On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

The Neon Palm Festival
June 3, 1999
El Mocambo, Toronto, Ontario

Toronto's El Mocambo club earned its legendary status in the glory days of the late '70s and early '80s, when it hosted the likes of U2, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello & The Attractions (whose Live At El Mocambo bootleg is one of the greatest recorded shows anywhere, ever), and The Rolling Stones (who recorded one side of their Love You Live double-album there). These days, El Mo is more a showcase venue for the grassroots indie underground, and remains Toronto's host to all things punk, glam and garage — especially those that bespeak rock 'n' roll rebellion.

To celebrate itself, and just for the hell of it, El Mo promoter Dan Burke decided to restore, refurbish, re-paint and re-light the original neon palm tree sign that's been with the club since it was founded. Seemed like a good excuse for a weekend full of kickass rock 'n' roll, too. Before the festivities got underway, "ex"-Rusty singer (they may reunite) Ken MacNeil flipped the switch, and the new sign was alight for the first time in 15 years. Damn, it looks good, and nobody who's ever spent any significant amount of time at El Mo could help but feel proud and pleased.

Onward, then, to five hours and two floors full of The Good Rock.

Groovy Religion are right at home in El Mocambo; singer William New has co-booked the club for years, and hosts his weekly Elvis Monday series there. Groovy opened with the Love chestnut "Signed D.C.," a Vietnam junkie soldier's lamented letter home. Ken MacNeil joined them for a kind of ironic run through Groovy's "All Age Rusty Show" — which New introduced as "All Ages One Free Fall Show," in deference to Ken's pre-Rusty band. John Lalley, who drums for both Groovy and, er, Rusty, remains one of the sharpest, hardest hitters in the country. "Groovy Dead" and "Wanda" were fun, and when Ken said "It's nice to be back," he meant it.

Chris Field has come a long way with his live show. Instead of trying to live up to the space-age mod rock of his excellent debut album, he's going for a louder, rockier, swirlier feel. Field's moving a lot more onstage, too — knees-up jumps, windmill strums — which helps him and the crowd get more into it. He likes to stretch out live, too, with extended riffery — as per his opening number, "For You I Would Do Anything." The new "Inner City Breakdown" — which will be released to clubs as a promotional single this week — is a real step forward. May Field continue to move onward and upward.

Bionic were more melodic and tasty than I've ever seen them before, despite sarcastic frontman Jon Cummins' onstage claim that "This is the most lax show we've ever played." The interplay between the stand-still-and-scream Cummins and the prowling guitar heroism of live Bionic boy Ian Blurton made for a great set. Freed from the tension of fronting his own band, Blurton relaxed into his role, rushing to Cummins' side for the choruses, smashing the cymbals with his guitar headstock, and unleashing the occasional high kick. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" was especially fantastic. And leave it to Cummins to bitch about the cover charge: "I'd like to thank my mom for paying 20 bucks to see this. I don't think she's getting her money's worth." (Hey, Jon! Dan Burke has to PAY for the fucking sign, y'know!)

Flashing Lights are one of the two or three best live pop-rock acts in the city, maybe in the country. Seeing them is what it must have been like to see The Who in 1966, poised right on the cusp between pure pop for mod people and extended rock jamming for prog-minded hippies. They opened with the three best songs from their fantastic new pop-album-of-the-summer (Go Buy It!): "Highschool," "Where The Change Is" (the title track) and "Day Like That." The band is comprised of superb, tasteful-but-rockin' players, none of whom have to show off to prove it. Bassist Henri Sangalang, for example, almost never plays the root note (like every bassist on earth), but his counter-melodies always support the song. By the way, what was Matt Murphy thinking when he dyed his hair suicide blonde? Am I the only one who thinks it was an ill-advised choice? (Sorry, Matt.)

Zoobombs were the highlight of the night. Those of us who'd seen their El Mo gig several months back knew that they would be; after the set, the newbies couldn't shut up about how great Zoobombs were. Chris Field said it was "one of the best shows I've ever seen in Toronto." It's a safe bet that Zoobombs inspire that kind of reaction every time they hit the stage. Singer/guitarist Don Matsuo plays like Thurston Moore in the garage, sings like James Brown through a mile of distortion, unleashes the onstage energy of Bruce Springsteen on steroids, and is the world's biggest Rolling Stones fan. (They really should open for The Stones sometime.) And Zoobombs know how to get funky, too. Matsuo spent as much of the show howling on his knees and knocking over the mike stand with wild abandon as he did screaming his ass off from centre stage. Every minute or so, he'd shake the top of his head around, and a fountain of sweat would pour off his hair.

You almost never see an audience in Toronto go as crazy as they did for Zoobombs — which is more testimony to their brilliance. Telling detail: Their stage tech — who looks like a science student — was wearing a t-shirt that said "Go! Go! Go!" Exactly! As the band's' own sticker reads: "Zoobombs is No. 1" There's a beautiful sort of naiveté and purity going on here, akin to that of the "found poetry" of those grammatically incorrect, nonsensical, but somehow fitting English phrases that sometimes occur when the Japanese play cross-cultural linguistics with American pop culture (e.g., "Let's Active!"). In Zoobombs' case,. It comes down to singing English phonetically, playing garage music because they love it (not 'cause it's the cool thing to do), and throwing themselves into every note. That sincerity comes through, and is as much a captivating force as their energy. They mean it, maaaaan.

Bailterspace, from New Zealand, are a seminal drone-rock band whose gift for catchy melody justifies the extremity of their volume. One of the LOUDEST bands I've ever seen, they're a swirly, hypnotic trance machine that'll take you away. It's almost assaultive, like a lengthy round of bludgeoning with a blunt instrument. (As opposed to, say, Mean Red Spiders, who do it with a more precise, subtle approach - sadly, I missed their early set as part of this evening.) Bailterspace play really good stuff, to be sure, but it was a little hard to get into the mood after Zoobombs.

The Killjoys played last, upstairs, but most had left at that point. Still, they delivered a set that proves how strong and sure they are to this day; the new live CD will be most welcome indeed.

It was a great night of music, kicking off a fantastic weekend of same, and celebrating the visual restoration of a legendary rock 'n' roll institution. Congratulations to El Mocambo on their new flashing lights - long may they sparkle and shine.