For those of you who missed it, September 20th will be remembered as THE DAY to end all days.

Say what?

Well, on this day, The Headstones, lead by Gaud himself, Hugh Dillon, held sermon not once, but twice in one day. A mass of about 50 people jammed Megatunes to witness, up close and personal, Hugh, Tim, Trent, and Dale reap the rewards of rock and roll, and damage a few young, impressionable minds at the same time. A four song set bombarded the foundations of the store, as well as its neighbours, with Cut Me Up, Smile And Wave, and Cubically Contained from their third release, Smile And Wave, along with Unsound from Teeth And Tissue. Photographers from rival papers took advantage of this prestigious event, a mere warning to the chaos yet to come.

Hitting MacEwen Hall at about 2130, my friends Karen, Pat, Jason, and I entered the dimensia of Kingston's finest. There was a throng of fans already present, with more expected. After many attempts, I was able to chat with bassist Tim White before their second show of the day, and third of the weekend.

"It's funny when you get to travel around, if you have ever travelled, you know you kinda get on a vibe that really carries you along, like a nice flow," Tim relinquishes of the band's mind set while on tour. "The tour's been great, we've been selling out everywhere we go. We do much better out here than we do sort of on the way here - the West is the Best. Not only do we do well here, we love it here. It's a nice part of Canada."

Being witness to many shows The Headstones played in these here parts, I can attest to the energy and adrenaline that draws many a fan, old and new, to witness in the power of pure Canadian rock in it's natural form - raw. Opening band The Gandharvas warmed up the crowd with their eclectic, Urge Overkill style that in large was appreciated to a certain extent, but to all those present, the anticipation of being in the presence of Gaud, The Gandharvas were alter boys lighting the candles.

The electricity of Mac Hall was surging like someone had flooded the floor and placed live wires in the liquid. The intensity, and the heat, built to a blazing roar, had the masses swaying with unseen energy that could only be inferred to be coming from the need to bleed adrenaline. When the Masters of Disaster hit the stage, all hell broke loose.

Throughout the sweaty, voice raking, adrenaline-bleeding show, the ecstasy of all that a live band personifies "live" was taken, as usual, to a new level. Extended jams, musical ingeniousness, the ability to incite the crowd with a slightest gesture - is what The Headstones have been known to do, and do well. The creativeness of adding verses of favorite songs in hits such as "New Orleans Is Sinking" "All Along The Watchtower", and "Cecilia" as the filling in "Oh My God", or a bass solo bleeding into "Colors" during "Unsound", these Kingstonites rattled every particle in the fan's bodies with hits from all three mega -selling discs. Has success changed their attitudes at all?

"We don't see it from the same perspective that everyone else sees it from," Tim states. "We really don't know how successful we are. We know how many people we've played to, how many records we've sold, and such, but that's about it."

The tour sees The Headstones play Banff, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and Grande Prairie, before hitting B.C. The running joke is that, "our agent was trying to write his name across Canada, so planned our tour around that, Tim adds. "Actually, this is our best tour in terms of time off in places we want to spend time in. It's been great."

Although Hugh Dillon suffered a sprained ankle in London, ON, the tour has continued with success, proving that rock and roll is "not a game for the faint of heart." Witnessing the monster persona played out on stage, these four proud Canadians are seasoned players, with many a scar to prove their toughness. It's all a part of the music, and what it stands for.

The band is heading East in November to cut some demos, and are planning on invading the United States next year, with a deal with an American label in the works. Having conquered Canada many times over, America will NOT know what will hit it. They will.

As the show carried on through the night, with a raging encore in progress, the fire alarm system had the audacity to malfunction, causing a cease in the chaos, much to the dulled masses. The previous night the band played THREE encores, and was poised to do the same until this untimely, and perhaps planned, turn of events took place. This left the throngs of dazed followers with two thoughts: Either a disgruntled fan that was tossed for crowd surfing pulled this stunt that is punishable by a lynching, or...

The Headstones are just too damn hot.

Rock and Rule.

Vin E. Coma