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Cancer Bats (w/ Comeback Kid, Chastity, Bad Egg) Get Loud at Maxwell’s in Waterloo [Photos]

Kitchener-Waterloo played host to four aggressive acts last week when Cancer Bats, Comeback Kid, Chastity, and Bad Egg assaulted senses at Maxwell’s on an autumn school night.

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Kitchener-Waterloo played host to four aggressive acts last week when Cancer Bats, Comeback Kid, Chastity, and Bad Egg assaulted our senses on an autumn school night. Local five-piece hardcore act Bad Egg opened up the festivities, playing a tight set of material that warmed up the bodies already in the venue. Whitby four-piece act Chastity hit the stage next – Brandon Williams finally bringing some Suffer Summer (the third album) out in front of some crowds for the first time. The new material sounded loud and sweet – a nice low-end on the rhythm section showing through in Waterloo.

Comeback Kid jokingly lubricated the audience with the full version of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston blasting over the PA in the minutes leading up to their set. It was the joke that kept giving when attempts to stop the song from the band went unnoticed at the soundboard. Andrew Neufeld, Jeremy Hiebert, Stu Ross, Loren Legare, and Chase Brenneman took the stage to “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins, peppering in some heavy guitar licks over the track before abruptly launching into “Heavy Steps,” the title track from their recently released 7th album.

The dual-guitaring from Hiebert and Ross sounded intrusive and menacing for their performance. Andrew Neufeld leaped about Maxwell’s stage for a full hour snarling out the vocals at top volume. Neufeld spent much time at the security rail, high-fiving audience members wedged up front. A wonderful circle pit churned things up for most of the Comeback Kid set; highlights from their performance include tracks like “Wake The Dead,” “Wasted Arrows,” “Crossed,” and “Talk Is Cheap.” If nothing else, Comeback Kid proved they are a force to be reckoned with as a live act this evening. Their material sounded tight, and the crowd ate the whole performance up.

After a quick changeover, the Cancer Bats took the stage with the title track from their recently released Psychic Jailbreak album. Liam Cormier, Mike Peters, and Jaye Schwarzer were joined this evening by Like a Motorcycle guitarist KT Lamond. Lamond, filling the space left open by the departure of Scott Middleton last year, sounded right in the pocket this evening as she flailed her guitar around while she performed. Fans sang along to the nuggets like “Hail Destroyer,” “Bricks & Mortar,” “Sabotage,” and “Lucifer’s Rocking Chair,” but new songs like “Friday Night” and “Lonely Bong” went over equally well.

This show was my first time seeing the band performing material from Psychic Jailbreak, and it was also my first time seeing them without Scotty. While I did miss some of the signature Middleton guitar pulls, I enjoyed what KT Lamond was bringing to this evening’s performance; she nailed her parts across the board. Watching her perform during “Gatekeeper” totally rocked.

The new song “Hammering On” rang true this evening, with everyone in the room essentially doing just that as we all rip the Band-aid off on 24 months of pandemic lockdowns and the drought of live music that came with them. Liam, Mike, and Jaye were all visibly happy to be back on stage and raging in front of an audience again. Cormier asked for the houselights to go up during their set and expressed his joy at seeing everyone in the venue, mentioning that he spent some of his youth growing up in Kitchener and that Jaye grew up close by in London.

Cancer Bats Setlist Waterloo:

Psychic Jailbreak
Hail Destroyer
Gatekeeper
Pneumonia Hawk
Bricks & Mortar
Lonely Bong
Harem of Scorpions
R.A.T.S.
Road Sick
Arsenic in the Year of the Snake
True Zero
Hammering On
Friday Night
Sabotage (Beastie Boys cover)
Winterpeg
Lucifer’s Rocking Chair

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