Heavy Chevy+ Pneumatic Transit + In My Coma + Dinosaur Bones + The Marble Index

Casbah, Hamilton
Cost: $10
Hand Stamp: Pirate or possibly Gilligan (No Island included)
January 8, 2010

It’s a new year, and on top of that it’s a new decade as well. 2009 proved to be quite a good year for new music, so here’s hoping that 2010 will deliver in the same respect. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a show at The Casbah, but what got me out to this one was the word of mouth surrounding Dinosaur Bones, a little band from Toronto with a really polished and put together live show that did not fail to impress. More on the details to follow, so read on.

With this being a five band line-up, I arrived just in time to catch Hamilton based, Pneumatic Transit. While the songs on their Myspace did translate fairly well live, this could be said to be a bad thing. Unfortunately, there was nothing about their songs to really set them apart from a whole host of similar bands. Songs about going to California almost always lack substance. I was reminded of Phantom Planet’s song, California that was used most famously as The O.C theme song (minus the somewhat memorable hook). The vocals on the other hand were equally lacking and just couldn’t really get the crowd going. Think of a less melodic Verve Pipe sound. The singer expressed his excitement to see Dinosaur Bones, but this didn’t make it any less awkward for me to buy a Dinosaur Bones t-shirt from him at the merch table later that evening.

Toronto’s In My Coma definitely changed the mood with synchronized lighting and a fog machine and a collection of guitars which ended up to be more for display purposes than anything, but different nonetheless. Drawing comparisons to Queens of the Stone Age combined with the fact that they only had one song on their Myspace, I’ll admit I was curious to see them. The four-piece seemed to have a fairly united chemistry on stage, but their sound seemed to be a little too stuck in an ear; that ear being the nineties. The crowd was certainly livelier, or intoxicated by this point so the atmosphere was a bit better, but the lead singer did say they were, “Here to rock you.”

It’s always funny to hear smaller bands announce a new song, but they did play some “new” songs that would be included on their upcoming EP. Overall, their sound seemed to have an identity crisis and lacked overall cohesiveness. I give them points for bringing more energy and matching teal and black outfits to the stage. By this point I was leaning towards buying $1 earplugs by the bar as I had left mine at home. Investing in good earplugs is really the only way to prevent painful ringing for the next day or two, but it’s nice to see venues supplying plugs at a reasonable price. Dinosaur Bones soon took to the stage and got right to it with a little microphone feedback at first, but then soon transitioned into their polished stage performance. While Pneumatic Transit was looking forward to their performance, Dinosaur Bones were anticipating The Marble Index and their performance that was sure to “melt your face off!” With it being one of the member’s birthday (how does that always seem to be the case?) shots of tequila were distributed, and they continued on. The bass player also pointed out Casbah regulars, Sandman Viper Command in the audience and told the crowd to “check these guys out.” Having seen them perform live this past summer, I can’t say I would promote them in the same manner, but it’s nice they came out. He also told the crowd that the last time they were scheduled to play The Casbah lounge they got caught in a snowstorm which resulted in a car accent. He then followed this up with, “does anyone here like snow? No? Good. Fuck snow,” an apt statement for January in Canada.

Overall, the band had a great chemistry on stage that only enhanced their performance. This show promised, “an amazing night full of dancing, sweating, drinking, smoking, fucking, laughing, joking, and best of all...BOBSLEDS!..” While I’m sure not all these things were experienced, it was an enjoyable evening and a great way to start off 2010.