I'm not going to lie; I was never the hugest fan of Champion. Actually, I think Champion's greatest achievement lies nine seconds within "Harrison and Broadway" where the music stops suddenly and Timm McIntosh does that little guitar squeak. I don't know why I think this is so splendid but I love it every time I hear it. Throughout Champion's eight-year existence I bought their two EP's and their full length, Promises Kept, and listened to them and thought that Champion was a decent albeit a generic melodic straight-edge hardcore band from the Pacific Northwest.
However, it seems a lot of people out there loved this somewhat mediocre, in my eyes, straight-edge hardcore band and were taken aback when they suddenly broke up right after they inked a deal with Equal Vision Records. Tears were shed, gossip ran amuck across messegeboards, and a final show was planned. And now we have a CD/DVD set documenting that final show in all its glory.
The CD features fourteen tracks taken from the last show. I am personally not a fan of live CDs. I feel like if I wasn't there why should I try and be nostalgic over a show I wasn't at. I didn't see all the sweet stage dives, or the massive sing-alongs, or even the Truth Bot swinging its cardboard tube arms in the circle pits. However, the sound on the CD is great and captures Champion well in a live setting. If you were at the last show then the CD is a great companion to it and I'm sure it will invoke all the right sweat stained memories.
The DVD, though, is awesome. There are six cameras catching all the action. We get to see where Jim catches a foot in the face and starts bleeding like a shiv. We also see him breakdown and start crying during a sing along. It's a great moment seeing a man that put forth so much energy into a band finally coming to grips it's over and then seeing all these people singing along has to be a great moment in any band's history. There are also some interviews with various Champion members, past and present, about what Champion meant to them and what this show means to them. It's a nice personal touch.
Champion meant a lot to a lot of people out there. This CD/DVD combo shows why. They even did that little guitar squeak in "Harrison and Broadway." And you damn well know I was couch moshing to that intro. Different Directions | The Last Show shows me that Champion was more than an average straightedge band from Seattle. Now looking back and watching the DVD and listening to the CD I can certainly see why they will be missed.
