Toronto – I was considering going to the Fuck Buttons show instead of this one and found out after the fact that Ricky was indeed going. After reading his review, I think i would have enjoyed that show (provided I had earplugs, that is) but I figured The Buzzcocks were playing and I always enjoy taking the opportunity to check out music legends whenever I can. The Buzzcocks are a pretty seminal band from the U.K. punk scene of the ’70s, I like a few of their tunes, and I figure these guys ain’t gettting any younger, so why not check it out? Besides, I can see Fuck Buttons next time they come to town (unless of course, they’re playing Sound Academy…).
As I entered the Opera House, openers The Dollyrots were already on. They were certainly not terrible, but they weren’t great either. They played bubblegummy pop punk that at times seemed to have more in common with Avril Lavigne than The Buzzcocks. Maybe I’m being a bit hard on them. I’ll admit that their stuff was enjoyable enough and at times it reminded me of the soundtrack to that Josie and the Pussycats movie starring Rachel Leigh Cook (That’s a good thing actually – I enjoyed that movie) but ultimately I found them a bit unremarkable. It says something that their most memorable songs were covers of Melanie’s “Brand New Key” and Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation.” Apparently they’ve also appeared on The Price Is Right though, so that’s pretty cool.
As the Buzzcocks took to the stage, a friend commented, “We’re going from a band where the singer looks like she could be my daughter to a band where the singer looks like my dad.” Yup, they’re old. So was a pretty large percentage of the crowd. I actually like shows like these, where I’m actually at the lower end of the age spectrum. Plus, watching old people at punk shows is pretty interesting – especially the guy wearing a beret and leather vest who looked like a refugee from some ’80s Kurt Russell movie or something. (“Snake Plisken? I thought you were dead!”) But I’m not here to be a dick and make fun of what people were wearing. If I was, I’d be writing for Vice magazine instead. No, I’m here to talk about the music.
So, yeah, The Buzzcocks may be getting old, but they still rocked pretty hard. It helps that they were mostly playing songs from their first two albums – they played all the songs people would have wanted to hear and they played them with a fair amount of energy and stage presence. Overall, it was a pretty good show and a good argument against there being a mandatory retirement age for aging musicians.