Even before it reached its capacity, the Biltmore was filled with the Friday night energy of a crowd determined to have a great night. From opening sets by Vancouver bands jo passed and Dead Soft to Bully’s classic punk encore, the audience’s energy was matched and amplified by the show’s stellar line-up.
Jo passed played to an attentive crowd that grew as their set progressed. They were as compelling to watch as they were to hear, with the band headbanging in time to the percussion and distorted guitar of “Singular.”
Dead Soft followed with a solid rock set, played with contagious enthusiasm. By the end of their set, the woman in front of me was whipping her hair so forcefully that the people around her grew alarmed. It’s rare to see an audience react so intensely to an opening act but Dead Soft’s set was so passionate, I damn near whipped my hair, too.
The level of intensity was magnified when Bully came onstage. The crowd rushed towards the front as the band played “Milkman,” working itself into a frenzied mosh pit by the song’s end. Bully performed almost the entirety of Feels Like with a forcefulness that exceeded their otherwise excellent record. The power of Alicia Bognanno’s vocals was unabated through the entire show. As I watched the show from the edge of the mosh pit, I absorbed the energy exchanged between the band and its audience. The audience moved to Stewart Copeland’s percussion and shouted along to the sound of Bognanno’s emotion on the chorus of “Trash.”
The show reached its synergetic peak when Bully played their best-known song “Trying.” Even those who had stayed back from the crush of the mosh pit jumped into the fray. The band closed their set with “I Remember,” Bognanno’s rawest vocal performance of the album and of the night before they returned for a highly demanded encore.
For their encore, Bully covered “Oh Bondage! Up Yours!” by X-Ray Spex, complete with a saxophone solo. The original version of the song opens with “Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard.” As a commanding talent in a male-dominated genre, Bognanno is the furthest thing from a silent woman. Bully’s music demands to be heard; the audience at the Biltmore was eager to shout their support.
Song of the Day: Trying by Bully
This review was originally posted on BeatRoute Magazine‘s website.
