Well really two nights ago, I didn’t get to post this yesterday. I’m not a journalist or a music critic. I’m a fan. These are not unbiased thoughts, they are biased, fundamentally we are all biased, that’s what makes differing opinions interesting. These are mine.
It was a rainy, cold, December night in Toronto. My girlfriend and I had plans. We were having burgers with some of her friends. We had been back and forth about whether or not we would go see the Dirty Nil at the Opera House. If we ended up going, we had decided that we would buy tickets from a scalper anyway. It would leave us the chance to walk away, if we decided we were too tired and just wanted to go home.
Ultimately, we decided we would try to go and get in for cheap. If we couldn’t, we would be okay with walking away. It was a sold out show, but I was pretty sure we could get in for about $25 for the both of us. I was pretty happy we were going to try. We showed up late, after the two opening bands had finished. This was one of the factors that played into our hands. The guys out there had been at it for hours in the rain and we knew they would be wanting to go home.
We got off the streetcar and walked over to the venue. My girlfriend has never acquired tickets in this fashion before. I would be taking the lead. We got close and heard the familiar, “Who needs tickets?”. I made eye contact with the guy and the game was on. I told him we needed two tickets. He expertly asked me to make the first offer, hoping I would give him what he wanted without any work (apparently, I look like a sucker). Naturally, I low-balled him back. I offered $25 for the pair, which is what I had in mind as what I wanted to pay. He feigned being insulted and tried to get me to pay $50 for each ticket. There was no way we were going to pay that much. I told him that was much more than we were willing to pay and then he came down to $30 each and then $25 each. At that point, we started to walk away and his desperation kicked in. He realized his sale was disappearing and offered $10 each. I ended up giving him the $25 for the pair, you know, because I’m such a good guy. It’s funny how walking away can create a 75% discount in a matter of seconds.
With that victory in our pocket, we headed inside with confidence. We were excited to see the Dirty Nil. I had never seen them before, my girlfriend had. They’ve opened for Billy Talent in the past. We listened to some of their stuff on YouTube beforehand and really dug their sound. It’s punk influenced and very gritty. It’s also nice to come out and support local bands, as they are from Dundas, Ontario.
The Opera House was pretty full by the time we got in there and was packed by the time they hit the stage. We found a spot over looking the floor from the edge of the level just above. This was an excellent vantage point, where we could see the stage perfectly (no tall people in our way) and could also see all the people down in the pit. It was cool to see the crowd bouncing with each song.
The Dirty Nil really brought it. You could tell this was a special night for them. The bass player was a ball of energy and I really liked the ferocity of the drummer. There’s not a lot of variation in their music. They have two main patterns in their songs. There is a kind of fast one and a bit slower, more brooding one. This didn’t really matter to me. I loved the energy and the sound was great (and loud). As I write this, about 18 hours later, I still have a bit of ringing left in my ears, but I’m not complaining.
The highlight of the night came during the encore. After they played a pretty good version of Cheap Trick’s Surrender, something remarkable happened. They kicked into something I distinctly recognized. The opening riff from Metallica’s Hit the Lights shocked and thrilled me. I lost all control and started screaming the lyrics along with the band. Hit the Lights is one of my favourite songs from my absolute favourite band of all. What an end to the night. It can be a daunting task to cover Metallica and they did it well. Most covers end up a bit slow because that speed is hard to keep up with and it tends to sound awkward. What I love so much about this song choice, was that it came as a total surprise. They suitable impressed this Metallica fan. I’m also now most definitely a Dirty Nil fan. I look forward to seeing them again as soon as possible. It turned out to be a great cold and rainy night at the Opera House.
Am I Evil? 