Live Review: Danko Jones/Rocketface/Iconoclast, Barrymore's, Ottawa, ON, Friday, Sept. 22, 2006
The official "Road Hammer Has Paid Off His Student Loan Rock Weekend" began last night with this triple-bill which took place at the one-and-only Barrymore's, live from the nation's capital.
First up was local four-piece Iconoclast, which delivered a very strong and polished 30-minute set of melodic hard rock. Check these guys out - they're very, very good. (I was going to buy their EP and the merchandise booth, but at $10 for 7 tunes, I cheaped out. Maybe next time.)
Next was the amazing Rocketface out of Toronto. A three-piece with the drummer performing both timekeeping and lead vocal duties, these guys borrow heavily from the Sabbath/Zeppelin tradition and are the Canadian answer to Wolfmother. This disc, I did buy. Absolutely incredible.
Finally, the main attraction, Toronto's Danko Jones (now featuring fellow St. David Catholic Secondary School alumnus Dan Cornelius on the skins). If you've never seen Danko (and this was my second time), he's pretty much a Metallica-ized version of Lenny Kravitz combined with one part each of Joe Cocker (sweat) and Gene Simmons (tongue). All of these factors come together to make up what can only be described as the Danko experience.
About the third song, the band blew a fuse and the lighting went down. It didn't matter to the very enthusiastic audience or the performers, who carried on "like it was a concert in your mom's basement". Lots of cynical, tongue-in-cheek comments about the phoniness and cliches of the rock star business were delivered from the stage by Danko in between quick and intense bursts of aggressive riffage spanning all three of his releases.
Stage presence personified, the man can both entertain AND play. It is a total injustice that while "new rock" stations Canada-wide are still playing such pap as "Mr. Jones" three times a day fifteen years after it was released, Danko can't get airplay to save his life.
If you love rock, straight up, you should check this guy out and if he's not coming to a town near you anytime soon, listen to his online radio show titled "The Magical World of Rock with Danko Jones" for evidence of the homage this man pays to everyone from Dimebag Darrell to Ray Charles. It comes out in his live act, which is both strangely familiar and individually unique all at once.
Overall ratings:
Iconoclast: 8/10
Rocketface: 9/10
Danko Jones: 8/10
Overall rating: 8.25/10
Check back tomorrow for a review of Nashville Pussy tonight at Babylon.
posted by Road Hammer @ 11:18 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
How cool is Danko? When T-Bone did a summer internship for the Edmonton Sun he and his editor went backstage after covering one of Danko's shows. Danko liked T-Bone so much he pointed to all the groupies waiting for Danko and said "Kid, first choice is yours. I'll make it happen." Unfortunately the editor made them leave.
That is one hell of a great story. For everyone who wants to know who Skeelo is referring to, check out the Saturday July 22 entry at his blog, "The Pursuit of Leisure".
Glad you liked Iconoclast. My good friend is their lead singer!
I have to side with your Rocketface comments, Hammer. These guys were fng great and were the highlight of my night. I have to say that Danko rocked out too but I was disappointed in Iconoclast (probably because I just heard the last 2 songs).
Hey Man,
I'm the bassist for Iconoclast, thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you liked our set.
If you're still interested in a cd, I can hook you up with one, just contact me through the website, or myspace.
It was such a good night, the Rocketface cd is awesome, and honestly, I dont think one person walked away disapointed in the mango kid.
Hey, it's Marc from Iconoclast. From one right winger to another (yes, right wingers in rock do exist) thanks for the kind words. In fact, some useless info for you when you get the cd- the song Automatic was about all the sheep lining up to vote Liberal in the last election, that just wouldn't listen to any other points of view. Then the Boxing Day shootings happened and the polls changed- but the song was written already. Like Korn said, the cd's on us. Cheers. And Webber- you're the king buddy!!!
Hey, that's great, guys. Drop me a line at road__hammer@hotmail.com and we'll make arrangements.
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