The Ontario hardcore crew Cancer Bats have been slaying the scene for over a decade now and in celebration of the release of their fifth album, Searching For Zero, they played at the Pheonix with openers Exalt, Dead Tired and Indian Handcrafts.
With the night being presented by 102.1 The Edge and hosted by former Alexisonfire front man, currently in Gallows, Wade Mcneil, anticipation was high in the air as to whether there would be a collaboration between Cancer Bats and Mcneil.
I had missed Exalts set, but from what Cancer Bats front man Liam Cormier said on stage they were oddly received by the crowd. Exalt is known to have a pretty solid fan base though and there were definitely some Exalt shirts around so their set sounds to have go e pretty well.
Next up were Dead Tired, George Pettit's new band who absolutely destroyed the crowd. Once their set kicked off the mosh pit erupted and was very swiftly followed by stage divers galore. At one point Pettit hopped into the crowd, spraying beer around the crowd while rambunctiously throwing himself around. Playing a set chalk full of songs from their new release, Dead Tired, their half hour set was a crushing show of hardcore madness.
Two piece Barrie rock outfit Indian Handcrafts were to follow and delivered a very surprising show. Having never heard them before their set, I could only go off what I had heard from people at the show. I was expecting something a little more tame, but Indian Handcrafts delivered a hard hitting set that could rival any of the bands playing that night. The crowd was all in from the beginning of their set right up to the final note.
To close off the night fans got exactly what they were paying to see : the Cancer Bats. Tension was built from the moment Mcneil stepped onto the stage to announce them and from the very first note of their new track, Satellites, the crowd was raging hard and belting out all of the words.
The crowd participation didn't let up for a song with the mosh pit always raging hard and the words being sung louder than I've ever seen at a Cancer Bats show. Playing tracks from all of their albums, fans got to hear favorites such as Hail Destroyer, Shillelagh, and Pneumonia Hawk among other classics. Towards the end of the night Cormier took a moment to thank the bands who played and Mcneil for hosting the night, leading to fans screaming for Deathsmarch, knowing that had to be the time for Mcneil to collaborate live with the Bats.
Finally closing the night out with an encore of their Beastie Boys cover, Sabotage followed by first album hit French Immersion, Cancer Bats left Toronto in a heaping sweaty mess that truly shows how tightly knit the Canadian hardcore scene is.
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