Canadian Pop-Punkers Gob Return to Toronto to Celebrate Sneaky Dee’s 25th Anniversary

Words by: Curtis Sindrey and Lisa Gillan | Photos by: Curtis Sindrey –

It’s been a long time coming, but Canadian pop-punk darlings Gob returned to Toronto last night at Sneaky Dee’s in downtown Toronto to perform there for the first time in six years.

Local band Bathurst (aptly named after the street Sneaky Dee’s borders) got the night started with some fast-paced, up-tempo tracks. They played many songs from their recently released self-titled album including the hard-hitting “Weekend.” Their set was loud, and aggressive, but also fun and melodic; it’s punk music you can dance to. Throughout their set, Bathurst touched on an eclectic mix of subject matter including girls (“Weekend”), losing friends (“Cut Your Losses”), being frustrated in life (“Forty Hours”), and suicide (“For Julie”) with the line “through good times and bad times, stand by your friends.” They played a solid set and did an effective job of getting the crowd in the mood for what was to come.

Next up was Burlington-based Silverstein, another band with a strong connection to Sneaky Dee’s – they said they’ve been regular bar flies there for the past five or six years.  Mostly clad in rock-and-roll black, apart from lead singer Shane Told who donned a red and blue plaid shirt and jeans, they blasted into their 15-song set with the snappy “Sick as Your Secrets,” from their recent album Short Songs, released in February. Told was highly energetic during their performance and was extremely interactive with the frenzied crowd, often letting them take the role of lead singer.

Theo Goutzinakis of Gob at Sneaky Dees on September 13, 2012. (Photo: Curtis Sindrey/Aesthetic Magazine)

They then reached deep into their six-album discography with the tracks “Born Dead” from their 2007 album Arrivals and Departures and “Smile In Your Sleep” from 2005’s Discovering The Waterfront. Silverstein excels as a live band, and with their hard-hitting guitar riffs, and howling vocals, last night as no different, as many, if not the majority of their set were tunes which succeed both in the studio and on stage.

Once the Vancouver-based Gob stormed into their 20+ song set, the crowd got rowdy, pushing and shoving so much that up to three security guards were placed in front of the stage to form a barricade. One fan even got a bit freaky and decided to caress singer/ rhythm guitarist Theo Goutzinakis’ thigh. Lead singer and guitarist Tom Thacker, whose current day job is lead guitarist and vocalist in Sum 41, donned a t-shirt with a Soviet Union symbol and a fedora and thrived off of the crowd’s energy in his guitar playing and much like the two openers, Thacker was highly interactive with crowd and often let them take lead vocal duties. Knowledge of Toronto’s local breweries wasn’t lost on Gob, when Goutzinakis exclaimed, “For fuck sake, I’m even drinking your fucking beers. It’s pretty good,” referring to the bottle of Steamwhistle Brewery in his hand.

With a new album expected to be released in late 2012, Gob’s set focused primarily on the classics of their colourful eight album discography including “I Hear You Calling” from their 2001 album The World According To Gob, “Give Up The Grudge,” from 2003’s Foot In Mouth Disease and the crowd favourite “Soda,” from their 1995 debut LP Too Late… No Friends.

With their second show of a two night stand at Sneaky Dees tonight, Gob is hardly through with melting the faces of their adoring Toronto fans.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Bathurst Set List 

1. Cut Your Losses
2. Weekend
3. Forty Hours
4. Forecast
5. Hangover
6. Seventeen
7. Not Quite Vegas
8. Last Call
9. For Julie

______________________________________________________________________________________

Siiverstein Set List

1.Sick As Your Secrets
2. Sin & Red
3. Born Dead
4. Smile In Your Sleep
5. SOS
6. Brookfield
7. Disco
8. World on Fire
9. Pits & Poisoned
10. Hearts
11. Fuck the Border (Propagandhi cover)
12. NOFX cover
13. MUGMUGMUG
14. Smashed
15. The Artist

______________________________________________________________________________________

Gob Set List

1. Ming Tran
2. Oh! Ellin
3. What To Do
4. Reign On Your Parade
5. For the Moment
6. You’re Too Cool
7. Beauville
8. Custer’s
9. No Regrets
10. I Hear You Calling
11. B-Flat
12. Prescription
13. Self-Appointed Leader
14. Leave Me Alone
15. Sleepyhead
16. Everyone Pushed Down
17. Bully
18. Underground
19. Paint it Black
20. Grudge

Encore
21. Soda

______________________________________________________________________________________