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.