Review: By Divine Right w. Pumps at The Casbah, Hamilton, ON

With the doors posted as opening at 8pm, we got there at 9:30. Walking in, it seemed destined not to be an exuberant affair... an impression that an indie rock "legend" would unknowingly shake out of me with his set. That said, aside from the girl at the door, the bartender and show openers Pumps sitting at a small table drinking a round, The Casbah was empty. Even the house music was quiet. At first I thought something had to be wrong. No sound tech, no By Divine Right, not even the tell tale sign of merch at the table by the door. In some strange cosmic coincidence, we found a rough note from a reviewer on our table. As if predicting our fate, it read: “If you say your show starts at 8 it better start at 8.” Lineup changes had caused delays.

Before ten rolled around, another fifteen dedicated Hamiltonians arrived, mostly friends of Pumps. And with their hello hugs and friend-of-friend introductions finished, they got up from their table and started their set. Pumps seemed less cocky and self-assured than in November when last I saw them open for Most Serene Republic. Perhaps the absence of the all ages crowd or perhaps the absence of unfamiliar bodies… Whatever the cause, I fell with more ease into the Strokes-esque straight 4’s, snare fills, and robotic guitar riffs without the pomp. Broken only by the odd shout out to their friends and frequent shout outs to By Divine Right, the clockwork turn-of-the-millenium indie blasted from the always decibel soaked speakers of the Casbah at an incredible pace, barely a inward breath between end and beginning to recuperate. By mid-set, By Divine Right had arrived.

With their openers as the front-row audience and fortunate fans, and a handful of us scattered around the edges of the venue, the most recent incarnation of By Divine Right (Jose Contreras in his “Rob Lowe special” shirt and “just gay enough” scarf, towering lumberjack Michael Milosh and David Joseph, the so-dubbed "best guitar player in the band") took the stage. “This is our soundcheck” Contreras quipped before spending the next hour bleeding a gamut of Canadian indie into the room. Honoured as “my favourite incarnation of BDR” by alum Brian Borcherdt of Holy Fuck, the trio dug into Mutant Message the current home-recorded album on Hand Drawn Dracula, as well as songs from 2004’s Sweet Confusion and 2001’s Good Morning Beautiful. They played with verve most bands would hold fast for a bigger night, Jose interjecting with “thanks for letting us play in your rehearsal space” as the only reference to the show’s draw.

I’ll admit I went into this show with zero knowledge of By Divine Right. My desire to see them live came this December when, at his Basement Revue series, Jason Collett referred to Contreras and crew as “legends” while introducing Colleen Hixenbaugh (2001-2006 alum). Zero knowledge admitted it is with confidence I say I was NOT the super-fan in the room. That guy had an orange, white and black toque and stood close to the stage heckling throughout. With a heckler on your back and what I would have expected to be a tiring weight from the 28 person deep list of those who’ve left the band since 1989, I was amazed by the show. Contreras’s heart shines outward. The notes glimmered with a toothy smiling distortion, his fender struck and beaten, convulsing them into existence, pulled by shear will, not the pick. Violent joy.

Brian Borcherdt once told The National Post that “Jose had a lot more of a free, embrace-the-chaos kind of vibe; it felt fun to bring people in the audience onto the stage.” Super-fan was thusly embraced. He requested and was had his requests honoured, joked with the sound tech, hugged his friends in Pumps and even jumped on stage, took Milosh’s mic and contributed backing vocals to a song. Super-fan's heckling descended further as the set went on, to heckling about heckling. “Do you like hecklers?” he shouted. Contreras simply laughed, smiled his smile and said, “I love heckling. It shows you’re paying attention.” No wonder that Contreras guy seems so happy and no wonder the low expectations that overwhelmed me on entering the venue were unfounded. With myriad lineup changes, sparse Monday night crowds, and be-toqued hecklers, Contreras embraces the chaos and finds joy in his shows by just being glad that someone is paying attention.

- Jay Blackwood

Upcoming By Divine Right Tour Dates:
February 4 @ Babas Lounge, Charolttetown, PEI
February 5 @ The Seahorse, Halifax, NS
February 6 @ TBA, Truro, NS
February 7 @ The Capital, Fredrickton, NB

Photo Source: http://myspace.com/bydivineright

Follow Jay's blog, chronicling a year long project to see one musical act live, per week at http://livemusicproject.blogspot.com