The Shrimp City Beach 1993 Reunion Tour stopped by the Corona Theatre on Monday in support of the band’s lates effort, Cave World.

By: Sun Noor

It has been a while since the six-piece live band, a little over three years and two album releases later to be exact. The Swedish punk rockers’ show at Bar le Ritz on their first North American tour was definitely one of the most memorable gigs I’ve been to. Their enigmatic stage presence and antics pairs really well with their unique blend of post-punk, jazz, spoken word with some western influences in a live setting. Viagra Boys’ well-awaited return to Montreal made for a sold-out show last night and the vibes were immaculate.

The band wasted no time and got right into things, setting the tone by starting their set with their punchy, high-energy fan favourites, “Ain’t No Thief” and “Ain’t Nice,” to the packed room. The mosh pit had already formed before the opening verse and a deformed baby doll with “Baby Criminal,” written on its forehead with black a marker emerged within it. A mysterious ziplock bag with some unknown substance was also thrown at frontman Sebastian Murphy, leading to an anecdote about how the show almost did not happen due to the band held up at the Canadian border. A bag filled with a powdered, white substance, which ended up being laundry detergent held them up for hours.

Murphy went on to jokingly mention how he expected the shows demographic to be between the ages of 12 to 18, as he considered himself to be like a Harry Styles with more tattoos, which seems like an accurate description.

The majority of the band’s set was dedicated to songs off of Cave World, including the experimental jazz number “Baby Criminal,” treating the audience to a well-balanced set, containing a nice mix of upbeat tracks and instrument-heavy, jazz songs. Oskar Carls even played a sax solo into the “Cold Play,” interlude midway though the set before the band picked up on more of the new material. The band culminated their set with their classics from Street Worms, “Sports,” and “Shrimp Shack,” as the mosh pit broke out again. The encore saw the entirety of the venue collecively chanting, “leave society, be a monke” as the Murphy began to sing the opening verse to “Return to Monke.”

Setlist:

• “Ain’t No Thief”
• “Ain’t Nice”
• “Punk Rock Loser”
• “Baby Criminal”
• “Slow Learner”
• “Big Boy”
• “It Ain’t Enough”
• “Cold Play”
• “Creepy Crawlers”
• “Liquids”
• “Troglodyte”
• “Sports”
• “Shrimp Shack”

Encore:

• “Return to Monke”
• “Worms”

The band are due to make their way to the west coast, closing out their sold-out tour at The Crocodile in Seattle on March 4th. Check out the rest of the dates here.

Here are more photos from the show: