With so much going on on Friday, Sept. 8, Calgary punk rock bands Upside Down Man and The Moröns didn’t have a big of an audience as they deserved.
I missed a set of punk covers from the Golden Loadies, which featured members of both bands.
Upside Down man proudly sported their grey hair with pride and cracked self deprecating jokes about being old as they played a solid set they took audience including a few fellow “old” people like me and a lot of younger people eager to experience a taste of ’90s and early 2000s pop punk.
They combined elements of metal and lots of ’90s and 2000s pop punk and mixed with ’90s Canadian alternative rock like Matthew Good band as they slammed through a slid set of old songs and a few new songs featuring punchy riffs and a few harmonized guitar leads and adenoidal vocals similar sounding to Sum 41.
“ We will Make It” was one of several upbeat highlights.
Just to show the young punks in the audience what’s what, they ended their set with a solid cover of Winnipeg punk icons Propagandhi’s “Speculative Fiction,” making for a tough set to follow.
The Moröns were up to the task, playing a frenetic yet laid back style of easy going Los Angeles style pop punk chock full of snarling guitar, and a few hot solos. The bassist leaped around like he was on fire, grinning and shouting background vocals into three separate mic set all over the stage.
The band played a variety of originals plus a cool punk version of Whitney Houston’s “ I Want to Dance with Somebody,” which had a the audience singing along.
—By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
