Back in 2002, System of A Down had a concert at the Kool Haus as part of their Toxicity tour, it sold out in minutes and we did not get tickets for it. Desperate to see the show, we went down to venue early to see if there was anyone selling extra tix, and to see how much the scalpers were asking. We found no extras, and the scalpers were charging $150 a ticket!!! Pissed off we went to eat and bitch about the show, during this bitching I came up with a simple idea. Go to Ticketmaster, and buy any concert ticket with a band whose name starts with the letter S. After checking Now magazine for concert listings, we found that this band Sparta whom we had never heard of were having a show for $10, so we went over to Sunrise and got 5 tickets.
The scam worked like a charm and we got into the show with the fake tickets, and we like to think that our scam is responsible for the fact that these days the venues laser scan the tickets as you walk to in to verify their legitimacy, but this is not the point of the story. The point is that, back then I had no idea who Sparta was.
Today I am well aware that they are the awesome remainder of the once great band At The Drive-in, three albums deep into their post Drive-in carrers. Being a huge fan since hearing their first album, I always kicked myself for not having gotten extra tickets to check them out when we pulled off the System of A Down scam.
Regardless of the past, the point of this post is tonight's show. The opening band were some local, forgettable guys from Hamilton. The next band were Sound Team, whom I quite enjoyed and have to investigate further.
Sparta them selves were fantastic. Their Post-Hardcore/Emo/Experimental sound is quite unique and Jim Ward's voice is even more amazing live than on record. They opened up with Breaking The Broken from Porcelain, followed by La Cerca off the same album, this got the crowd going. But it was not until the third song that things took off. That song was Light Burns Clear off their first album Wiretap Scars, from my vantage point of front-row right in the mosh pit, it sounded like the entire venue was singing along to the song, I sure know I was. During the rest of their set, they performed pretty much all my favourte tracks, such as Glasshouse Tarot, While Oceana Sleeps, Rx Coup, Guns of Memorial Park, etc. Did I mention how great Jim sounded singing all these songs?
At one point, while the band took a moment to catch their breath, Jim was talking to the crowd and he made the most amusing of comments. He said "Next time you vote, don't elect a guy that spends so much time with our president, by the way I'm sorry about the past six years", everyone laughed, and cheered on the sentiment, it was very amusing.
I'm going to wrap this up with a complete setlist, and by saying that the level of passion the entire band showed during their set was amazing. I can't wait to see them again.
The scam worked like a charm and we got into the show with the fake tickets, and we like to think that our scam is responsible for the fact that these days the venues laser scan the tickets as you walk to in to verify their legitimacy, but this is not the point of the story. The point is that, back then I had no idea who Sparta was.
Today I am well aware that they are the awesome remainder of the once great band At The Drive-in, three albums deep into their post Drive-in carrers. Being a huge fan since hearing their first album, I always kicked myself for not having gotten extra tickets to check them out when we pulled off the System of A Down scam.
Regardless of the past, the point of this post is tonight's show. The opening band were some local, forgettable guys from Hamilton. The next band were Sound Team, whom I quite enjoyed and have to investigate further.
Sparta them selves were fantastic. Their Post-Hardcore/Emo/Experimental sound is quite unique and Jim Ward's voice is even more amazing live than on record. They opened up with Breaking The Broken from Porcelain, followed by La Cerca off the same album, this got the crowd going. But it was not until the third song that things took off. That song was Light Burns Clear off their first album Wiretap Scars, from my vantage point of front-row right in the mosh pit, it sounded like the entire venue was singing along to the song, I sure know I was. During the rest of their set, they performed pretty much all my favourte tracks, such as Glasshouse Tarot, While Oceana Sleeps, Rx Coup, Guns of Memorial Park, etc. Did I mention how great Jim sounded singing all these songs?
At one point, while the band took a moment to catch their breath, Jim was talking to the crowd and he made the most amusing of comments. He said "Next time you vote, don't elect a guy that spends so much time with our president, by the way I'm sorry about the past six years", everyone laughed, and cheered on the sentiment, it was very amusing.
I'm going to wrap this up with a complete setlist, and by saying that the level of passion the entire band showed during their set was amazing. I can't wait to see them again.
- Breaking The Broken
- La Cerca
- Light Burns Clear
- Rx Coup
- Untreatable Disease
- Unstitch Your Mouth
- Glasshouse Tarot
- Guns of Memorial Park
- Assemble the Empire
- Tensioning
- Taking Back Control
- While Oceana Sleeps
- Weather the Storm
- Air
- Cut Your Ribbon
- Atlas
My arms are tied behind disease
I'll probably be gone the next time too
In a corner in a shadow I sit self-obsessesed
Too busy, too important to say goodbye
Yeah the tarot broke, open the glasshouse
So this might just be the saddest day I've ever known
Yeah the tarot broke, open the glasshouse
And this might just be the saddest day I've ever known