Yes, I was thrilled to meet Art of Dying!

MORE ART OF DYING PICS HERE!

RIDES AGAIN

CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK 2008

SPOTLIGHT BAND REVIEW

Written by Mary-Elizabeth Gilbert

Rides Again from Oshawa, Ontario gave a sweltering and riveting performance at Tattoo Rock Parlour that left the jam-packed audience definitely wanting more. I had wanted to see this band live for well over a year and I was not disappointed. The line-up of talented performers for this band are brothers Nathan Peyton, Chad Peyton and Mike McElroy, these three rockers are indeed talented and give it everything they've got on stage, their passion for what they do is evident, their moves and music in sync with each other, its as if they have been doing this for a lifetime, everything just works with this band..

Chart Attack has described this band as "powerhouse rock that takes no prisoners". They released their debut CD "Into Existence" on October 2nd, 2007 and released their first single "Wonder Why", produced by Juno Award winner Gavin Brown (Billy Talent, Three Days Grace, Thornley) to much critical acclaim across Canada, they currently have their second single out called "Infected" being played and requested on Much Music. Their music has also continuously been in rotation on Toronto's Edge 102.1 and radio stations across Canada.

Other than Canadian Music Week, Rides Again have played Scenefest in St. Catharines, Ontario which included bands Bedouin Soundclash, Moneen, Cancer Bats, Ill Scarlett, Constantines, played the North By North East festival in Toronto with Simon Wilcox, We are the Take, Lights, Jade McNelis and Hey Rosetta as well as the Festival of The Islands, sharing the stage with Thornley. They toured nationally with Social Code and have several performances lined up with The Trews.

You can view and listen to their videos of "Wonder Why" & "Infected" as well as send requests to Much Music for "Infected" here.

You will definitely be hearing more about Rides Again from us in the future, this band is on their way to huge commercial success, I still find myself singing "Infected"! Be sure to check out their MySpace and website!

MORE RIDES AGAIN PICS HERE!

MORE RIDES AGAIN PICS HERE!

BIRDS OF WALES

CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK 2008

SPOTLIGHT BAND REVIEW

Thursday March 6th - Lee's Palace

Written by Scerina Ferron

Photos by Jennifer Ellis

Birds of Wales have to be my favorite Toronto band. I’ve seen them countless times over the last two years and they only keep getting better! It was great to see them at this particular venue again as it’s where I saw them for the very first time.

When you come to a BOW show you can expect some catchy toe-tapping, folk-rock numbers and a ton of energy from Morgan Ross who wears his heart on his sleeve and has the ability to make girls swoon!

The guys just spent almost two months in Vancouver recording a new album with producer Jeff Dawson, who’s produced Daniel Powter “Bad Day”, State of Shock “Money Honey”, and John Wozniac to name a few. Look for that album sometime in the Spring/Summer.

BOW consists of Morgan Ross (Lead vocals, Guitar), Mike Caputo (Guitar), Morgan James Smith (Bass, BG vocals) and Jesse Smith (Drums, BG vocals). All lovely lads who love what they do!

“Birds of Wales. Like the country, not the sea creature.”

You can visit their website here or their MySpace here!

MORE BIRDS OF WALES PICS HERE!

MORE BIRDS OF WALES PICS HERE!

Review being added shortly.

MORE VESTA VARRO PICS HERE!

MORE VESTA VARRO PICS HERE!

Review being added shortly.

MORE DEARLY BELOVED PICS HERE!

MORE DEARLY BELOVED PICS HERE!

8TH ANNUAL INDIES

AWARD SHOW

 

THE BESNARD LAKES

TOKYO POLICE CLUB

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS

FINGER ELEVEN

Saturday March 8th - Massey Hall

Written by Scerina Ferron

Photos by Jennifer Ellis

I think of all the CMW shows I went to, Finger Eleven was the one I was looking forward to most. I had only gotten a taste of what they were like live a couple of times, and I couldn’t wait to hear what they sounded like in Massey Hall! I knew it would be great, and I was right.

They did things a little differently that night. Chevelle was supposed to open, but were forced to cancel due to a family emergency.

So this is where Finger Eleven made the most of the situation. They came on when Chevelle was originally scheduled to perform, and started with an acoustic set of some of their hits, including “I’ll Keep Your Memory Vague,” and “One Thing.” They also did some songs they have never performed live before. They just wanted to take full advantage of playing in the legendary Massey Hall. Lead singer, Scott Anderson could barely contain his excitement, always smiling like a kid in a candy store! The sound in that venue is phenomenal, and that’s something they are not used to in newer venues and arenas.

