A lot has happened in the past 20 years: from the Y2K scare, to wardrobe malfunctions at the Super Bowl, and even Gangnam Style, the past 20 years of music and pop culture has seen many different trends and phases. One piece of musical history that has stood the test of these 20-years is Big Wreck’s debut album, In Loving Memory Of…. They are celebrating the 20th-anniversary of the album with the In Loving Memory Of… Tour and brought their larger than life sound to REBEL Nightclub on January 19th. With such tracks off of their debut as “That Song”, “Blown Wide Open”, and “The Oaf (My Luck is Wasted)”, it was a heavy force to be reckoned with when it came out, with its influence echoing through rock music ever since.
The cold wind outside could not prevent the crowd from filling out REBEL Nightclub on a cool Friday night. With Attica Riots kicking the night off, they made sure to play their single from 2016, “Love Sunshine + Hysteria”, which helped the crowd settling-in for a great night. They knew they were about to witness something special, which many fans shared with me before the show. If you have seen Big Wreck before, you know they were telling the truth, but to be able to hear all of the songs from that debut album was truly extraordinary.
Ian Thornley, lead singer/guitarist of Big Wreck, was a force to be reckoned with at REBEL, much like he has been throughout his career. If you know of his dynamic vocal range and mastery of the six-string (which if you’re reading this article, I may be preaching to the choir), you know that he’s a talent that is far underrated and undermentioned as a driving power behind rock music, in both Canada and the United States. As one person said to me, “He’s the best guitarist in the world that never gets an invitation to the (guitar god) party.” And if you were in attendance at Big Wreck’s show on January 19th, it’s a hard claim to dispute.
Big Wreck continue on with their In Loving Memory Of… Tour, but it looks like there’s no slowing down for these road-seasoned rock stars.