Danko Jones has Fists up High in Ottawa

The Mango kid a.k.a. Danko Jones hit up the Brass Monkey for a long-overdue stop in Ottawa. 4 years overdue to be exact.

Time and time again the Brass Monkey is packed for weeknight shows.  This came in handy for the sold-out Danko show. I’ve heard of bands having weird requests on their rider, but Danko seems to be one to take the cake. For the Ottawa show, he requested to “not” play on a Friday or Saturday night, only play in a venue that was next to a pet shop, and be guaranteed the mic stand would be broken. It seems all these issues were easily solved so that the show could go on.

Opening with “I Gotta Rock” off of his 2017 release ‘Wild Cat’, the Thursday night crowd got right into the action. Keeping the momentum going the band busted into “Fists up High” and “The Twisting Knife”.

It’s quite easy to tell how the Mango Kid writes his songs. Think of a catchy phrase, write a crunchy guitar riff, add a little solo lick and bang the tune out. Sounds easy right?  But alas, you’re not Danko Jones and possess the charisma and character to be able to pull it all off.

Making the crowd laugh was as easy as apple pie for the kid from Toronto. His stage banter provided a constant stream of comedy for the audience.  It didn’t matter if it was the people going up the stairs to smoke, or the guy in the front row talking about his grandma Danko rolled with it all. Almost as if it was a comedy show with rock tunes in between each sketch.

Having been four years since last playing Ottawa, Danko made sure to make up for it by playing 21 songs in total.  All in all, not one fan was disappointed on a weeknight of rock n roll.

Opening the night and having played a whack of shows with Danko Jones over the last few months Ottawa’s Double Experience hit the stage before Danko went on. Having seen Double Experience a few times now this was one of the best ones yet. Ian and Brock are masters at what they do.