Gig: Four Corners II

Four Corners II (feat. Lullabye Arkestra / Quest for Fire / Sun Ra Ra Ra / Rituals)

Steelworkers Hall. Friday, January 14, 2011.

The initial Four Corners show was such a success that it seemed inevitable that there'd be sequel. In fact, the concept is so wonderful (and, ex post facto, so obvious) that it's a wonder that this hadn't happened sooner. Basically, instead of having one stage where four bands take turns playing their sets, these shows get rid of the stage and have four bands set up in each of the corners of the room, letting them take turns playing one or two songs. The outcome is a non-stop stream of music, with all of that deadtime for set breaks and changeovers suddenly eliminated as the bands power onwards.

There was also the chance to apply some lessons learned from the first incarnation — this time out in the Steelworkers Hall, there was one more section of the multipurpose room open, creating a slightly bigger space. And besides colour-coded spotlights, each corner was also decorated with a matching light sculpture. And just as importantly, the slow-pouring draft keg was replaced by bottles of beer this time, keeping the queue moving faster.

The advantage of the January version was the the room was less stiflingly hot — at least at first — but it also made hanging out in the patio area less enticing. Speaking to the sense of community these shows foster, I noted members of all four bands from the first Four Corners in attendance — including, of course, the guys from Ancestors, who once again set things up.

While the room filled, the DJ was spinning a variety of dancefloor-friendly stuff (from reggae to ELO) that'd be unlike anything forthcoming from the night's bands. In fact, the overall net vibe of these four bands would be "less punk, more metal" than the previous show. There's still a fair amount of musical terrain covered by the four bands, but definitely a shared love of volume — a fact I regretted as I realized that for the first time in ages I'd forgotten my earplugs.

The room was pretty full by the time things got started, with Rituals, in the red corner, leading off. Of the four, this was the only band I had no familiarity with¹, but they were speaking my language with a sort of gloomy, reverb-laden post-punk sound. I liked the ingredients, but at first I was somewhat unsure if I liked how they mixed them. There were shades of, say, Crystal Stilts, but Rituals brought something darker and harder-edged to it — like angry stoners on acid out to recreate half-remembered metal jams.

Listen to one of Rituals' songs from this show here.

Rituals played two songs, then over to the green corner, where Sun Ra Ra Ra sounded ragged right off the bat — like they'd been standing out in a parking lot screaming all night just to be ready for this. Raging garage punk sizzling in all directions, this is a band that takes "Psychotic Reaction" to heart as much as a manifesto as a sonic template — inspirational lyric: "you really can't control what's on the other side of your mind."

Check out of of Sun Ra Ra Ra's songs from this show here.

Quest for Fire were a literal change of pace, with their first song coming out at about a third of the speed of Sun Ra Ra Ra's frenzied spasms. The band was beefed up for the night with extra guitar from Holy Mount's Daniel Losic, and they were deliciously sludgy in a bliss/drone sort of way — "it's a very blue scene right now," quipped the guy standing behind me, correctly noting that their colour fit their vibe just fine. The only other time I'd seen the band, quite early on in their run, hadn't done a thing for me — but this was going down just right.

Listen to one of Quest for Fire's songs from this show here.

Unsurprisingly, Quest For Fire played one song in about the same time the other bands had played two, and then the action moved across the room to Lullabye Arkestra. For their own regular sets, the husband-and-wife duo of Kat Taylor and Justin Small have developed a theatrical build, with smoke machines and rising keyboard drones. But here, it was right into it, and as their musical fury burst out in frenzied bass and pummelled drums, the guy in front of me set to some honest-to-goodness headbanging. That's the sort of intensity that Lullabye Arkestra can bring, and when they're raging full-force, they're something to behold.

Listen to one of Lullabye Arkestra's songs from this show here.

And then it was back to Rituals as the second lap began. It's worth noting once again how effortlessly everything flowed, with no sound problems and bands striking it up as the last notes from the band before them were still fading. Quest For Fire hit their faster gear, which is still a much slower chug than anyone else on hand and Lullabye Arkestra broke out a pair of new songs — one of which, with Taylor's vox and a chorus of "set it on fire!" was pretty, um, inflammable.

By the third time around, the bands were really hitting their stride, especially Rituals, who, all at once "clicked" with me. The crowd that had been surging from corner to corner as bands switched off were starting to list now, some people fading back to grab a beer or marshal their strength while Sun Ra Ra Ra were playing like Thirteenth Floor Elevators on meth. Meanwhile, as Quest For Fire played, I was half-drunkenly convinced for a minute they were pulling out an Alice in Chains cover, or something vaguely familiar that I couldn't pin down. It was only after the fact that I realized it was, in fact, Pink Floyd's "Fearless" — a non-classic that went down well with some ragged extra heaviousity.

At the start of the fourth and final lap around the room, it's called out that the bar is closing in a half-hour. By now, the floor was slick with spilled beer, and the room had indeed heated up, the windows now fogged over. As Rituals completed their last pair of songs, there were lots of people staggering around with two or three beers. Sun Ra Ra Ra launched into a bad-vibe version of Spacemen 3's "Rollercoaster" that seemed to be more to call for damaged schizophrenia than liberating mind expansion.

That would give a peek ahead to the grand finale, when all the bands combined for a four-cornered version of "Losing Touch With My Mind", another Spacemen 3 cover, with all four bands simultaneously raising as much cacophony as they could muster while trying to stay in sync. Quest For Fire were the loudest, and hence the best to use as a guide. But once they all got going, it was like a sonic apocalypse — or at least some kind of Dionysian mindmelt, and the room broke out into clumps of people dancing, with groups of friends wandering around high-fiving each other, and people making out along the scarce available wall space. The "song" lasted about six minutes, the bands shifting in and out from each other, and then ended as each of them fell into a long squall of feedback for another couple minutes.

Listen to the intense madness of the finale here.

Quite exhausting, but also a helluva ride. Slightly more than an hour-and-a-half, all told. After that, the outside cold felt rather bracing, although the conditions were less conducive to people simply collapsing outside on the lawn to recover.²

Once again, if you noticed that the pictures here are way better-looking than they normally are in these parts, that's because I've borrowed a few shots with the kind permission of Ivy Leah. Ivy captures the passion of bands because she's passionate about them as well — and can be found right up in the thick of it at many of the city's finer no-bullshit rock'n'roll shows. Check out her stuff here.

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¹ With the crowd rushing from corner to corner while I held my spot at the centre of the room, I didn't realize during the set that it was the multitasking Leon Taheny (a member of Germans, and seen on stage recently with Bruce Peninsula — as well as a producer of many fine records) behind the drumkit.

² And just to catch up with the bands involved, it should be noted that Rituals have a gig at Parts & Labour on Saturday, July 23, 2011, and Quest For Fire is playing at The Silver Dollar this Friday (July 15, 2011). And, most excitingly, Four Corners III (featuring Dentata, Tropics, Boars and The Soupcans) goes down at the Steelworkers Hall on Friday July 22, 2011.