Critical Zero

To celebrate Black Budget’s newest single, we partnered with the band for this very special night! The band had booked the legendary Bovine Sex Club and approached us to help them promote their show; like we did in 2022 for their EP Release party at The Arcade. The Bovine Sex Club is one of our favourite venues in Toronto, and we’ve been there many times. We’ve seen some great shows with amazing lineups; if you scroll through our reviews page, there are many write-ups about the Bovine.

Anticipation hung in the air as the night promised a mind-bending, action-packed, diverse lineup with psychedelic, desert, punk, and skate tunes to kick off 2024. The night starting with our good friends Untimely Dosage. A psychedelic rock blast from the very first chord. Lew’s great guitar tones captured the room immediately, with some beautiful delay. Their set was a 45-minute non-stop intense performance, including broken bass strings, crazy drums, incredible synths, and punk vocals. One of our favorite highlights was when Simon broke a bass string, ran to his car, came back with a bass, and the band didn’t miss a beat - couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds... a record time! To top it all off, the band ended their set with Black Flag’s ‘My War’. Couldn’t have picked a better cover for the Bovine! We were off to a great start.

Next up were No Sunshine Collective - we love them! An immediate adrenaline-driven pop-punk set that had the audience shaking and dancing. Fast-paced and driven sounds gave the crowd a taste of the 2000s punk era, and their stage presence is hard to look away from. The band looks so happy when playing that it’s hard not to smile and have a good time when you’re watching them. Steve actually broke 2 guitar strings during their set, and they kept going still sounding great. Ending the set with one of our favorite songs about wondering if you’re going to die by eating expired yogurt, we definitely felt alive and pumped after that.

Third on the lineup were Black Budget. To celebrate the UFO theme in their newest release ‘Whistleblower’ the band got a bunch of blow up alien balloons that lit up and people moshed with. The band also gave away a t-shirt, hat, and a tote bag during their set. There was ballad dancing during the slow songs, and insane moshing during their fast songs. The band played their newest single, and some unreleased material. They also included a cover of Queens Of The Stone Age’s ‘Song For The Dead’ which is a complete workout on drums, Jack killed it as always. The band killed it, and did a powerful, intense set. Make sure to check out their new single ‘Whistleblower’!

Ending the night was Lime Ricky! The band kicked off with their iconic skate punk sound and had the room dancing as soon as the first note struck. We love these guys; they are genuinely having a great time while performing and have great stage banter. Since the last time we saw them live, they added Dougmore on bass - Chance switched to guitar. Lime Ricky sounds even better with two guitars, as Chance and Tyler alternate lead and rhythm riffs. Ending their set with a cover of Blink-182’s ‘Carousel’ we danced even harder. A perfect way to end a great night.

Huge thanks to The Bovine Sex Club, Chuck Coles, the bands, and especially all the people who came out to party. We had an incredible time, and as always, make sure you check out the Bovine Sex Club.