Balade À Toronto avec Bad Objection

Work was over, it was exactly 18h. I went back home, tired as fuck. I wanted to slouch my self down a hole, dive deep in darkness and lay my bones to rest. But the road awaits, from the corner of my eyes, mushrooms rest in the corner of my room, posters are solidely pressed to the wall. The light beems, shine, twirls. I get up, dress up, and swoop right back in my car. Cigarette ashes flicker all over the car, as I drive in a hurry to hauler up around the north shore. But as I get around, I miss the autoroute's exit towards Laval, more driving and then surprised I am to realize I've once again missed the autoroute's exit again. Geez, I'm not even high yet, no flock flesh eating molecules are in my veins yet to be and yet I've missed two exits. Fast forward an hour later, I'm finally at Jake's house. We get all funky, funny and forward we go on a little trip to Oka, before daylight breaks calling the hoops and cooks on the road. 

Oka was full of effing bugs, all sorts, stampedes, thrips, stoneflies and many more. Were there as many bugs or was I under substance alterations, that is a yet to be confirmed if I ever go back. Over there, people were smocking, laughing and drooling all over the place, geez I thought, Jake forgot to tell me we were going to see the Cirque Du Soleil. A guy passed me by, he looked at me, but what he saw was the void. Eyes twitching from left to right, a beer at hand that is discretly being pourred on the ground, I thought poor mate, must not have followed the bible very much. Afterwards we came back home, and before sleeping, we decide to watch Woodstock 99'. Now Woodstock 99 is not your ordinary documentary. It's a glimpse into toxic masculinity, abuse of mind and body, abuse of norms, standards, rights, and dignity. It screwed with me, I thought geez, now that's how wrong a festival can go. And by then, I went down in a slumber so profound.

It's six o'clock in the morning, I wake up, we get up, Ric comes down, we talk, we press words about life. Suddenly, from a dark corner of the house, a scream comes lurking, 

''Would you sut the fuck up''

Oops says Ric, let's get out, the old pops ain't happy, he's always trying to sleep! Giggling, we go out and wait patiently in the rain for Jake. A van comes around the corner, reggae is booming out of the windows, as the driver performs a full stop in front of the house. Jake is out, we pack the car and I go sit in the back. Besides my seat, is a home made wooden camper bed! Wow that's insane, it reminded me of my times in homemade vans travelling around Canada! Road Road Road, and more Road. Across our way to Toronto, Ric got to try Popeye's which I must say was good, I met a random guy I knew a bit, and mostly, we listened to good old music along. Now to get to Toronto was six hours of drive, but once there you had an hour long of wait in the traffic. So fast forward, we arrive at Paul's house, an old friend of Jake when they both lived closed to each other. We settle down, roll around, meet the dogs, adorable creatures I must say altough one pee's on the floor more often due to his young age or the fact that his hanging out with us who knows! By the sunset, we've skated and are now rested at Paul's place, having hamburgers when suddenly, we hear Paul's mom scream at the front of the house. She rolls out her Gt Mustang, shows us the engine. She then proceeds to take us in and tour around town on the highway, of course she got to push the car a bit, I could feel the motors in my stomach. It reminded me of the days when we each finally had our own car and we'd hauller up at our friends places and embark them for a tour. Only this time, the car had much more to offer than any of my friends cars.

Ricardo calls me, I answer, ''Where you at bloody cunt,'' he says.

''In the car mate, riding real fucking fast, about to become a supersonic star.''

By the time we are back, we finished Woodstock99' and passed the fuck out. 

The night was short, so much laughing and talking. But now the suns up, traffic is building up around Toronto and that means we've got to leave early for the show to make sure we arrive on time at the venue to set up the band. Coffee's drank, shit's taken, everyone's ready and by twelve we are seated in the car ready to go downtown. After a bloody fucking breakfast cooked by Jake I was sitting in the car, smoking cigarettes and dying of heat. Arrived around town for the show, we walk to the venue. Past a bus station with high arch top columns and cozy houses established through dense green hills, we are greeted by what could only be described as a surreal William S. Burroughs hideout. House was packed with mysticism, on the front porch lay a statue assembled with diverse materials worth years of sticking, carving and mashing I am told by the owner. The frontside is boarded by a blue wooden fence, cymbals, lightbulbs, painted DIY hair salon chairs, stickers and mirrors and banters. A sign leads us to the back and as we open a white painted metal barred fence, we enter a graveyard, filled with a stalled car, tables, chairs, beers, and many more attics. The stage is at the very end of the court. It's quite big, and frantically, quite the DIY looking plateform. We go back out, we talk, clouds gather up, rain falls, as an issue with guitars comes a board. But with a little harmonica playing, laughs, and talks, the whole concern evaporates as the clouds dissapear. 

We pack the gear out, Paolo comes, General Chaos arrive too, merch tables are set, the sun burns, the smokes and joints make my head turn and a blink of an eye later, the show is starting. 

