It was an endless wait. But for 3,000 Central Alberta fans, Thursday night’s Billy Talent concert was totally worth it.
The hard-driven Mississauga rockers made their first-ever appearance at Red Deer’s Centrium — and the group’s local fans went completely ballistic.
Not only did they have to wait years for Billy Talent to finally make an appearance in this burg, they also had to sit though three other bands — the Cancer Bats, Against Me! and Alexisonfire — before Billy Talent took the stage.
So when energetic lead singer Ben Kowalewicz finally appeared in a blue spotlight to sing Devil in a Midnight Mass, the whole pent-up crowd went wild — from the hundreds of fans who raised their arms in the stands, to crowd surfers in the mosh pit in front of the stage.
“Well, hello Red Deer! This is the very, very first time we’ve ever played here so thank you all for coming,” said Kowalewicz, who admitted he had no idea why Red Deer was formerly bypassed.
Judging by the riotous crowd reaction to the band, he added, “It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
The four-member group, including guitarist Ian D’Sa, bassist Jon Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk, made up for lost time by delivering an intense lineup of songs, including the popular Saint Veronika, about a suicidal girl who “can’t leave this world behind,” and the most recent mega-hit Rusted From the Rain.
During the latter, Kowalewicz donned a red Team Canada Crosby jersey.
Billy Talent’s boisterous lead singer rarely stood still. He kept prowling the stage, flicking his long bangs, and using a downstage box as a platform to deliver River Below and Surrender (with a mystery singer who briefly provided additional harmony).
Group members temporarily slowed things down — as much as Billy Talent ever does — to perform Wild Sparrows, a song that went out “to anybody who’s ever lost somebody.”
They then revved up their energy for The Dead Can’t Testify, and Diamond on a Land Mine, other tunes that particularly resonated with die-hard fans — like the guy playing air-guitar, or the bare-chested wild man headed for the mosh pit.
One whole row of young fans couldn’t stop jumping up and down and seemed to know every lyric. More widespread singing broke out when Billy Talent finished up the show with the big three — Devil on My Shoulder, Fallen Leaves, and Red Flag.
It’s a good thing this group was the headliner, it would have been a hard act to follow.
Alexisonfire is the other band that many people came to see.
It appeals to fans who like their rock music so screamin’ loud, the lyrics are barely comprehensible.
And judging by Alexisonfire’s gold record sales and the crowd reaction, the Ontario group has a large following.
While it could be argued that Alexisonfire played a lot of similar-sounding material, the band did offer a cool, slightly slower song called The Northern, which was billed as “an old blues spiritual” for anybody who uses religion “to reinforce their own insecurities.”
Against Me! is a five-person Florida group with potential. For one thing, Against Me! offered up some musical diversity with occasional Celtic and blues riffs.
The band’s lyrics were also discernible and sometimes even catchy.
The song Stop! states: “Stop! Think! Figure out what’s important to you and make a serious decision.”
Who can argue with that advice?
The evening’s opening act was the hard-core punk band, the Cancer Bats, from Toronto.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com