At The Drive-In
with Murder City Devils and International Noise Conspiracy
Tuesday October 24 2000 @ The Reverb, Toronto

This was a sold out show at The Reverb, and with good reason. Three amazing bands, each with a reputation for putting on a good live show, together on one bill. It was a show I had been excited about ever since it was announced back in early September.

Despite the growing popularity of At The Drive-In, and the fact that they were the headliners, I’m pretty sure that a lot of the people were in attendance just to see The International Noise Conspiracy. After all, Swedish bands don’t make it over here to North America very often. And if I’m not mistaken (which I could be), it was their first time ever playing in Canada. It was a rather strange experience having a venue for a show packed so tight full of people before the first band had even gone on.

Wearing their stylish brown suits, TINC came out and delivered a tight set of mod influenced garage rock and roll that did not disappoint. They were bouncing around and having a great time up on stage and their energy was transferred to the crowd. The vocalist, Ex-Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzén, had all the cool rock poses down perfectly. He even proved to be a great dancer, which I didn’t expect from someone who used to be in a hardcore band.

In between songs he gave a few little speeches explaining the politics behind the band, and I didn’t mind this, but he didn’t really seem to be making any points. The way I see it, if you’re going to give little lectures in between songs, keep them short, simple, but above all, make your point, and actually give the kids something to think about.

Towards the end of their set, he actually said something that sounded kind of hypocritical.He said something like “Everything is for sale and so are we, and we’re pretty damn cheap. Take home a piece of the revolution with you.” which was referring to the merchandise they had for sale. Now for a band that criticizes consumerism and capitalism so much, this seemed like a stupid thing to say. Even though I’m sure he was joking, it sounded really hypocritical. It made it seem like the politics and the “revolution” are just part of the rebellious image they are using to sell records and merchandise.

Maybe I’m just being too picky, but then, that is one of the pitfalls of trying to make statements in between songs. You only have a few seconds to talk, and everything you say is going to be analyzed. If you say the wrong thing, or there is a misunderstanding, then it can’t be rectified because individual audience members don’t have a chance to respond.

That is the only thing that really disappointed me about their set though. And maybe I’m a dork for letting it bug me, but I mean, it’s really no big deal. They were still a lot of fun, even if they lost a little bit of credibility in my eyes.

The Murder City Devils have a reputation for being an amazing live band, and although I was not too familiar with their music, I was looking forward to seeing their show.

They had red candles on all the amps, setting sort of a sinister atmosphere, which really didn’t have much to do with their music at all. Once they started playing, they just let loose with their raw, all out rock and roll mayhem.

They were aggressive and loud. Maybe a little too loud. I think I would have enjoyed them more if they were an instrumental band, because the distorted, strangled screaming just hurt my ears. The one guitarist was making all these poses like he was some sort of guitar god. Rock poses are cool when they are done tongue-in-cheek, but not when they are done in an arrogant kind of way. This guy came off seeming very cocky.

I liked the fact that they had an organ player, but I don’t think she was used to her full potential. (By the way, both the Murder City Devils and the International Noise Conspiracy supported the uncanny tendency for bands to have female keyboard players. I wonder why that is. I guess keyboard and piano are just seen as more of a feminine instrument. But I digress…)

Near the end of their set, they briefly lit the drum kit on fire. That was pretty cool, but not really enough keep me interested through the rest of their songs. I can’t say the Murder City Devils weren’t intense, but I can say that they weren’t really my thing.

At The Drive In came on last and they seemed to be in a little bit more of a playful mood than they had been in a few months ago. There were a lot more screaming girls in the audience this time, and the band was sort of teasing them as they set up their equipment.

Their live performance was jaw dropping as usual. There’s not really much I can say that hasn’t been said before. They are an amazing band, and their live performance has no equal. If there was any question that they should be the headliners for this show, it was quickly answered within the first 30 seconds of the opening song, Arcarsenal.

