Ottawa played host to Buckcherry on their Warpaint tour with special guests Joyous Wolf at Barrymore’s Music hall. The Diamond Mine Agency hits a home run once again. I have liked Buckcherry for a while so it was a sure thing that I was going to be on site for this one.
The Ottawa rock scene always manages to show its loyalty and turn out in force. If I’m not mistaken there might have been a few last minute tickets at the door for this otherwise sold out show which is amazing.
About Buckcherry
Buckcherry is a California based band formed in 1995. They have had more than a few curves in the road including a brief time the band dissolved in 2002 but I have come back with strong music and a total of 8 albums now.
It was a busy day for the TDMA boys with this one starting their load in around noon that day. The stage was pretty packed tight when I got there as they had all the opening acts stuff on deck also. This made for very little space to move. For the starting guys this probably wasn’t as fun as they would have imagined but the show must go on.
Opening Acts
Starting out the night was Feed after Midnight. This local band was tasked to get the party started and they did the best they could with what they had. You could tell these guys are used to being able to move a little more on stage but they made it work. One thing I noticed is the sound wasn’t on point for the lead vocalist. In fact I am pretty sure he couldn’t probably hear himself at all with no proper monitor set up for him. Regardless of all that the crowd enjoyed the opening volley of rock.
Next up is Hard Labour. These guys had a little more room to work with once the first act had taken down their gear. The crowd was starting to fill in more and they got the change to rock. They played the stage as well as they could and you could just tell how much they enjoyed it.
I spent a few minutes with drummer Donny after the show and he couldn’t express just how grateful he was with the local support people have been showing the boys that night.
Buckcherry Tour Support
Joyous Wolf hits the stage next as the tour support act. I didn’t know what to expect with these guys as this was the first time I have heard of them. Lead vocalist Nick Reese came on stage with a pretty neat looking blinged out blazer. You could tell right away he was a little sad he wasn’t going to be able to move on stage like I’m sure he is used to. I was pleasantly surprised by these guys. They had a really good sound to them and Nick shocked me being as dynamic as he was. There was a point when he even cleared a spot in the main floor so he could leap from the stage. He flip around on the ground like he just had too much energy he just didn’t know what to do with.
I spent a while with Nick after the show and we talked about Women and touring and missing home. Joyous Wolf was nearing the end of their touring. Nick said Joyous Wolf will have crossed the border a total of 16 times. They were on shows with Slash as well as Buckcherry.
Buckcherry Main Event
It was time for the main event of the night and Buckcherry hit the stage. The fans went nuts as Lead vocalist Josh Todd started out the night with is signature unique voice. This is my first time seeing them live after having been a fan for a while now. Josh was flanked by bassist Kelly LeMieux, guitarists Kevin Roentgen and Stevie D with Francis Ruiz rounding out the drums.
They rocked out some of the new tracks off the Warpaint album which released earlier this year in March. They also made sure to add in some of the past hits for the diehard fans. Josh explained the meaning behind the hit song Sorry. He wanted to make something a little more G rated for his kids which was cool to hear. A couple of my favorite parts of the night was playing the song Say Fuck It from the Fuck Ep. This is a cover in the Icona Pop song “I Love it”. For those who haven’t heard it make sure you do its awesome.
The boys closed out the night with an encore of sorts which was a pretty awesome mash up. They started out with their mega hit Crazy Bitch which transitioned into a punk rock rendition of Foot Loose and even went into some Tina Turner!
I spent a little time with bassist Kelly after the show while they are loading out. It was fun to talk about how the tour was going, how they all get along and like to prank each other.
This was a pretty amazing night for myself and for the Ottawa fans. Buckcherry rocked out the house down and we all had a good time. I hope to be able to see these guys again in the future that’s for sure.
