Words: Miljan Milekić
There is something special about mixed-genre shows that don’t really feel like they are mixed-genre. There is no way anyone could confuse a Factor Chandelier song with The No Goes one, and yet, neither of them felt out of place on the stage of Saskatoon’s Black Cat Tavern when their number was called. Rather than the sound, it was the idea and the message that made the connection up and down the lineup, and the sold-out crowd understood that perfectly.
The first act to hit the stage was the Saskatoon punk rock four-piece The No Goes. With lots of energy, the band started what was essentially a speed run through their catalogue with ‘Low Life,’ before continuing with the likes of ‘Stuck In The Rut,’ ‘Hitchhiker,’ and ‘Back Into It,’ and finally closing with ‘Stop Wasting Time,’ and ‘Punching Bag.’ Funnily enough, it seems I’m only catching this band on shows Sam King’s bands are headlining, as the only other time I’ve seen them was back in 2024 with Get Dead and Circle Jerks. This time, I feel they were even better than the last, and it sure seemed like they had more fans of their own. A few mosh pits and a crowdsurfer or two only confirmed it.
Factor Chandelier came in next, ready to bridge the gap between the opened and headliner with his unique hip hop beats. Legendary hip hop producer and hometown hero started his set slowly and atmospherically before turning it up to eleven. In recent years, Ceschi Ramos shifted his focus almost entirely to Codefendants, and doesn’t tour as much with his solo music, so every chance to hear his work live is a welcome one. The fact that the now full venue went wild when they pulled out tracks like ‘Sky High,’ ‘Middle Earth,’ or ‘This Won’t Last Forever,’ was the least surprising thing ever.
It didn’t take long before both Factor Chandelier and Ceschi found their way back to the stage, this time joined by Sam King, united under the Codefendants banner. The moment they kicked off their set with the trio of ‘Def Cons,’ ‘Abscessed,’ and ‘Suicide by Pigs,’ another timer started ticking – the countdown to the release of the band’s brand-new album ‘Lifers.’ While the record became available at midnight, Cecshi and Sam did not waste any time delivering some of the new songs from the stage – including previously released singles ‘Lonely Life’ and ‘The Right Wrong Man,’ which are both already crowd-favorites, and brand new tracks like ‘The Fix,’ or especially emotional ‘What You Get.’
The one thing I felt Codefendants did right since the very beginning was channeling the chaos, creating a fluid art form that outgrows genres or traditional confines of a band. Their shows seem to turn this unhingeness up a notch. Both Sam and Ceschi joined us in the crowd at some point, sometimes even together. Factor was with them for a chunk of time for songs they did together, and we even saw another local hip hop heavyweight, Kay The Aquanaut, step on stage to deliver his own verse on ‘Fast Ones’ in place of The D.O.C.
It’s easy to sing the praises of a band I love, I know, but the thing about the Codefendants is that they are making it even easier. They are grabbing all the things I love the most from both punk and hip hop and mixing them into a Molotov cocktail, ready to ignite at any time. Rooted deeply in the underground, they are embracing all the influences that forged them into what they are while building something new. Calculated, planned, but not scripted. And not for the mentally stable.
