This Easter, I decided to celebrate the holiday by spending the evening with my favorite group of devil worshipers, Electric Wizard.  Hailed by many as the heaviest band in the world, Electric Wizard hit the road this spring in support of their latest effort, Time to Die (which made my top 10 of 2014).  Now, Electric Wizard doesn't do a ton of touring, especially here in the States, and since I was going to be in Toronto that weekend, I made a few calls (emails) and got hooked up with a ticket to see the Wizard at Lee's Palace in Toronto.

You see, one of the many perks of being in radio are the free concert tickets.  Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times.  Allow me to explain.

I was supposed to be on a guest list for the Wizard's sold out show at Lee's Palace.  I get to the venue, give the will call people my info, and lo and behold, my name isn't on the list.  Of course. I only traveled seven hours to see them, why wouldn't my name be on the list?  Luck for me, the venue released a handful of tickets the evening of the show, so thirty Canadian dollars later, and all my beer money, I'm in the door.

Lee's Palace has a capacity of about 650 people, according to my future brother-in-law.  There were way more than 650 people there.  But hey, it's the Wizard.  I'd oversell the show too.

Since I'm not a "concert reviewer," I won't bore you with tons of paragraphs describing a show you didn't attend.  Instead, I'll tell you this; Electric Wizard were by far the loudest, and heaviest band I ever seen live.  They made Manowar, the loudest band in the world, seem quiet.  I had ear plugs in and my ears were still ringing after the show.

So Lee's packed us in like sardines.  Even if I had left over money for beer, I wasn't going anywhere, as I could barely move.  But it didn't bother me, because Electric Wizard was blowing my mind with heavy sludge metal played at the loudest possible volume, with images of devil worship and strippers going on in the background.  And since the Wizard are huge pot supporters, you bet your ass there was more weed in the air than oxygen.

Even though the band were louder than sticking your head in a jet engine, the sound was crisp and the band was tight as hell.  Honestly, one of the best live bands I've seen.  And their front man and founder, Jus Osborn, poured more into this 90 minute show than most frontmen do in an entire tour.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the opening act, Toronto natives Blood Ceremony, who frequent the Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids.  Imagine Jethro Tull with a female singer and songs about devil worship and the occult.  That's Blood Ceremony.

So there you have it.  My half-assed, last minute, thrown together review of Electric Wizard in Toronto.

Remember kids, heavy isn't how fast and hard you play.  Heavy is an attitude.  And in the land of heavy music, the Electric Wizard is king.

Ramone
Ramone
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