Toronto’s Rockpile Bar got a houseful of Old School when Goddo stepped out on stage to remind everybody they’re still alive and well.  Surprise guest, Nash the Slash rosined up his bow and splashed some colour into the night with his totally unique look and style.

Before the show Greg Godovitz popped outside for a smoke and graciously stood for a photo with Metal Queen Management’s Betty D and a couple of her friends.  It’s always nice to see a guy like Greg willing to mingle with fans instead of playing the anti-social card.

Getting the crowd going was Guelph band Three Quarter Stone.  Although the bar was still half full at the time, they turned it to 11 and kicked the shit outta the place.  These guys are loud and hard with a lotta tight crunchy riffing and great vocals.  This is a band to look out for.  They’ve got all the ingredients to propel them outta the fast food section and into a 5 star restaurant.  I think the only thing they need is the right chef.

The original lineup of drummer Doug Inglis, Gino Scarpelli on guitar and the legendary Godovitz providing voice and the bottom end stoked the fire with a handful of classics.  Now I have to admit, Goddo is very new to me.  Yeah I know, “everybody” in Ontario knows who Goddo is and what they’ve done and all their tunes but I grew up in BC and Canada is one HUGE country when it comes to music.  It’s been said before and it’ll be said again that Canada is a country that is very hard to tour for smaller bands.

First there’s the sheer distance of the trip.  Pack up 4 or 5 guys and their road crew if they can afford it and send them barrelling down the Trans Canada Highway stopping at every bar with a stage big enough to hold em all.  Sounds like fun eh?  I dunno.  Ya got Wally, the roadie with the farting problem who can’t eat anything with meat, bread, cheese, green leaves, chocolate or carbonated water for fear of melting plastic with his thunderous farts.  He’ll be hot boxing the van 20 minutes into the trip after consuming 4 Twinkies and a bottle of Barq’s. Then there’s the Vegan singer, always complaining that there’s nothing for him to eat except fries and Tim Horton cups.  After two days you have a pissed off diva who wants nothing more than to go home and you’re all ready to send him.  Then of course there are family commitments; the drummer has 4 kids and is working on losing his 4^th wife and the bassist’s dog is sick so he might have to leave the month long tour to attend to that.  Oh and his coke addiction is really starting to bother the group.  The coffee change keeps disappearing and equipment goes missing in every town with a pawn shop.  Then there’s the price of gas.  Too bad Wally can’t help out with that.

So my overly long winded point is, for a band to tour Canada and make themselves well known on both ends of the country, it takes some very deep pockets, a lotta patience and some compatible personalities to do so.  And THIS is why out west I heard a lot of Loverboy, Chilliwack, Headpins, Streetheart and Doug n the Slugs, while bands like Max Webster, David Wilcox, Teenage Head and of course the mighty Goddo slipped right under the radar.  I didn’t know what the fuck Goddo was. Once I put down roots in Ontario during the summer of ’87, I found out there was a whole planet of music I never even heard before. So taking in Goddo the other night was a total eye and ear opener.  I recognized more tunes than I expected and came to instantly respect the band as a musical unit.

First off their equipment was really cool and different.  Greg was playing some beat up old bass that looked like an acoustic guitar with some hand made looking pickup mounted in there.  This thing has seen many nights of action since Goddo knows when.  Plugged into a Randall half stack, although old and rickety looking, the unnamed bass kicked us in the face with a punch that would rival any other out there.  Gino was sporting a road hardened modified black Stratocaster with a plexiglass pickup cover showing all the wiring to his original OBLs.  Jacked into dual Kustom cabs and topped off with an old Ampeg head that looked like one of my parent's stereos from the 70's, Gino showed why an original Fender Stratocaster from way back stands the test of time.  And apparently so does his band.

The Rockpile was rockin.  It was good to see a crew of young ‘uns up at the front cheering Goddo on as well as the seasoned vets, and Greg got a good laugh/cheer when he stepped to the mic and asked the crowd “ever wonder what Grandpa does at night?”.  Well my Grandpa is slicing Chiclets in half to feed to the kids and asking you why he woke you up at 3am on the phone. I’d love to see HIM on stage!

So like I said, Goddo, got up there and kicked some ass with all kinds of classics, especially those from 1978’s album “Who Cares” which was heavily represented with literally half of the tunes on the set list.  The band raffled off a huge Goddo backdrop that was with the band for 35 years, and looked like it.  It was about 10 feet square or more and depicted the first album cover.  With some authentic road wear down one side, it was quite the cool piece of memorabilia.

Following the band for quite some time now was a cameraman still compiling footage for an upcoming documentary on the group.  Standing in the front row for half the show, you just might get to see me in action!

For a guy who openly calls himself “grandpa” and doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s getting up there in age, Greg, and his long time cohorts Gino and Doug, kept it tight with ease and style.  They looked quite at home on stage and I hope they keep coming out and playing their brand of unique Canadiana until their rocks stop rolling.