Whitey Houston vs. C'mon

Expectations break hearts - anyone who loves knows it. So there was some trepidation at the idea of two of Canada's actual (rather than hyped) best rock bands playing not only on the same Edmonton stage but at the same time. Our own Whitey Houston, releasing their long-awaited debut, versus Toronto's C'mon, releasing onto our faces whatever Ian Blurton shot into the crowd with his sorcerer's eyes; it was to be a classic battle of the two-piece against the three. We were pretty jazzed. This thing had a ref and everything, but once the coin was tossed to see who went first it all disintegrated into a happy red haze. It was like Superman vs. Mohammed Ali in one pair of boxers, with C'mon's Katie Lynn Campbell bassing over backwards one minute, fur-hat Whitey pulling up a dozen local senoritas to serve as some sort of sashaying curtain of souls the next. No one breathed between songs - C'mon would fire off "The Messenger" all angular, then Whitey, armed only with his three-string bass, would kill us with "I Got Fucked by Liberty Mutual," a children's sing-along. Seeing as it was WH's release party, C'mon took a breather but the trio rejoined the chaos as the lines between stage, crowd and back alley eroded. "This is the moment you've all been waiting for," the scruffy Blurton grinned as the drummer war began; Gravy and Rod Curnew blowing the last of the earplugs under muscular hammering. Hot! Local favourite the Wright Brothers grabbed mics, maracas disappeared onto the floor and the tacky ceiling skeletons vibrated as people stopped knowing which direction to look in. And who won in the end at the lame clap-off? Well, that's like asking which side of your body stole the cookie. You know we all held that trophy high together, perfectly satisfied, if more deaf.