Casualties
DICKENS PUB – APRIL 16, 2013
Issuing another attack on Dickens Pub, the city’s many weekday warriors flooded into the venue. Local punks Crystal Mess broke in the night with a great set that oozed their signature aggression. Beercore staples, Oh Shit!, were next to the slaughter. Barking in the faces of the anticipating audience, they taunted the working class, questioning the crowd’s later commitments and exposing their own ideals of living each day as it comes spontaneously. On the support of the always-present Beercore fanatics, they ran through their set with infectious energy.
Dayglo Abortions
The Dayglo Abortions were the next to take the stage, emanating their all-too-familiar, we-don’t-give-a-fuck attitudes to the pulsating room. This show seemed to be a slight redemption for the fans that missed out the week before, when Dayglo opened for Doom at Broken City. The idiocy of the rilled-up audience was more than apparent, as people in the front row started to toke up with blatant disregard for the hospitable venue. This was another Dayglo show, plain and simple. Perhaps the special moment was lost on me, probably because I have seen them more times than I have fingers.
The much anticipated Casualties approached the beer-littered stage, coercing Calgary into a sea of red by offering that Edmonton was a much more chaotically convincing crowd, rubbing in that this rival city had, in fact, produced a more intimidating force of participation. This confession ignited the crowd into a chaotic circle pit fuelled only by the night’s most intoxicated advocates. Their set was injected with surprisingly sing-along friendly covers, like The Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach” and a few tracks from their newest album, Resistance. Hopeful ladies littered the side stage ready to promise one lucky musician a forgetful night of sexual prowess. The set was epic and explosive as the crowd continued to heed The Casualties’ encouraging shouts to show them exactly what our city was made of.
Review and photos by Lori Meyers
