Today is the Day
Support: Kayo Dot, Harangue, Holy Grinder
Date: Saturday July 29th, 2017
Venue: the Hard Luck Bar in Toronto, Ontario
The first band of the night was a local act called Holy Grinder. They weren't a bad sludgy, grind band at all. But the focal point of their set was the guy who was just hitting a piece of sheet metal with various objects: chain, drill, sticks, his hands, at the end of their set he even dropped an elbow on it! (BAH GAWD, THAT SHEET METAL HAS A FAMILY). He added nothing to the music but it was an interesting visual. They played for maybe ten minutes and even though they were cool that was more than enough.
Up next was another local band called Harangue, who I was supposed to see sometime last year but missed for some reason. They weren't entirely bad groovy metalcore.
The next band was Kayo Dot, who I've been familiar with for years but have never listened to. I actually have a couple Maudlin of the Well albums but I found they were fifty-fifty, and the last one I thought was downright terrible and not worth what I paid (it was a free download). Kayo Dot's first song wasn't bad at all but the second one killed me and I'd had enough so I went and sat down. I'm not much for the prog music. I will give them credit that their guitarist had some great tones and sounds. The rest just dragged it down and I wasn't a fan.
I did make the effort to get right to the stage for Today is the Day (it didn't take much effort since there were maybe thirty or forty people there). I saw them last year and they floored me. And this time around they were doing an anniversary tour for an incredible album they released twenty years ago called Temple of the Morning Star. So I got right up in front of Steve Austin and they once again blew my head off. Temple of the Morning Star was an album I first listened to during a very sad, dark time in my life and even though they still play a lot of songs from it on any tour (as they did last year) it was awesome to hear some other songs that they don’t play as often. There were a few songs from the album they didn’t play that I really wanted to hear (Kill Yourself, Mankind and I See You) but it really didn’t matter to me. They could play anything and I’d have loved it. The rest of their set was awesome too and again there are a lot of other songs from them that I love but there’s always the In the Eyes of God twentieth anniversary album tour in 2019. Highlights were Temple of the Morning Star, Crutch, In the Eyes of God and Possession. The biggest highlight though was their cover of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Not the song (because I really don’t care about that song) but watching one of Steve Austins strings break on him, then watching him proceed to rip four more off with his bare hands and play the end of the song on just the A string was really fucking intense and awesome. That dude brings it.
One thing I’d have liked though was if they’d have closed the set with an intense, electric version of Temple of the Morning Star as the album does. I seriously was just drunk enough that I'd have screamed my head off along with the ending "I CAN'T BE WHAT YOU WANT ME TO BE. I AM...DEAD!!!!" but, whatever. They floored me again and I will always go out of my way to see this band play live again and again.
Today is the Day
1. Temple of the Morning Star (acoustic)
2. The Man Who Loved to Hurt Himself
3. High as the Sky
4. Crutch
5. Pinnacle
6. (I recognized this song but can’t place the title)
7. Hermaphrodite
8. The Descent
9. Mother's Ruin
10. In the Eyes of God
11. Going to Hell
12. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Black Sabbath cover)
13. Spotting a Unicorn
14. Possession
15. The Color of Physic Power
16. Animal Mother
Afterwards I bought another shirt, which I never do. But I’ve bought a shirt after seeing them this year and last year. So that tells you how much they impress me. And I got to shake Steve Austins hand and thank him, and hear him badmouth the club and the promoter.
Today is the Day
todayistheday.bandcamp.com
Kayo Dot
kayodot.bandcamp.com
Harangue
harangue.bandcamp.com
Holy Grinder
holygrinder.bandcamp.com
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