Words: Miljan Milekić
A few weeks ago, I knew pretty much nothing about Boys Night Out. I somehow missed the band completely in their first stint, and only heard of them with the announcement for this very tour on Mest’s social media. The cool thing, however, was knowing that the band would hit the road to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their 2005 record ‘Trainwreck,’ which provided me a pretty good idea of where to start acquainting myself with their work.
The first slot of the night was reserved for Saskatoon’s own Fake Paradise. The only other time I saw the band was back in 2023 when they opened for Bat Sabbath, and to be honest, I was surprised to see them in a show like this, given their stoner-infused hard rock sound. Unfortunately, we missed their set due to an early start, so I didn’t get to see how it went. However, I have no doubts that they delivered a good set.
The first band we got to see was Rosecoloredworld. All the way from Los Angeles, they brought in a modern blend of pop punk and alternative rock, driven by big melodies. They seem to be gaining a lot of traction lately, especially with songs like ‘Hanging On (By A Thread),’ or ‘A Cold Day In Hell,’ and it was encouraging to see so many young faces in the crowd during their set.
The band is still young with some work to do in polishing their act, but they already know how to deliver a strong set and have a solid command of the stage. They were even able to sneak in a cover of Radiohead’s ‘Creep,’ which didn’t feel forced or out of place, which in itself is not an easy thing to do. After seeing their set – and I’m not saying this lightly – I feel like the band is one big song away from flipping the order of this tour upside down, and headlining shows of their own on even bigger stages. These things are never a guarantee, and only time will tell if they actually do, but I’m convinced they are fully capable of it.
The third set of the night belonged to legendary Chicago pop punks in Mest, who pulled off one of the most punk things ever. For various reasons, the guitarist and bassist were unable to join the band on tour, but instead of canceling, frontman Tony Lovato and drummer Gary Foster decided to adjust their set and power through it. While it did look a bit strange in the beginning, with only two people on stage, it didn’t take too much from the overall experience. Granted, I am a massive fan of the band since the early 2000s, so they could pretty much clap their hands and whistle melodies of their song, and I would still be happy, but judging by the rest of the crowd, I don’t think anyone would disagree.
In their allocated time, Mest made a quick run through 25+ years of their career, kicking things off with ‘Rooftops,’ and continuing with classics like ‘2000 Miles,’ ‘Long Days Long Nights,’ ‘Drawing Board,’ or ‘Opinions,’ along with ‘I Have You Sober’ from last year’s record ‘Youth.’ Continuing the best tradition of the great pop punk bands, we were treated to banter gems like “It’s weird to play a song like ‘Fucked Up Kid’ when you’re 45 and have five of those at home. But hey – at least we know the dick works! Or it worked until I had it snipped.” For the very end, they left another legendary track – ‘Cadillac,’ along with a short snippet of ‘Your Love’ by The Outfield. I’m happy I got a chance to see them and cross a big one off my bucket list, but at the same time, I can’t wait to see them again in full strength and at their headline show, whenever that happens.
Finally, when it came to the evening’s headliners, Boys Night Out were ready. Keeping the concept and the story of the record, they were gliding through ‘Trainwreck’ song by song, even keeping the biggest single, ‘Medicating,’ in its original place early in the set. We were treated to stories about the songs from the record, apologies before ‘Relapsing’ because Connor Lovat-Fraser’s voice doesn’t sound as good as Kara Dupuy’s, who originally sang the song but is no longer in the band, or how they almost skipped the long intro in ‘Composing,’ but the fans wouldn’t let them do it.
While the ‘Trainwreck’ was the front and center of the show, once it was done, the band sneaked in a few more songs, including a brand new one – ‘100% Ghosts,’ released just a few weeks ago, and another fan-favorite ‘I Got Punched in the Nose for Sticking My Face in Other People’s Business,’ to close out the night. Back after years of absence, albeit with a whole new lineup, Boys Night Out seem to still have something to say, and going by reactions to the new song, there are ones ready to listen.
The only thing that left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth was the fact that this show was at a smaller venue like Black Cat Tavern, and even this wasn’t fully sold out. I am rarely this out of touch, but for two bands that played big tours and large venues all over to world, and influencing generations of bands like Tony Lovato and Mest did, I was expecting a much bigger hype, and a couple of hundreds, if not thousands of fans. But for whatever reason, it just didn’t happen this night, hopefully not discouraging them from visiting the city again.
