Every Time I Die, Knocked Loose, & Harms Way at The Brass Monkey
Photos by Eric Scharf/Ottawa Showbox
I ventured out to The Brass Monkey on the west-side of town for a heavy night with Every Time I Die, Knocked Loose, and Harms Way.
This was the first time I went to a show at The Brass Monkey (out near Hunt Club and Greenbank) and let me tell you – I was impressed. As someone who grew up in that area, I remember playing pool there a few times in my younger days, but they have really transformed the place. A raised stage, guardrails, sprawling bar, and excellent sound. Don’t let the distance scare you away from shows at The Brass Monkey, it is very much worth the trip.
Nostalgia on this night went much further than the venue and my old stomping grounds. This was a night of hardcore and heaviness that really brought me back. From the moment I walked in a heard Harms Way, I looked at my buddy and we reminisced about how we used to love bands like that 14 years ago. I don’t listen to that genre as much as I used to (not even close) but it makes me really happy that people still make and love this music. As the band from Chicago let loose, people took advantage of the space to dance and “opened that shit up.” Space that would diminish as the night progressed.
Next up was Knocked Loose from Kentucky. They kept the heat on and the crowd was into it. There was a good group of people at the front screaming along as others threw down behind them. The crowd listened to every word, when told to open it up they did, when told to two step they danced and when told to spin it they started the circle pit. It was really fun to watch. My favourite tracks of the performance were “Oblivion Peak” and their closer “Deadringer.” Once again, I forgot how much I love this music and the adrenaline rush it creates.
It was now time for the main event – Every Time I Die. I have been a fan of this band since high school. I think it all started in grade eleven when I was in a band and one of the guitarists would often play Every Time I Die in his truck. I went into the show not being particularly familiar with the band’s last two albums, and having read a review about the Toronto show, I expected a lot of the new stuff. The new albums are great, but I was there for the older stuff I had listened to hundreds of times but never seen live. I braced myself.
Every Time I Die gave the old time fans almost everything we could have asked for, and the fans responded by crowding the barriers to sing along for the entire show. Yes, they played a few new songs off of their latest album Low Teens, but they dug deep and went back through their catalog which spans over a decade worth of material. Opening with “Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space” off Ex-Lives from 5 years ago, the set featured fan favourites “We’rewolf,” which was dedicated to the bartenders, “The New Black,” “Floater,” “Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Battery” and “No Son of Mine.”
My highlight for sure was one of those deep cuts, “Ebolarama” off of the 2003 album Hot Damn! I hadn’t danced all night, I had watched and given people space and just listened to the band. But as soon as the first chord was strummed I was taken over with glee and adrenaline. I had to enter the pit and have a time. I don’t think I have ever enjoyed an elbow to the eyebrow so much.
As much as I was loving life in the hot sweaty basement, so was the band. Lead singer Keith Buckley said “It’s fucking horrific outside. I can’t think of a better place to be than a bar where you can sweat with all your friends.” He also did the great thing of giving a big shout out to the bouncers who were working hard to keep every safe while letting us have fun and express ourselves as we needed. Big ups to Mike Postma and the crew.