Preview
BOYS NIGHT OUT
Tuesday, May 4
MacEwan Hall (U of C)
There are hysterical conservatives among us that have been trying to convince us for years that rock and roll is dangerous. Who knew they were actually right? Just ask Connor Lovat-Fraser, frontman for Boys Night Out.
His band is part of the new wave of screaming punk rock acts following in the wake of friends and tourmates of Alexisonfire – not that they invented the genre (you have Drives Like Jehu to thank for that), but they did drag it, literally screaming, into the mainstream by way of MuchMusic. Lovat-Fraser, despite being able to sing, screams as loud as he can and the result is a medical emergency.
"My lungs are completely giving out and my throat is falling behind," says Lovat-Fraser. "I’m having to sing out of it since my body is shutting down from being on the road constantly and not having any time off." In fact, prior to our interview he spent four hours at the doctor having blood tests and X-rays in the hopes of halting his deterioration "They know something terrible is wrong, but they’re not sure what it is yet," he says.
Even with this dire news, Lovat-Fraser isn’t daunted and attempts to explain to this aging journalist why he started screaming in the first place.
"I think it is just because me and the rest of the guys in the band were all into punk rock and hardcore. I have been in hardcore bands for about 10 years now and it’s just second nature to add it in there. I’m stepping back from that completely. The next record isn’t going to have much screaming on it whatsoever. Especially because I have a ton of health problems going on right now."
Despite his condition, Lovat-Fraser assures me that the show will go on. As of late, Boys Night Out have been winning fans and wowing critics with genre-typifying raging guitars, eyebrow raising vocals and epic-length song titles. This high-energy music translates into just as kinetic a live show – also a screamo standard.
"I run around like a moron on stage," he explains. "You gotta give somebody something to look at. They could watch us stand still and hang out, but then they might as well be listening to the CD at home." He goes on to say that Boys Night Out plays the same whether there are five or 5,000 people in the audience. This is the kind of rock journalism cliché that would make you wince if Lovat-Fraser wasn’t so obviously committed to music. His resumé is a list of well-named, but ultimately unknown, Ontario punk bands and, in lieu of taking time out to heal, he has opted to continue the tour, letting his bandmates take over the screaming. It’s not till the band has time off in June that Lovat-Fraser plans to schedule some hospital time.
"I know what I signed up for. I love music more than anything in the world and I love touring," he says convincingly. "We had to cancel two or three days on the last tour, because I was coughing up a lot of blood, (but) I feel like I’m letting people down if we cancel shows. Granted, I know that I am killing myself slowly, but it will all work itself out." |
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