Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.

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!!

Before I get into this let me say that I support buying CDs 100% and personally have a collection of 400+ CDs. However, I also download albums, sample them, and then do one of two things: buy it if I like it, or delete it. That being said...

The RIAA successfully sued Joel Tenenbaum $675 000 and is still concerned enough to ask the court for an injunction in order to, "prohibit defendant from causing additional irreparable injury to plaintiffs." Joel is only the second person to not settle out-of-court in piracy lawsuits from the RIAA. I'm not a Moby fan but I think he summed it up the best in June when he posted the following blog to his website in reference to the only other person to actually go to court with the RIAA:

argh. what utter nonsense. this is how the record companies want to protect themselves? suing suburban moms for listening to music? charging $80,000 per song?

punishing people for listening to music is exactly the wrong way to protect the music business. maybe the record companies have adopted the 'it's better to be feared than respected' approach to dealing with music fans. i don't know, but 'it's better to be feared than respected' doesn't seem like such a sustainable business model when it comes to consumer choice. how about a new model of 'it's better to be loved for helping artists make good records and giving consumers great records at reasonable prices'?

i'm so sorry that any music fan anywhere is ever made to feel bad for making the effort to listen to music.

the riaa needs to be disbanded.

moby"

So Abandon All Ships posted a blog back on August 7th that can be read here. I'm a little behind on the times I know but I can't resist making a comment. Basically the blog told fans that their MySpace player doesn't load in anything but Firefox and if they use Internet Explorer they need to switch to the better browser. Now I personally only use Firefox and think it is the best browser, but I'm glad to report that a couple of people used their common sense and commented to the band that it is their responsibility to spread their music, not to tell their fans to switch web browsers.

Seeing as they dropped some dollars for their layout, Abandon All Ships should go back to Fashioned By Machine who made their layout and make them fix the problem. When your player doesn't work in IE, Safari, Chrome, OR Opera, it's time to change your coding because really...are all your fans going to switch web browsers to hear the five songs you have up? Probably not.

If you do have Firefox I recommend giving these guys a listen if you're into a Hardcore/Synth/Euro sound. http://www.myspace.com/abandonallships


Abandon All Ships!

So it has been decided that I and some super rads friends are going on a four-day road trip to Boston for Have Heart's final show with Bane and a mystery guest. The show is on what is apparently National Straightedge Day, but how would I know I'm Canadian!

We are also going to eat at BOB EVANS at some point. We'll probably just mess around the whole way there and back in general. (Which is why we're taking four days to drive to Boston and back) I'm excited and poking around looking for some fun, crazy, and preferably cheap things to do along the way.



BOSTON STRAIGHT-EDGE!

First off, I just want to get it out there that The Diverse Attraction has posted a new song on their MySpace. It's amazing but was there ever really any question as to whether it would be amazing or not? Go check it out - the link is on the right side under "Unsigned Artists".

In other news Durham College finally did something right. They have tried to book Alexisonfire in the past and got repeatedly turned down. For some reason the school tried to book them into EP Taylor's, the college pub, which is not only one of the world's worst venues, but it is small and would sell out in two seconds. The band turned the offers down as I assume they saw no real benefit to themselves to play a small campus pub and justifiably so.

The SA finally smartened up it seems and have booked Alexisonfire and Metric to play Campusfest 09. They will be hosting an outdoor show in the Polonsky Commons. The show is on Monday, September 14th and starts at 6pm. (Although gates open at 4pm?!) As far as I can tell you can only attend if you are a student or alumni, or convince a student or alumni to buy a ticket for you and take you as a guest. Advance tickets for students and alumni are $15//$20 for guests...so there is a benefit to being an alumni!

I hope they play a lot of pre-Old Crows, Young Cardinals. Although, Dallas Green was quoted in the Toronto Star saying, "It's a statement to people who still want us to be the band we used be. I don't think we'll ever be that band." (Link to Article at the bottom) Evolving musically=good. Forgetting where you came from and basically cutting off fans of your first two albums....well lets just say the first time I go to a show and I don't hear at least the old classics that got them where they are today, I'm done with their shows. Just to clarify, I do like Crisis - they lost me at Old Crows/Young Cardinals.

Another note is that George was quoted as saying, "a lot more harmonizing and a lot more layering. With the screaming, you can paint yourself into the corner a bit." He should really clarify that he can still scream because I've talked to a lot of people who are under the impression that he has destroyed his vocal chords and can't anymore. I'm as curious as everyone else so it would be interesting to see him address this rumour.

Link to the Toronto Star article.

I had the pleasure of watching these guys three times at Cornerstone this year. I had not picked up their album that much on my own but my friends were playing it a lot. I was somewhat surprised to find that I knew all of the lyrics and was singing along, which shows how catchy their songs are. They ended up being one of my favourite bands of the festival and I have since taken to listening to them an awful lot. If you're into hardcore punk I highly recommend giving these guys a listen, or even better - see them live if you can.

Take It Back released their Limited Edition EP, Rumors Of Revolt, on August 18th. The album has five songs total. Three are new and two are covers (”Rise Above” – Black Flag and “Turn Burn Again” – No Innocent Victim). Both covers are amazing in that Take It Back has added their own twist to the songs. I can't stand it when bands play a cover that sounds exactly like the original.

If you enjoyed their first album this EP gives you a fresh new sound that still embodies everything that you probably loved about the first album. Take It Back has managed to find a vocalist who can still belt out old favourites, but brings his own new sound to the table. It's a beautiful thing.

