SHOW REVIEW: Juice and Meantime Headline St. James Lanes with Support form Endurance and Commitment.

Review and photos by: Tiago Fixe

May 22, 2025

New straight edge bands Endurance and Commitment played their first show this Saturday at St. James Lanes. Juice and Meantime headlined the bill one day after opening for Speed at the Park Theatre, turning the bowling alley into a warzone, and further proving hardcore is alive and well in Winnipeg.

Endurance opened the show doing more than just warming up the crowd. Their energy was infectious and had the crowd swinging headbanging and two-stepping throughout the set. Vocalist Ramona jumped into the crowd to mosh many times throughout the performance and even got the pit going herself at times. Endurance played through their EP Point the Blame, which dropped in April of this year. “We’ve been looking up to Juice and Meantime for like, fucking years now” said guitarist Gabrielle. “They’re just made up of great people.” He continued saying vocalists Jessee from Meantime and Adam from Withdrawal helped the band with recording. “We really wouldn’t be at this stage if it wasn’t for the people in those bands.” Gabrielle said him and their drummer Austin always wanted to start a straight edge band. Last November they reached out to Ramona, who was an acquaintance at the time to do vocals, and asked they’re friend Finn to play bass.

Straight edge, a subgenre of hardcore promoting sobriety, has been steadily growing in Winnipeg. “Straight edge saved my life; I wouldn’t be alive without it,” said Commitment vocalist Parker. Parker and Commitment guitarist and XMeans to an EndX vocalist Simone said they’ve seen more kids join the movement since XMeans to an EndX entered the scene in 2022. While they’ve inspired many kids to join the movement, Simone acknowledges they’re not the first, crediting Dylan Roy, Jessee Kowalski, and others for paving the way. “As soon as I stopped doing drugs I was like, ‘wow shit, my life fucking sucks, let’s start fixing it,’” said Simone. “Once you become free of that crutch, you don’t stagnate as much anymore. Things suddenly stop being okay, and you sit in that not okay-ness, and from there you can rebuild.” Commitment kept the energy going with they’re catchy riffs and melodic solos. The band played they’re demo tape released in January of this year. Commitment also included two covers, playing “March of S.O.D” by S.O.D, and “Clear” by Floorpunch. The band started when Simone wanted to make more melodic hardcore and had songs she’d been singing on for over two years. She asked Jude to play drums in the project but couldn’t find anyone else who was straight edge – until she met Micah and Parker. “We were at a Balmora show, and they came up to me and said they were straight edge, and I said to myself, ‘holy shit, I think we’ve found a lineup,’” said Simone. The final lineup includes Simone on lead guitar, Parker on vocals, Micah on bass, Jude on drums, and Dylan on rhythm guitar. Commitment didn’t overstay their welcome, leaving you craving more. If you’re a fan of straight edge, both Commitment and Endurance should be on your radar.

The next band was Meantime, who gave no warning before launching into “Supine” the first song off their Album Living in the Meantime. Meantime kept up consistent energy throughout their performance. The crowd moshed through the entire set, and by the end had piled around the mic, jumping over each other to scream the lyrics to their final track “Living in the Meantime.”

Juice finished off the night with an explosive set that was over before you could process what had happened. vocalist Tony Ferarri started the set saying, “fuck American bands and fuck Dallas.” Just before Juice started, the Winnipeg Jets lost game six of the playoffs to the Dallas Stars, fueling the violence in the crowd. The band played songs like “World War 3,” “Victim of the Psychic War,” and “Murder,” off their debut album Festival of Fools. The continuous dive bombs on guitar, and hard-hitting drums made you feel like you’re caught in a warzone.

Juice and Meantime emphasized in their sets while playing big stages with bands like Speed and Comeback Kid are Great – shows like these are what matter to them the most.