Concert Review: Black Lips At The Horseshoe

Published on July 17th, 2015 in: Canadian Content, Concert Reviews, Current Faves, Music, Reviews |

By Pierce Finch-Coursey

July 10, 2015
Toronto, ON

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Black Lips performed two nights in a row at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. After seeing both sets, I can easily come to the conclusion that Black Lips is by far one of the best live acts I have ever seen. With a career spanning more than 15 years and seven albums under their belts, it seems like these guys aren’t going to be hanging up their guitars anytime soon.

The night started with the all-female punk grunge band The Beverleys from Toronto. They drew a good size crowd, being the first of two openers, and got some excited punks to form a pit. The shared vocals of Suz and Jo complimented each other, while Steph’s drums had the Horseshoe shaking and grooving along.

The music continued with Milk Lines, a band that blended together psychedelia, country, and grunge, with chant-like choruses delivered by the guitarists and bassist. Despite slowing things down after a very upbeat set by The Beverleys, the ever-growing crowd was still into the band, listening intently to songs obviously influenced by ‘70s and ‘80s post-punk like Talking Heads and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Then, it was time for the main event. After a sound-check and waiting around for about half an hour, Black Lips came out to a brass fanfare and a huge cheer from a packed room. = Despite the fact that most of the crazy antics the band is known for were absent, the set was chock full of fan favorites (like “Family Tree,” “O Katrina,” and “Veni Vidi Vici”) which the ecstatic crowd crowd-surfed, chanted, and moshed to, while also being pelted with toilet paper rolls thrown from offstage.

Partly through their set, the band asked for the lights to drop a bit and they played a few of their slower, more chill songs, which took the crowd from a head-banging, pushing mass to a swaying, calm group taking a breather. Then Black Lips jumped right back into their rambunctious psychedelic rock. Black Lips definitely delivered to their Toronto fans, ending the night with a sing-along rock out of “Bad Kid.” I will definitely see them again.



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