die mannequin show review!

      i actually wrote this a few months ago (for a school project), but die mannequin is amazing, and i think it should be posted anyhow!  i'd also recommend you go see this band! they're super talented, and work super hard! also, check out their myspace: www.myspace.com/diemannequin.  

-ashley xx
 

Photo by: Ashley King

     I recently saw Die Mannequin perform at their Red Dog gig in downtown Peterborough on

the 22nd of September as a part of their fall Ontario/ Quebec tour, and it was (as always) well worth the cover charge, and the ringing ears days after the show.       

   

      The show started promptly after the opening act, Dearly Beloved, after  some sound checks and stage arrangements. Care Failure (lead vocals/guitar), staggered on stage after “Crazy” by Patsy Cline finished playing, picked up her guitar (fellow band mates following her lead), and the energy started right away.

     They opened with an older track, “Autumn Cannabilist” , off of their first EP - “How to Kill”.  The heavy, dirty guitar riffs filled the room. The crowd full of die-hard fans cheered, and the mosh pit started to grow, and pulse. The ground started shaking, and that’s when you knew the show had really started. They played several songs off of their newest release “Fino + Bleed”,  including “Dead Honey” , the danceable/partyable “Bad Medicine” (which included Care singing into a megaphone to achieve the similar sound off the CD), “Locking Elizabeth”,  among others.

Photo by: Ashley King.

     Keeping in the tradition of a Die Mannequin show, they didn’t play it anything like the album version. Care Failure changed up the vocals a little, adding a lot of audience participation, which was made easy due to the small, personal nature of the show.  They also added some musical interludes, giving the songs more emotion, and more opportunity to mosh/dance/enjoy the music. This powerful track was only the start of the compelling, sleazy, dirty, raw rock n roll show.

     Care Failure lunged herself around the stage, like a gracefull ragdoll. Crawling, jumping, and dancing to the sleazy, energetic punk-esque music.     She didn’t let her guitar pose as an excuse not to move. She threw herself into the crowd, and made it to the back of the venue, all without missing a single chord on her guitar. Anthony Bleed (bass),  Dazzer Scott (drums) and Stacy Stray (guitar), provide the backbone to Die Mannequin’s stage performance, keeping it solid, while providing a chaos of their own.

    Overall, they made sure they worked the stage, the crowd, the pit, and even the venue. They are a must-see for anybody that craves good ‘ol  personal, small-scale rock show.