For those who don't know, "booze cans" were illegal after hours parties that took place in Toronto during the 90s. They weren't just parties though, they were usually set up like a bar, you could buy drinks, dance, and generally do whatever drugs you wanted without anyone even blinking an eye at you. Needless to say I was totally on board with Dallas' proposal, and the fact that the show was on Halloween made it even all that much cooler, after all it is my most favourite day of the year.
I talked it over with the boys, and they were all on board. Since the show was on Halloween I figured I'd need to get a kickass costume together. The video-game Mortal Kombat was the newest, hottest thing on the gaming scene, so I decided I'd dress up as my favourite character "Scorpion" who in the game would take his mask off to reveal a skull head underneath as he breathed fire on his fallen opponents. My costume was pretty ghetto since it was home made, but I was happy with it. I even managed to get a skull mask to wear under the ninja mask, so I could reveal my true face like he did in the game.
I also decided I had to make an awesome flyer since we hadn't played in so long, so I immediately took pen to paper and started creating. The fact this was a Halloween show gave me all the inspiration I needed. I started my illustration by drawing Eddie, the mascot of Iron Maiden. Attached to his fingertips were puppet stings, similar to the "Number of the beast" album cover. Eddie's puppeteer strings would attach to a sea of people below him, including all the band members and iconic Horror characters. To this day in present time, this flyer is my fave I ever created for any show.
As if I wasn't excited about this gig enough, Dallas approached me and inquired if I'd be interested in singing a song with them. They planned on doing a cover version of the Beastie Boys "Time For Living" I was absolutely 100% on board with the idea. I even managed to make it out to a couple of their rehearsals so we could practice the song. It was sounding sweet, the energy was great, and it was just fun as hell to play.
When the night of the show arrived we packed up all of our gear and headed down. We arrived fairly late into the night and got everything set up. By the time the bars let out, people started filing into the booze can. By 1am the place was packed and we were ready to rip shit up. I'm not really sure if people got what we were doing. Our hybrid of rap, reggae, rock and punk was definitely ahead of it's time in my opinion. We got a pretty great reception from the crowd none the less, and they really popped off in excitement when I removed my ninja mask to display the skull beneath it. All in all I was very happy with our performance and the reception we received from the audience.
To be quite honest, a lot of that night is a blur to me. It could have to do with the fact that it started so late at night, it could of been the alcohol and pot, but most of it eludes me with the exception of some key memories. I have no recollection of The Hacksaws or their music. I do however remember my performance with The Satanatras, and our cover of Time For Living stole the show. The crowd went nuts and they absolutely loved it.
It was a great night, a great experience, and our first "illegal" performance.
We were back on top of our game, or so I thought...
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