Those with a long memory on the subject of Canadian animated TV shows will likely remember Sons of Butcher, the Teletoon series that ran for two seasons back in 2005 and documented the exploits of a band that also owns a Hamilton butcher shop. And though the show didn’t last all that long, the band that it spawned has had a surprisingly long career – not only have Sons of Butcher made it past the 20 year mark, they even released a new EP last month, Skids, which the band describes as “our ode to living the Skid lifestyle in the heart of Steeltown.”
Keeping with the butcher theme, the band played its fair share of meat-themed tunes such as “Beef & the Chicken” and “Makin’ Bacon” alongside fan favourites like “Fuck the Shit” (which, according to frontman Trevor Ziebarth, has a million plays on Spotify), “We Fuckin’ Rule,” and of course, “Sons of Butcher Theme,” all of it delivered with the proper big, dumb rock n’ roll attitude and absolutely zero subtlety.
Steeltown skids were well represented on Saturday night as the band was playing alongside fellow Hamiltonians Thunderkok and B.A. Johnston, and while Sons of Butcher had a contingent of dedicated fans in attendance, there’s no question that for many, B.A. was definitely the main attraction.
Taking to the stage as he always does to the strains of “Werewolves of London,” B.A. put on a typical B.A. Johnston show. And I do mean typical – Johnston is definitely a creature of habit, playing more or less the same setlist and even telling the same jokes and doing the same bits every show, including his now classic routine where he asks if the audience minds if he takes of his “What Are You Looking at, Dickhead” sweatshirt, only to reveal an identical shirt underneath, and later revealing yet another “Dickhead” shirt as he asks the crowd, “Who saw that coming? Everyone saw that coming?” He even teased the crowd at one point with the promise of a new song, only to pull a bait and switch as he launched into the classic, “Deep Fryer in My Bedroom.” He did actually play a new song later in the set though, “The Girl Who Won’t Stop Talking Stopped Talking to Me,” taken off a new album that’s due out later this year.
Johnston ended the show by stepping outside to perform the final song of the set, “I Want to Drink in a Bar with Aliens,” unplugged and in front of the venue, perfectly capping off an entertaining evening from Steeltown’s finest. Who saw that coming? Everyone saw that coming.
