Live Without The Net And All That Jazz: AST Plays All The Notes You’re Supposed To Hear AT The Brass Monkey ON November 16, 2025
Photos By Andrew Depedro
Ironic how my first KNAC review since the much-heralded radio station resurfaced back both online and on terrestrial radio coincided with my first concert review at the Brass Monkey in almost a year and whose own online WiFi connection suddenly went bust. It had actually happened while most patrons were standing in line waiting for their tickets to be scanned for the night’s concert, which had been a rather rain-soaked freezing one at that and was later revealed to be the cause of the WiFi power outage.
And, thus, while cash, rather than debit, would prove to be king that night, so too did the live music performances of that same night, starting with about 2/5’s of the local band formerly known as BEYOND DRIVEN. You may remember them from last year’s opening slot for SEBASTIAN BACH when they played at the Bronson Center. Twelve months after a further couple of shows and a slight change in musical direction and name altogether, they are now reborn as a whole new savage animal known as FERAL UNION. Featuring the still-cleverly named vocalist Erin Maiden and her other half/guitarist Jeremy Williams along with bassist Giordano DiSalvo and drummer Chris Buttera, FERAL UNION have amassed a fine chemistry amongst its lineup considering that they’d only been a band for about 5 weeks. Their brand of high-impact modern rock goes a further distance from BEYOND DRIVEN’s previous groove metal leanings with some more spontaneity and ambition. It would explain why they started their set with the heart-wrenching ballad “Edge Of Goodbye”. Promising no further ballads throughout the rest of FERAL UNION’s set while demanding if the crowd are ready for some rock ‘n roll, Erin launches into more heavier material in the form of “Stay Golden”, “Brave The Trenches” and the future potential hit single catchiness of “Kill The Quiet”. “Dirty Rhythm” is about the closest-sounding to SEVENDUST that the band’s sound lends itself to thanks to Erin’s aggressive rap skills and Jeremy’s structured-sounding thrash riffs. In between, FERAL UNION honored the legacy of the Double O-Man with a near-operatic performance of “Perry Mason” and the closing number “Children OfThe Grave”, their receptive performance further giving hope that through dogged determination, this Shawville, Quebec-based quartet will eventually have its day in the form of a debut album release.
Also, the best birthday present that local show promoter Kyle “SuperKyle” Humphrey could ask for.
Setlist:
“Edge Of Goodbye”
“Stay Golden”
“Brave The Trenches”
“Kill The Quiet”
“Dirty Rhythm”
“Perry Mason” (OZZY OSBOURNE cover)
“Villain”
“Holy Water”
“Children of The Grave” (BLACK SABBATH cover)
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It’s been often said that the difference between a rock guitarist and a jazz guitarist is that one of them plays four notes in front of 1000 people while the other plays 1000 notes in front of four people. And, yet, while this statement happens to often be too close to the truth for both musicians, it hadn’t phased any of the members of the ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO as their warm-up session to the sounds of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” over the PA just prompted bassist Nathan Peck, drummer Matt Zebroski and the infamous namesake/guitarist/overall parabellum behind the talented threesome to likely just say amongst themselves “fuck it, let’s just start the show now” as they delved right into the opening and latest number “Prove You’re Not A Robot”. It’s a decentyet lengthyjam which, despite its neat title, reflects a lot of heart and soul in the musicianship, which, also in turn,
also reflects the whole nature of the song altogether. And for newcomers to Alex Skolnick’s jazz side project that he’s been nurturing outside of his regular gig with TESTAMENT for well over three decades by now, his style of playing is fairly conventional but not limiting itself either; jazz also has as many traditional gatekeepers as metal does, after all, and while Skolnick can play a mean jazz riff just as good as he can play a thrash riff, he can also incorporate other musical elements from within. Further proof of such was his rendition of TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS’ “Breakdown” which, for a song just clocking in at 3 and a half minutes, is rather musically intriguing when extended to nine minutes with some added improvised rhythm playing and innovative noodling. The closing number “99/09” was also a particularly ambitious and perhaps the most funkingly rousing number of the night which prompted an activity often unseen at modern jazz performances: A lot of dancing in the front row. According to Skolnick, who’d been introducing most of the setlist that night, the song had been birthed from a bit of random improvised jamming to PRINCE’s “1999”by Nathan Peckon a day in the studio and the rest of the band went with the flow. Knowing as well that the majority of his core audience would be diehard TESTAMENT fans, Alex suggested almost jokingly for the front row to even start up a circle pit, but, by then, the funky vibes had taken over any urge to gorilla or pick up change. Even with an amended setlist of six songs as the trio had a 17-hour drive ahead of them to get to their next show in Pittsburgh,it was the perfect ending to the ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO’s first Ottawa visit that night – and hopefully encouraging enough for the other four members of TESTAMENT to ponder including O-town on their future touring itineraries now that a new global connection of sorts was established.
Thanks to the bands playing that night, thanks to Skotti and the rest of the staff of the Brass Monkey for doing their best to keep up the rising power during the show and a special thanks to Erin Maiden for getting me a ticket for the show that night.
Setlist:
“Prove You’re Not A Robot”
“Breakdown” (TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS cover)
“Unbound”
“Infinite Hotel”
“Conundrum”
“99/09”
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