Live Review: Lagwagon, The Flatliners, Dan Cribb & The Isolated

As most opener bands can attest to, the room is usually empty when they start to play, populated only by a handful of diehard fans, friends and family. This was not the case however for Dan Cribb & The Isolated and, especially for a Sunday night, the room already crowded. 

Guitarist Scott Connor had somehow hurt his wrist (best ask him why) but he soldiered on through the set, ever so professional (or maybe high on cat painkillers). As Dan Cribb said, they were just so happy to be playing. Dan Cribb & The Isolated set the scene and warmed the crowd up for Canadian band, The Flatliners, their first time back since their tour in 2012.

It wasn't long before The Flatliners had the crowd eating out of their hands, singing along loudly with the band. Of course, that one guy had to scream out songs at them. Their fast, loud punk worked the crowd up, getting everyone pumped. It's always great to see a band interacting with the crowd and loving every moment and The Flatliners did not disappoint. Both The Flatliners and Lagwagon have toured in Europe, Asia, the US and Australia this year alone, but any signs of fatigue weren't obvious from the way both acts performed on stage. The amount of energy that they played with infected the crowd ensuring no one would find it easy to sleep once the night ended.

Before long, the crowd surfers and the stage divers were getting right into Lagwagon, the mosh a tangled entity writhing along with the music. They played so many songs including Bombs Away, Coffee And Cigarettes, Island Of Shame and Heartbreaking Music — dedicated to so many friends that they have lost, the latest one being Brandon Carlisle from Teenage Bottle Rockets.

For many of us music lovers, it's the intimate gigs with no barriers that are the most exciting and the most enjoyable, especially as it's so easy to walk on stage and deliver a bottle of whiskey, sing into the mic or jump straight into the mosh, everyone making sure that no one gets hurt. Lagwagon may have played at larger venues and festivals but here, they played as hard, as loud, as enthusiastically and as brilliantly as always.