BIson at the Astoria, 2018

Man, that was a nice change: I actually went out to a gig last night! Did a fun little interview earlier in the week with James of Bison - a kind of ridiculous one, on my part, actually, but I have interviewed this band many, many times, so I just tried to have some fun with it. I arrived early enough to see both opening acts (Teeth to Your Throat and Pet Blessings), both of whom were enjoyable - though I had a Lee Child Reacher novel signed out on a one-week loan from the library, already two days overdue, that I wanted to finish, so I sat off to the side and read while they were on (sorry, guys)... which prompted some odd conversation from people passing me by on the way to the men's room: look, that dude is reading a book! I hope he's not a spy... But rest assured that I put away the book for Bison.

And what a fun set it was! It turns out the little "alcove" in the centre of the stage kinda protects you from the mosh pit, so there I was, front and centre, with my recently acquired Huawei cell phone, which has a kinda awesome camera in it. I restrained myself for the most part but eventually broke down and took some photos, then shot a video for the final song (unless they did an encore, but if they did, it was after I had to go catch the Skytrain). Was fun to say hello to James and Dan, who, at this point, know me a bit, and even more fun to see Eugene of Black Wizard at the kit. I miss Matt Wood - I hope he's all right, and that whatever "personal journey" he's on, as James put it, isn't taking him through too many dark places - but thought Eugene was a really great replacement, actually. He more or less follows Matt's bouncy, minimal style - at least compared to Brad's Keith-Moon-y fills - but he visually evokes Pipefitter of Hard Core Logo a little bit, compared to the obvious Animal of Matt. I will let the photos speak for itself, but I am kind of happy with the video, too... my legs are a bit stiff from the standing but it was totally worth it.

Shane's new haircut totally suits him, whattaya think?