REMEMBERING NXNE: Fucked Up (pt. 2)

I'm visible in this picture directly to the left of Damian, at least the side of my head is.

This is a continuation of last week's post. Part 1 can be found HERE.

Going into this show, I can't say I expected it to feel like a club show. I observed  how far away the stage was and knew that wasn't going to work for Damian and he'd likely be on the rail some 50 feet from his band-mates for the entire night. What wasn't expected was that Damian was going much further than that. He would perform more than half of the 40 minute set directly inside the mosh pit of his own show. 

Speaking of that mosh pit, it's difficult to explain exactly what a Fucked Up mosh pit is like. There's contact, but it's not all that violent really. Damian doesn't allow it to be, he doesn't stand for stuff like fights and kids throwing flying elbows. In fact, when I saw Fucked Up here in Buffalo Damian actually stopped the song when 2 guys started to fight and hugged the perpetrator, telling him that he loves him and to: "be chill".  There's a level of respect there that you don't see in a lot of punk mosh pits. The general rule is to have as much fun as humanly possible without hurting yourself or somebody else. At the Toronto show, someone gave Damian his hard hat to wear... before the set was over Damian made sure that guy got his hat back "NOBODY gets fired because of Fucked Up!" he exclaimed. 

What was most interesting about Damian performing from the crowd had to be that he was not stationary at all. Damian moved throughout the large public square and at one point he was performing more than 300 feet (an american in Canada!) from the rest of his band. This resulted in a large mosh pit moving around a public square. This could have been dangerous, but as Damian moved the pack he made sure to make hand gestures for the unwilling to clear out of the area they were in before chaos ensued. This kind of roving mosh-pit might not be entirely unique, but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun. I don't think I spent more than 20 seconds the entire night looking at the band. The visual of Damian slamming against people and performing music with a cord wrapped around his head was too interesting, often I was the person doing the slamming.

The band behind him ripped through 10 or so songs with precision as far as I can tell, but honestly. I'm not sure I was listening with too much scrutiny because I was too busy trying to survive. I was too busy sweating on a hot day and being sweat on by hundreds of strangers. I did get to make my debut on vocals when Damian shoved the mic into my face, as did dozens more. Thrilling isn't even the right word even if nobody will remember it 10 seconds later. Eventually the short set hand to end so Off! could go on, but in my mind that set never ended.

I later caught a few bands at a club show (including PS I Love You!), hours later I returned to the square where all of that carnage had occurred hours earlier to find a guy power-washing the ground near the stage. I had a feeling I had something to do with that mess of sweat, garbage, and unclaimed items. So I screamed "SORRY!" and caught my train(s) back to the hotel. I don't think he understood why I did this, and he might not have even spoken English. I could barely walk for the rest of the week as I was vacationing in Toronto.

was it worth it? FUCK YES. (and I have YouTube to prove it).

did I mention it was my birthday?

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Remembering NXNE: Fucked Up (pt. 1)

Last year, I really wouldn't have even called myself a huge fan of Fucked Up. I liked The Chemistry of Common Life okay enough, but I was never totally in love with it. So when I heard Fucked Up was releasing a follow-up I honestly wasn't that excited. After I heard Queen of Hearts a lot of that changed and I started anticipating David Comes To Life like a Fucked Up super-fan, but that's not really the point. I didn't plan on loving this band, it just sort of happened.

I've said a lot in the past of how I feel about David Comes To Life, but never here in a blog format. I just think it's a wonderfully executed album from start to finish. Damian's super-villian screams can destroy the world and the wall of guitars give me goosebumps just thinking about them. If you add in the ambitious narrative and simple fact that I love a lot of the songs on the album, it all amounts to an album I'm willing to give an Easy 10 and declare my Album of The Year (sorry if I spoiled that for you.). Speaking of the narrative on David Comes To Life, I think it's the biggest asset this album has. The story of David's love and loss and the stages of grief he goes through on that album's 18 tracks was simply powerful. I think it's a relate-able and coherent story, and as rewarding as you let it be. 

I had always planned on taking my vacation in Toronto for NXNE because it was a cheap festival ($50!) and nearby (2 hours!), but when Fucked Up was added to the bill I couldn't even contain my excitement. You see - I had been watching every live video of the band on YouTube I could in awe. Nothing in the world looked more fun to me than being in the middle of all of that chaos, and I needed to experience it for myself. Often things you look forward to in life don't live up to the insane amount of hype you give them, in this case though... I don't even think I hyped it enough.

I took the TTC Subway to the venue expecting to have problems locating the festival but to my delight the stage was no less than 100 yards from the station. People commuting to or from work were going to stumble onto a music festival that I had to travel for, how awesome is that? I staked my claim to the front of the stage and waited with great anticipation. I resisted the temptation of going into the Eaton Centre (one of North America's largest malls) and waited. Oh my the anticipation, I felt so much tingling in my arms I thought maybe I was having a heart attack (that would've sucked). No offense to Rusty and Metz but yeah. I didn't even hear anything you guys did and I probably resented you a little for not being Fucked Up.

Eventually Fucked Up took the stage, and at this point I notice that a high-school kid is hopping up and down on the guardrail, I realize that am I'm doing it too a couple of feet behind him. This movement is completely involuntary. Damian is swinging his microphone cord in a large circle while the band begins to play Queen of Hearts. The crowd seems docile, until that is... Damian starts screaming and barreling towards us. The crowd that I hadn't even seen dance or do anything beyond clapping for the opening bands is immediately whipped up into a frenzy, all of a sudden we're at a Minor Threat show in the early 80s. That moment of extreme intensity is documented below.

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Come back next week where I'll conclude my recap of this incredible show

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