I haven”t  been to as many punk rock shows as I would have liked to this year, but there was no way I was going to miss No Means No Drummer Jon Wright’s new punk rock supergroup Dead Bob, who played a close to sold-out show at the Slice, March 16.

 

John Wright showed his jazz chops and howling punk rock  howling vocals from behind his kit, set to the right side of the stage. Byron Slack (Invasives)  and his partner Kristy Lee Audette (Rong) added  guitar. Ford Pier (Ford Pier and the Vengeance Trio, DOA, Roots Round up, Junior Gone Wild, Rheostatics) and his partner from the pub he used to run in Powelll River before Covid shut it down, bassist Colin MacRae, who used to play in Victoria math rock band  Pigment Vehicle laid down the bottom end.

Dead Bob worked through their debut CD. beginning with “Just Breathe.”

 

John Wright advised bringing ear plugs  for the show during his interview a few weeks ago, which is advice I wished I heeded.

 The band  was a force of nature and tight as could be not to mention as supersonically  loud as promised .

 They set down an intense groove throughout.

  Ford Pier jumped  up and and down playing his  keyboard set at the left side of the stage.

 He picked up a trombone and joined Audette’s trumpet  to add a whole lot of brass for a  couple of songs.

“ White Stone Eyes ” came early in the set.

 “ Party of One”   was another highlight.

 

The brass came back later in the set for a few extended jams.

In between leaping around and adding to the gang vocals,  Byron Slack also sang lead on a song.

 They wound down their set  with The album’s title track “Life Like” which showed off Audette’s vocals. 

 

 Of course, they were called back for an encore. A stripped down band retuirned to the stage including  Wright, Kristie Lee Audette singing and  Colin McRae settingdown a menacing bass groove fro NoMeansNo’s “Metronome.”

 

The rest of the band joined them for one more song.

 

 Calgary punk rock  Go Fuck Yourself played a surreal set of short, 10 to 20 second long songs, each punctuated with “ Go Fuck Yourself.

 Then they must have set  some sort or weird record  for longes song with the fewest. chords and fewest words— three chords and  “Go Fuck Yourself,” which they played for 20 plus minutes before making way for Dad Bob.

 I missed Queen of the Worms opening set, but they are always a fantastic.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor