Rocker Sings Newfoundland’s Praises Ahead of Anniversary Tour
By Dillon Collins
A lot can happen in 20 years. For Liam Cormier, affable and totally far out frontman to hardcore punkers Cancer Bats, two decades can bring with it a change in zip code, a spike in profile, and a trunk full of musical moments.
With reflection in mind, Cancer Bats are set to kick off the 20th anniversary tour of their landmark debut album, Birthing The Giant, with two shows at The Rockhouse in St. John’s this week. Cormier sat down with Downhome to reflect on the miles and memories that have bookended their journey to date.
“Yeah, it’s crazy thinking back on it, but also the really cool part is like having this kind of 20-year memory cycle now. Dude, I remember playing St. John’s in 2006. We have these connections from 20 years ago to every single city that we’re playing on this tour, so it’s awesome.”
Geography, and the economic pitfalls that come with it, often shy many touring artists away from adding Newfoundland to their touring itinerary. For Liam and the Bats, Canada’s easternmost province has been appointment booking since day one, for a variety of reasons.
“We try to tell as many bands, like we’re saying it to everybody. I know it’s expensive, but you’re investing in one of the best nights of your life. There’s no way this show is gonna be a bummer. Once people get an idea of it, it’s oh yeah, it’s us, Protest the Hero, Alexisonfire, you know, we all have this connection to Newfoundland from playing some of the most memorable bonkers shows we’ve been to,” he says, explaining that the band instantly felt welcome by the St. John’s community. “You can tell that there’s like such a hardcore community, I think, like that side of things. I remember we played that show (in 2006), and then everyone was going to a house party. And so we instantly had this crew of friends that were all kind of welcomed in, like right off the bat.”
Released in the summer of 2006, Birthing the Giant, produced by Gavin Brown (Billy Talent/Three Days Grace), earned the band widespread acclaim, winning the band “Favourite Hardcore/Metal Group” at the 2007 Canadian Indie Awards and “Best Independent Video” at the 2007 MuchMusic Awards, alongside a Best Newcomer nomination at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in the UK.
“We really hit the ground running with Cancer Bats, because we had all been in other hardcore bands,” Liam recalls, explaining that the bands’ network of friends and collaborators in the scene decided to take the plunge into the world of recording and touring more easily. “I think that was like the big motivator for us was like all of our friends basically just being like dude, get this band going, let’s go, let’s hurry up. We need to play shows with bands that are cool, so come on tour with us, and so that side of things was like really exciting too, because it wasn’t a big question mark of what we should do? It was like us writing this record to kind of like play catch-up to all of our friends who were telling us to hurry up.
“Everything was happening at the same time. So I do think that a little bit of Birthing was our response to all of these incredible bands around us, and being like, if we just put out something like halfway, we’re not going to be able to kind of be amongst all these other bands. So it’s like, okay, we’ve got to really take this seriously. We got to like make sure we’re making something really cool. Because otherwise it’ll just get blown away.”
For the uninitiated, a Cancer Bats live performance is a wild, sweaty affair of raw, manic energy. And with two chances to witness the Bats, alongside Juno winning west-coasters Anciients, Greg Rekus and a host of killer local support acts, there’s no excuse to miss out on one of 2026’s guaranteed most epic nights out.
“This is the nice part about being able to do two shows, because normally it doesn’t work out like this. So now, for the people who usually miss out, we usually sell out The Rockhouse. So it’s like now, it’s for your buddy who likes Metallica, who you work with, it’s like now that guy can come out and like finally see a Bats show,” says Liam. “I think there are definitely those people who have kind of like missed it in the past or have been out of town. It’s like now is everyone’s chance in St. John’s. Both shows will be sold out, and people will finally get to experience the Bats. So I think that’s my favourite part, is now we can kind of grow the Bats family in St. John’s.”
Advanced tickets for Friday, April 3rd, at The Rockhouse are sold out, though a limited number of tickets will be available at the door. Tickets for Thursday, April 2nd, are available here.
