Dayglo Abortions @ Traxide
W/ Citizen Rage, Union Thugs, Feed
June 25th, 2022
Dayglo Abortions are a legendary Canadian hardcore punk band. Based out of Victoria, British Columbia and active since 1979, the band is considered one of the foremost punk bands in Canadian history. As such when the band rolled through Montreal for a performance at everyone’s favourite local D.I.Y. space, Traxide, I knew I’d have to go. My partner and I grabbed our beers and headed down to see what all the fuss was about.
For those who don’t know, Traxide’s exact location is kept hidden on purpose. “Ask a punk”, and all that. So if you’re in Montreal and you want to go see a sick-as-fuck punk show but don’t know where to go, this is your spot. All you’ve got to do is fund some vaguely punk-looking people and ask them to point you in the right direction, but I digress.
The first band up on the docket for the night was Feed, a local three piece crust punk outfit with elements of grindcore, powerviolence, black metal and thrash woven into their music. I’d seen them several times before, but this time was slightly different. The band had recently lost their vocalist, bringing them from a four piece down to a three piece. In spite of this they still managed to pull off a pretty kickass set, with their bassist stepping up to the plate for most of the vocal performance. Their drummer is by far the standout member of the group, though. He is absolutely insane behind the kit, showcasing a level of stamina and endurance and power that mesmerizes me every time I see him perform.
Up next was Union Thugs, a rather large folk punk outfit from Montreal who have a pretty overt pro-union, pro-working class message in their message (as if you couldn’t tell from their name). The group performs with a combination of different folk and rock instruments, including an accordion, harmonica, electric guitars and drums. I’m not usually into folk punk as a genre as I feel like a lot of it is either phony or just not very good, but this band in particular I think is fantastic. Their songs are catchy and well written and strongly encourage audience sing-alongs. They really put on a fantastic show, and even if their music didn’t quite fit in in comparison to the other bands on the bill, they were still really enjoyable to watch.
After that was Citizen Rage, a hardcore band from Calgary, Alberta. Aside from Dayglo Abortions these guys were probably my favourite of the night. They were super heavy with tons of catchy, mosh-inducing, crushing, chunky riffs. Their vocalist had a very classic 80’s / 90’s New York hardcore vibe to him, and he put as much effort as possible into inspiring the crowd to mosh. He also took a moment to address some of the serious political issues in Canada right now, such as the ongoing travesty regarding the residential school system and the uncovering of mass graves of indigenous children. It was moving, and it’s always good to see bands take a stance and use their platform to try and spread awareness of what kind of bullshit is going on in their country, especially when there are just as many bands out there who use their music to promote hate.
Finally it was time for Dayglo Abortions to take the stage, the main act. These guys still have a ton of energy for a band that’s been around since 1979. They clearly love what they do and they love playing in Montreal. The energy in the crowd was palpable, as people sung along to classics from their 1986 record Feed Us a Fetus, like “Argh Fuck Kill” and “Proud to Be Canadian”. Aside from that the band was also touring in support of their new record, Hate Speech, and played some new material off of it. Though I have to be honest that I wasn’t super familiar with a lot of their songs, I still enjoyed their set a great deal. They played for an absurdly long time. It felt like their set eclipsed an hour, but I also really drunk, and so were they (by the looks of it at least), so I really have no concept of how long they played.
All in all it was a fantastic show. Dayglo was awesome, as were Citizen Rage, Union Thugs, and Feed. My main point of writing this live show account is mostly to encourage people to check out Traxide (if you can find it). It’s by far my favourite venue in Montreal and hosts some of the sickest shows you’ll get to witness in this city. Hell, my own bands play there all the time. In all honesty though, bigger bands like Dayglo Abortions playing at this venue is kind of a semi-rare occurrence. For the most part it’s smaller bands, usually locals (or small groups from Ontario or elsewhere in Quebec), who take the stage there, which means that you get to check out tons of new bands who are just getting their start.
If you’re in Montreal, seek this place out. You won’t regret it.
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 