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Concert review: Februaury 6th, 2001 Written by Sandra Sperounes of The Edmonton Journal The Moffatts and ... Wide Mouth Mason? It was certainly one of the odder combinations to come through Edmonton- a teen pop group and a funky college band. It was also a brave move on the part of the four Moffatt brothers, considering the Wide mouth trio is one of Canada's top live acts and they were armed with Big Sugar guitarist Gordie Johnson. Talk about taking a gamble- but it worked. The Moffatts, egged on by 1500+ screaming girls, rocked out like mini versions of Metallica and KISS, complete with Scott Moffatt's ode to Gene Simmons' waggling tongue. (Scott also uttered what sounded like the S-word. Ooooo! The boys are growing up!) Ok, so the Moffatts didn't actually play any heavy metal, but their tunes sounded more rock than pop. Bang Bang Boom kicked off with fuzzy ZZ Top guitar licks, Spy featured a wailing guitar solo, and the brothers even rocked up such old pop hits as Girl Of My Dreams, I'll Be There For You and Miss You Like Crazy. ( A possible ode to the lack of male fans in the crowd? About five percent were pre-teen boys, five percent fathers) But their best song, by far, was California, with its sunny chorus and a guitar riff reminscent of Blondie's Call Me. It's only a shame the Moffatts decided to segue into Gary glitter's Rock and Roll Part 2, considering he was recently charged with possesion of kiddie porn. Eeuw. Not as creepy: a raucous cover of Sweet Home Alabama, featuring the blazing guitar skills of Johnson and Wide Mouth frontman Shaun Verreault. If the gig was a risk for The Moffatts, it was even more so for Wide Mouth Mason, who risk losing their edgy street cred as they try to reach a younger audience. Then again, it's a mystery why the funksters aren't a huge hit with their own twentysomething age group- so if they can win the hearts of teens, we shouldn't snicker. Wide Mouth deserve to be adored And were they? For the most part, yes. While a constannt trickle of girls filed out of the auditorium to take bathroom breaks, those remaining screamed at Verreault's girlish vocals and Earl pereira's groovy bass lines. Of course, the Moffatts garnered louder screams- although one voice was missing, that of Lindsey McLachlan. The 16-year-old Edmonton girl and Moffatt fan died of liver cancer on Thursday. In tribute, the Moffatts dedicated Tuesday's show to her. |
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