After being staples of the Warped tour in 2008 and 2009, Colorado's 3OH!3 returned to Calgary with their first headlining show on November 10th. With several sold-out shows on their current Streets of Gold tour (not to mention being moved from the much smaller MacEwan Hall Ballroom to the MacEwan Hall Main Stage on the University campus), it's evident that despite a general dislike by music critics, 3OH!3 have established themselves. Their popularity is growing, and they are in such demand that they sold out of merchandise early in the evening.
How could you not love a show with wolves shooting laser beams out of their eyes? The large robotic canines were the first thing to come to life as the lights went down, until Nathaniel Motte and Sean Foreman, along with their backing band, hit the stage. Kicking things off with I Can Do Anything and Touching On My, they bounced around the stage with incredible energy (making it difficult to photograph them) and getting the crowd of mostly tweens, teens, and
20-somethings singing along and screaming. The third song in - the hit My First Kiss - had the entire room singing along.
What makes a great concert is certainly something for debate. A big part of the success of a live show is the energy level of the band. Some artists go through the motions; such is not the case with Foreman and Motte, who obviously loved every second they were on stage. The crowd fed off of this and reciprocated, leading to a pretty intense atmosphere. Foreman especially bounced around stage like a tennis ball, leading the crowd in singing lines like "Fuck The DJ's" in House Party and the "Whoo-Whoo" that is part of the chorus to Starstrukk.
When I spoke with Motte for an interview in the November edition of GayCalgary & Edmonton Magazine, he said that the band very much focused on their live show, even in the song writing process. Indeed, the concert from start to finish was an absolute blast. Even the parents who chaperoned their kids to the show seemed to have a good time, despite several f-bombs dropped over the course of the night. By the time the show wrapped with Don't Trust Me, I had decided I would absolutely see these guys again.
3OH!3 may have been the headliners but judging by the response to the third band on the bill, Toronto's Down with Webster were just as much of a draw. The 7-piece band had the crowd singing along and swaying their arms to songs like Rich Girls and Whoa Is Me. The evening also featured Hellogoodbye and Southern Belle, making for nearly four hours of music - a great value in today's world of high priced concerts.