AFI, Saint Alvia
Molson Canadian Amphitheatre in Toronto, ON
August 18, 2010
Photos and Review by: Pete Nema
To sell out one of the larger venues in Toronto, like Green Day did with the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, requires appeal to a wide demographic of listeners, and Green Day brought out the widest demographic range of people I've seen at a single concert to date.
Green Day
Before Green Day hit the stage, we were graced with the drunk pink bunny that has been spotted at many shows prior. The current condition of the pink bunny suit is a little worse for the wear, and from up close it definitely appeared as though that pink bunny has been living in the alley. The drunk pink bunny left, and Green Day took the stage at 8:00pm playing straight through until 11:00pm, with only a short break before the encore. My second three hour show in as many months (the last one being Ween — quite a different show).
Although the length of the show tested the patience of a few of the parents in the audience, the majority of the crowd was enthusiastic right until the very end. From the toddler (with suitable ear protection) sitting on her father's shoulders, to the elderly hunch-backed grey-bearded dancing dude in the in the stands (who would emphasize his moves by stating "Fuck yeah!"), the crowd was incredibly receptive to all the requests that Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar) made of them. And there were lots of such requests, but mostly he just likes to see us with our arms in the air.
The show is designed around the fans, with Billie Joe occasionally selecting people from the crowd to come up on stage for a variety of antics. On-stage sing-alongs, stage dives, dance parties, and one guy who did an absolutely incredible job on lead vocals. The band mixed it up with enough out of the ordinary stuff that the three hours never felt like it was dragging. A venue-sized sing-along to an acoustic version of "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams", a t-shirt gun used to fire shirts far off into the crowd, possibly the worst Elvis impression I've ever witnessed, a Benny Hill-esque romp, and two cover medleys were all used to break up the set. Hilariously, the second medley included a bit of "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" by Monty Python among some of the more obvious choices. Behind the band, huge balls of fire would occasionally erupt, and song endings were emphasized with a variety of pyrotechnics or storms of confetti.
Favourite band or not, it's hard not to like Green Day in concert. Their show is suitable for entire families, something that was not an uncommon sight that night. It's almost like going to see a good family movie, but one with at least a few PG-rated moments. Just be sure to work out your arms before going because you can expect to be asked to "get those hands in the air" regularly throughout the night.
AFI
AFI was on stage for an early start, opening the night. Although their show pales in comparison to what Green Day had in store, their high energy was an effective delivery mechanism for their music.
Saint Alvia
Like the last time I was at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, as soon as the main act was off the stage, an aftershow started up on the roof of the American Express lounge, and this time it was Saint Alvia who came out of hiding for the event. It's actually been quite a while since I last saw Saint Alvia. Their 2007 release included the heavily catchy "Don't Wanna Wait Forever" which is the song that first caught my attention. They put out another release, Between The Lines, in 2008 and played a set at Virgin Festival right around the same time. Rob Pasalic (guitar, vocals) tells me they've been working on new material, some of which we heard during this rooftop aftershow. They also did at least one cover, and Tré Cool (drummer for Green Day) even joined them on the rooftop stage for a bit.
