I went to see Thornley at the Capital Music Hall** in Ottawa last night. Overall it was a very good but very loud show.

The volume of the lead guitar crunching, what I'll call Thornley's trademark sound (on Big Wreck as well) was often so loud it was impossible to hear the bass guitar and difficult to hear to even hear the drums. I'm not old enough that I've lost my hearing that badly, so I'd say the audio was messed. I was standing about 30 feet from the stage in the middle of the room, so I don't see my position as being the problem. The songs that sounded the best were the old Big Wreck songs ... the other band members came through loud and clear.

Speaking of the other guys, Thornley picked up a wicked drummer in Sekou Lumumba, who played very solid and clean and had fun on stage. He broke into a great drum solo early in the set and the crowd really loved it.

I didn't recognize the bassist from the album cover but he used to play with The Watchmen. He's very recognizable on stage though: a tall guy that plays the bass really really low to the ground. I could *see* him singing on a lot of the songs but never actually heard him. Unfortunately it was also hard to pick up his bass guitar well over the loudness. He has a great mood on stage and fits into the band well. The mohawk he's sporting is pretty sweet looking.

The "new guy", Thornley's guitarist Tavis Stanley was solid but mostly low key. I think he might have been concentrating on not messing up. hehe ... No, to be fair I saw him jump off the drum kit near the end of the set. But not while playing ... so he's not quite 80's metal yet. ;)

The band's chemistry is great on stage, which is cool to see. It makes the show that much better when the band can have fun with it and not be too serious. There was a lot of improvisation between songs but most of the songs sounded true to their album versions. That's good or band depending on what you look for in live shows I guess.

Most of the songs were from the new album (I'm glad I picked it up early), with a few songs from the first Big Wreck album In Loving Memory Of... When they played Blown Wide Open early in the show, the young kids in the first row didn't seem to know the song. I have to remember that it's seven years old and I'm an old man now. :) A disappointing omission from the set was the song Bright Side, which is my favourite from the album. Midway through the show a guitar pick hit me in the leg and I picked it up. That's two for two on Thornley/Big Wreck shows and souvenirs ... the first I got a chocolate bar. The pick was chewier.

The crowds at rock concerts in Ottawa are often disappointing. Is this how people act in rock concerts all across Canada, I wonder? C'mon people, get some energy and go wild -- especially you kids. The last time I saw Big Wreck people were moshing in the Congress Centre in Ottawa for crying out loud. It was bizarre but the energy was pretty cool! At the Chili Peppers concert I was going bananas on the floor during Suck My Kiss and everyone else was just standing around. Honestly people, I can't help you!

So the audio messed the show up pretty bad, and my ears. But Thornley's vocals were amazing and the band was great so the show was definitely worth the $20. I'll be listening to this album well into the summer. Rock on!

** Someone mentioned that it should be "Capital City Music Hall" instead, but I think they were inadvertently influenced by the name of Radio City Music Hall. That would be a pretty obvious and cheesy rip off. The venue itself is pretty unspectacular -- it's less a Hall and more like a gymnasium with bars (the drinking kind, not the metal kind). The second floor was closed off but it didn't matter ... there weren't that many people there. :) Barrymore's, where I saw Sam Roberts last year, is a much better rock venue, there's something about the mood of the place. Plus the fact that it's four tiers going higher and higher up to the back.

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I should mention a little somethin somethin about the young but talented opening band, Oliver Black, who are from Southern Ontario. Even though I'm not a huge fan of female rock lead singers I really liked Serena Pruyn. She had some wicked energy and an amazing voice. You will hear more from this band, trust me. I'd like to check out the music from their web site, but the links are broken on the downloads. Oops! You can still listen to the streaming audio at the bottom of the site though. The band also has a LiveJournal.