L.A. Beat

After playing a more sedate  tour of acoustic, mostly acoustic reggae in support of their last CD Yard Style,”  back on Feb. 23,  Toronto rock reggae titans Big Sugar were back to doing that they do best proudly — turning things up loudly and proudly at Average Joes on a Sunday night, Nov. 15 with special guests Triggerfinger.

 The sharp dressed band abandoned the white jumpsuits of the acoustic show for suits and natty ties. Frontman Gordie Johnson, keyboards and saxophone/ harp man Kelly  “Mr. Chill” Hoppe, the always friendly Friendliness on percussion and keyboards, loud bassist Garry Lowe and new drummer Chris Gormley played a tight, hit filled set with quite a few songs from their new CD “Calling All The Youth.”

But Big Sugar began with a hit fueled bang, bringing out big guns early in the show like “Digging a Hole” and their big, brash cover of  “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” They followed those up with a touch of slower blues before bringing out the reggae.

Friendliness brought out a big cardboard megaphone graphic to rap on the title track of their new CD “Calling All the Youth” which included flashes of the Clash and a couple of time tempo changes.

“Natty Dread Rock” was another newer highlight as was “ Reckless and Dangerous.”
 Johnson finished “Calling All the Youth” by calling on the audience to support the youth in Africa by supporting World Vision, promising free Big Sugar merch in exchange for sponsoring a child at the merch table.

Then it was back to the rock as they rejigged “Universal Vampire,”  into a loud, yet still laid back rocker with the catchy chorus “Gone is the Freedom Train” which they had turned into a laid back reggae jam on “Yard Style” and their Lethbridge acoustic tour stop.

They had most of the close to sold out audience dancing and singing along in front of the stage.
 The more laid back portion of the show also included “Nicotina” and “Roads Ahead.”
 They carried on through hits and a few older songs like “I’m A Ram,” going back to one of their earliest albums, 1993's  “Five Hundred Pounds.”
 They wound things down with a lot of crowd favourites including “Ride Like Hell” and “Turn the Lights On,” before ending things on  “All Hell For a Basement,” which had everyone in the room singing along before it segued into Gordie Johnson’s electrifying  cover of O Canada.
 That was it, but they were called for an encore, so they brought up two thirds of opening act Triggerfinger to jam on “The Scene.”

 The opening act, Belgian power trio Triggerfinger, showed why they are one of the biggest bands playing Europe right now with a big, old, heavy sometimes jammy set which showed their Big Sugar influence.
 They played a variety of big riffed rockers, slower blues jams, a long, slower, spooky, meandering jam on “My Baby’s Got A Gun” and some other darker, effects laden, noisy numbers. They played quite a few tracks off of their newest CD “By Absence of the Sun.”

Vocalist/ guitarist Ruben Block, frenetic drummer Mario Goossens and steadfast bassist Monsieur Paul showed plenty of solid and innovative musicianship. Goossens grabbed the crowd with his antics as he channeled the mischievous spirit of the Who’s Keith Moon as he grinned ear to ear, leaped up, licked his cymbals and his microphone as he hammered his kit home.

 Frontman Ruben Block seemed pleasantly shocked that one enthusiastic audience member sang along with most of their set and called out for a few obscure requests.

Block wound down their hyperactive set  by kneeling down to the stage and tweaking effects knobs to emit shrieking waves of noise and feedback.

They finished  with their Big Sugarish  hit “All This Dancing Around,” which had a lot of the people doing just that by the end of the set.