Billy Talent at El Corazon, 4/3/07

When I first heard Billy Talent’s latest offering, Billy Talent II, I was not impressed. The first CD the band released under the name Billy Talent is still one of my all-time favorite albums, but I found Billy Talent II to be a disappointing follow-up. The songs were undeniably catchy, but the lyrics alternated between being cliche and not making any sense. One of the most obvious differences between the two albums was the significantly greater number of songs about girls and love on Billy Talent II. Billy Talent I is full of tracks written about uncommon subjects (how lies can overtake a life, the laments of an aging prostitute, the willingness to sacrifice everything for an immortal reputation). Billy Talent II, on the other hand, includes too many love songs. The songs that aren’t about love try too hard to be clever, either coming off as too obvious or too senseless.

But even though I was disappointed in its new album, I still went to the Billy Talent show at El Corazon on 4/3 (click here to see upcoming Billy Talent shows, and here to see upcoming shows at El Corazon). And even though the show was packed with songs from the new album, Billy Talent’s stage presence made up for any shortcomings in the music itself.

Billy Talent is a Canadian band, which, according to the lead singer of Cancer Bats, one of the openers, is “fucking huge in Canada.” He proceeded to remind us how lucky we were that we were seeing it at such a small and intimate venue. Tickets for this show were only $12, but the price of tickets for Billy Talent’s shows in Canada cost over $40. After seeing the show, I would have gladly payed $40 or more.

The band had inexhaustible energy, which was most apparent in lead singer Benjamin Kowalewicz. Ben wasn’t stationary for a second of the show, even though the band played a long set and an encore. Plus, in between songs, Ben achieved the perfect balance of joking with the audience and telling personal anecdotes and just introducing the next song. Most impressively, he stopped a song right in the middle when he saw a girl fall down in the mosh pit, and refused to resume singing until he had ensured that she was okay.

So even though I was originally unimpressed with the latest offering from Billy Talent, I find myself listening to Billy Talent II more now that I have seen it performed live. The personality of the band, and of Ben Kowalewicz especially, endeared my to Billy Talent even more than I already had been.