Moneen / The End

live in Guelph, Ontario (2003)

at_the_drive_in_21

I was really looking forward to this show. Its been a little while since I've seen Moneen, they used to play local Guelph and Toronto shows all the time, but it seems that all the work has finally started to pay off for them. First - longer tours into the U.S., and now they're signed to Vagrant. Couldn't have happened to better guys, and if you've ever seen their live show you'll know what I'm talking about. How this band went so long without getting picked up by somebody bigger than Smallman Records is beyond me.

Onto the show, I had class late that night so I unfortunately didn't catch the opening acts - aside from The End. Mayor Mcca, Pettit Project, and Chore - sorry I couldn't make it in time. Sociological Theory is just too good to pass up sometimes…

The End cranked out a pretty solid set with lots of gravelly screams and grunts. Kinda hardcorish metal, I've never heard them before, but a lot of people seemed to be really into them. The singer was this little guy that surprisingly delivered a bellowing guttural roar - I don't know where he pulls it out from.

As Moneen was setting up, the tension in the room was clearly rising. I was getting a shoulder pinch in my upper back/neck area that I get when I'm at shows… Is it just me or does that happen to anyone else? Anyways - Moneen started into a set with a new song that sounded really good. The raw emotion that explodes out of this band when they are on stage is a rare spectacle. Animated would be a terrible understatement, energetic is close, but still innapropriate. Out of control will suffice for this review.

Its hard to think of a band that sounds similar to them, but I've heard them say they are influenced by older Jimmy Eat World, and At the Drive-In type sounds… Like I said, its hard to come up with a better comparison.

LOTS of energy and jumping around are staples of this band's live show. At one point one of the guitarists, Kenny, jumped off the wall and spun around in midair, landed on his feet, fell to his knees and began to roll on the stage all without messing up the song at all. Hippie - the other guitarist, and just as berserk, swung his dreads around, also falling to the stage a couple of times - lost in the bedlam of their sound. Peter, the drummer, kept the band driving forward with solid fills and splashes technical brilliance.

Their setlist was unfortunately heavy on new material, fitting in only 4 or 5 songs from their previous 2 releases. I say unfortunately because I prefer to hear songs I know when I see a band play live. Not that their new songs didn't match the fantastic work on their other albums, its just harder to get into. As the crowd calmed down during these newer songs, I'd say they shared my sentiment.

The songs they did play from their recorded repertoire were all awesome. "No Better Way to Show Your Love than a Set of Broken Legs", started out great, but as the song was reaching its end, I think a couple of the band members went in a different way than the rest and it brought the song to an abrupt, hilarious halt for a few seconds before they picked it up and told the crowd that it was just their imagination. "Wrath of the Donkey Remix" was an older song and was unexpected with their emphasis on the newer numbers. "Tonight I'm Gone" (my personal favourite song by them), sounded really heavy when played live, and the recorded version almost doesn't do it justice. The crowd clapped along with the staccato riff. The highlight of the night however was their usual finale of "Passing of America", where Hippie did a stage dive into the crowd to sing the final verses.

You have no excuse not to see this band as they are ahead of most musically and in songwriting. You'll hear a lot more from this band now that they're upcoming album will be released on Vagrant. I strongly suggest you listen.

5 stars - all for .moneen.

Catch them in support of The Get Up Kids in Toronto on March 28th. As long as you're coming, bring me something. Its my birthday that day.