Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.

Venia (Blood & Ink Records) will be playing a show in Port Perry on March 6th at Emmanuel Church. Facedown Records band Take It Back! were originally confirmed for the show as well but then backed out due to, "Not having proper identification to cross the border." I was really looking forward to see them and now I unfortunately have to wait until Cornerstone to see them.

Anyways, all that aside doors are at 7 and it's $10 or $8 with two canned food items. It'll be a grand ol' hoedown. Bands playing are listed below:

Venia (Blood and Ink Records)
http://www.myspace.com/veniamusic

Uplift
http://www.myspace.com/uplifttoronto

Right Before The Rise
http://www.myspace.com/rightbeforetherise

As The Structures Fails
http://www.myspace.com/asthestructurefails




Right Before The Rise

I really am probably the world's worst blogger. I neglect my blog for long amounts of time. Anyways here's some news you can use:

Hardcore Appreciation Fest. is happening at the Corktown Pub in Hamilton on February 20th. Originally it was a two-day festival but due to venue conflicts the first day was cut. Kind of sketchy and weird, perhaps they should have gotten a contract with the venue, or at least some form of written confirmation. Also adding to the sketchy-ness of the event is that Day two was originally being headlined by Defeater and Ruiner. After James from Uplift (http://www.myspace.com/uplifttoronto) posted on the event wall that Defeater wasn't confirmed for the event the promoter received a nasty shock that somehow or other, he had not actually confirmed the band and Defeater was removed from the bill. Written confirmation definitely would have been helpful here.

Apart from all the confusion I really hope that this event goes well because there are a lot of amazing bands playing - Ruiner, Uplift, Rah, Shut Eyes, and Stay Young to name a few. (Full list below) Tickets are $12ADV/$15 DOORS and can be bought online here or in Hamilton at Dr. Disc, Cheapies and The Corktown Tavern. The venue capacity is apparently only 300 people so it remains to be seen if tickets will be available at the door or not. I'm guessing probably. Either way I already have my tickets and look forward to/am hoping for an awesome night.

Bands playing are as follows:

RUINER - Baltimore Hardcore (Bridge Nine)
http://www.myspace.com/ruiner

Uplift - Toronto Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/uplifttoronto

RAH - Toronto Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/wearerah

Fortune Teller! - Toronto Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/fortunetellerhardcore

Punchout! - Quebec Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/punchouthc

Shut Eyes - Barrie Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/luv2mosh

Bottomfeeder - Kitchener Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/bottomfeederkw

Stay Young - 905 Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/stayyounghc

PlanetXDanger - Barrie Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/planetxdanger

Her Last Regrets - Hamilton Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/herlastregrets

Can't Stand - London Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/cantstandhc

Cat On Acid - Niagara Hardcore Punk
http://www.myspace.com/catonacidband

Desperate Times - Welland Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/desperatetmeshardcore

Lash Out - London Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/lashouthc



Ruiner with a Koala.

I was very sad to hear that The Big Bop - known affectionately as The Reverb, The Kathedral, and Holy Joes - will be closing their doors. From what I have heard the property has been sold and the doors will close on January 30th. My sources also told me that the property will apparently become a furniture store. What a huge loss for the Toronto music scene. Many bands and promoters have gotten their starts at these venues and they will definitely be sorely missed. It's a sad day for Toronto music-lovers.

EDIT:

A link to the Globe and Mail article about this subject can be found here.

A link to the Facebook event for the last show ever at the complex can be found here.



The big purple building itself.

I work a million hours a week so here's what I have to say for the last couple months:

1. Pre-order the new Take It Back CD HERE.

2. The Holly Springs Disaster still haven't found a vocalist. They posted another instrumental song equally as disappointing as King Kong. They could probably license both to some for of Waverace game.

3. Lifestory:Monologue singer/guitarist Jordan has left the band. Read about it on their blog HERE. This was to say the least, a major letdown for me.

4. Beyond the Shadows is now sporting a new vocalist. In addition to Kyle BTS now welcomes Courtney from The Diverse Attraction. No worries, Courtney is still pushing forward with TDA as well.

5. Parkway Drive at the Opera House was amazing. On Burning Shores brought out a whole lot of people. To Cherish opened and could have been better, specifically on vocals. Oh and that guy from the Mongloids told some kid his girlfriend was a whore. It was awesome.

