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| Alert The Medic |
November 23, 2012 – Halifax’s Alert The Medic was back in town this week on their latest tour of Ontario. On Saturday night they played a late show at the Underground on King. Unfortunately the line-up at the Underground was far too long, so Plan B was Wednesday night at The Hideout, one of our favourite venues. We first saw Alert The Medic back in May, on the excellent advice of Kanae at Music Psychos, on the last night of their residency at The Supermarket.
Last time the band played a cover of With A Little Help From My Friends. On Wednesday they played two fantastic covers, first was Harvey Danger’s fun song Flagpole Sitta (I’m not sick, but I’m not well…). The second was The Who’s Join Together, a gutsy one to play live, considering it was one of Daltry’s best recorded performances, but they pulled it off well. Mostly though it was all the songs from their incredible 2009 CD, We, The Weapon which is one of the best Canadian indie albums ever recorded. Highlights included Atlas, Cause For Alarm, and especially the rocking Cross Your Fingers (even without the bagpipes). They also played a great new song called Cut, Copy and Paste.
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| Ryan MacDonald |
Alert The Medic songs have strong catchy melodies, thanks in large part to frontman Ryan MacDonald’s vocals, which are both strong and melodic. Bassist Matt Campbell and Dale Wilson form one of the best rhythm sections around. Guitarist Troy Arseneault is a great player but the whole of Alert The Medic is much stronger than the sum of the already strong parts. I had the chance to talk to the guys after the gig and it looks like they’ll be back in the area in the new year and going back into the studio. This is great news for their fans.
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| Alert The Medic at The Hideout |
Although no signage was visible on stage, their tour must be sponsored by Shell Canada the way they’ve crisscrossed the province. They already played Ottawa and Hamilton on this trip and next their stop was The Mansion in Kingston on Thursday night, then they’re headed back to Peterborough for Friday night and Brantford on Saturday night. I hope they collect Air Miles.
Review and photos by Steve Mallinson
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