No Cause for Concern? Issue #8 | October 1983 | Page 17 | MDC, AoF, Civil Terror and the Young Lions

[Check out the flyer]

Toronto Show Review

M.D.C. - from San Francisco
ARTICLES OF FAITH - from Chicago
CIVIL TERROR - from Ottawa
THE YOUNG LIONS - from Toronto

July 20, 1983

Once again I had the honour of driving Civil Terror to an out-of-town gig. This time it was to play with M.D.C. and ARTICLES OF FAITH and having missed M.D.C.'s show in Ottawa due to a previous engagement in Hamilton it made the drive up all the more worthwhile.

We didn't get there til a bit past seven but neither did the p.a. so everything was already hours behind schedule. Since it was so late by the time everything was set up only M.D.C. and AoF got a sound check but as far as I could tell it didn't seem to have any adverse effect on the other bands (they all had a great sound).

So on to the show. I missed the first band, the UNDESIREBLES from T.O. but did get back in time for the YOUNG LIONS. Now the last time I saw this band was at their rather ill-fated gig at the Roxy last September and for those of you who were there you'll know how uninspired it was. But let me assure you that this was not the case on this evening. They played with tons of energy and did stuff from all their tapes. All their reggae (excuse the label) is conspicuously gone though. Just the high-energy music remains. They even got an encore and did "Unity" and "Born to be Wild" with Steve beating the heal out of his drums wearing nothing but some bikini briefs (or whatever you want to call them).

I suppose I should mention how hot it was. It was VERY HOT in there! That may explain Steve's choice of clothing.

Next up was Ottawa's CIVIL TERROR and since this is an Ottawa 'zine I won't go into too many details except to say that it was their first time in Toronto. Not being from there I really can't judge how they went over. Everyone clapped and all but hardly anyone moved. They just stood there in a semi-circle staring.

After them came ARTICLES OF FAITH from Chicago. I'll just skip the bullshit here and come right to the point: they were amazing!!! Never have I ever heard such good intense music live before. This is a band I could stand to see ten nights in a row if I thought I could stand the volume. Yes, not only were they good, they were loud too and when they got all three guitars going at one...well, you'd have to hear it for yourself. And I strongly encourage you to do so if you ever get the chance. As far as details go, I don't remember much but they picked up another guitarist about three months ago which makes them a five-piece and for a few songs the lead singer, Vic Bondi, gets his guitar out to hammer along with the other two. Without the guitar he's got a very intense stage presence which ads considerably to the whole show. As for vinyl, they are on the "Master Tape" compilation which contains the cut "False Security" that when they did it live, they had the audience at the mikes joining in with the chorus. They've also put out two e.p.s called "What We Want is Free" and "Wait" the latter I haven't heard yet but if it's anything like their other stuff it has to be good.

Anyway, by the time these guys finished up it was pretty late and some of the audience had already left but MDC were quick to come on. From what I heard of their Ottawa show I'd guess they took a similar approach to this one in T.O. Dave giving little introductions to the songs, reciting lyrics, that sort of thing. And it works well. The only disappointment of the evening was that since it was so late, the hall owner or whatever had turned the house lights on and M.D.C was really rushed to finish up their set. So much so that they didn't get to play a large portion of the songs on their set list and they kept the time speaking between songs to a minimum.

So despite the almost unbearable heat and the late hour, it was a great show with a great line-up and I'm glad I had an excuse to go all the way to Toronto to see it.

- J.F.