The chase is better
than the catch

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

The most anticipated film at this year’s Fantasia festival for me was the screening of Lemmy, directed by Greg Oliver and Wes Orshoski, which screened last Thursday. The film, documenting the legendary life of Motörhead frontman and rock ’n’ roll icon Lemmy Kilmister, was a long time coming, but unfortunately it was packed with a bit too much fluff that just left me with an empty feeling. While running around in circles exhaustingly, Lemmy would definitely benefit from another editing session, reducing it to a digestible 90-minute running time. Ill conceived interviews with Poison’s C.C. Deville, some wrestling dude, Steve Vai and that fuggin’ turd-burglar Dave Navarro seemed to be leaps away from what this legend is truly about. The interview with his son originally held promise but went on for far too long. Lemmy is hardly a shit sandwich, as Dave Grohl’s testimonial was genuinely heartfelt and Scott Ian’s description of Lemmy clad in short shorts was utterly hilarious, not too mention the heaping amount of live footage, including rare shots of Lemmy’s days in Hawkwind and the Rockin’ Vickers, but the glossing over of Lemmy’s daily amphetamine ritual and copious alcoholic intake, which make up the bulk of his literary biography, White Line Fever, (admittedly, Lemmy didn’t want to talk about this on film, but uh, the band is called Motörhead!), and no appearance from longtime Motörhead drummer Philthy “Animal” Taylor, made for a bit of a letdown. Being a mega-fan, maybe I just set the bar a little high, but the direct-to-DVD feel throughout the majority of the film just had me missing my couch.

Saturday, July 17, marked the return of garage legends the Gories at the newly reopened Cabaret Mile End (formerly Club Soda and Kola Note). Mick Collins, Peg and Dan did not disappoint, despite many sound hiccups in the main P.A., drum mics constantly getting disconnected and Collins battling malfunctioning guitar pedals. It was as messy, noisy and primal as one would hope for, with their garage stomp in top form. Kudos to Teenbeat Takeover for bringing all of these amazing shows to town, and Cabaret Mile End, which, despite still working out bugs with the sound system, should soon prove to be the best middle-capacity room in town.

The big ticket this week is definitely the Heavy MTL fest at Parc Jean-Drapeau this weekend, with the first day/night on Saturday proving to be just too good to pass up. High on Fire, Mastodon, Slayer—does it get any better?

Before Heavy MTL, though, you can catch the Time’s Up party at its new haunt, Resto Bar St. Jacques (4210 St-Jacques W.) tonight. After three years at the VLT bar Black Jack’s, this Sud-Ouest DJ night—easily one of the best DJ nights in the city for punk rock, noise and ’60s garage, bubblegum and psych—pulls up stakes and moves to swankier digs.

For those of you who can truly brave the decibel blast, don’t miss Toronto’s Metz with Data Cave at Bar St-Laurent 2 on Friday night. Bring earplugs!

“AWAITING THE HOUR OF REPRISAL”
JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM