Silverstein, Of Reverie, Remember the Fire, Hemosphere and neighbours. at Mavericks
The angry and heart-broken high school kid in me felt fulfilled on June 4th as Silverstein killed it at Maverick’s.
It has been just over 10 years since Silverstein released their first album When Broken is Easily Fixed, and dare I say it, they are still getting better. Decked out in camouflage, for camo Tuesday, they set the tone for an intense set opening with ”Stand Amid The Roar.”
Not even three songs in, lead singer, Shane Told asked the sold out crowd if they wanted some old stuff. The crowd erupted for the some old tunes and went into a frenzy when the first chords of ”My Heart Bleeds No More” were strummed. The band followed with ”Your Sword vs. My Dagger” which kept the crowd moving and screaming along. After playing a couple of songs off their new album This is How the Wind Shifts (which is killer by the way) Shane addressed the crowd and shared his admiration for Ottawa.
”Ottawa is special place for us. Being from Burlington, Ottawa was the first place we played outside of Toronto.” He continued with ”we played Club Saw with a little band named, Arcade Fire. Both bands have done alright since,” he said with a chuckle. They then dedicated ”American Dream” to Arcade Fire. Silverstein played a great mix of new and old, two of my favourite new tracks were ”In Silent Seas We Drown” for it’s heavy guitar intro, and ”In A Place Of Solace” where they bring two extra floor toms and a cymbal on stage that the guitarist plays for added epicness.
Closing out their set with ”Smashed into pieces,” ”Massachusetts,” a freaking sick cover of NOFX’s ”It’s My Job To Keep Metalcore Elite” and then ”Smile in your sleep,” there was just not much left for them to do to wow the crowd.
Then again, you can never count out Silverstein. Shane came on stage alone for an acoustic encore playing ”Call It Karma,” and then the band joined him for the new song ”Departures.” After that came the real finale, ”My Heroin.” (which has for a long time been one of my favourite heartbreak songs.) Overall it was a freaking stellar set by a band that just continues to grow and push themselves.
Before Silverstein was Ottawa’s Of Reverie. They have quite the following in their hometown, as there may have been more Of Reverie shirts in the crowd than Silverstein ones. This post-hardcore band really set the stage for Silverstein, playing a crazy energy filled set that got a ton of the crowd involved. The highlights of the set for me was their song ”Kingdom,” which starts with a bang and the crowd favourite ”A Dose of Reality.” They also got quite the wall of death going which even drew blood from a few over ambitious fans. The band sounded great and the screamer has quite the stage presence. The only down side to their set was unfortunately you could barely hear the singer. These guys have all the pieces and a real good shot of making it.
Remember the Fire, also from Ottawa played a great melodic pop punk set. I must complement the promoters, Spectrasonic, for having such good diversity at this show. Sure these guys were not hardcore, but they put on a good set and got to open for one of the bands that had the biggest influence on them. I enjoyed the songs ”Viggo” and ”Forward.” Check out their website (www.rememberthefiremusic.com) where they said their EP should be free to download in coming days.
The second band of the evening, Hemisphere, were energetic and heavy. Heck they were break down city, having three or four in the first song. Fresh off the release of their new EP, they definitely earned the crowds respect on this night. There was a sweet moment when the lead singer apologized to all the parents in the audience before playing ”Drug Dealer Friend” what he called ”a highly offensive song by Emmure.” They finished their set with ”Oblivion,” which to me was their best song.
Neighbours. from Nepean (they specified) opened up the festivities. The lead singer spent a lot of time in the crowd, starting the set there and returning every once and awhile. They looked to be having a lot of fun, I liked their energy and their song ”Late Nights,” which had a great anthem like finish.
PS: I just love seeing a member of an Ottawa band wearing another Ottawa band’s shirt. Shout out to Hemisphere’s drummer.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcBSEyBdn-M?rel=0&w=420&h=315]