Riot Fest Day 1: Every Time I Die, Grade and The Ghost Inside at Fort York in Toronto
I spent this past weekend at the historic Fort York in Toronto for Riot Fest.
Day one was a case of me liking three bands and really not liking the others… So because my parents taught me if you do not have anything nice to say, do not say anything at all, here are my thoughts on three of the bands.
The Ghost Inside brought it hard even though they were missing a part. One of their guitarists could not get across the border so they had a friend fill in. I did not see a drop in their performance at all. The Ghost Inside are heavy and full of heart stopping breakdowns. With a cloud of dust filling the air they dedicated my favourite song, “Between the Lines,’’ to Every Time I Die (who were playing later that day).
Most of the weekend headlines were about The Replacements’ reunion, but Grade were also doing a reunion of sorts. The highly influential Canadian hardcore/scream band was around from 1994 to 2002. They reunited late last year and have only played a few shows since. They opened by saying “Hi, we’re the local act of the day.’’ Their melodic screamo had me reliving the days when I fell in love with that sound, over a decade ago. I really enjoyed their set, so much energy and great sound. It was pretty darn cute to see a bunch of the other bands wives and children with ear muffs side stage dancing up a storm.
Every Time I Die, from Buffalo, NY, was the band I really wanted to see on Saturday. I had never seen them play anything bigger than a 200-300 person venue, so I was excited to see what they would do. The lead singer wasted no time stirring the crowd into a frenzy. “I want a circle pit, I want to lose everyone in the fucking dust.’’ A few songs later he continued to egg on the crowd as the cloud of dust swirled in the air. “Rip each other’s fucking heads off! I want to see more bodies on bodies, get over this fucking barricade!’’ before the band launched into the very angry ”No Son of Mine.” The band reflected the crowds energy as the guitarists ran all over the place, sometimes climbing on the amps and other times jumping into the crowd. The whole scene was infectious. I could not stop singing a long, head banging and pounding my fist in the air. They played epic ragers like “The New Black,’’ “We’rewolf’’ and “Underwater Bimbos.’’
There was a nice moment when the lead singer said “I would not have such an extreme love for hardcore if not for Grade.’’ They then dedicated “Floater,’’ to Grade. “Floater’’ just happens to be how I was introduced to Every Time I Die and is one of my favourite songs by them. When all the dust had settled and the show came to an end, the drummer hoisted his daughter into his arms and had her throw his drum sticks into the crowd. What a show.
Day one had some pretty sweet hardcore acts and was a decent little appetizer for the main course on Sunday. I left licking my lips and pinching myself in anticipation of seeing Iggy and the Stooges and The Replacements in less than 24 hours.