The Constantines Show Review
Written November 17, 2003

On Saturday night I went on a mission, braving the drizzle and deadly patches of remaining snow on the sidewalk to see the Constantines at the Starlight club. Weaving our way through drunken revelers scattered along King Street, the Starlight loomed before us – an ambiguous looking place of sorts but one which is finally bringing a strong alternative music scene to Waterloo.

There is no better representative of Canadian indie music right now than the Constantines , a local tri-city band which achieved notoriety through the immense success of their first album, Three Gut, which ruled the Canadian college charts for months. Their success translated into a Rolling Stone magazine appearance and a large underground fan base across the nation, making the Constantines a band to watch closely in the near future.

Anyways, before the headliner there is traditionally an opening band, or “special guest”, and in this case it was Sour Keys. I was battling a vicious head cold and thought it might be more beneficial to bury my head in some pillows and leave for the show halfway through their scheduled set, since I had never heard of Sour Keys. I mean, it’s a delicious candy but would it really be a delicious band?

Oddly enough, they began their set the second we walked into the club, having been delayed by technical difficulties or something. Thankfully they were indeed edible, blending some Fugazi-like discordance with straightforward nu-garage rock. The vocals caught me the most, ranging from monotone lyrical chants to full-on screaming. Sour Keys showed a lot of musical diversity in their set, even utilizing a tambourine which I certainly have a soft spot for in rock. Their banter revealed them to be a little unconfident, which I thought was rather inappropriate when compared to their musical abilities. After flooding the stage with a group of enthusiastically dancing males, Sour Keys bowed out with their job complete. People were pumped.

Shortly after, the Constantines took the stage to a fair amount of hullabaloo. Throwing out a wide mix of songs from Three Gut and their latest release, Shine a Light, the Constantines were evidently out to please everyone, from the casual newcomer to the most hardcore fan. I think they even drew from some of their old school EPs a few times, but that may be the extra-strength Tylenol talking. Regardless, they churned out their trademark swirling medley of mathematically repetitious bass and keyboard with guitars breaking in at just the right time with seemingly effortless skill. Bry Webb’s vocals started out a little weak (I think the mic levels were too low) but his exuberant strength soon broke through.

The Constantines played an extraordinarily lengthy set including a brief encore, which certainly made the ten dollar price of admission well worth it. Unfortunately, there were technical difficulties throughout the course of their performance, including broken strings and mic problems. Once the lights went out completely, leaving the quintet playing in the dark although this could’ve been dramatic license. However, this didn’t seem to mar anyone’s enjoyment of the set – in fact, an impromptu mosh pit of sorts was started at the back of the room towards the end of the show. I was surprised when the Constantines were finally done, as I had completely forgotten that I was ill for a few hours. I went home happy; almost killing myself on a lone patch of wet snow that hugged the sidewalk as I enthusiastically discussed the show. When you get right down to it, any band that can distract you from the amusing process of coughing up your lungs and then nearly murder you with that distraction later has to be worth checking out.

Good show. Half-decent review, I guess. Apparently the Sour Keys guys thought it was okay. I sound a little pretentious but that was probably cold medication talking.