Live block party will be ‘mayhem’
‘Being at a live show — or anywhere with more than three people — is powerful right now’
Nostalgia. It’s a tug on the heart, a yearning, a bittersweet reminder of happy times when things were easier, a feeling most of us would do anything to regain.
And when it comes to outdoor music festivals revving up after 2 years of COVID-19 shutdowns, there’s an inescapable pull that can’t be denied.
“Our most valuable commodity right now is nostalgia,” insists Jon Harvey, lead singer of Hamiltonbased retro-rockers Monster Truck, headlining the first Maxwell’s Block Party on June 17-18.
“Being at a live show experience — or anywhere with more than three people — is powerful right now ... anything that can bring you to a better time than a crazy war and monkey pox.”
It’s a common sentiment among rock bands and the reason Paul Maxwell — juggling COVID safety measures since Maxwell’s Concerts and Events reopened in March — is going for broke with an all-stopsout rock blitz.
“We’re the first ones back, which is exciting in itself,” notes the determined club owner, who expects to draw 1,500 people a day.
“This is our kick at the can at bringing something like that back to the community, to grow something that’s grassroots.”
And Monster Truck, described as “Grand Funk Railroad meets Deep Purple at the drive-in,” is just the band to steer things in the right direction.
“Everything is in now!” says Harvey. “The ’80s, ’90s and even the early 2000s are a nostalgia thing right now.”
He laughs: “People get nostalgic about last week.”
It’s all the motivation they’ll need, he predicts, to turn out for a parking lot free-for-all featuring nine bands over two days with food trucks, vending booths, a booze tent and after parties. Live music is the perfect thing to bring people out of their COVID blues, or whatever you’re suffering from,” he insists.
“Rock ’n’ roll is here. It’s visceral. It’s ready to go. People are more excited than they were a few years ago. They’re standing up, singing along, smiling.”
Harvey himself had a busy pandemic, having seen the band’s “heart of a lion” song “Don’t Tell Me How to Live” transformed into a Kid Rock anti-snowflake anthem that generated blowback even as it boosted the band’s profile.
The song proved a lightning rod for controversy when Monster Truck appeared in the video wearing fur coats with the gun-toting Trump supporter.
“The guy sold 60 million records,’’ says Harvey, who insists his band, despite its appearance, is “bipartisan” and non-political. “We’re like ‘Yeah man, right on!’ ” Monster Truck has always been under attack for one thing or another, he notes, especially when they toured for three months with critical punching bag Nickelback.
“It was a great opportunity,” he insists, despite critics who considered the pairing a sellout move.
“We played arenas all over the world. People have a perception of what they want you to be and then, when you aren’t that, it bruises their ego.
“A lot of people just want to make trouble where there’s no trouble.”
In the end, it’s irrelevant, he says, because Monster Truck, like many bands in a post-COVID universe, doesn’t care about the intricacies of musical politics: they just want to play.
“We’re not looking to be huge stars and win Grammy awards,” insists Harvey. “We just want to get out and have fun and be with our fans.”
Fellow headliner The Tea Party — a retro-tinged veteran act that fuses the mystical leanings of The Doors with crunching Zep-styled blues rock — agrees the quest for world domination doesn’t measure up to the thrill of playing live.
“Videos don’t matter,” says drummer Jeff Burrows, eager to hit the road for the band’s first tour in three years.
“Album sales don’t matter. We’re not blind to the fact people want to hear the songs that remind them of high school.”
So they give them what they want, pumping out hits from the past 30 years, with a few new tunes sprinkled in, immersing themselves in the moment.
“I’m pumped,” he says of Maxwell’s Block Party, noting some fans will be flying from overseas for the band’s post-COVID reunion gig.
“We’re all ready to go. We haven’t seen each other in a couple of years (Burrows lives near Windsor, bassist Stuart Chatwood in B.C., singer Jeff Martin in Australia). I’m just super jazzed to get back.”
Getting onstage after three years, he says, will be like riding a bike.
“If you want perfection, you’re not gonna get it,” laughs the Canadian rock vet. “It’s gonna be mayhem. I don’t play for a click track. It should make for some good moshing.”
For him, it brings up memories of the band’s first reunion, after a long hiatus, in 2011.
“Grown men were crying. I tear up myself when I see shows right now. Being there in person is an otherworldly, transcendent experience. At the Slash show there were 120 DBs (decibels) hitting you in the stomach. You don’t get that anywhere else.”
That Maxwells will be the band’s first gig in three years makes it even sweeter.
“There’s something about playing outside, in the light, staring into the sky,” he notes.
“It’s so, so cool. I just can’t wait to get there.”
When it comes to outdoor music festivals revving up after 2 ⁄ years 1 2 of COVID shutdowns, there’s an inescapable pull that can’t be denied