Have a Good Laugh Night One, with EGO, Phane, Krash, Bootlicker and B.A.L.M. Squad, plus a DULF side-note (but no Dead Cells, we missed'em)

All photos by Allan MacInnis

So it turns out that proceeds to the Have a Good Laugh Festival go to DULF, the Drug User's Liberation Front, devoted to working towards safe supply and keeping people from dying of toxic dope; if that's a cause you want to support, that's another good reason to go to these shows (besides seeing enthusiastic punk bands from all over the world converge on the Waldorf). 

I don't know what the answer to the toxic drug crisis is, but I suspect I'm more in the DULF camp (or at least the Bonnie Henry one) than I am in David Eby's or Ken Sim's, and I admire DULF's real-world (if illegal) approach, back when they were buying dope on the black market and selling it at cost, letting people know exactly what was in it: because thinking that addicts are going to bring their dope to be tested than WAIT TO USE IT UNTIL THE LAB RESULTS ARE IN fundamentally misunderstands the nature of addiction. I might be wrong, here, who knows, but it sure looks like DULF was given an unworkable, doomed-to-fail mandate by clueless bureaucrats, and tried to find a way to make it work, in the name of saving lives, for which efforts they were raided and tarnished in the press (and no doubt deprived of further funding). In a city where most people just seem to want to step over the possibly dead and go on about their business, I don't think I mind a bit of my money going to DULF, actually. 

As for other, less controversial causes, Noelle Chaos, at the door -- the person responsible for getting me hooked on taking black-and-white photographs, in fact -- was letting people know about an upcoming two-day benefit for her diabetic cat Trooper, who is doing okay, but whose bills are a bit much! Lots of fun bands playing both nights, some of whom, like Kidz Help Fone, I saw at the previous Trooperfest at the Black Lab, a venue presently and perhaps permanently defunct due to some sort of bureaucratic zoning conflict; Die Job, who I caught at the Red Gate, are also very energetic and entertaining. And is Clay who I think it is? If you like Trooper and agree with him that All Cats Are Beautiful -- that's what ACAB stands for, right? -- you should go to Trooperfest 2! 

Sadly, after paying at the door, my buddy Adam and I missed Dead Cells; we needed dinner, and figured we could duck out for a bit, but contrary to our expectations, things actually started on time tonight (and changeovers were really efficient). Sorry, Dead Cells! I liked what I heard on your page. BTW, the food upstairs was decent; Adam and I were a bit surprised to be the only ones eating there. We made it down to hear the last half of Dead Cells' last song...

We did, however, catch Phane! 

Photo cluster #1: Phane

Phane ripped through a fast, violent set of crusty "charged hardcore" with some of the tastier lead guitar licks of the night; their attitude and attire - lots of studs, patches, and leather to compliment spiky hair - made me feel a) under-dressed and b) like I was a GBH show, which I am sure is a comparison they'd be pleased by. 

EGO bassist displaying a signed record! (But I can't read her signature!)

By contrast, Bootlicker's singer channeled vintage Keith Morris, their guitarist Athena had really appealing charisma, and -- what the hell, that's Joshy Atomic -- Chain Whip's Josh Nickel -- in the back corner on guitar??? He plays in Bootlicker? (He also confirmed what Adam and I feared, that a certain record shop he was associated with is no more). Bootlicker had the best mosh pit (which I observed from without) and the most dynamic stage presence; a punk band to watch. I caught video of their song "Constraints," apparently off a 7" they released in Japan. "Josh always brings it," Chris Walter commented on Facebook, when I posted a couple of photos. He does, but I was unable to get his picture. 

Photo Cluster #2: Bootlicker

(Trust me, Josh is back there somewhere)

Next up was Krash, from Saskatoon, filling in for an absent Crucified Class. They kept up the ferocious pace and, like I told the bassist after their set, had the hookiest basslines of the night, especially in their last song (the title eluded me). I like a good hooky bassline (and he high-fived me for the compliment). They weren't as physically dynamic as the two previous bands but they had a sort of glowering power to to their stage presentation. If Phane had reminded me of GBH, Krash reminded me a bit of the Exploited (especially the really dark, somewhat chugging stuff on Let's Start a War, say). 

