People who spend more than a few minutes around me will know that I LOVE live albums, and the prospect of any band I like releasing a live album is always met with excitement. That goes double for a band like Max the Axe, who had yet to put out a live release before. It’s an extra level of pressure on the album. I am glad to be able to tell you all about how godd Live in Ontario is.

But first up, full disclosure, I do know both Max and Eric personally, but that’s not likely to affect my opinion one way or the other as I am already have my opinions on all these songs, just not the versions presented here.

But enough talking, let’s jump right on in. The album is comprised of essentially three parts, the first of which consists of six songs taken from a 2006 performance in Etobicoke, Ontario.

Astute readers may notice that these performances do predate Eric’s joining the band by many years. Regarding that, my friend Mike Ladano at mikeladano.com said it best: “if you consider Kiss Alive to be a great album, then you should have no problem with Live In Ontario!“

So onwards. First up is “Blood Runs Red”. Litwiller’s voice suits the song well, as it interpolates a slower groove with faster breaks, and you’d be forgiven for thinking he was the original vocalist. This is a pattern that repeats for most of these pre-Status Electric songs.

Except for the second song, “River Grand” which is actually unique in that it would later be recorded with Litwiller on vocals on Status Electric. This version follows the same general pattern as that version, with Litwiller’s ample power and range on show during the chorus.

“Labyrinth” is up next, though it’s one of the less exciting songs on here for me, Jeff Slauenwhite’s drums are worth the price of admission. “Labyrinth” then gives way to the monlithic “Immortal (I Feel The Sun)”, with one of my favourite performances on the disc. I never tire of listening to Litwiller just going for it on the choruses.

The final two tracks from Heads or Tails are “Mexican Standoff” and “Space Marine”. The former features Litwiller snarling his way through, though at the cost of a slightly anaemic chorus without the many backing voices of the studio version. The latter, meanwhile, adds some “woah-oh-ohing” to this Max album, as well as providing no shortage of guitar soloing to enjoy.

Next we move onto the 2017 show at The Farm, from the early days of the Koutis-Litwiller-Haslam-Mitchell lineup. A slight sound-difference is noticable between the two shows, but you get used to it soon enough. From here on out, all songs but one are from Status Electric, starting with “The Other Side”. Short and sweet, “The Other Side” is often overshadowed on Status Electric, but gets a little more of the spotlight here as the ‘opener’ to this ‘act’ of the disc.

The one pre-Status Electric song from The Farm is “I Don’t Advocate Drugs”, one of my all-time favourite Max the Axe songs and the song I chose to make an unoffical music video for. This performance of it is awesome. I don’t have a preferred version, as I really love what both singers bring to the song, each in their own ways.

The ever-increasing length of “Scales of Justice” is up next, clocking in at 7:10. This version sounds more experiemental in places than the album version, though everything that made it one of nine great songs on Status Electric is already present here.

Two short rockers then close out the Farm tracks, and they’re two of the band’s best: “Next Plane To Vegas” and “Gods on the Radio”. Both rendered energetically, if not as flawlessly as per the record.

The final song is “Randy”, from the CD release party for Status Electric. Plans were made to record the whole show, but unfortunately circumstances conspired against that and this is all we have from it. This recording comes courtesy of Mike Ladano’s mobile phone. “Randy” was never my favourite song on that album, but this version should satisfy those that liked it. The band are tighter here than on other parts of the CD too.

I’ve been excitedly waiting for a live album from the band for a while now, and Live in Ontario did not disappoint in the slightest. Despite the single-disc tracklisting, it manages to hit enough of the sweet spots from the band’s various eras that the inevitable omissions don’t hurt as much.

Final verdict – 4.25/5 stars