At The Drive-In
with Sinclaire and The Petit Project
Thursday August 17th 2000 @ The Kathedral, Toronto

At The Drive-In are well known for having one of the best live shows in punk rock today, and unfortunately I never had a chance to catch more than a glimpse of their brilliance, due to bad luck. I managed to catch only the end of their sets when they opened for the Get Up Kids, and also when they opened for Rage Against The Machine at Maple Leaf Gardens. This time they were headlining their own show and I was really excited to finally be up close and personal with them.

The crowd at the show was an interesting mix of people. I think that ATDI are a little too sophisticated for most of the typical hardcore kids and the Fat Wreck skate punks. I was glad to see a lot of open minded people in attendance.

The first band to start off the night was yet another cool band from the Oakville scene called The Petit Project. They are the first band from around here that I’m aware of who have picked up on the Reggie and the Full Effect sound, complete with a Moog player. I’m sure they won’t be the last. They were pretty impressive and tight, considering that the band was just getting off the ground.

Next up were Sinclaire, who had just gotten back from what was apparently a nightmarish tour with fellow emo rockers Moneen. The one guitarist had a cast on his arm, so this limited them in what they were able to play that night. Sinclaire were not as impressive as they had been in the past. Perhaps it was the broken arm. They didn’t play some of the better songs from their EP, and instead they played a lot of new material, much of which sounded rather bland and mediocre.

Then, as anticipated, At The Drive-In blew the roof off the place. However, their live performance was so much more than I expected. They opened with Chanbara, perhaps one of their most aggressive songs, and they played with so much raw power that they immediately had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand. Lead singer Cedric looked like he was going to strangle himself with the mic, as he writhed and shook in violent spasms across the stage.

In between every song they would improvise with samples, tape loops, feedback and effects, along with Cedric’s off-the-cuff poetry and wacked out speeches. It was the perfect balance, not too much improvisation, but enough to keep everything sounding fresh, and, I would assume, to make every performance different and unique.

I was amazed at how they pulled off some of the songs live, especially the ones off the Vaya EP, with all the samples and effects that the songs incorporate. Songs like Rascuache, Metronome Arthritis and 198d sounded even better when performed live, because were played with so much more urgency than they are on the album.

ATDI also played a mixture of new material, including their new single One Armed Scissor, and an intense rendition of the song Catacombs.

It wasn’t long before they reached the end of their set, and of course they inevitably ended with the unforgettable Napoleon Solo. There’s no disputing the fact that it is an amazing closer. My only complaint was that their set was somewhat short, and they didn’t play an encore. However, it would have been next to impossible for them to follow up Napoleon Solo, and the general rule of thumb is that you should always leave your audience wanting more. I’m pretty sure that everyone there that night was left wanting more, and they will probably go out and buy their new album as soon as it hits stores. I know I will.

And if and when they come out with a live cd, I will be the first to say that it could be even better than any of their studio albums. — Sean