Protest the Hero plays Dungeon for the last time

It's a double-edged sword for Protest The Hero that the Dungeon is shutting its all-ages doors for good.

For Whitby's prog-metal crew, whose latest album Fortress leapt onto the charts at #1, playing the Dungeon was its first goal. This was when the band members were happy-go-lucky young kids.

Closing "one of the dirtiest clubs in all North America," according to lead vox Rody Walker, is a sad day. The other members of PTH are Luke Hoskin and Tim Millar on guitar, Arif Mirabdolbaghi on bass and Moe Carlson on kit, making full use of that double bass pedal.

I met with Walker at the Gryphon Pub, a hangout for the guy and where he's been known to check out the Stellas' Wednesdays Open Mic. He has declined to play, however, even though the band has an acoustic kickaround project called Cheddar Cheese and the Mouse Trap.

It's a sad day for local music, yes, but it seems the other side of that sword is that the absence of any support network forces a band to look to itself for innovation and criticism. It is suburban basement dwellers and their short attention spans that are fueling this incredible surge of talent in the D-Rawk.

For Walker, not having any sports aptitude (he doesn't even skate), meant he only had the Rock. Not being in a scene, as such, meant the band members challenged themselves to further and wilder feats of death-defying musicianship. They learned hard to offset the boredom that is the price of the suburban dream. Fortress is the PTH version of extreme games.

The #1 album is their payoff even if Walker comments that it must have been a slow week for record sales. He did get a kick out of seeing his band perched above such high sellers as Michael Buble. They all received the requisite plaque.

As with all artists, it's the future projects that hold their gaze. The band has recently dumped its management and has pulled things closer. Control is important and, in this internet age, totally possible for a band. The musicians have a licensing deal with Universal and retain ties with Underground Operations, their first home. Bands make money from shows and merch. They had been placed on some hideous lineups by their manager who Walker feels was more interested in the money than the music. Being saddled with Silverstein was the final push.

Now they choose. And if you're asking, As I Lay Dying is the band they most enjoy being on the road with.

That first gig at the Dungeon eventually happened for the kats. They played with Last Priority and Closet Monster, whose bassist, Mark Spicoluk, founded UO. Back then, they also entered Bandwarz but didn't win... Not By Choice did.

PTH greed to play the Dungeon this one last time because of its place in the development of the band's career. It's a rare chance to see PTH up close. Next week, the band leaves to hook up with the Vans Warped tour which will carry it across the States and Canada.

PTH plays with Kathleen Turner Overdrive (wicked name, wicked band) and Man With Target tonight at the doomed Dungeon on Bond Street in downtown Oshawa.

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William McGuirk is a freelance writer and longtime Oshawa resident. He can be contacted at wmacg@yahoo.com.