At The Drive-In are so good at switching gears during their performances. One minute it is complete chaos: flailing guitars, gut wrenching yelps, crunching riffs, random noises and feedback. The next minute they bring it all under control, with melodic vocals and a precise rhythm section.

They played a great selection of songs including an extended jam out version of Quarantined, and blazing versions of Catacombs and Napoleon Solo, which seems to be their customary closing one-two knock out punch. It was definitely a T.K.O from Texas on this night.

In between one of the songs, Cedric voiced their discontent with an article that Now magazine had written about them, which apparently called them “The New Nirvana” or something to that effect. I don’t know if the Nirvana comparison was what they were upset about (I never got to read the article), but apparently in the music industry there is a lot of buzz surrounding At The Drive In, and people are saying they are going to be the next big thing. I have my doubts about whether or not the commercial music world is ready for a band like At The Drive In, but as long as they continue to put this much energy and intensity into their live performances, they will certainly not be losing fans any time soon. — Sean

Get Carter
Directed by: Stephen T. Kay
Written by: Ted Lewis, David McKenna
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine

Sly Stallone is the man. Or at least he thinks he is. And that’s what makes him so fun to watch on screen. Let’s be honest, this movie looked pretty dumb, but who could resist when the commercials had Stallone delivering such great lines as “My name is Jack Carter and you don’t want to know me.”? I know I couldn’t.

It was evident from the trailers that this movie was going to try really hard to be flashy and rugged and “hip”. To a certain extent, I liked some of the camera work and the cool lighting in this movie. The problem was just that this was not the right movie to get all artsy with. The interesting camera angles and effects just made the movie seem really melodramatic. The pulsating techno soundtrack also made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. I guess that probably makes me sound like a big film snob, but in all seriousness, it was pure cheese.

Before we go any further, I suppose a summary of the basic storyline is an order. Sylvester Stallone does indeed play the role of Mr. Jack Carter, a Vegas hitman who, upon finding out that his younger brother has passed away, becomes suspicious of the circumstances surrounding his death. But of course, as we all know, Jack is the bad brother who “doesn’t fix things, he breaks them”.

So basically, from that point on, Jack Carter embarks on a quest to figure out how his brother died, and it’s a haphazard journey zig zagging back and forth across his old stomping grounds, as he roughs up person after person looking for answers.

The movie is somewhat slow moving at first. They wanted to build up the suspense and then hit you with a shocking revelation near the end. In order for this to work, however, the revelation has to be worth the wait, and in this case the big revelation just didn’t seem like it was worth the build up. But of course, it does turn out to be shocking enough for Sly to cry over. (First Arnold cries in End of Days, now this?? What’s this world coming to?!)

When the action picks up, we are treated to a few car chase scenes which are totally confusing and disorienting. Someone did a pretty poor editing job here.

Get Carter is an amusing movie, at least in the sense that Stallone is pretty much god. (And his initials are J.C., a cheesy detail that begs for attention everytime Carter dons his personalized cufflinks…) He is basically unstoppable, and goes through most of the movie kicking everyone’s ass without much of a challenge. Not that he didn’t look the part - he is pretty damn huge in this movie. It makes me wonder what kind of steroids he’s pumping nowadays.

Clearly, the best and worst thing about the movie is Stallone’s acting. He’s such a bad actor, and he has some really lame one-liners, which he succeeds in delivering with a complete and utter lack of emotion. It’s great to see all his macho tough guy lines delivered with a low, throaty drawl, especially when his character is actually trying to do something human, such as acquaint himself with his niece over coffee. Most of the time he just looks and sounds like a big oaf. He tries to be cute, but he has no sense of timing, and any of his little jokes just fall flat on their face.

One other character who was laughable in this movie was the spineless computer nerd guy, played by Alan Cumming, who I believe also played Boris in Goldeneye. So stereotypical, yet so perfect!

