ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Dayglo Abortions (DGA) make triumphant return to N.L. Legendary Canadian punk rock trio Dayglo Abortions is celebrating 40 years in 2019, touring across their home country from their base in British Columbia.
The trio has been on the road for most of October, playing in Manitoba and multiple dates in Ontario before heading east. Organized and promoted by newly opened local skate shop Vinland Skates, Dayglo Abortions’ Oct. 22 gig in St. John’s marked the first time the band set foot on the island since August of 2013.
The band’s line-up was slightly different in 2013, with then bassist Willy Jak now replaced by Matt Fiorito.
Many musicians have been a part of DGA throughout the band’s 40 years – lead singer and guitarist Murray Acton has been the only mainstay. He’s pushing 60 years old, but is able to perform with an intensity that rivalled the (younger) local opening acts.
We’d Eater (also known as Wheadeater) kicked off the show at promptly 9:30 p.m., surprising many who assumed this punk rock show would be running on “punk time.”
This was a blessing – Tuesday night isn’t your typical night for headbanging in moshpits.
Originally formed in 1992, Wheadeater is back on stage, performing just over a half-hour of uptempo punk rock songs, with many longtime local fans singing along with familiar lyrics. Featuring heavy bass, “Turbulence” was a personal favourite, and got the crowd moving.
The moshpit intensified for three-piece Goreforge, a thrash/death metal band from St. John’s.
The band’s lyrical themes draw on their name – fire, stone, and death by fire and stone, etc.
During their set, Goreforge debuted a new song. Extremely heavy and fast, this song is so new, it doesn’t even have lyrics or an official title yet, although lead singer Adam Giles noted that it could be called “Mind Ripper, or Flame Spider… Probably both,” he said with a laugh.
Though the energy was high for Goreforge – a personal local favourite – it was obvious that most people in attendance were there to see Dayglo Abortions.
The band hit the stage at 11:15, starting up with “Your Facebook Can Kiss My Assbook,” the opening track from their 2016 album, “Armageddon Survival Guide.”
Choosing selections from their 10-album discography, spanning 1981-2016, Dayglo Abortions performed fan favourites like “Stupid Songs,” “Argh, F*ck, Kill,” “Scared of People,” “Black Sabbath” “I Am My Own God,” “1967,” “Religious Bumf*cks,” and more.
There was a heavy focus on material their 1986 “Feed Us A Fetus” album, which also featured the bulk of the tracks from their debut “Out of the Womb” on the B-side.
The “Feed Us a Fetus” cover art features Ronald and Nancy Reagan standing over a cooked fetus. It’s one of two albums that caused controversy for the band, whose record label faced obscenity charges for Dayglo Abortions’ 1986 work and 1987’s “Here Today, Guano Tomorrow.” The charges were later cleared in 1990 – before most of the moshpiters were born.
Though my request for my personal (obvious) favourite song, “Oh Wendy O” off 1999’s “Death Race 2000,” was denied, “Vinland Presents: Dayglo Destroys The Deck in St John's” was a superbly fun night of “punktual” alternative music – and it’s happening again tonight.
Catch Dayglo Abortions at Treble Lounge on Wednesday, October 23, with Goreforge and Uneeda.
