On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

NORTH BY NORTHEAST 1999
Featuring: Blurtonia
June 12, 1999
The Gravel Pit &
The Horseshoe, Toronto, Ontario

At last month's release-party gig for their debut album, Adventures In The Kingdom Of Blurtonia, ex-Change Of Heart frontman Ian Blurton was so nervous he almost puked. The sound was deafening, and the band was a tad ragged (though totally glorious). Ian's on record as saying the band doesn't want to rehearse that much, preferring to keep things fresh and fun, but there was quiet word from a mutual friend that they'd spent six hours whipping the tunes into shape the day before. (Which is still only one rehearsal, y'know.)

Whether that's true doesn't matter; what counts is that, for whatever reason, Blurtonia are now confident and relaxed enough to kick ass with some of the catchiest, most articulate and best-played live rock 'n' roll that Toronto's ever produced. I'd stack 'em up against anybody from any era and lay six-to-one odds that — with few exceptions — they'd mop the floor with "the competition." There's no better or more exciting live band playing straight-up rock music in Canada right now.

With ace soundman Al Miller's expertise at the board (his main gig these days is doing live sound for Open Mike With Mike Bullard), Blurtonia were exactly as loud as they oughtta be at the outdoor Gravel Pit stage. Egged on by the bouncing, bopping antics of bassist Corrine Culbertson, a comfortable Blurton pulled some fine moves, steps and poses of his own. And the changes were dead-on this time around. Even guitarist Al Kelso seemed sure enough to sway a bit, as drummer Jon McCann might have if he wasn't trapped behind the kit.

It was great to see Blurton playing lead guitar, which he rarely felt was appropriate with COH. On the jammin' codas of "The Privilege Is Real" and "Won't You Ride?," he proved himself every inch as fine a lead player as he is a riff-meister. Ian may have fluffed the verses to "In Yer Own Bed," but Corinne's harmonies on the chorus provided just the right lift to render it airborne anyways. "Never Less Than Perfect" and "I Don't Want To Kill Today" kicked it all even higher. (McCann rocked so hard that he broke a bass drum head before their last song, which cut the set short a bit.)

They even inspired notorious SxSW and NxNE dancin' fool Beatle Bob to shake his moneymaker at the front of the stage. (Blurton politely acknowledged his presence, and introduced him to the crowd.) Although Blurtonia were warmly received by the sizable crowd, the distance between the stage and the beer garden made it a little difficult to unleash the frenzied potential of the audience.

It was quite the contrary at their Horseshoe gig later that night. A dancefloor packed with friends and fans went absolutely apeshit from the opening slash-and-burn chords of the maniacal set opener, "Lifelike." Blurton chided the fans to the left of the dancefloor to join in the party, and the enthusiasm spurred the band on to greater and greater heights. "In Yer Own Bed," especially, inspired as much mayhem as could possibly happen, short of a serious mosh pit or a (white) riot. The set closer, "Capital Mack," found two of Ian's friends climbing onstage to howl and dance with the band.

At one point between songs, Blurton said "We just wanna make love with all of you, all four members of the band. Gay, straight, whatever, it doesn't matter." After the show, he said "I think the band just broke up." One possible interpretation of that joke: The show was such a singular high point that they couldn't possibly equal it again — it'd be the perfect, legendary note to go out on.

If they weren't such a fucking great band, I might be inclined to agree. But, having seen Blurtonia's exponential growth over their first three gigs, I'd have to bet against it. A local weekly proclaimed Blurton as "King Of Rock" on their cover this week; that statement seems less and less ironic with every Blurtonia performance. God, they're good.