An interesting thing that I found out only after I saw the movie is that this is a remake of a movie from the 70’s. Perhaps this explains why they went overboard trying to make the movie seem so modern and trendy. Strangely enough, Michael Caine actually plays the lead role of Jack Carter in the original, and he makes an appearance as a smaller character in this new version of the movie.

Anyways, what it comes down to is the fact that this new version of Get Carter is a pretty bad movie. It’s the kind of thing I can laugh about, until I realize that I spent 10 bucks to see it. Ouch. That kind of puts things in perspective. — Sean

Man or Astro-man? - A Spectrum of Infinite Scale
(Touch & Go)

A Spectrum Of Infinite Scale is a bit of a departure for the Astro-dudes. They continue to push the envelope of sci-fi surf rock further and further; this time around they come across sounding like a mixture of Trans Am, Sonic Youth, and Pink Floyd.

Pink Floyd you ask? Well, yes, for some reason this album seems to hold a somewhat psychedelic feel for me. Their latest guitarist, Trace Reading, who took over for Starcrunch after Made From Technetium, has long been accused of being a hippie, and I can’t help but think that he has had a large influence on how this album turned out.

There is even a blatant reference to Pink Floyd with the song title “Many Pieces Of Large Fuzzy Mammals Gathered Together At A Rave And Schmoozing With A Brick”.Maybe it’s just the whole “spectrum” theme and the abstract cover artwork that has me thinking along these lines. Incidentally, the cover also seems like it could be a reference to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album. Astro fans know that these certainly aren’t the first allusions Man or Astro-man have made to Pink Floyd.

Regardless, there is still an underlying surf sound to the guitars, with plenty of reverb and spaciness but at times the album feels a little bit more mellow than past MOA releases. Almost every song starts with some distant noises or quiet sound effects and then slowly builds itself up. There are not as many scorching, robotic power chords here, rather the emphasis is on textured single picking guitars layed over top of various beeps and whistles.

Sadly, MOA have done away with the b-movie sound clips that made their past albums so much fun. I guess after a while they can grow tiresome, but still, there were a trademark of sorts. There are a lot of interesting sound effects mixed in with the songs, but for the most part they give it a distant, eerie feel.

There is a lot of experimentation here. The only non-instrumental track, “Within One Universe There Are Millions”, features singing by a computer, and “Spectrograph Reading Of The Varying Phantom Frequencies Of Chronic, Incurable Tinnitus” has Coco freaking out with a theremin. Not to mention the song “A Simple Text File”, which has received a lot of attention for the fact that it is done entirely with a dot matrix printer. And in case you haven’t noticed, the song titles are some of the strangest and longest yet.

Some of the more aggressive tracks are “Song of the Two-Mile Linear Particle Accelerator Stanford University, Stanford, California”, “Preparation Clont”, and the “Trapezoid” song. Also worth checking out is the “Obligatory Part 2 Song In Which There Is No Presently Existing Part 1, Nor The Plans To Make One”, which has tons of weird sound effects mixed in with a spy surf guitar riff.

The big drum sound on this album is great, and once again most of the songs are held together by Birdstuff’s tight drumming. Just check out the track “Um Espectro Sem Escala” for an example of his creativity and power.

My first reaction to this cd was one of disappointment, but I have really grown to like it a lot. I still don’t believe that it is their best work, and I still think there are a few throwaway tracks on here, but overall it is an interesting and unique journey through space and time. Or something like that. Just buy it, jerk. — Sean

Life Is Beautiful
Directed by: Roberto Benigni
Written by: Vincenzo Cerami and Roberto Benigni
Starring: Roberto Benigni

The film Life is Beautiful was a cinematic feature that I wanted to see for quite a while ever since it was released. Unfortunately, the film was considered to be a “speciality” film and wasn’t mainstream enough to be featured in Silver City mega-plexes or Famous Player movie coliseums in the Niagara area. That’s the disadvantage of living in a small area suburban town. You aren’t big enough to be considered to have much taste, so it’s not worth the expense to bring down culture here. The usual fluff would probably do just fine. If I wished to see the movie, then it was required that I travel. For Niagarians, the nearest centre of culture is Toronto. However, a two hour drive plus admission is quite a heavy price to pay to go see a movie. My best bet was to wait for it on video. So, I waited.

