DD/MM/YYYY – Il Motore – Wednesday, December 9th

Hey Predator! kicked off the night, starting around 9:40, bringing something new to Il Motore’s usual scene with their technical, overlapping guitars and strained vocals, definitely a nod to The Number 12 Looks Like You’s song structure. They played a variety of songs off their album Spit Smoke, Black Factories.

They then passed the stage over to Denial Tone whose songs reminded several audience members of  You Say Party! We Say Die! as was overheard many a time. Despite their lack of setlist and ill vocalist (who informed the audience that she did, in fact, have H1N1 but would attempt a performance anyway) they played quite well.

Finally, the much anticipated DD/MM/YYYY took the stage, the venue now full and eager. They set the tone by adding some particularly interesting lighting (one light in front of the kick drum) which proved to be problematic for the photographers in the crowd, but made the show that much more intense. The played songs off their album Are They Masks, demonstrating their experimental/abstract style. What made the performance even more intriguing was the constant rotation of band members (with the exception of bassist, Mike Claxton, who kept his groove the entire time.) What was even more impressive than the seamless instrument rotation was the constant energy and crowd interaction (main vocalist, Tomas Del Balso ran into the crowd as far as the mic cord would take him, singing in the faces of fans.)

All in all, the performances were phenomenal and it was definitely a high energy night. Nothing I’m used to seeing at Il Motore, but definitely something I’d love to see again. – Kailey Diogo

Hey Predator!

Denial Tone

DD/MM/YYYY

(Photography by Sean Mundy)

Tags: Are They Masks, DD/MM/YYYY, December 9, Denial Tone, Hey Predator!, Il Motore, Kailey Diogo, Montreal, Sean Mundy, Spit Smoke Black Factories, The Number 12 Looks Like You