Photo Cluster #3: Krash

The next band, B.A.L.M. Squad, from Ontario, had the thinnest crowd, for reasons unclear; they had plenty of attitude and chops but you could see a lot more space on the Waldorf dance floor during their set.  The singer had quipped to me that the "headliner" that night, EGO, from Berlin, "make everything they do sound so fucking evil" (I concur) before his band played, and once they tore into it, sang like he actually had something to say (even if I couldn't make much of it out). I shot video of "No Pride in Genocide," because I like the title, but which genocide was he referring to, exactly? (Or was he targeting white pride types, questioning the accomplishments of the white race in general? Not sure. Speaking of genocide, both Dead Cells and Ego performed with a Palestinian flag behind the drum riser, but that got taken down for the middle bands). B.A.L.M. Squad  also took a potshot at the trucker's convoy for their final song, from the perspective of people living in Ontario at the time, but again, what were the words, exactly? I looked at their bandcamp for lyrics, but alas... nada. They were the band who seemed to have the most invested in language, the band whose lyric sheet I'd be most curious to read, but I had shot my financial wad getting in the door and buying an EGO record, so even if they'd had an album visible at the merch area (with, say, a lyric sheet?), I wouldn't have coughed up. 

Good band, though! 

Photo Cluster #4: B.A.L.M. Squad

In fact, it turned out that Ego (or is it EGO? I'm gonna go with caps) had really reasonably-priced merch -- $20 Canadian for an LP???! I guess I can't say no to that! They also had the most compelling stage presence, menacing and tension-filled. Also, from what I could discern, they had the most interesting backstory of any band present, having come together from many different places. I had mostly been keen to see them because, as I told their guitarist at the merch table, I have written occasionally for a German punk zine, but I have never seen a German punk band, whereupon I discovered that their singer is from Serbia, their bassist from Portugal, their drummer from Spain, and the guitarist from Chile. So maybe now I've still never seen a German punk band! Anyhow, they told me how they had filmed their video for "Moji Prijatelji (My Friends)" in an abandoned hospital in Berlin; the vocals are in Serbian but there are English translations in both their videos and on their lyric sheet.

I shot one live clip of their second song,"Dekadent", and a bit of their third, "Paranoia;" then my battery died, about half a minute before that song ended... 

Photo Cluster #5: EGO

They were one of the bands travelling from furthest away to perform. The other is Axe Helvete, who play on Saturday (will I go to that? Hmm); like EGO, they were hitting North America for the first time, in Axe Helvete's case, touring up from San Diego, where they'd flown direct from Japan. I chatted briefly with their roadie Teppe (or was that Teppei?), who was pleased I spoke some Japanese (very rustily, at this point: it's been over 22 years since I lived there, and his English was better than my Nihongo. Hilariously, I couldn't think of the Japanese word for "welcome," as in, "Welcome to Vancouver," despite that word being among the most shouted-at-you words in the language, even in Vancouver restaurants: "irrashaimase"). He was excited to be there and struck a cool pose with my buddy Adam. 

Good vibe to the night, in any case. Have a Good Laugh continues through the weekend; you can preview the bands on the website linked at the top of the page. Friday seems to be a bit more street-punky, with Toy Tiger and Prowlers and Ultra Razzia and Reckless Upstarts and... I haven't checked them all out but the Have a Good Laugh website makes it real easy to check out each band. So Oi! fans might want to go Friday... Saturday seems to shift back more into a crusty realm...

In fact, the singer for Toy Tiger could be seen throwing his fist in the air right up front, even leaping onstage to sing along with Krash -- he clearly knew the words! I love it when bands come out to cheer other bands on; Toy Tiger wasn't even playing last night... I'm told they're great... 

Fact is, I am definitely skipping their day, Friday, and I haven't gotten so far as to consider Saturday -- we'll see if my ears have stopped ringing by then. Meantime, do as I say, and not as I do, if you like REAL punk music: go to Have a Good Laugh, at the Waldorf on Friday, and on Saturday at the Cambie AND the Waldorf, and maybe one other location for a late night festival capper, the nature of which remains presently undisclosed... 

To preview bands or check the lineup for Friday and Saturday, go here! Festival passes were sold out but we paid $30 each at the door, which is wicked cheap for such a stacked lineup (and like I say, will go to a good cause...!).