Prevenge’s Ottawa Send Off with Dig It Up, Panic Attack and Dead Weights at Funeral Home
Featured Image by Darryl Andrew Reid
Bob Barker encouraged us to neuter our pets, Nardwuar has his doot doola doot doo and Ron Burgundy wished for San Diego to stay classy. Prevenge, they signed off paying a house show in the basement with the lights turned down low surrounded by their Ottawa friends.
Locals, Dead Weights kicked off the show. This is the shortest hair iteration of the band I have seen play live, Derek and Steve chopped off the mops. The boys played a bunch of new tracks including a yet to be named track where Jon signs “keep an open heart.” The song is freaking killer and can’t wait for them to lay that one down. Derek pulled a his best BA Johnson impression and took off his Prevenge t-shirt just to reveal another Prevenge t-shirt underneath. Well played sir. Dead Weights capped off the set with crowd favourites “Friends First” and “Barely Breath.”
It was now time to begin the Montreal invasion as Panic Attack took over. The three-piece play 90s flavoured emo-punk to perfection. Many of the songs make you want to pogo, which would have been tough in a basement with a clearing barely over six feet. I love hearing “I Can Work It Out,” “Not Your Fault” and “Pictures.” In closing Frank said “we have two songs that are fairly good and we are going to play them now before Dig It Up destroy the whole house.”
Panic Attack were not kidding. Dig It Up tore it up. Two songs in the lead singer said “I hope you guys don’t like recognizing songs,” as they shredded our faces. We could decipher them, but even if we couldn’t the sheer energy and power that is Dig It Up is infectious. The often overlooked member of this band is drummer Andrea. The drumming in this band so solid and awesome. Just see this band, do it, do it every and any chance you can. During the final song one of the guitarist passed his axe to Prevenge’s guitarist Chris for quite the hardcore finale. Dig It Up dug Prevenge’s grave at Funeral House setting the stage for them to bury themselves.
It was finally that time. The moment where you are filled with excitement and sadness all at once as a band you love plays for the last time. Prevenge‘s lead singer and guitarist, Alex Cartier, began by saying “It has been 8 years of doing our best… we are Prevenge for the last time.” Fittingly open with “Buried Alive,” off their 2011 7 inch split with Dig It Up. The pact basement crowd emphatically screamed “bury us alive” at the top of our lungs. It was most certainly more of a celebration of life than a funeral. People sang along, rushed the mic, danced, moshed, drank and JS obviously crowd surfed. After playing “DOUBLECHEESEBURGERCOKENOICE,” Alex said “I’ve been coming to house show in Ottawa since the 90s and I’ve never seen any where that supports like Ottawa.” The set was jam-packed with many of my favourites including “Half to Black” and “Who Kills It Fills It.” Ottawa clearly holds a very special place in the heart of the members of Prevenge. “Over 8 years of touring, Ottawa is usually the last day on tour and its the best way to cap off,” said Alex. They closed with “The Way We Live Today” and as they finished Alex said, “We will be back in different form forms, but goodbye forever.” RIP Prevenge thanks for the memories and one hell of a ride.