Throwback Thursday: The Flatliners @ Maverick’s in 2010
With life being so busy right now, I thought it might be fun to throwback to the article I sent to Matias when applying to write for Showbox. I sent in a few of my clippings, and later found out that The Flatliners piece was the one that excited him the most as he is a big fan. So check out this throwback to 2010 when the Flatliners rocked Ottawa!
The Flatliners hit the stage Friday night December 10th with their skate-punk style and a little ska-flare, as snow fell in the capital.
The boys from Richmond Hill, Ontario pulled out the big guns early, playing their new single “Carry the Banner,” as their second song. The crowd got into it right away, the pit never stopped and the patrons at Mavericks chanted along for the whole set. When the band launched into “Eulogy,” lead singer, Chris Cresswell, had a hard time getting in a word as almost every person crammed into the venue was belting out the chorus.
The Flatliners played a good mix of new and old, allowing for moshing or skanking depending on what you fancied. They played “Christ Punchers” off of their new EP, Monumental 7″. Chris introduced the song by saying, “I don’t care what you believe in … but I believe in reality, I don’t believe in any of that other shit because some of it leads people to do terrible things.”
One of the highlights of the show was the band’s merch guy, who, dressed in full gym attire, sweat bands and all, performed jumping jacks and push-ups randomly during the set from the side of the stage.
Opening for The Flatliners was Naples, Florida, four-piece dance party, Fake Problems. The band never took breaks between songs and provided countless sing alongs and clapping opportunities getting the crowd quite involved. The one time the band did slow down to breathe, they started freestyling Will Smith’s classic made-for-movie song, “Wild Wild West.”
The Menzingers, the pride of Philadelphia, tore up the stage with their old school 90s punk rock sound. They opened with “I Was Born,” as they sang the chorus with passion, “Oh my God it’s been far too long, send my thoughts to the firing squad.” The crowd was so into the band you would have thought they were the headlining act. There are just not enough bands still kicking around playing this upbeat and real sound of the punk rock I grew up on.
It was not all punk rock at this show, Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck brought a more rock’n’roll edge with their set. They reminded me of what Attack in Black would have sounded like had they listened to more Replacements before recording their follow-up to Marriage (and one of the guitarist looks a little like a young Tommy Stinson). During the first song one of the guitars broke, but they hammered through on a back up and closed out their set with a stellar track called “Brooklyn, NY.”
The local entertainment was provided by Currents, a three-piece growing in popularity in Ottawa. The bass player told the crowd not to buy their album but to download it and to spend your money on the touring bands that really need it. It was a nice touch by the opening act.