
DJ Jason “Human Kebab” Parsons was flying across the stage in his flaming Adidas track suit throwing front flips and high-fiving the audience while singer Ashley Buchholz bounced around with his acoustic guitar to start their energetic set for the night.

After the intro, the band mixed in House of Pain to get the crowd going for the Laces Out from their early releases. From Yo Hello Hooray to Nepal, the audience religiously repeated every lyric and bounced with their masters until the theatre turned into a pool of sweaty bodies.

Parsons took the opportunity to remember George Michael in between songs when he got the crowd to hold their cell phone flash lights and lighter up in the air and silently swaying while he threw in a short clip of Careless Whisper.

The stillness did not last long once the band got the people going again with This Is The Best, Work Shoes, and for a moment turned the floor into a massive rave with Freakquency, and even the audience with assigned seats on the upper levels couldn’t keep their asses on their seats anymore.

Song after song of floor pounding drum ’n’ bass and deafening beats combined with a blinding light show, makes you realize that the band is at their full potential live.
USS left Ottawa hot, our ears ringing, and anxiously waiting for the band’s promise to return to Ottawa this summer, could this be an RBC Bluesfest lineup hint? I guess time will tell.
Article written by Laura Collins. Photos by David DiUbaldo of Worn Leather Media.