Nightseeker with No Witness, The Teenage Gentlemen, Cult Of Self
The Pawnshop
March 14, 2013
On what was potentially one of the most miserable nights of the year so far, Nightseeker was set to destroy The Pawnshop, and destroy it they did. Or rather, their fans seemed intent on doing so.
Several people already seemed to be approaching that ‘one too many beer’ stage when the first openers, Cult of Self, took to the stage. They played a solid, enjoyable set, sounding as though influenced by classic heavy metal. The cover of Manowar’s ‘The Gods Made Heavy Metal’ seemed to leave part of the crowd looking slightly stunned, and part of the crowd singing along enthusiastically.
The Teenage Gentlemen proved to be an interesting mix of musical styles, polarizing parts of the audience. While their music would not be to the liking of everyone, they were full of energy and humor. Their musical style did not really suit the cover of The Doors they played, but the Doors are somewhat of an untouchable band, not translating into good covers. They did bring energy to the venue, obviously very excited to be opening for Nightseeker.
No Witness were the crowd favorite of the opening bands. With a blend of several different musical styles, they played a little bit of something for everyone, maintaining the energy level created by Cult Of Self and The Teenage Gentlemen. ‘Dirty Suds’, a song about beer, and strangely fitting for a night in which much beer was consumed, was well known and well received by the crowd. A pretty steady pit existed for much of No Witness’ set, especially evident during the cover of Dropkick Murphys’ song ‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’. The Deaner also made several quick appearances on stage during the set, met by many cheers from the crowd.
When it came time for Nightseeker to take the stage, the crowd had progressed from the point of being generally drunk and well behaved to generally really drunk and rowdy. Nightseeker, for those who’ve never heard of the band, is led by Dean ‘The Deaner’ Murdoch, one of two main characters from the cult favorite films FUBAR and FUBAR 2. One would wonder if The Deaner neglected to follow his own advice about the “pre-give’r”, as he was somewhere in the vicinity of being “Axl Rose wasted” on stage. For someone who’d obviously consumed a few Pilsner’s before the show, Deaner held it together reasonably well. Sure, there were moments of confusion, but it’s difficult to expect anything less from someone who’s made a career shotgunning Pilsners. With jokes about shotgunning beers with hookers in downtown Edmonton before noon to general jokes that only someone from Alberta would understand, Deaner’s fantastic sense of humor was never absent. Favorite cover songs such as Judas Priest’s ‘Living After Midnight’, AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell’ and KISS’s ‘Rock N’ Roll All Nite’ were played. A hilarious highlight of the night came when Deaner donned a Storm Trooper helmet from the crowd, creeping around the stage and then cracking an excellent joke. Several Nighseeker/Deaner originals were also played, including the classic from FUBAR, ‘Rock N Roll Is My Guitar’. The crowd overzealously reacted to Deaner’s cover of Iron Maiden’s ‘Run To The Hills’, becoming more and more rowdy with each song played. Nightseeker also played several of their own songs, seemingly unable to decide when the set should end and allowing several very inebriated fans onto the stage, including one girl who proceeded to tackle Deaner to the ground.
Nightseeker’s set definitely brought energy, but the experience was marred by trendy, bandwagon jumping fans who had difficulty behaving in a civil manner. While the Deaner advocates the idea of ‘give’r’, it turned out to be something that the majority of the crowd could not handle, apparent by the number of fights that broke out and the number of patrons ejected from the venue. While still entertaining, I personally found the last time I witnessed Nightseeker to be more enjoyable, partially due to Deaner drinking while on stage instead of beforehand and therefore performing a more coordinated set. Kudos must be given to some of the other members of Nightseeker for holding the show together. Idiots in the crowd aside, Deaner’s drunken antics gave the fans in attendance who actually remember the show something to talk about for days to come.
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Edmonton Sun Interview with Dean ‘The Deaner’ Murdoch, Friday March 8th, 2013:
