I only heard about the Eagles of Death Metal concert last week, even though tickets went on sale in September. When I found out, I was pretty excited, since they are a great band and I’ve heard they put on a live show worth checking out. I went to buy tickets, but of course they were long sold out.

Yesterday, out of the blue, my friend Spencer emails saying he has extra tickets. Lucky me!

Eagles of Death Metal play fuzzy-guitar straight up rock and roll, complete with falsetto vocals and ample doses of cowbell. They sounded great live, despite a few technical difficulties with microphones and things. Lead singer Jesse “The Devil” Hughes looked like he was having fun, which made it easy for the crowd to have a good time.

Bottom line: loud dirty rock + beer = a good Thursday night.

Doors opened at 8pm, and we got there close to 9. Fancy was supposed to be there to start off the show, but I’m pretty sure the opening act was some DJ I’ve never seen before. Does this guy look familiar to anyone?

Busy P played an awesome set and really got the crowd jumpin’. He did drag on for a while, and there were a few lulls, but overall he had a good energy and kept the crowd excited. Busy P has the craziest French accent I’ve ever heard.

After Busy P finished up, there was probably the longest wait I’ve ever experienced for the next band or performer to come out. I would say this is where they fucked up big time with the flow of the night. Everyone waited around with the house lights turned up, while they played classic rock for at least half an hour until Justice finally came out on stage.

Justice finally took to the stage at around 11:15 and the crowd went craaazy. Their stage setup is amazing, with the glowing cross and Marshall stacks everywhere. They were so fucking LOUD! The Sound Academy has probably the best sound system I’ve ever heard at a live show. It was ridiculously loud, but still crisp and not distorted or hissy like the sound quality I’ve heard at other venues. And when they dropped the bass, it hit hard!

We saw Justice play about three songs and then we had to leave so we didn’t miss the last train home. Bunch of fuckers! I mean honestly, doors opened at 8pm, Fancy didn’t even show up, so I don’t think it was too much to expect the show to be done by 11:30 or so. Especially considering it was an all ages show on a Monday night. The kids have school in the morning, the adults gotta work, and I’m sure a lot of people came from out of town and didn’t want to miss their trains and buses home.

Anyway, here’s a couple blurry pics of the stage during Justice’s set:

From their website and MySpace page:

For those of you who could not make it, we want to put on another show just for you.
If you are one of those people, bring your UNUSED ticket to:
The Sound Academy (formerly the Docks)
Friday, January 25, 2008

More details will be available on their website at a later date. I’m really impressed they are doing this and I’m looking forward to getting a second chance to see these guys in January!

When I purchased the concert tickets online, there was no option for me to print my own ticket. I’m not sure if that’s not available anymore or what. Since the concert was only two days away, I obviously couldn’t have the tickets delivered, so my only option was to go pick them up from my local Ticketmaster outlet at the Oshawa Centre. I fought through Saturday afternoon crowds and made my way to Sunrise Records, only to find out their “Ticketmaster was down” and they couldn’t print tickets. The guy told me to come back on Monday, and I told him the concert was on Sunday. So my only option was to drive two cities away to Pickering to pick up my tickets.

The worst part of all is that we didn’t even make it to the concert. Saturday night and Sunday morning was the worst snow storm of the year and we couldn’t make it to Arrow Hall in time for the show. Parts of the highway were closed, so we might not have even made it if we tried. I really think the show should have been canceled/postponed because of the shitty weather. Especially considering the show was in Mississauga, which is west of Toronto.

I’m going to check into my options, but I’m pretty sure I’m out the money I spent on my ticket. I checked out the band’s MySpace page, and a lot of people posted angry messages saying how they couldn’t attend the show and the band should make it up to their fans. I’m not expecting much.

I hate Ticketmaster and their damn monopoly on the event ticket market. I still use them whenever a good concert comes along, but only because I have no other choice. I’m already grumpy today, and after just purchasing two tickets to see alexisonfire this weekend, I’m pretty mad at Ticketmaster and their shenanigans. Check it out:

Tickets were worth $67 even. That leaves $23.50 in service charges. I can understand there being a $1 facility charge per ticket. The $9 “convenience fee” per ticket is pure robbery. And then they tack on the $3.50 “order processing charge”. I can’t think of any other retailer, online or offline, that would charge you $3.50 to buy something, especially after they already ripped you off with other charges.

After all this time, Ticketmaster still sucks balls. But, sometimes they are the only place to buy tickets for an event, so you have no other choice.

I’ve heard their lineup changes, depending on when and where they are playing. At this particular show, they had two guitarists, an upright bassist and a guy playing a mandolin. They also brought in these big sheets of plywood with tambourines attached to them, which acted as some really cool stomping platforms. Take a look:

Check out this little video clip I took with my digital camera:

I only managed to get a couple pictures of her, and they’re not even that good, but you can check her out on her Myspace page.

On Sunday night, my friend Christien and I went to Mississauga to see Daft Punk play live. It was completely off the hook, and one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. Their stage setup was amazing, with the best light show I’ve ever seen. It was loud, robotic, and really entertaining. The crowd was so hyped up, and everybody seemed to be having a great time dancing and jumping around.

Opening for Daft Punk was a cool band from New York called The Rapture. They played a great set, getting the audience in a dancey mood with their funky, electronic rock music. Between bands, SebastiAn and Kavinsky were DJing, playing some sick tracks that really got the crowd in a frenzy. Busy P also made an appearance, playing a few songs.

Overall, it was an amazing show and I’m pretty sure everybody there had the prime time of their lives.