By: Michael Drukarsh
Toronto, Canada - On December 5, 2000, I attended a concert at Air Canada Centre featuring MxPx, Cypress Hill and the Offspring. Why is this included in a review of the 20th Anniversary Tour for Richmond Hill, Ontario’s own The Flatliners? Well, I was the “chaperone” for one Jon Darbey, the kid who would very soon after become the bassist for The Flatliners and along with lead singer and guitarist Chris Cresswell, guitarist Scott Brigham, and drummer Paul Ramirez would tour the world bringing their ska-punk sound to the masses.
In celebration of their debut album Destroy to Create, The Flatliners stopped at the Danforth Music Hall and brought some old friends along with them to celebrate.
Catbite
First up, Philadelphia’s Catbite, a four piece ska band fronted by the powerful Brittany Luna. It didn’t take long for the crowd to start moving with the infectious grooves Catbite were laying down. Everyone on stage was having fun and the talent was evident as they never stopped moving and the audience never stopped skanking! Encouraging the crowd to get their claws up during “Scratch Me Up", Luna commanded the stage and treated it as if Catbite was playing in front of a sold out stadium.
The Creepshow
It’s not often you see a full size stand up bass on stage at a ska-punk concert, but the next act, The Creepshow isn’t your usual band. Out of Burlington Ontario, the self dubbed “psychobilly” band brought a harder edged tone to the stage than Catbite. With mostly horror themed songs like “Zombies Ate Her Brain” and “Creatures of the Night” , Kenda Legaspi and crew tore through a set that had the mosh pit ramped up. Keeping the energy high, Legaspi rarely slowed down, head banging and hair twirling while bassist Sean McNab slapped those strings, lifted it high in the air and spun the upright bass adding a fantastic visual and deep rich sound to the set.
The Suicide Machines
Next up, ska-punk hardcore originals, Detroit’s The Suicide Machines. It’s obvious why headliners The Flatliners call this band one of their major influences, as lead singer Jason Navarro and the rest of the band took to the stage to deliver a highly energetic and incredibly entertaining set consisting of 2003’s A Match and Some Gasoline album in its entirety.
Playing to the audience, Navarro spent a lot of time off the stage and on the security barriers riling up the crowd and having them join in the fun. On stage, Navarro never stopped moving, dancing, sliding and sometimes even creeping around having what looked to be the time of his life. Even with his confession of not remembering most of the songs from the album released 20 years ago, this didn’t stop the show from being a fantastic set. Thankfully having Ryan Vandeberghe on drums, Rich Tschirhart on bass and Justin Malek on guitar backing him up, Navarro not only brilliantly blasted through A Match and Some Gasoline but ended up with extra time to perform some more classics from the band’s discography.
The Flatliners
When headliners The Flatliners took the stage next, the crowd was amped up! With very little in the way of stage banter, Cressell and the rest of the band ripped into their first song “INTRO” setting up a set list that would pay tribute to the album that started it all for them, 2005’s Destroy to Create. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, The Flatliners went through the entire album, track by track, and the audience loved it. Finally addressing the sold out crowd at The Danforth Music Hall, Cressell talked about the importance of not only the previous band’s, The Suicide Machines influence had on them as 14 and 15 year old kids writing their first album, but of how they saw the world around them at the time and how, right or wrong, they wrote down the shit that they felt was important to them and their generation.
The band, together since the very beginning, which is definitely a rarity when starting so young, played a tight set, sounding absolutely fantastic as they completed the album that brought them worldwide attention. As a special treat, Cressell brought out the acoustic guitar, and, standing alone, centre stage, played the mystery, bonus, trick, special, unnumbered final track “What the Hell Happened to You” that appeared on the first pressing of the cd. When the needle lifted after the final track (I know it was a cd release, but the visual is so much better with vinyl), the band finished off the night with some newer material including 2022’s “Rat King” and show closer 2010’s "Count Your Bruises”.
It is odd for me, as someone who grew up through the 70s and 80s to think of 2003 as nostalgic, but for many in attendance, hearing The Flatliners’ first album again, a heavily punk influenced vibe, live, brought back a lot of great memories as the band has slightly changed its musical styles through the years leaning more toward ska and alternative sounds in their more recent releases. And for the band, they themselves admit that this 20th Anniversary celebration will be the last, as a 30 year anniversary would be impossible because they will be too old.
Set List
Intro
Fred's Got Slacks
There's a Problem
Public Service Announcement
Bad News
My Hands Are Tied
Gullible
Scumpunch!
I Am Abandoned
Macoretta Boozer
Broken Bones
Quality Television
Do or Die
What the Hell Happened to You
Eulogy
Hang My Head
Caskets Full
Rat King
Count Your Bruises
Concert Photo Gallery
show date: December 14, 2024
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