DANKO JONES (w/ Bucket Truck)
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
The Upper Deck, Fredericton NB
Newfoundland rockers Bucket Truck took the stage at about 10:30pm, opening with the blistering headbanger "No Other Way", which kicked off a rowdy and piercing 40-minute set of metal, most of which taken from their 2001 album 'Waiting To Talk'. Most of that album was played, including highlights "Everyone's A Critic", "It's Not Unlike You", "All You Need To Know" and "Take It On The Chin". Also played was current single "Don't Call Me Judas/If It's All The Same" (spliced live, as on record, with "You Walk Behind" and "The Drama Queen"), the video for which is earning regular airplay on video channels across the country. For fun, two covers were thrown in: Motorhead's "Ace Of Spades" and Sugar Ray's "Mean Machine", both of which were kicked up a notch in this extremely energetic set. Frontman Matt Wells (correct me if I'm wrong) undoubtedly stole the show, with crudely humourous stage banter ("Can I just say... cocksucker.") and a lesson in beer-spitting. The latter caused somewhat of a state of chaos; by the time BT were into their set closer, "Take It On The Chin", everybody was spitting beer (or whatever they were drinking) on everybody else. It's all good, though. Quoth Wells: "That's fuckin' rock n' roll!"
Danko came on just after midnight, and played a suprisingly short set (under an hour) of favorites from past albums, but predictably spending the majority of the set on tunes from his latest release (and first for a major label), the ironically tame (compared to Danko's last two EPs) 'Born A Lion'. Of course, lead single "The Sound Of Love" was played, to a fair response, as was lackluster follow-up single (which I can't remember the name of). As expected, the set's highlights were had when Danko reached back into the library, pulling out favorites "Bounce", "Sugar Chocolate", "Cadillac" and "Sex Change Blues". Another highlight came in the three-song encore when Danko & co. ripped through "The Mango Kid". On the whole, though, the set was a little disappointing, partly because a couple of my faves (namely "Rock Shit Hot" and "My Love Is Bold") were not played, and partly because Mr. Jones was apparently a little apprehensive about cameras with flash bulbs, getting visibly irritated at several points of the set, often glaring at whoever dared to take a snapshot and demanding "Don't do that again!". I guess what I'm saying is, although the set of tunes was formidable, Danko just came off as a bit of a cocky asshole rock star. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's my belief that if you're apathetic enough to your fans as to play a set less than an hour long, and then run off without so much as saying hello to a few folks, maybe those fans won't be out to see you next time.
The Bottom Line:
Bucket Truck rocked my balls off, and stole the show right from under Danko's nose. Maybe things would have been different if Danko was a bit more accepting of his New brunswick fan base, which probably shrunk after Wednesday night.
Bucket Truck: 9 EXCELLENT
Danko Jones: 5 MEDIOCRE
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
The Upper Deck, Fredericton NB
Newfoundland rockers Bucket Truck took the stage at about 10:30pm, opening with the blistering headbanger "No Other Way", which kicked off a rowdy and piercing 40-minute set of metal, most of which taken from their 2001 album 'Waiting To Talk'. Most of that album was played, including highlights "Everyone's A Critic", "It's Not Unlike You", "All You Need To Know" and "Take It On The Chin". Also played was current single "Don't Call Me Judas/If It's All The Same" (spliced live, as on record, with "You Walk Behind" and "The Drama Queen"), the video for which is earning regular airplay on video channels across the country. For fun, two covers were thrown in: Motorhead's "Ace Of Spades" and Sugar Ray's "Mean Machine", both of which were kicked up a notch in this extremely energetic set. Frontman Matt Wells (correct me if I'm wrong) undoubtedly stole the show, with crudely humourous stage banter ("Can I just say... cocksucker.") and a lesson in beer-spitting. The latter caused somewhat of a state of chaos; by the time BT were into their set closer, "Take It On The Chin", everybody was spitting beer (or whatever they were drinking) on everybody else. It's all good, though. Quoth Wells: "That's fuckin' rock n' roll!"
Danko came on just after midnight, and played a suprisingly short set (under an hour) of favorites from past albums, but predictably spending the majority of the set on tunes from his latest release (and first for a major label), the ironically tame (compared to Danko's last two EPs) 'Born A Lion'. Of course, lead single "The Sound Of Love" was played, to a fair response, as was lackluster follow-up single (which I can't remember the name of). As expected, the set's highlights were had when Danko reached back into the library, pulling out favorites "Bounce", "Sugar Chocolate", "Cadillac" and "Sex Change Blues". Another highlight came in the three-song encore when Danko & co. ripped through "The Mango Kid". On the whole, though, the set was a little disappointing, partly because a couple of my faves (namely "Rock Shit Hot" and "My Love Is Bold") were not played, and partly because Mr. Jones was apparently a little apprehensive about cameras with flash bulbs, getting visibly irritated at several points of the set, often glaring at whoever dared to take a snapshot and demanding "Don't do that again!". I guess what I'm saying is, although the set of tunes was formidable, Danko just came off as a bit of a cocky asshole rock star. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's my belief that if you're apathetic enough to your fans as to play a set less than an hour long, and then run off without so much as saying hello to a few folks, maybe those fans won't be out to see you next time.
The Bottom Line:
Bucket Truck rocked my balls off, and stole the show right from under Danko's nose. Maybe things would have been different if Danko was a bit more accepting of his New brunswick fan base, which probably shrunk after Wednesday night.
Bucket Truck: 9 EXCELLENT
Danko Jones: 5 MEDIOCRE
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