Japandroids Spark Fire at The Middle East

In my opinion, Japandroids and Bass Drum of Death is an unbeatable combination of garage rock prowess. Knowing this, I really had no excuse for not getting a ticket in advance to their show at The Middle East yesterday. It was the day of the show and I was scrambling to find a ticket. Thankfully, they released some in the afternoon and I hopped on the opportunity to get one. Japandroids’ previous shows in Boston were among the more memorable I have seen and I was not about to miss this one.

Bass Drum of Death immediately leapt out at me with their appropriately booming drum sound. It was the perfect backing to their noisy dual guitar attack. Songs like “Heart Attack Kid” displayed their penchant for writing delightfully abrasive pop songs. The title track from their excellent debut, GB City, made great use of some crazy harmonics and a dancy rhythm. The biggest highlight for me was “Leaves” which always brings Nirvana to mind. Other standouts included “Young Pros” which sounded like an old Beatles song on crack. It was a great but short set that already left me feeling deaf.

Bass Drum of Death – “Heart Attack Kid”

Bass Drum of Death – “GB City”

Bass Drum of Death – “Leaves”

Bass Drum of Death – “Young Pros”

Japandroids singer/guitarist Brian King came out on stage donning a Metallica shirt and asked, “How does it feel to be the city that stole the Stanley cup from Vancouver?” The crowd erupted in cheers and he responded by saying how much he loves playing Boston and how the crowd is always crazy adding “so get ready to get crazy.” He then explained how we were going to have to sit through some new tracks before we were treated to some favorites. That seemed ok with everyone and they launched into a new song that could hold its against the band’s older material. They followed with last year’s anthemic single “Younger Us” and another new song.

The highlights still came from their incredible debut, Post-Nothing, where the crowd would sing along with every word, especially on fan favorite “Young Hearts Spark Fire”. For me, it was great to hear some of these songs after spending some time away from them. I almost forgot how much fun songs like “Wet Hair” and “Sovereignty” are. Drummer Dave Prowse was able to stretch his lungs on “Rockers East Vancouver” and proved that he too can be a formidable vocalist. Throughout the performance, the duo kept thanking the audience for their vociferous response, proving they are some of the nicest guys in rock. They ended the set with a raucous cover of The Gun Club’s “For the Love of Ivy”.