Black Lungs Get Heavier

Kathedral

Toronto, ON

on Jan 24 2009

Stephanie Joudrey (CHARTattack)

01/26/2009 3:37pm

Any opportunity to see Alexisonfire in a small club is going to be extremely rare at this point, and your chances of seeing Dallas Green's City And Colour in a similar venue are probably even lower. So it wasn't surprising to see a lineup stretching around the block at Kathedral for Alexisonfire singer/guitarist Wade MacNeil's Black Lungs show, nor will it be surprising if Black Lungs also outgrow smaller clubs.

Orphan Choir started the evening's entertainment. Although they had a solid sound that was slightly reminiscent of Against Me!, the Windsor, Ont. quartet had zero stage presence. Their singer barely spoke, and all the members moved as little as possible. It felt like watching a band's first real show. It was hard for the audience to get into a performance when it wasn't even clear if the band were.

On the flip side, Delinquints (there are five of them — get it?) were all about confidence. Singer Jimy Delinquint chatted with the Mohawk-sporting kids who moshed and poured beer down the throats of (likely) underage kids hovering near the stage. Lead guitarist Beardo Belligerent played like he was The Man, and threw his guitar behind his head for a solo while guitarist Jack O' Lantern proved he had other talents when he licked his own nipple. The Delinquints' old-school punk rock style is the shit, and they were awesome.

Ceremonial Snips gave us a different flavour with a horn section that completed their ska-punk sound. The Snips are a bit of a staple at the Kathedral and have played the venue numerous times before. Their upbeat songs worked perfectly.

Whether it was heavy and raw punk or something with a little more emotion, it was as though all of these bands were representative of the different sides of the man we were here to see: MacNeil.

When Black Lungs hit the stage, it became obvious this wasn't going to be the slow, melodic set you might have expected from listening to Send Flowers. MacNeil was joined by Alexisonfire companion Chris Steele on bass, Saint Alvia's Brandon Bliss on keyboards and ex-Bedouin Soundclash member Pat Pengelly on drums. Pengelly is apparently the newest fully fledged member of Black Lungs since his departure from Bedouin. While the foursome may have been brought together only through their friendship with MacNeil, it seemed like they'd been on stage together for years.

Each track took on a new life with the full band, and MacNeil gave his best rock attitude. Emotional tracks like "In Memory" were pushed to the brink with a bigger sound, while "Timeless" was made into a danceable track when members of the Snips joined them on stage with a trumpet and trombone. As the night progressed, it was obvious these guys were having a blast and you probably couldn't have wiped the smile from Bliss' face with an industrial grinder.

Steele's stage presence threatened to overshadow MacNeil's as he thrashed and jiggled around, but the main man was equally spiritied. If there was any chance he was going to be overshadowed as a frontman, he threw it out the window with the last song. MacNeil handed his guitar to Cancer Bats' Scott Middleton and went into pure mic-wielding singer mode for a cover of The Gun Club's "For The Love Of Ivy." It was a rare opportunity to see MacNeil without a guitar, bouncing around the stage, and he proved he could be quite a force.

Black Lungs' set felt extremely brief after waiting through all of the opening acts. We can't really hold it against them though, because, as MacNeil said to the crowd, "I've only got nine songs on the record!"

Black Lungs' new, rockier sound, some new songs and a drummer on the roster means they look ready to move forward as a band. It's going to be interesting to see what side of MacNeil we see next.