The good people at SteamWhistle Unsigned decided to throw another party at The Phoenix since the previous one, involving techno-drums duo Woodhands, The Carps and Creature, was so successful. This time around, dance-punk westeners’ You Say Party! We Say Die took the helm for this night. Along with them were Montreal’s best, Think About Life, and locals’ Little Girls.

I had missed Little Girls set, so I can’t say anything about them. I’ve got to stop being late for shows.

Moving on, Montreal’s Think About Life took the stage just before 11pm. Noise Producer Graham Van Pelt went on first and brought out experimental sounds of yonder (old TAL/Fort Miracle greatness). Following Van Pelt were the rest of his helpful music-making crew. Now sporting a new drummer by the name of Greg, Think About Life have completed their new look for a new crowd. I will always miss Matt Shane (ex-drummer) and will always see him as a part of this wonderful band. Just thought I’d say that. Anyways, this was the first time I didn’t sweat at a TAL show. The Phoenix isn’t really a place to see this band at their utmost epic and heroic. Regardless, they’re extremely good at what they do and they all have hearts of gold.

You Say Party! We Say Die! headlined the night, showcasing their recent record entitled ‘XXXX‘ (aka. LOVE). There were lit-up X’s across the back of the stage to showcase this theme. Visually, it was neat. That’s about it. Anyways, for a dance-punk band that rocks out while highly-entertaining lead singer Becky Ninkovic sings over the tunes, YSP!WSD! put on a decent show. Of course my allegiance for a fun dance-rock show clearly leans toward TAL, but that’s merely personal opinion. I had enjoyed parts of the show where the tempo would immediately ramp up, such as when the band played ‘The Gap’. The band got their call for an encore, and that was that.

SteamWhistle Unsigned put on a great night. While they were competing against The Rural Alberta Advantage show at Lee’s Palace just down Bloor street, SteamWhistle did enough to spread the word about new bands on the rise.

Whether you’ve never heard of them before or you ruined dance floors with their powerful affinity for love and vigor, Think About Life will never fail to entertain. It is only understood that a group of nuns practicing a vow of silence would be difficult to break. But, for the most part, these guys can make new friends easily.

The band started off the night to excited new-comers who had probably heard the band’s sound here and there. Their new record ‘Family’ has grabbed peoples attention quite easily compared to their previous record (which, by the way, is still one of my favourite records of all time). One could say that ‘Family’ is more friendly to the ears. Oh, I love it, too. I just love the S/T record better, if not best. It’ll never die in my heart.

Ok. Cleared up.

A few songs in, only a few people were dancing. This got me bothered. So, after being littered in confetti (thanks Martin), I put away my camera and decided to make a mess…of people! The slam-dancing pitters came about and the sweaty fun began! After seeing Think About Life a countless number of times, I’ve learned that they feed off the audience’s energy. Members would run into the audience, push and pull their way around, hand out the mic for random people to sing & scream and, to my amusement, an imaginary joint.

Following them were DDMMYYYY. To be honest, I photoed for them a couple of weeks back and I was very happy with the shots. So, I put the camera down and enjoyed the set. Odd slam-dancing, broken drum-sticks for no reason, and I was still littered in confetti. Sweat + confetti. C’mon.

ADDED NOTE: For those of you who were at the show and heard me yelling out old requests, this is an example of what Think About Life were like a few years ago (mind Graham in the dashing ensemble): click.

For a detailed write-up on the festival, visit Narratives.