Fucked Up

The Rock House, St. John's NL, April 27

Photo: Vish Khanna

BY Vish KhannaPublished Apr 28, 2014

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It's a mistake to underestimate the power of Fucked Up or their ability to galvanize a room. They'd never played St. John's and, after being diverted to Halifax because of heavy fog, they almost didn't make it. Damian Abraham for one was thrilled; he shouted out local '80s hardcore band Schizoid to the delight of some fans. Of course he did. That's a thing he would do.

"I Hate Summer" was dedicated to anyone who was made to feel shitty about the way they look, and every single person related to that song. A dumb dude deliberately cracked his head open on the stage, spreading his brain blood everywhere and flopping around like a beached dolphin with an ironic moustache before he was led out of the venue. Abraham followed him to the front door to make sure he was ok. This added something to the air and everything was more intense.

A lot of nerds moshed and crowd surfed. Some of them were terrible assholes, others knew the words to every song and seemed ok. Jonah Falco has been ramping up his game; there's no drummer more fun to watch and marvel at right now. He's a freakishly frenetic octopus clutching Vic Firths. By the end of the set, which was brilliantly sequenced (the Glass Boys songs ruled and meshed well with older songs), guitarists Josh Zucker and Mike Haliechuk were pranking each other and turning off each other's guitars. It was hilarious. Fucked Up, in sync, connected with Newfoundland. Nice try, fog.

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