Gumm, The Neverminds @ Velvet Underground 2/6/25

and also two other things that happened yesterday. and Cody the plumber

PROGRAMMING ALERT

Things You Otter Know About Super Bowl LIV will be up on Super Bowl Monday. Enjoy your weekend and the big game!

This is less of a show review and more of a here’s-what-happened-last-night. I thought I could get this to you sooner than 7pm Eastern Standard Time but I slept in after last night’s craziness.

As for last night’s craziness: well, I had class all morning, and once those ended at 2 I took off for Toronto. I met with my friend A, who I affectionately refer to as my token Scarborough friend, and who I first crossed paths with late last year at a party. We have bonded over our love of music that none of our peers listen to—we both worship Paul Westerberg and Britt Daniel—and then also the fact that we have no idea what to do with our lives after we graduate. A is in their last semester, so the pressure’s cooking. I find out A is presenting at an academic conference in March like the badass they are, and decide my new goal in life is to present at a conference so that I can be as badass as they are. My other friend M finds out I’m in town so I tell her to meet us where we are. She finds us just as I’m putting my winter jacket back on to leave. I introduce her to A and within two minutes they are laughing at each other’s jokes. We walk over to Simcoe Hall.

Awhile back I told you I had joined this fancy UofT student advisory committee. Last night was our second of three meetings for the year. We met in the President’s Boardroom. It was surreal to be in there. Barely three years ago I was so consumed with just getting into UofT, and now here I was acting as a decision-maker in the friggin President’s Boardroom:

They got us free Pizzaiolo, an excellent Canadian chain. And then we talked about a bunch of UofT things for an hour and a half. The highlight for me was when we were talking about convocation logistics. And I honestly didn’t know how much miracle work goes into pulling off these fancy schmantzy graduation ceremonies. I just thought that, like, if I graduated… that would be the miracle.

So of course I said this very thing to our actual Vice-Provost, a very smart and nice man. And you’re not gonna believe this, but the entire room laughed. I felt like a god.

On the way out I chatted with two students I hadn’t met before, one doing their PhD and the other a pre-med undergrad (which I didn’t even know was a thing at UofT). They were both so driven and kind and wholesome. Such a breath of fresh air to be around people like that.

Then I walked through St. George Street in pure twilight. Front Campus was nearly empty and the buildings along it were twinkling, and I felt overcome with this strange sense of gratitude. My life isn’t exactly in the place I want it to be, but every once in a while I feel it getting closer, to the point where I sometimes can’t believe this is my life. I worked so hard just to have tiny moments like this, just walking alone in the dark—past these famous intellectual buildings rich in history and student life—towards places both real and imagined. And I’m never gonna stop taking that for granted.

ANYWAYS. About the show. I took a streetcar-replacement-bus to Queen West towards the Velvet Undeground. First time there, though I can’t tell you how many Velvet shows I wanted to go to but couldn’t because I was underage. The Velvet gives well-maintained garage / basement vibes. Took me about ten minutes to get my ticket scanned, my coat checked, and then to go through security. I know multiple friends who have had terrible experiences here because of bad security and how claustrophobic it can get when the room is really packed. Not the tiniest venue in the city (that honour probably belongs to the Cameron, located just down the street). Last night the floor was at maybe 70% capacity, so I was happy.

This Florida hardcore band I love called Gouge Away was headlining but I missed their set because they went on too late and I had to be home by 11 (not by choice). Of course I was bummed… like, that’s who I paid to see! But I had a killer time anyways because the openers were great and the crowd was solid.

I struck up a chat with this guy Cody, a plumber. Cody the plumber seemed pretty harmless and found me funny. He’s in a band called News on Mute who he drums and sings and writes songs for. He told me these insane stories that would only blow your mind if, like me, you were super entrenched in the Toronto hardcore scene: grabbing loud with the Dirty Nil boys, exchanging demos, impressing their lead singer. Sharing a rehearsal space with Single Mothers. Also, halfway through the night, Cody the plumber offered me a joint, and I had to say no. Man did I want to say yes to Cody the plumber’s joint.

This local band called the Neverminds went first and they were pretty shoegazey. Their songs kinda blended in with one another but I didn’t mind. You couldn’t hear their singer or their rhythm player or their bassist, but you did feel the drums deep in your chest. It was a good feeling. I missed that feeling. Thank god I brought earplugs, though.

And then there was Gumm. A hardcore band from Chattanooga who ABSO. LUTELY. RIPPED. I’m a good person so I listened to their album in prep for this show and it immediately won me over. They won everybody over last night. Even Cody the plumber. The energy in the room shifted as soon as they started with “Give You Back Your Youth”. The three new songs they played hit hard, too. Their singer is this energetic presence who made good use of the tiny Velvet stage. I was initially close enough to the stage that I could make out his dyed eyebrows and the intensity in his eyes as he started a mosh pit. Then I got cross-checked in the back so I ran to the second half of the room.

So I guess Gumm is my new favourite band now, and they played my new favourite song last: “Slogan Machine”. Their singer’s not much of an enunciator so it ended up being a cathartic mush of yelling that I welcomed with open arms. It made me feel alive and reminded me why I love live music so much. (Yes that is me yelling behind the camera.)

I love you, Toronto. You feel like home and that’s because you are.