If there’s a band with a bigger disparity between their live performance and their studio one than these guys, I haven’t found it. Their previous album, Behind the Music, was merely good. Their current one, Original, Vol. 1, is pretty mediocre. But on stage, they’re absolutely epic – fantastic sound, brilliant frontman, theatrical stage presence all around. I think they’ve actually gotten better live since the last time I saw them…and that’s saying something.

There are plenty of venues in downtown Toronto. On some nights, one or several sit empty or underused. So why, for the love of God, do we keep getting these mood-killing early shows?

Nobody likes a gig that starts at 7:00 p.m. I’ve yet to see a band get through one without copious bitching. I’ve yet to see an audience that’s ready by the time the main act hits the stage. And I’ve yet to go to one that didn’t have a strange, half-assed atmosphere about it…although acts like TSOOL eventually find ways to break through that.

If last night’s timing was weird, watching Kasabian in late afternoon /early evening in May is going to be downright bizarre.

There is one upside to an early show. If you get there on time, you can grab a prime spot close to the stage. And when a drum stick is flipped into the crowd, and it bounces off the guy who first tries to catch it, it ricochets straight into your chest and you can’t help but grab it, even though you’re way too cool to ever try to reach for it in the first place. And then you give it to your lovely date, and it’s major brownie points.

So anyway, Jen now has a sweaty Swedish drum stick. It’s okay, ladies…jealousy is a natural emotion.

On last night’s evidence, the love Matt Mays is getting is well-earned. I’m not usually much on jam-happy acts, but his all-too-brief opening set was pretty hard to object to. Tuesday’s CD release party at the Horseshoe should be gold.