Norma Jean is headlining Explosions 2009 and have announced that in select cities (to be announced) that they will perform the entire album Bless The Martyr And Kiss The Child. The way I see it is they should pick at least one of their Canadian dates to do this on, and there are only two Canadian dates. If it's between Toronto and Montreal here's hoping they do the right thing and pick Toronto. I will be so unbelievably stoked if they do it in Toronto.

I wouldn't be opposed to hearing some stuff off of The Anti-Mother though because I refused to pay the ridiculous ticket price to see them last time they came to town with Underoath. This tour however will feature some solid support bands including my long-time love affair HORSE The Band, The Chariot, and Arsonists Get All The Girls. I'm mostly going for Norma Jean and HTB though because I don't really know Arsonists and not only is The Chariot not my cup of tea musically, but I doubt that they will top their performance at Cornerstone this year. (It involved lots of climbing, stage diving, Josh Scogin personal drum kit, and instrument burning)

Anyways, here's the tour dates:

Thu/Nov-19 New Orleans, LA The Hangar
Fri/Nov-20 Houston, TX Meridian
Sat/Nov-21 San Antonio, TX White Rabbit
Sun/Nov-22 Ft. Worth, TX The Door
Mon/Nov-23 OFF
Tue/Nov-24 Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse
Wed/Nov-25 Pomona, CA Glasshouse
Thu/Nov-26 OFF – Thanksgiving
Fri/Nov-27 San Francisco, CA Slims
Sat/Nov-28 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater
Sun/Nov-29 Seattle, WA El Corazon
Mon/Nov-30 Boise, ID The Venue
Tue/Dec-01 Salt Lake City, UT Club Sound
Wed/Dec-02 Denver, CO Marquis Theater
Thu/Dec-03 OFF
Fri/Dec-04 St. Paul, MN Station Four
Sat/Dec-05 Chicago, IL Reggie’s
Sun/Dec-06 Cleveland, OH Peabody’s
Mon/Dec-07 Pittsburgh, PA Altar Bar
Tue/Dec-08 Toronto, ON Opera House
Wed/Dec-09 Montreal, QC Tulipe
Thu/Dec-10 OFF
Fri/Dec-11 New York, NY Gramercy
Sat/Dec-12 Lancaster, PA Chameleon Club
Sun/Dec-13 Towson, MD Recher Theatre
Mon/Dec-14 Richmond, VA Canal Club
Tue/Dec-15 Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern
Wed/Dec-16 OFF
Thu/Dec-17 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
Fri/Dec-18 St. Petersburg, FL State Theater
Sat/Dec-19 Atlanta, GA Masquerade



Norma Jean - Bless The Martyr and Kiss The Child

Who really knows what to say about these guys from Montreal? They're 80's/pop/rock guys who cut each other's hair before shows and have laser lights. They got banned from Cornerstone Festival for hot saucing someone, and their manager asked me for $10 000 once to book an off-date (they weren't on tour and rather then just saying no, i guess they might as well try). Oh, and did I mention they're also big fans of the mullet?

Anyways, these guys are SUPER catchy. My friend Jeremy listens to mostly pop and hip-hop and I put these guys in front of him and he loved them. They're tough enough to be legit, ridiculous enough to make you laugh at them, and catchy enough for a good and proper dance party. I saw them at Holy Joe's in Toronto last year and Mic Skillz 2 did turn into a giant dance party on the stage. They seriously have the best light show too so check them out if you get a chance.

If you're not from Canada you're in luck! They're getting pretty big nowadays and they're fresh off of some Europe and Japan shows and are on their way to Australia this fall. Give them a listen at myspace.com/blessedbyabrokenheart. Also their new song "Motor Truck City" is up for download by clicking here.

Blessed By A Broken Heart: The biggest joke band ever that still gets mad respect.



Oldish BBABH Picture

I am so unbelievably stoked right now! IGN debuted the first trailer for Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day today. I unaware of a sequel being made but I am SO stoked that one is and with all the original actors minus Willem Dafoe. The brothers look pretty old like they had a pretty rough ten years since the original but WHO CARES?!

Quit waiting and watch the trailer now!!