The first time I saw nomeansno was back in the summer of 1989, mere weeks before the release of Wrong, a “rock against prisons” show (hey why not) at Crab Park. I was there based on a friend lending me a very crappy taped copy of “Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed” (for you youngsters that’s a cassette tape: compact, portable and totally shitty). Upon seeing the band take the stage my initial thought was, these guys are old, but seconds later my concept of what punk rock could or should be was changed forever. Needless to say it was the first of many times over the years that I would play witness to the awesome power of nomeansno. This is not your typical rock band. What they lacked in hair pigment was more than made up for in musical talent, intensity and madness. “Kill everyone now”, Rob Wright would proclaim on their 1993 release, “Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy”; kill everyone now indeed, Rob.

Originating in Victoria, the brothers Wright have been inflicting upon world their prog punk stylings since the late 70’s. Starting out as a duo they soon expanded, adding guitarist Andy Kerr. After Andy left in the early 90’s, Tom Holliston took over and the three haven’t stopped since. So why, after all these years, would I still want to see them? Because when they play, a gleeful madness comes over me and forces my old ass into the pit without the brain full of booze usually required to needlessly and carelessly hurt oneself. So back I go for possibly the 20 or 30th time…

Due to brisk ticket sales the venue was changed at the last minute from the rather small and intimate Anza club to the very large and cheesily opulent ballroom at the Royal Banquet Hall. Due to the length of the beer line-up I entered about half way through Potty Umbrella’s set. The 7 or 8 members of the band filled the large stage, rocking out on their somewhat eclectic mix of surfy sometimes drony and even a little bit country Polish rock. The band looked to be having a good time and the crowd, made up mostly of young punks, old punks and metal stains, seemed to enjoy them right back. “And now we rock with the trumpet” the lead singer claimed, in humorously broken English, before launching into Stevie Wonders ‘Higher Ground’ to finish their set.

With Husker Du as background music, the crowd waited for the main event. Nomeansno finally take the stage and start with a song I don’t recognize but it doesn’t matter, I know they’re building something. The song is slow and pounding. Building. Then into ‘Oh No Bruno’, and the crowd goes ballsac. Following it up with ‘The Day Everything Became Nothing’, the rest of the set was a good mix of old and new. After two encores they closed out with ‘Rags and Bones’, a classic from their 1990’s album, Wrong. By the end of the show, I, like most of the crowd, was moist, exhausted and drunk. With condensation from the ceiling raining on our heads and the walls of the club dripping with sweat, that was nomeansno; still crushing, still punk, still old, and still one of the best live bands in the country.

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Shane Ward grew up on the west coast, landed a record deal at 19 with his band Mystery Machine and spent his 20’s touring around North America. He is a collector of things, a reader of books, a listener and composer of music and an admitted newspaper junkie.

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