On the Road Again
Live Review

Spring Heel Jack
The Opera House, Toronto
Nov. 6, 1997

Only seconds before Spring Heel Jack took the Opera House, you could count the number of people on the dance floor with two hands. But when the duo of John Coxon and Ashley Wales took their places behind their machines, the crowd immediately began to filter in from out of nowhere, like a congregation being summoned to mass. The opening bleeps of SHJ's latest single "Hale Bopp" reverberated throughout the cavernous venue, and for the next 60 minutes, the several hundred suddenly in attendance were treated to a continuous series of outer and inner-body experiences.

As a form of dance music, drum n' bass doesn't really make you want to dance with anybody; likewise, the alternately soothing and abrasive beats of Spring Heel Jack produce an isolating experience, where the only party going on is the one in your head. But even those not in the mood to get lost in the ocean of sounds could at least marvel at the visual display; Coxon and Wales may not be the most animated of performers (actually, they don't move a single inch away from their toys), but their epilepsy-inducing strobe light meltdown could put Pink Floyd to shame. Burn your eyes or burst your ears - either way, it's a better way to spend a Thursday evening than watching that crappy Brooke Shields show.

- Stuart Berman