After a short intermission they came back ready to blow the roof off the place! It took only about ten seconds before everyone on the floor left their seats and rushed the stage! It was loud and energetic and everyone was singing along to every single song! It was only fitting that they ended the evening with the crazy-infectious hit, “Paralyzer” off their first album in four years, “Them vs. You vs. Me.”

I couldn’t think of a better way to end Canadian Music Week!

UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF MONTREAL

Friday March 8th - The Silver Dollar

Written by Andre Skinner

Wee-Werk Records showcased their roster of talent to a packed house at the Silver Dollar Room where I caught the tail end of the Burning Hell's set. I was in the building however to check out the United Steel Workers of Montreal and after reviewing their amazing cd “Kerosene & Coal” a few months back and hearing great things about their live show, I could not wait to hear what they had in store. USWM, are a very unique band; they are exactly what their name exemplifies, hard working, hard living people. They sing for the people, they represent the folks that work tireless days and don’t complain, but compensate with heavy drinking and good times. Listening to them live I think of Hamilton Steel workers, I picture dirty Detroit auto plan workers who will spend half their lives working in harsh environments to make end meet.

The two lead singers of the band both have heavy raspy and seasoned voices that tell great real life stories of love, hard work and weekend binge drinking with the odd tale of drinking and driving thrown in for good measure. This band is raw, to the point, and is very confident in what they deliver. The female lead of the band, Felicity Hamer, is an irresistibly sexy woman who comes off strong with her rough whiskey voice and good looks, she is an integral part of the live show. On the opposite side of the stage there is big o'l Gern, who is a husky individual with a huge personality that resonates out with direct force and his countless stories are from the heart and sincere. I couldn’t have asked for a better show.

JOSHUA BARTHOLOMEW

Commentary to be added shortly.

MORE JOSHUA BARTHOLOMEW PICS HERE!

MORE JOSHUA BARTHOLOMEW PICS HERE!

HEY OCEAN

Commentary to be added shortly.

DEARLY BELOVED

Friday March 8th - Tattoo Rock Parlour

Written by Andre Skinner

The highly anticipated Dearly Beloved hit the stage at 12:45 to a capacity crowd at Tattoo, and really turned up the heat in the room. They played most of the tunes off their latest cd “Repo Repo”, which is an absolutely awesome album. The lighting that supported the stage show was incredible, with blues, reds, oranges and green lights hitting the band at intermittent moments, creating a larger than life atmosphere for the band. Dearly Beloved is really fun to watch, they have lead singer Rob Higgins all over the stage getting right into the music and moving like he means it from the heart, while sexy Nina Chow is on the opposite side of the stage doing backing vocals, swinging her hair, and shaking her ass to the hard rocking catchy tunes. The music was as tight as I could have hoped for, and they delivered in a big way.

STEVE HILL

Friday March 8th - Tattoo Rock Parlour

Written by Andre Skinner

Just when I thought the night was over after the Dearly Beloved set, I saw a band setting up and had no clue who they were so did not pay much mind until the started BLARING through the PA system. HOLY SHIT! WHO THE HELL'S THIS? Were the carefully chosen words I had for my friend who came along for the CMW festivities. I proceeded to take some video and photos of this unbelievably hard rocking and talented trio. The band was Steve Hill, and they put on an absolutely AMAZING show. Lead man Steve Hill, is a KILLER guitarist who lays down his heavy 3 to 4 chord riff rock similar to that of Motorhead and AC/DC.

Unfortunately the venue somewhat emptied out after Dearly Beloved's set, so there were only about 50 people in the place for the set. This is a band I will be seeing again for sure, quite a nice way to end a night of amazing music.

Additional commentary to be added about Steve Hill shortly, photos taken below by Mary-Elizabeth Gilbert.

MORE STEVE HILL PICS HERE!

MORE STEVE HILL PICS HERE!

