Horrors Show Benefits From Fucked Up Surprise

Lee's Palace

Toronto, ON

on Oct 14 2009

Erik Missio (CHARTattack)

10/15/2009 2:42pm

What a difference a little more than a year makes.

In 2007, The Horrors were just another of many hyped U.K. bands — a dime will get you a dozen alleged punk/garage saviours these days — with a one-trick gimmick and a rep for live performances that were either incendiary or, well, too much style over substance.

But now?

Now, they're making a case for being the real deal. Buoying their argument is an almost universally acclaimed album (Primary Colours) co-produced by a Portishead, a Mercury Prize nomination, and a possible collaboration with Damon Albarn and everyone's favourite cartoon band.

Not bad for five black-bedecked boys with pasty complexions and signature haircuts. This rare fulfillment of promise was probably what brought the masses to Lee's Palace on a cold Wednesday night. Of course, some of them might have been there for the semi-surprise openers, Fucked Up.

Billed as the "Polaris Pricks" (a sobriquet not devised by the band itself, frontman Damian Abraham was quick to point out), the nation's biggest, best, and most feted hardcore band took the stage some time after 10 p.m.

They followed Tennessee's Black Diamond Heavies — a duo comprising singer/keyboardist John Wesley Myers and stickman Van Campbell. Some nice drum rolls and fills, and Screaming Jay Hawkins-inspired blues lyrics mostly overcame some earlier technical problems. The piano was, well, fucked up.

Fucked Up started their set with four guitarists (drummer Jonah "Mr. Jo" Falco was axed up) and a bassist, diving into a relatively short set of songs normally not played live. The gig was designed as a warm-up before a New York show and the forthcoming Halloween performances.

"Being the surprise band means, 'Surprise! We don't have to be good,'" frontman Father Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham greeted the crowd.

But they were good, nonetheless. At least I think they were.

Unfortunately, this reviewer isn't much for the hardcore scene (how un-hardcore? I reviewed Kylie Minogue last week), so it seemed a bit disingenuous to pass too much judgment. That said, the music was tight and loud in all the right ways and it's hard to deny Abraham's charisma.

His shirt was off by the end of the second song, he twirled and noosed up microphone cables, and he impressively tightrope walked Lee's narrow tables a bunch of times, throwing his considerable girth into the crowd. At one point ("Jacob's Ladder," I think), he proceeded to pick up someone in the audience, lug him over his shoulder and run.

Alas, a few notable jumpers aside, it didn't look like the crowd was overly feeling it. Although there were a few Horrors staring transfixed. Despite some of the connections between Fucked Up's hardcore style and The Horrors' shoegaze theatrics, it was clear some of the confused audience was just patiently waiting for the headliners to appear.

This finally happened a little after 11:30, with the Southenders launching into a set comprising Primary Colours in its entirety. Having never seen the band live, I was impressed by the stage presence achieved by a bunch of guys who never talk or even make all that much eye contact. A genuine "Thank you" was the entirety of the stage banter.

Guitarist Joshua Third — Scissorhands-coif intact — moved like a cat with a knife stuck in its side, sliding and lurching erratically. Bassist Rhys Webb spent most of the evening dancing in that way only bassists can, slinking out of time with the music (he switched instruments for a few songs with keyboardist Tomethy Furse), while drummer Joseph Spurgeon kept the beat. And then there was Faris Badwan, all big black T-shirt and skinny black pants, conducting the light show and waving his arms like a conductor possessed by something less-than-pure.

The gentlemen began with "Mirror's Image" before launching into "Three Decades," with the potentially uncomfortable lyrics, "Three decades in Canada and now you plan/To leave your home and lead a life more valiant."

The songs seemed rougher than on album, Badwan's voice a little more nasty. "New Ice Age" in particular felt a little Pistols-ish. Compare Primary Colours with The Horrors' debut LP, Strange House, and it feels like you're listening to two different musical acts.

On stage, however, it all made sense; the new songs inherit a little of the savagery found in the older ones. Those earlier tracks, incidentally, were reserved for the encore. This included a particularly blistering rendition of "Count In Fives."

Highlights during the main set were both an epic attack on "Sea Within A Sea" and the particularly well-received, Spector-esque "Who Can Say?" Also, "Scarlet Fields," came across more as a lost Joy Division piece compared to the one committed to record. This wasn't a bad thing.

The crowd, incidentally, was far warmer to The Horrors than Fucked Up, but the collected never seemed to get hot for either until the encore. While it's true shoegazing concert-goers and, well, Toronto spectators, don't tend to get overly active, a band with The Horrors' spooky demeanour benefits from a little more physicality (in, y'know, a safe and respectful manner) during the aggro numbers that explode after slow build.

The band plays Montreal tonight. Hopefully, the crowd is a little more into things, regardless of whether Fucked Up crash the party.