Review by Jason Wellwood; Photos by Ryan Trush
Having just endured a 10 hour power failure and one hell of a fall storm (90 mile an hour gusts of wind, seriously cold rain) I needed a bit of a party. Thankfully it was easily found at Crocks as the ladies of Civet geared up literally as I was walking through the door. I was aware of Civet from their release on Epitaph (Hell Hath No Fury) but other than seeing the disc I hadn’t listened to much from them. I had been anxious to get through the storm to see them and was very happy I did! The four ladies of Civet were exactly what I was hoping for: powerful, tuneful and fun! Even though their music is infused with a ton of punk rock attitude, they smiled their way through an amazing set and genuinely looked happy to be on stage and in Thunder Bay. The songs of Civet seem to be a great fusion of punk and 70’s hard rock swagger, making them very easy to sing along with and pump your fist. I felt their set was altogether too short and I’ll definitely be front row centre for their return next year to promote their forthcoming record. These ladies are killers!
The return of Nashville Pussy to Thunder Bay was a long time coming for a lot of people. I think the weather kept a lot of them home (a good portion of the city still didn’t have power) but Nashville Pussy didn’t care. Ripping through an awesome set that highlighted mostly the last two albums but at least visited the majority of the albums, Blaine, Ruyter, Jeremy and Eddie all looked like they were having one hell of a good time. Wait, did I say Eddie? Yep, Eddie Spaghetti that is! Seems bassist Karen Cuda had a family emergency to tend to, so the band called up the Supersuckers main man and he stepped right in. He definitely did not look out of place on the stage in his cowboy hat and mirrored shades but…I have to admit that Karen would have been a much prettier sight! Blaine spent the majority of the evening singing with his eyes closed (possibly because the center light was shining directly in his eyes) but since he left the majority of the moving around to Ruyter, there were no mishaps. Seeing Ruyter in the flesh really makes you realize how hard this lady works. She channels the guitar gods and contorts herself into any number of rock poses but never misses a note. She’s incredible! By the midpoint of their set I noticed that even the laziest of the crowd were pressed onto the floor, beer was slopping and fists were pounding. Nashville Pussy came to Thunder Bay and seriously kicked its ass.
If you haven’t seen either band, I highly recommend seeing them both. The forces of nature couldn’t shut them down and in Thunder Bay, that’s saying something!