I waited to see Life is Beautiful earn seven Oscar nominations among the notable being Best Picture and Best Actor. In the end, the gifted, charismatic Italian nut Roberto Benigni claimed the Best Actor prize and touched my little mafia heart as he proudly accepted the award with a broken English speech and childlike wonder that is so characteristic of the Italian Star. My hunger to see the movie became insatiable.

My time would finally come as my friend Michael would appropriate the ultimate in home entertainment experiences, the DVD. I found DVD technology to be quite amazing. The DVD of Life is Beautiful for example was just chock full of little goodies and presents inside that I felt like it was Christmas time. I even wanted to decorate a tree! However, the night was getting late and as they say, “The show must go on!”.So we put in the DVD, we saw pictures, we saw words, we saw credits and then we went home. The End.

However, in between those dramatic key frames of our intense cinematic experience, a moving and beautiful story played out before my eyes. The story was centred around an Italian Jewish father whose family was captured during WWII in Italy by the Nazis. In order to hide the despicable reality of war from his young son, the father pretends that the entire war is a game that is meant to be won. The film is so touching in the explanations, attempts and sacrifices that the father makes in blinding his son from the horror of racism, war, pain and death. Fatherly acts that I wish were carried out more often in the world. The film was one of those rare movies that actually drew me in and affected me deeply. By the end, I could even feel a tear welling up in my eye. I couldn’t shoot anybody for a week.

I recommend Life is Beautiful to anyone and I believe that it would be a rare treat for any movie fan, especially the foreign film connoisseur. I also highly recommend that you watch the film in Italian with English subtitles in order to capture Roberto Benigni’s extraordinary talent to the fullest. No other voice does him justice. In conclusion…

La Vita E Bella e un film molto belissima. Viva Roberto Benigni!!

– Peter “The Gooch” Meneguzzi

Wesley Willis with The Causey Way
Tuesday October 17th 2000 @ El Mocambo, Toronto

We arrived at this show nice and early, expecting to find the place pretty much deserted, but what we found was that there was already a huge line-up of people waiting outside in the light drizzle. Strange. What seemed even stranger to me was the fact that the El Mo suddenly decided to raise the price at the door by five dollars more than they had originally advertised.

The plain white van parked on the side of the road labelled with the words “The Causey Way Ministries” was a little bit confusing to those who were unfamiliar with Causey and his teachings. (Apparently, this included just about everyone in line at that point.) To the uninitiated, I can see how it might evoke feelings of uncertainty. “Is this going to be some kind of gospel band?” I heard one kid say. I laughed to myself, thinking that soon he too would be one with the Causey Way.

I was actually surprised how few people had heard of the Causey Way, considering that they had a number of releases under their belt, including a full length album on Alternative Tentacles. But it was clear from the outset that the majority of the crowd was there only to see the headlining act, one Mr. Wesley Willis.

When we were finally allowed inside, Wesley was sitting in a dark corner of the club, waiting to sell his merchandise. People just flocked to him. Everyone wanted to meet him, talk to him, and/or butt heads with him. People crowded around to watch with fascination and admiration. Willis is a very charismatic guy, but at the same time he’s very intimidating. He’s a pretty big fella, and on top of that, he is a diagnosed schizophrenic who is pretty damn spaced out. So as much as people were drawn to him, they were also a little hesitant to approach him in person.

Wesley Willis has become something of a legend. I’m not too sure exactly how and when it all came about, but I found it strange to be surrounded by people who were saying things like “I can’t believe I’m about to see Wesley Willis live!” and “This is the best day of my life!”

The opening band Conio was… a cover band??? I was somewhat dumbfounded that a cover band had ended up on the same bill as two of the most original bands I’ve ever heard in my life. It was pretty damn tough sitting through mediocre cover versions of Wire, The Who, Guided By Voices, and AC/DC, knowing that the Causey Way would be up next. Conio seemed to have energy and a sense of humour, but they were also somewhat sloppy and generally annoyed me. I felt embarrassed for them when they had to resort to covering a Wesley Willis song - “Rock and Roll McDonald’s” - to get a reaction out of the audience. With Wesley’s permission of course.

Finally, Conio ended their set, and there was a bit of a wait before the Causey Way took the stage. The various stage props and decorations helped set the mood for the Causey “service” that was about to take place. All the amps and keyboards had (fake) candles affixed to them and the microphone stands all had branches and leaves delicately entwined around them. There was also a big glowing CIA (Causey Is Awesome) sign in the background.

The band members emerged wearing their white uniforms of purity, and with little more than a single uttered “Hallelujah”, blasted into “Message From The Pulpit”, the first track from their full length album. They were aggressive and tight, and they were rocking harder than Jesus himself. It was, simply put, everything that a Causey follower could have prayed for.

Then, slowly, something strange began to happen. One of the keyboardists (the one affectionately known as “The Button”) began to have some trouble with his synthesizer unit. After spending the better part of a song trying to remedy the situation, he decided to strap on a mini-keyboard and simply thrash around the stage like a madman.

I wasn’t too sure if the so-called “technical difficulties” were a part of the act, or if they were really happening. At any rate, the problems didn’t seem to be anything too major, because the band continued to pound through a couple more songs in the meantime. Still, Causey, the normally calm and soothing group leader, did seem to be glancing over from time to time with a look of genuine concern on his face.

At the next break in between songs, Causey decided to look into the keyboard problem personally, fiddling with some wires momentarily. Unfortunately he was unable to work any miracles at this point, and the best he could do was to bless The Button with a guitar to use for the time being (although The Button seemed pretty lost in trying to play it).

The situation intensified when, during the next song, Causey’s own guitar began cutting out intermittently. He fought with the guitar, and then at the end of the song he dropped it to the ground in disgust.

There was a definite sense that the tension level was rising on stage. What was worse, the band members began to appear almost human, with Causey himself displaying definite signs of worry and frustration. Their schtick was faltering a little bit, because their stage characters were no longer fully believable.

Of course, this only provided fuel for the many closed minded morons that were in the audience. One heckler’s voice could be heard loud and clear over the din insisting that “Devo did it better”. This did not please Causey at all. He actually challenged the originator of that comment to come up on stage because he literally wanted to “kick his ass”. When the naysayer actually had the gall to step up on stage, it looked for a minute like there would indeed be a fight on stage, but then Causey managed to gain control of himself, and instead performed a laying on of healing hands, and showed the heathen forgiveness.

Temporarily order was restored, and The Button took over vocal duties for the song “What Power Is”, as he walked amongst the crowd with a microphone, whispering bits of wisdom into people’s ears. When they were not worrying about technical difficulties, the Causey Way were playing the cult thing up perfectly. The female bassist/vocalist (known as “The Truth”) in her white blouse and matching skirt looked out over the crowd flashing her suspiciously alluring smile, while Causey himself just looked a lot like David Khoresh. The vocals provided by the band members were always delivered in soothing tones, and in between songs they spoke with an air of confidence and seriousness that was simply brilliant in its authenticity.

Unfortunately, every band has to endure shows where things simply don’t go their way, and tonight, the Causey Way were having one of those shows.

As their fifth or sixth song came to an end, some idiotic gutter punk wearing a spiked leather jacket, stepped forth from the crowd and let loose with a stream of beer that soaked The Truth and most of the stage. Causey snapped. He jumped out onto the floor and confronted the dumbfounded punk, pushing him and swearing at him in a frenzy, saying he was going to kill him. Then he turned and threw his guitar at the perpetrator’s feet, at which point the punk figured that he ought to spray even more beer on stage. Causey simply turned to the crowd and said, “That’s it, we’re done. Goodnight.”

And that was that. Causey had spoken, and the band walked off stage.

It was probably a wise choice on their part, and certainly an understandable one. For one thing, their schtick and their whole stage show was now ruined. Causey had let his emotions get the best of him and had “blown his cover” so to speak. What’s more, the band may have felt humiliated by an audience that clearly had no respect for them. And, if anything, having their gear soaked in alcohol was only going to add to the technical difficulties.

This still did not change the fact that we got to see less than half of the Causey Way’s set. That sucked, and we were pissed.

The Causey incident didn’t seem to have upset too many other showgoers however, because they had all come to worship their one true god, the truly bizarre Wesley Willis. By now the place was completely packed, and the show was actually sold out. It was hot and crowded, and not many people could actually see the stage.

People began to chant “Wes-ley! Wes-ley!” and slowly, he waddled his way up onto the stage, seemingly oblivious to the mass of people in the room who were cheering him on. His movement was slow and sloth-like. He sat down in front of his keyboard, opened up his “song book”, and took off his trademark walkman and headphones.

At this point, the crowd was hanging on his every word. He opened up his mouth and delivered his opening comment, which was something along the lines of “Suck my dick motherfuckers”. The place erupted with laughter and applause.

For the rest of the night, as Wesley played song after song, nothing really changed. People continued to hang on his every word. Every time he swore or said something vulgar, the place went berserk. I’m not sure what was more ridiculous, Wesley’s performance, or the people in the crowd.

Wesley went through such classics as “Suck a bulldog’s dick” and “Suck my Doberman’s dick”, and all the while he was totally straight faced and completely absorbed in his music. Even during the five-minute keyboard demo “solos” he maintained a look of utmost concentration on his face. It really was quite the spectacle.

Now we all know that most of Wesley Willis’ songs sound exactly the same. On this night however, the repetitiveness of the songs really began to wear on me after a while. I was truly amazed at the attention span of the audience members at this show. They never seemed to tire of Wesley’s antics. They just stood transfixed.

Aside from a few amusing interactions with the crowd, the rest of the show was pretty uneventful. Eventually he reached the end of his set, and he closed with everyone’s favourite Wesley Willis tune, “Cut The Mullet”.

When it was all over, I found myself having mixed feelings about the show, and about the fact that the show had completely sold out. I think it is great that so many people were there to support Wesley. He should be applauded, because he is an artist in his own right, and an extremely unique one at that. But I question people’s motives for being at this show. How many people there actually appreciate what he does, and how many people just think it is funny because he talks weird and swears a lot? In some ways it’s like people were taking advantage of someone who is handicapped, and having a laugh at his expense. On the other hand, is Wesley’s schizophrenia really a “handicap”? Wesley himself even said he is a “rock star” and he is definitely milking this for all it’s worth. He was selling t-shirts and cds like crazy. So I guess in the end, it’s Wesley who’s having the last laugh.

It was definitely a great experience to have been able to witness the downright weirdness that is a Wesley Willis live performance. Honestly though, I didn’t really care all that much. The night had already been spoiled, and having Wesley Willis as a headliner was, for me, extremely anti-climactic.

This was definitely one of the most bizarre shows I’ve seen, and very memorable for both good and bad reasons. It was exciting and inspiring to see performances from two really unique artists, but on the other hand it was disappointing to see the lack of respect that the audience seemed to have for these artists. I just pray to Causey that somewhere in the future we can learn to offer encouragement to those artists who are different and unique in our independent music scene, rather than mock than and take advantage of them. — Sean

For anyone who is interested, Black Hole TV has video clips and interview footage from both The Causey Way and Wesley Willis. These pictures are actually screen captures from their videos, which I managed to steal through a complicated and lengthy process…