Abandoned By Bears (w/ We Were Sharks, Youth Fountain, Service Delay) @ Bovine Sex Club (Toronto, ON) on October 14, 2018 [Photos & Show Review]

Abandoned By Bears, We Were Sharks, Youth Fountain, Service Delay and Terror Ruins Birthdays all hit the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto on October 14th for a packed night of punk beats and catchy melodies.

To begin the show, two Toronto punk bands set it off. The show began with Terror Ruins Birthdays who had an early Blink-182 pop-punk-like sound to them. Overall, it was an enjoyable performance consisting of high energy, catchy vocal melodies, and classic pop-punk progressions. You could tell these guys were there to have a fun time and get the crowd warmed up for the rest of the show.

Have any “Cavities?” Service Delay will take care of them with this music video.

This was followed by another Toronto local group; Service Delay. These guys had a completely different sound to them, rooted in metal, hardcore and emo. I had never seen them before and I was happy to discover such an exciting and passionate young group. Although I hadn’t previously seen them live, I enjoyed their set that was filled with a lot of cool riffs, angsty vocals and overall tight groove amongst the boys. During the middle of their set, they hit us with a cover of a classic Modern Baseball tune “Your Graduation.” This got the crowd more involved in the performance and even had me singing along. The rest of the set was equally as pleasurable and was a great kick-off to the next band, Youth Fountain.

Vancouver natives, Youth Fountain took the show with their tight, well-rehearsed, and well-written music. Their set had me bobbing my head uncontrollably the whole time and oftentimes humming along to some tunes I recognized off their latest self-titled EP. Out of all the groups throughout the night, I connected with Youth Fountain the most. Their relatable lyrics and catchy melodies over well-phrased guitar licks were delightful. It was great to see individuals in the crowd singing along to their tunes considering the distance they traveled from their hometown to play the Bovine. Overall, Youth Fountain put on a fantastic performance and I was pleased to be there photographing them.

As the night was winding down it finished off with two bands with a similar sound. We Were Sharks and Abandoned By Bears had a very modernized, “jumpy” and well-formulated pop-punk sound. Although they were both very well rehearsed, their set didn’t resonate with me as much as Youth Fountain or Service Delay. The melodies weren’t quite as memorable and felt like I was listening to a copy and paste of other pop-punk bands in the genre. However, the crowd seemed to be enjoying these two bands. Even though it was personally underwhelming for me, it was nice to see everyone enjoying their time.

Overall, this was a decent show, but I wouldn’t say that all the bands were up to the level and standard that Service Delay or Youth Fountain are reaching. I would love to see these two groups again the next time they happen to be playing in the area.

Here’s the latest music video from Abandoned By Bears with “Headstorm” off of Greyscale.