Misery+Signals+Concert

media type="custom" key="2404757" After GraveMaker and Outbreak warmed up the crowd, Shai Hulud took the stage. Smoke shot across the crowd, the lights changed everyone's smiling faces a different color, and Shai Hulud began their set. Matt Fox jumped around onstage with his guitar, mouthing the words to the songs he knows so well. Matt Fox tells us that their new album "sounds like an old band doing something new." **View full interview** The music died down only long enough for us to hear Matt shout, "Lets get this place moving!" People either chose to move out of the way or slam into each other, creating a mosh pit of pushing, shoving, and hardcore dancing. People brave enough to stay up front got thrown against the stage, and not a single person backed out of their place. Instead, they were all singing along and banging their heads. Once the set is over, Shai Hulud thanked their fans, collected their equipment and left the stage. There was excitment in the air as Misery Signals entered the stage. The crowd pressed up against each other to get as close as they could to the stage, and they started their set with the song, "Anchor". Two steppers and headbangers thrashed around the floor, the crowd sang along to as much of the song as they knew. After a few old and new songs from Misery signals albums, we all waited, panting and sweaty, for the next song to play. A familiar beat of drums and guitar riffs told us the popular song, "the failsafe", was next. The whole venue screamed out, "Break it down!" and we all sang along to every single word. Front man Karl could hardly be heard above us all. We were all waiting for the big breakdown. (Breakdown: a rhythematic polyrythm of instruments.) The build up was intense and it felt like we were all holding our breath; everyone on the floor stood their ground. The music started getting louder and we all screamed with Karl, "Give us a sign!" "A massive, sweaty, chaotic experience", is how Ryan Basque described the mosh pit during the song's breakdown. It seemed that everyone's fists were flying, people were crowd surfing, and bodies were flying everywhere. When the set finished the building blew up with applause. After the show, people piled out of the building, tired and ready to sleep, while the bands got no sleep. They all stayed behind until about 3am, loading their equipment back into their vehicles. Once they were all ready, they drove off to another destination to play another night of music for their fans.
 * People of all ages waited impatiently outside of the musiplex doors shivering from the cold, but still laughing and chatting amongst each other. Inside 6 bands; Comeback kid, Misery Signals, Bane, Shai Hulud, Grave Maker and Outbreak were setting up their** **merchandise tables, loading in their equipment and tuning their instruments until 6pm, when the doors opened and their fans filled the venue.

Written by Ashley Burke**

Photograph by Broderick Leblanc