Alexisonfire Rock Out in Honour of Record Shopping in Toronto

The press release trumpeted the event's live stream on Facebook, but the point of Alexisonfire's intimate in-store in Toronto on Friday afternoon seemed significantly more old school: celebrate record shopping.

The band, in town for two shows at the 3,200 capacity Sound Academy club, performed for about 100 fans in the basement of Sonic Boom Records, a low-ceiling, wood-panelled space filled with rows of vinyl records, oversized monster props once used for window displays, and a choice selection of cassettes and 8-track tapes.

"I have wanted to play down here for a really long time," guitarist Wade MacNeil told Spinner shortly before the band stepped onto the tiny stage. "I saw Monotonix here once, and it was the best. Plus, I really like coming here to buy records."

The half-hour set focused on AoF's own new record, the four-song EP 'Dog's Blood,' on which the band experiments with slower tempos and variations with the dual scream-sing vocals. "For us, it will be cool to play the new songs because we've got a lot of records now so we can't be that self-indulgent when we play most of the time," said MacNeil.

Watch Alexisonfire Perform 'Dog's Blood' Live
The audience, mostly teens in seasonably appropriate toques, nodded their appreciation for the sprawling title track from 'Dog's Blood,' which saw the band's trademark vocal and guitar interplay given some nice breathing room, all the while still pummelling with volume. There was more polite approval of the other new selections, which highlighted shoegazing guitar sounds and lead screamer George Pettit, who paced his small space with an arm outstretched overhead, touching the ceiling.

And while some fans sung along madly to the 'Dog's Blood' tunes, it was the introduction of 'You Burn First' from 2006's 'Crisis' that finally elicited cries of joy. Not one to kill the mood, AoF promptly added another older fave to the set, 'Control' from 2004's 'Watch Out!,' but not before Pettit gave the audience a parting request. "Thank you for supporting record stores. Being here means you made a decision to not be a casual music listener," he said. "Now go buy some records...."