The band has left a small summer treat to tease me until their second full-length comes out on Facedown Records in the fall. I cant wait!


Take It Back! - Rumors of Revolt

Barry Taylor recently posted a blog to his MySpace titled "Why I was fired from 102.1 the Edge". I highly encourage people to read it in it's entirety so with hopes of just that I'm going to post it here:



Barry shed a lot of light on a lot of things...at least for myself. For a further interesting read check out The Ballad of Martin Streek. I've linked to a blog posting of the Globe & Mail article because I feel like the poster's insight as well as the comments by reader's offer up some food for thought as well.

R.I.P. Martin Streek - R.I.P. CFNY

As most Canadian hardcore fans know Mike Froh left The Holly Springs Disaster awhile back. The band posted an instrumental version of I D.A.R.E. David Bowie To Drive Drunk for download so that THSD hopefuls could submit vocal auditions. Recently they posted an instrumental version of King Kong. The song is a newer song i.e. is not on Motion Sickness Love and the more I listen to it, the more bummed out I get. I've heard their new stuff live but was reserving my judgement until I heard the recorded versions. I personally can't fully appreciate live music unless I hear it over and over, which usually requires either A. lots of money to go to shows or B. a recording. Most of the song is a complete deviation from everything I love about Holly Springs. I was disappointed when Mike left and knew that the next vocalist will not be able to duplicate his sound, but I'm confident that they'll find someone talented that will be a good fit for their band. I always expected amazing instrumentals and was/still am waiting on pins and needles to hear what this talented band will come up with. I am slightly disapointed as the instrumentals of King Kong remind me more of a cheesey video game then they do of the band I have grown to love. These guys are super talented and I really hope that they make an amazing comeback although I am skeptical. I'm still waiting hopefully, which is a measure of how much respect I have for these guys as musicians. Good luck and here's hoping guys...


The Holly Springs Disaster Being Dirtbags.<3

Michael, Aaron and I began the epic journey of watching the Showbread DVD last night. I don't think I have ever watched a band beat and shoot each other more then these guys did. I also don't think I've seen as many animal friend's in a DVD as Showbread has. We're pretty sure that Ivory didn't leave the band and that they killed him in some bizarre hot sauce incident. The one section of the DVD was a staggering 2 hours with much more left on disc 1. Then over to disc 2 which promises to be quite a treat.

I teach kids at The School of Rock for all of July (yes I am that lucky!). We have a solid group this week and we came up with some pretty sweet band names and logos today so I'm excited to see how the rest of the week goes. Hopefully no one gets too carried away!


Showbread @ Cornerstone Music Festival

Last night we did our civic and environmental duty and ripped down all the posters we put up in Port Perry for the show. When I was putting up two posters on a hydro pole near the high school an old man gave me the world's most evil look and stared at me quite obviously through his living room curtains. Those posters were both already gone when we went to get them. They were stapled and taped to the pole so I can only conclude that as soon as he was sure we were gone he went out and ripped them down. I was tempted to knock on the door and thank him for his support and inform him that thanks to him we not only raised two boxes of food for the food bank, but we also created a safe and positive environment for youth to hang out. Hats off to you old man!

Pop-Rock band Emarosa has a concert coming up at The Reverb this Friday. I've noticed lately that a lot of Emarosa fans are less then thrilled with Jonny Craig's addition to the band. I saw them when they played Kool Hause with A Day To Remember and The Devil Wears Prada and have to say that his vocal performance was the band's only redeeming quality for me. His voice is raspy-sweet/pop-punk goodness overtop of melodies and beats I've heard a thousand times before. Don't get me wrong, the band is ok but they're just not doing anything different that stands out to me. They do have a lot of really devoted fans though and are a hard-working band so good for them. Craig's vocals remind me vaguely and not-so-vaguely of Courtney MacPhaden of Markham's The Diverse Attraction. TDA is always a treat to see live. If you're a fan of hardcore, pop-punk, both, or anything inbetween be sure to give them a listen at the link posted on the right. They have a bunch of older songs posted and someday soon we'll all be able to listen to their album that has been long in the works...hopefully.



The Diverse Attraction @ Markville Mall

So this is now going to be a not-so-secret place for me to post about whatever's going on that is neat or things that are not interesting at all.

The show last night was amazing. We got a couple boxes full of food for the food bank along with some new sweat-soaked t-shirts that people apparently no longer wanted. Thanks to everyone for coming out. Every time we don't lose money it encourages us to do another show.

All the bands were amazing but, as always, Lifestory:Monologue stole the show for me with their amazing live performance. I have never been disappointed when I see this band live and I'm currently at 6+ times within the last 10 months. They describe themselves accurately as "A visual display and musical experience." The vocal harmonies mixed with passionate shouting make me so happy. The instruments sound like they're all dancing together! The bass solo at the end of Dancing and Kisses always makes me happy. Newcomers and old friends to the band are always impressed to discover what an electric guitar sounds like when played with a bow and the xylophone at the beginning of Wolves Behind Me is always a fan favourite. The band has been playing a lot of new songs too which are quickly finding a place in my heart, but with songwriters as amazing as these guys that isn't too hard. These guys from Guelph are totally here to stay. I've posted a link to their myspace on the right hand side of this blog so go and give them a listen. Oh joy, What Fun!