General Chaos rip with fierce intents through each song of their set, nailing and opening people third eyes as to what youth can do on stage. Next up, Black Budget. Great sounding, remarkable consistency and timing! But their music didn't shake up my intestins. They got me jumping a bit, but bear and pot and slacking merciless idles all around had me more concern. Fun thing, their drummer made home made hot sauce and of course I bought some! Next up, the three piece Bad Objection. Sun was high by now, golden ray forced everyone to search for shadows in the yard. But as the boys made their entrace on stage, the people came out, sniffed fresh unscatted air. More and more people had come in peeking at this particular DIY scene and now as they played the first notes Dracula, a man aged around the 50's or 60's perhaps, ran jumped, screamed hectically. We all joined, we moshed as the star spangled golden haired motherfuckers harmonized. The drummer Paolo, in the back calm and steady ripping down the toms and cymbals allowing for each note to have context and intensity. Ain't like me followed and contrary to the lyrics, for a short two minutes, everyone got to experience what it felt like to be on stage playing, raging, sweating and living the forbidden dream of a rock and roll star. Do That Again, Whore, Curb Stomp all followed. The energy never wained down, never has and never will. Once Bad Objection starts, it never ends, not until the last note. I could feel the floor shaking, was I drunk or were the amps so loud. Probably both, I can't remember. I was trying to film, I was pushed, I looked, a camera man is running on stage, I smile at him, I smoke another cigarette and by the time I'm done, as I reorient myself, the iconic drum roll of Three Strikes You're Out is heard, like a redemption call, like the trumpets that rang as Jesus was crucified, I was summoned to their rythm. I couldn't escape it and they tore right through the audiences ears and chest and whole body. Dehydrated I might've been, or real fucking high due to the weed I bought at the dispensary or was it that ten milligram candy laced with THC or a mix of all. Whatever it was, everyone seemed to be under the same spell, we slashed our bodies from left to right as they sang the chorus, our vocal chords screeched as we all joined in. Just as my body called quits, relapse was about to come, as Bad Objection played Die Fast. I gave it all away, everything turned and my feets where dancing all by themselves, my head was swimming in the noise, the cheers and the heat. By the end of their set people cheered, I sat down, drained, I was very impressed by their set. Many people came to see them, new photographs, old ones, music scene writers and simple concert enjoyers. Praise was all they left Bad Objection with. Next up was Lucid Smog Disorder. A band a la Green Day, hell the singer looks like Billie Joe's kid. All along the set, I kept wondering wether or not they were covering Green Day. It seemed almost a whimsical Lennon like joke as if the singer wanted to make fun of it all, doing his best to impersonate Billie Joe Armstrong in each lyric he wrote. Their set was funny and people moved but once again, I fely everyone was a bit exhausted after having witnessed Bad Objection.

At the end of the show, we packed up the car, ran down a couple smokes, laughed and thanked the organizers and

left. We went back to Paul's house and we took it quite easy. I had the pleasure to talk with Jake about his growing up in Toronto next to Paul during his childhood. Jake grew up in a Catholic school and boy did he hate those praying sessions. 

"It was a fucking dread man I hated it" he says as he laughs. "I used to walk down the same road after school, Paul and I, and back then I didn't play music at all. We went to Paul's house, got some snack and we gamed all night, until Paul's mom said, okay boys it's time to go see you tomorrow Jake."

It got me quite curious that he hadn't played very much any music while in his young age. 

"So when did you start playing " I ask.

" More like around high school when I'd moved to Montreal. My parents separated and so at my new school there was a music room and I would sometimes jam with others such as Ric, Chad Baker and many more. Back home, my dad's a musician so of course I'd fiddle around instruments, guitars, Cajun and more. My inspirations were kind of like 90s rock, metal, but I do appreciate very much reggae, Australian folk and all what can be considered organic music. But truly, I joined Bad Objection and I'd never touched the bass. I was hoping to get in and quite frankly I didn't know if I would pass the test, I had very limited knowledge but I knew how to sing and I could rely on my ears to tag along on the bass during band practice." -jake

"Wow that's crazy so you're a natural?" I ask, laughing it off.

"Yeah I guess, I mean hey all my family plays instruments, a distant uncle or relative got to hang around Elton John back in the early days and many more so I guess you could say music runs in my blood." He answers chuckling.

Next morning we packed and left back to Montreal, another five hour drive, a couple of gas stops, we also managed to stop at the Big Apple, bought apple flavoured goods and  I slept for a while. The whole excursion was awesome. Having the chance to tour with them in Toronto was really fantastic, I wish to thank Ricardo, Jake, and Paolo for allowing me to come, and I wanted to say thank you to the venue for the great time and show. Their next show is around august 2nd alongside Hollow Point, Mildew and NZO. Be there to witness the most intense local based trio in Montreal and other action fueled bands.