to contemplate the continued destruction of oceanic habitats while moshing, it was certainly the result of the band’s set.
However, it wasn’t until Chilliwack’s feel-good indie-rockers Like Bears started their set that things really went wild. The band, who recently released their debut album We’re Fun performed with their naturally effervescent nature. Living up to their album’s title, the band’s set included a cover of George Michael’s “Careless Whisper,” which came at the evening’s sound tech’s request.
Before their set had reached the halfway mark, from somewhere in the crowd came the strangest of projectiles. A bright green vibrator. Which also happened to be switched on. While no one present took responsibility for the sex toy’s presence, both the band and the crowd began to engage in some good-natured goofing around. Highlights included Leo Nickel using the toy to play his guitar, members of the audience playing “hide the sausage,” and Nickel placing it on drummer Ted Kim’s snare, where it proceeded to create what could only be described as the oddest drumroll.
The Fraser Valley’s young musicians continue to entertain. While none of these four bands took themselves very seriously, all that meant was that they were more willing to engage in shenanigans of all sorts with the small, but noisy, crowd.
