The Lizard’s last call

With an almost decade-long hiatus behind them, the Jesus Lizard’s reunion show at le National last Friday was nothing short of incredible. Montreal has been blessed with amazing shows this year, with Wolves in the Throne Room, the Ex with Ethiopian sax giant Getatchew Mekuria, Bill Frisell, Faust, the Butthole Surfers and Nomeansno instantly springing to mind, but last Friday, the Jesus Lizard beat them all and proved once again they are one of the best live bands of all time. It’s truly bittersweet that we won’t ever see them plow through “Puss,” “Mouth Breather” or “Boilermaker” ever again. Singer David Yow may be the clown prince and one of the greatest rock frontmen of all time, but Duane Dennison, Mac McNeilly and David Wm. Sims easily held their own. The intense hour and a half, including two encores, that touched on every corner of the band’s career, left everybody well wrung out. The world will lose one of its greatest rock bands at the end of the year, when the Jesus Lizard play their final show on New Year’s Eve in their adopted hometown of Chicago, but thankfully, we were lucky enough to get a final glimpse of true greatness.

Before I prematurely jot down the Jesus Lizard as my favourite show of 2009, there are still some likely suspects playing at the end of the week that could put elbows in the Lizard’s ribs, namely Toronto post-rock collective Do Make Say Think, who start their two-night stint on Wednesday, with the Happiness Project and Years opening both nights at la Sala Rossa. If you haven’t seen this multi-limbed monster live, do yourself a favour and grab tickets quick.

In the more immediate future, you can check out the power pop/rawk of Dead Messenger with Lights Off and the In and Outs tonight, Nov. 19, at Casa del Popolo. On Friday, smoke some bad banana peels and nod to the heavy psych of Quest for Fire with the Key of K at the Green Room, or help celebrate Il Motore’s first anniversary with a night of soul/rock with the Mercy Now (featuring an ex-member of Shikasta), the Outfit and DJs Grand Mal and Lynne T. Admission is free.

Giving serious competition to this week’s big ticket, Do Make Say Think, is the blackened metal of Marduk, Nachtmystium and Mantic Ritual at Foufounes Électriques on Saturday night, which should end just in time to check out Fucked Up, who take the 11:45 p.m. slot at the M for Montreal showcase a couple of doors down at Metropolis. Happening at l’Escogriffe on Saturday night is Schooner, Tam, the bluesy punk of Ashtray Heart and David and the Woods.

A good two-nighter for the noiseniks out there would be Drainolith, AIDS Wolf side project Hamborghinni, les Beyond and Wapstan with DJs Sketchbagg and Shenghai at Casa del Popolo on Monday night, and the shearing noise of duo Fuck Buttons destroying Il Motore on Tuesday with Growing and, once again, the hardest working band in the noise biz, Drainolith.

Finally, on Wednesday night, you can celebrate hump night with an evening of classic death and grind at le National with the Faceless, Dying Fetus, Beneath the Massacre, Suffokate and Enfold Darkness.

DON’T GET ME WRONG, I LIKE HIM JUST FINE…
JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM