63 Monroe, CTO Benefit

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Saturday night had us in the city for a CTO benefit event at the Palasad Social Club at Oxford and Adelaide (London, Ontario). We had advance tickets and were glad we did; the show was sold out and many who wanted to come were turned away!

We stayed in town at an airport hotel and took Uber back and forth rather than attempt driving home under the influence. As well, with Kate's recent ankle injuries, she's not a long ball hitter, staying in town meant she could sneak away when needed. And she did after the second act had started!

There were a couple of bands we were especially keen to see: 63 Monroe (headlining) and the Wabi Sabis. Unfortunately the Wabi Sabis had a temporary meltdown (since resolved) and had cancelled all of their scheduled performances. Support acts for this event were Drug Rug, Thunder Queens and Wasted Potential who played in that order (see seperate Photo Album of these support acts). The link on the photo at left will take you to 63 Monroe's performance.

We had never been to the Palasad and had missed the record release party there for the NFG/63 Monroe record reissue back in June as we were travelling in Australia. We were especially keen to see them again as Markii Burnaway, with the record release, has come back to the band (he tells us this is the 5th time he has returned to the fold). Peter Dekoker is on bass and also plays with the Wabi Sabis. And there's Scott, pictured, to make three "original" players of the 1980's who take center stage supported by Brian McMillan on second guitar and Shiraz Ebrahim on drums. We were greeted warmly by these rogues and embraced as long lost friends. We keep in touch on social media and Dave O'Halloran's archival work (on Facebook and in this blog) has rekindled old acquaintances who were into that scene.

Call the Office (CTO) was a live music venue in London: also a bit of a dive bar. Located in the former York Hotel, at the corner of York and Clarence, it had a long history of supporting local talent and bringing in some important acts. It closed a few years ago, another Covid pandemic victim, but apparently Secada Films are doing a video documentary on the history of the club. Hence this benefit concert to raise funds to help make that happen. Tony Lima was the music promoter who ran the club; now busy with Yeah Right records and promoting this and other events around town. He had reached out to us for photos used on the NFG/63 Monroe record recently reissued. Scott Bentley tells us that 63 Monroe played the last night at CTO before it closed. I had hoped to meet Tony, and several others, who we only know via social media. Kerry Piper was there and wanted to reach out to me (Scott pointed me out a couple of times). I've encouraged him to do so next time as our time here is finite.

Of the three opening acts I was most impressed by the youngest: Thunder Queens is a threesome of high school girls (Violet Bruneel, Lola Hayman, and Clara Magnan) who know their instruments, write their own music and play with a passion. They're also the most musical of the opening acts and seem to have a large fan base of like aged girls (we had wondered why there were so many teen girls in the audience). They describe their music as "punk grunge" but, to my mind, it's more on the progressive alt/pop side without the grunge. Their drummer is amazingly fast and accurate. Dave tells me they have an LP out that we should find (see their Bandcamp page). He was surprised that they didn't win a recent London high school "Battle of the Bands" contest; they should have!

Drug Rug and Wasted Potential share a style/voice and some personnel. They're very much into what I would call speed metal with a little too much growling voice, droning guitars, pounding bass and way too much testosterone posturing. All of the music was painfully loud. We had brought ear plugs, which helped, but kept losing them. I guess we ought to buy better versions as it's unlikely anyone is going to turn the sound system down.

We arrived early as we were warned that seating would be at a premium (with Kate's ankle injuries she simply cannot stand). There's a riser area where we found a table next to Dave and Rena who greeted us warmly. Dave tells me he continues to work on our photos of the 1980's with no clear end in sight. We ordered some drinks at the bar, they make very good Margaritas, and even had a bit of pizza. When Kate left I joined Dave and Rena at their table. Dave had a friend from UIC (that band from Exeter) with him.

I was wearing a green DOA T-shirt, "Joe Keithley meets Stephen Shithead" that pokes fun at former prime minister Stephen Harper (2006-2015). It would have been from that period, I can't recall how I came by the shirt, it might have been a "Green Party" version as Joey ran for the Greens. In any case lots of folks were wearing DOA shirts and many commented on mine. Kate says we should have dug out some of our old buttons for the event.

The crowd had thinned out a bit when 63 Monroe took the stage, it was late in the evening for geezers like me and the teens from high school. Scott had changed into a more flamboyant outfit and they jumped right into it. Tunes from those early days like "Goodbye Guyana", "Hijack Victim" and "Giv'em Back" (send back the Shah) speak to a time and events that the "Thunder Queens" and their young peers would have no knowledge of. But I can recall vividly Jim Jones (the reverend), the People's Temple and reading the New York Times with some shock that weekend long ago (1978). But the beauty of these songs is how much fun it is/was to be a "Weekend Punk" and "Pogo! Pogo!" at "The Boot". I even enjoyed Markii's version of "Henry VIII" which I have pooh-poohed in the past. Oddly, but rightly, the band offered a bit of an apology for "Hey Little Girl" from "Stinkin' Out the Joint" (1985).

The band was tight, playing with little break between tunes. Scott was as wildly flamboyant as always but in control. Peter seemed to be having the time of his life smiling broadly and bouncing off his old friends. Brian McMillan shared guitar duties with Markii having been there for the last 20 years (I recognized him from our 25th anniversary party). On drums, Shiraz Ebrahim, who was the soundman at CTO for the last 15 years, held the beat and kept the music moving steadily forward. They're no longer kids, they have nothing to prove, they have the laurels to stand on and an audience who really loved those tunes and their memories of a time when we all were so much younger. 

Well done guys, keep it up! Yes, I wanna be a punk. If only a weekend punk!

Kate and I will have our 45th wedding anniversary next summer (2025) and are talking about having the gang play for us again. Let's hope we all make it until then...