It all started with openers White Lung, a local Vancouver punk band helmed by Mish Way, blonde-headed She-Ra, presiding over a mosh pit so frantic that the small Biltmore Cabaret probably shifted slightly off its foundation. Fierce and epic punk rock ensued.
And then came Toronto’s METZ.
Fattened from their mid-afternoon pop-up barbecue (former tourmates and locals Ladyhawk rocked up in a pick-up truck with a hibachi and grilled outside the venue), the three-piece took the headlining slot. They’re now indie darlings, have been on tour non-stop since October and are pretty much listed on every European festival bill between now and the end of time. SubPop is working hard to hustle them – and rightly so.
And with Metz on stage, came more fierce and epic punk. The fast-forward, actually organized circle pit of mosh from White Lung’s set instead turned into an insane wall of near-death, heaving and ho’ing so furiously that a girl ended up sitting on stage, back to the band, her shoes pried off by the movement and unable to actually get off the stage because of four human rows stacked on top of her. She seemed happy, though. ARRRROOOOOGHARRRGHPUNK!
Certainly, any punk show is a not-so-safe-place where industrial-era-worthy steam can be let off. But a METZ show requires it. Singer Alex Edkins blasts through almost all their self-titled debut (don’t recall hearing “Rats” or “— )) –” but there was a new song called “Can’t Understand”) with a ferocity that pushes every ounce of sweat from his body, leads him to perch on the bass drum, and makes him lie on his back playing his guitar. Bassist Chris Slorach magically keeps up with whatever insanity is happening to his right and behind him, the bassline schizo. He blows out his cheeks to keep up, and does. At the back, tattooed drummer Hayden Menzies plays hard like breeze blocks but fast and with precision.
And you? You got no choice but to go with it. And so the Wall of Death reaches out to burn itself on the volcanic centre – three young guys making epically fierce and fiercely epic punk rock. Feel like you need to pop a gasket? Catch a METZ. After all, with visceral stuffs this good, they will be on tour until the end of time. \m/