PLANTS AND ANIMALS

Thursday March 7th - The Horseshoe Tavern

Written by Andre Skinner

I figured I would get things started off right and hit the Horseshoe Tavern to check out Plants and Animals and The Acorn on Thursday March 7th, the official kickoff night for Canadian Music Week’s showcases. Not surprisingly the venue was at capacity and Plants and Animals had just hit the stage. The band truly showed that they are worthy of all recent praise that has surrounded the band online and in print. They delivered a very well executed tight set of intelligent-roots-rock that the crowd was absolutely loving. They played tunes from heir latest album “Park Avenue” such as “Bye Bye Bye”, “Faerie Dance” and “New Kind of Love” that had jaws dropping and feet moving. Plants and Animals are an amazing creative force to see live, the band is a simple trio that mix keyboards, percussion, drums, bass, layered electric guitars and awesome harmonies. Now is the time to catch these guys live as they are touted to be the next big thing out of Montreal.

THE ACORN

Thursday March 7th - The Horseshoe Tavern

Written by Andre Skinner

Always a treat to listen to, the Acorn have a style and sound that is all their own and is hard to pin down in a specific category. They we're playing with an ensemble of talent that looked about 8 strong if I remember correctly. The stage was packed, as was the Horseshoe Tavern, with hard drinking patrons and industry folk all grooving to the eccentric sound of this brilliant Ottawa band.

Lead man Rolf Klausener is an awesome performer and most suited for the lead role in the band as he naturally barks jokes and banter between songs before ripping into songs andputting as much vocal passion as he does physical passion to his stage show. There was never a dull moment during the set and The Acorn did a fantastic job keeping the crowd engaged.

 

UNIT

CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK 2008

Next we saw a band called .Unit who came from Kitchener, Ontario to play for Canadian Music Week. More commentary to be added shortly.

DOWN WITH THE BUTTERFLY

CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK 2008

Next we saw a band called Down WithThe Butterfly who came all the way from Halifax, Nova Scotia to play for Canadian Music Week. More commentary to be added shortly.

GRADY

Thursday March 7th - Tattoo Rock Parlour

Written by Andre Skinner

The last time I saw Gordie (Grady) Johnson was with Big Sugar at the Horseshoe Tavern back in 2002 and he absolutely blew the roof off the place with his screaming arsenal of Gibson guitars and blistering loud amps. He now leads the Austin southern rock trio Grady who are louder and dirtier than any of his past musical endeavors. The band really knows how to throw a party, and they got things started right by playing tunes off their new cd "A Cup of Cold Poison" then moving into songs off their debut cd “Y.U so shady?” then busting out the show stopper “Digging a Hole” the Big Sugar hit which got place going totally crazy and had most the people singing along. This was the first Canadian show for their new drummer Nina Sing who came out swinging and rocked the house hard. She also had a great stage piece with her vintage blue Ludwig Vistalite drums with a huge bull scull hanging off the front of the kit. Gordie Johnson and Ben Richardson are the perfect duo up front both sporting big black Stetsons and all black attire; the chemistry is truly a sight to behold. Grady was definitely one of the highlights of CMW 08.

BLEEKER RIDGE

Wednesday March 5th - Mod Club

Written by Scerina Ferron

Photos by Jennifer Ellis

Bleeker Ridge is a hot young band based out of Orillia Ontario. They recently released their first full length album titled “The Rain” produced by world class producer, Darius Szczepiniak.

Bleeker Ridge has a mature and edgy sound. They’re able to belt out the heavier songs like, “Who’s it gonna be” while still being able to roll into ones such as “Through the Door,” which is softer and more melodic.

All lead singer, Taylor Perkins has to do is smile, and all the girls in the crowd go crazy! Heck, there were boys going crazy too! Taylor is uber hot (and too young for me, but that’s beside the point!) He uses that to his advantage by working the crowd, which is has wrapped around his finger!

Bleeker Ridge puts on a fantastic and energetic live show. Watch out for these boys, you may not know them yet, but you will.

STATE OF SHOCK

Wednesday March 5th - Mod Club

Written by Scerina Ferron

Photos by Jennifer Ellis

I was very excited to see Vancouver’s State of Shock and they did not disappoint! I like many became a fan the moment I heard their infectious award winning song, “Money Honey.”

The band are full of energy, and have such strong stage presence. Lead singer, Cameron Melnyk really knows how to interact with the audience and he’s actually a bit of a smarty pants in a cute way, and it absolutely works for him!

During Canadian Music week, State of Shock won two Canadian Radio Music Awards and received an Indies Award as well. Don’t be surprised if they take home the award for “Best New Group” at the Juno’s.