Concert Review: Greys, Mexican Slang, December 4, Lee’s Palace

greys

Much has been made as of late over a certain band from Calgary and their choice of name. Yes, many have been hurt and offended by their name and others have written about it far more thoughtfully and eloquently than I ever could, but I’ll offer my two cents anyways: they’re an alright band with an unfortunately chosen name and it’s a good thing that they’re changing it (whenever they get around to it, that is). Whatever your opinion on the band soon to be formerly known as Viet Cong though, it’s hard to fault them on their choice of openers on the first of a two night stand at Lee’s Palace – Mexican Slang and Greys.

While Greys were the main attraction for me, I was also looking forward to finally checking out Mexican Slang, a band I’ve been hearing good things about for awhile now. As it turns out though, I was a little late to the party as this was to be the band’s final show. They ran through a short but energetic set of tunes that were both heavy and melodic and left me slightly kicking myself for not checking them out earlier. Oh well.

Following them were Greys, who never fail to impress. Before I even get to the music, I have to note that their bassist was hocking loogies (Is that even how you spell it? I’m not sure if that’s covered in the Oxford English Dictionary. Do people even actually say “hocking loogies’ anymore? Did they ever?) all over the stage throughout their brief set. I’m pretty sure the whole band was spitting at times throughout the night, but he seemed particularly fond of it.

Singer/guitarist Shehzaad Jiwani introduced the band in a rather understated manner, simply saying, “We’re Greys, we live down the street” before launching into an aggressive set of Fugazi/Drive Like Jehu influenced noise rock. Pummeling, thrashing, jagged, lascerating – all of the standard, strangely violent descriptors commonly used when talking about heavy guitar music can be applied to Greys, though there is a strong sense of melody infused into their music as well. #rockcriticlaw

Posted on by Paul in Concerts