We were contacted by Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (Waterloo Region Chapter) about a rally they are having January 23rd at Waterloo Public Square. They are looking for Indie Bands, and it would be great exposure. If you are interested please contact Katie through their Facebook group.
We are looking for a band/musicians to play at our rally!
Reqs:
- You have to be willing to play outside.
- Your music should have some degree of mass-appeal.
- You must play your own songs. Because our rally may be televised, playing covers without the permission of the song-writers may be considered copyright infringement.
- If you have your own equipment, that is ideal, but we can work something out if not.
- We cannot offer you any compensation beyond free publicity and our sincere thanks.
If you play in a band, or know of someone who plays in a band, who is interested in playing in front of a large crowd on January the 23rd, please message me ASAP!
There are still tickets for today’s M.A.S. Festival at 870 Townline Road Cambridge. This is from an email we recieved from the promoters.
If you weren’t able to get your tickets in advance, don’t worry because we will be selling them at the door for $18. This gives you access for the whole day and night!!
Remember, this is an all ages event so if you are 19+ and are planning to drink, please bring your ID. There will also be some great food available to purchase at a reasonable price so you don’t go hungry!
Coat check will be available at the front door for only $2 which is also good for the entire day. Please note, ALL backpacks (not purses) have to be checked in with coat check!
M.A.S. Music Festival is back. The first Festival of the year! This year, the festival is bigger and better. Killer Bands, killer lights, killer sound!!
This year our headliner is: The Johnstones!!!!
Official Set time:
1:30 – 1:50 – Jen Courvoisier
2:00 – 2:30 – Something You Whisper
2:40 – 3:10 – The Twin
3:20 – 3:50 – Courage My Love
4:00 – 4:30 – Trap Tiger
4:40 – 5:10 – Nobody’s Heroes
5:20 – 5:50 – Everyday Legend
6:00 – 6:30 – Unlimited
6:40 – 7:10 – Last one out
7:20 – 7:50 – Final Thought
8:00 – 8:30 – Grindstone
8:45 – 9:20 – punchalice
9:30 – 10:00 – Isle of Thieves
10:20 – 11:00 – Jozsef
11:20 – 12:00 HEADLINER – The Johnstones
The Go Musical Festival will not happen this year, and may not happen again. I confirmed this with Sylvia from The Beat Goes On, the main sponsors for this event.
If you are not familiar with the Go, it’s KW’s 2 day Indie Extravaganza. Last year there were 50 Indie acts in 6 venues in 2 days. It is run in conjunction with KOOL FM’s Koolest new artist contest, where Indie acts get airplay on KOOL and the winner is determined by listener votes.
Sylvia cited lack of external funding as the cause of the cancelation, but stressed that it is the economy in general and not any specific organization. (as was rumoured) She told me they even sought corporate sponsorship, something they have avoided because of the nature of the festival, but had no success.
The Stone Angels, Lucas Stagg, Dead Hour, Sexdwarf, Paul MacLeod and Lynn Jackson are just a few of the acts that played at last years Go. I started Indie Scene last year as a direct result of my coverage of the Go as managing editor of The Vibe. ( 50 bands in 2 days? Mission Implausible) and we planned on devoting most of the second issue of Indie Scene to this years fest.
This year’s Go will not happen, at least not as we have known it, but Sylvia is willing to listen to suggestions to save the Go and take them to the committee. One of the possibilities we discussed for this year may be a smaller, one day event.
What are your thoughts and ideas about this? Can we collectively focus some of our artistic energy on this situation and come up with a workable solution, or do we just let the Go festival go?
Please post your response below, and if you are a musician, promoter, venue owner please state that as there will be an article about this in the first issue of The Scene in late January and certain comments may be chosen for publication.
Mary 5e is one of the best known singer/songwriters in the KW area, but few people know how far she has come.Her Bio reads;
This is the story of Mary Fivie, a bad-ass girl living in a small town drinking, drugging, and committing petty criminal acts. Stealing trucks and tractors, breaking into homes, drinking and driving, jumping out of moving cars — Mary did it all. “I was 16 and pissed off at the world; I was in a small town drinking my face off,” she reveals earnestly. “I think I’d be dead by now. Music seriously did save me because I felt lik.3e I had purpose. I could write about stuff rather than act out.”
This is a position many artists can relate to, but few are as outspoken about it as Mary, but that’s Mary. She says what’s on her mind whether she’s onstage or off.
Mary decided to become a musician after hearing Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill in 1995. She learned Clapton’s “Tears in Heavan” on a borrowed guitar, and hasn’t looked back since.
She landed her first gig the next summer, and opened for Alannah Myles. Mary was only 17. “There were 800 people there,” she says. “I almost shit my pants.”
Accomplished on guitar, drums and bass, Mary has never taken a lesson, and can’t name a note or chord.
Mary played to upwards of 4,000 people at Toronto Pride in 2002, and the CD release for Made of Gold at Fiddler’s Green in Cambridge was the biggest-selling show of the summer of the same year.Readers of The Kitchener-Waterloo Record voted Mary favourite female artist in both 2002 and 2004, and as a Stone Angel, she won KOOL FM’s Koolest new artist last year.
Mary is a veritable Chameleon. You can see her three nights in a row and see three different shows. I’d have a difficult time picking out my favorite performance from Mary over the last year. Her snarling out Poison’s “Talk Dirty to Me” at to a metal crowd at The Velvet Invasion was great. Alone and vulnerable (looking) at Molly Bloom’s doing a rendition of The Black Crowes “She talks to Angels” that grabbed at your soul. At Halloween, dressed as Michael Jackson, she did “Gangster’s Paradise” with Cuneyt Yetkinerdoing a flamenco accompaniment. (You had to be there!) You never know what to expect from Mary, but it’s always good.
w/ The Stone Angels @The Velvet "Talk Dirty to me"
From her musical epiphany as a delinquent on the streets of Barrie to one of the most respected and diverse musicans in the region, this is a great story about a bad ass girl who does good.
Mary is playing this Saturday at Molly Bloom’s Kitchener, the 23rd at The Warehouse in Cambridge w/The Joys, and Jan. 30th at The Warehouse for The Songs of Sirens.
"Talking to angels" @ Molly Blooms
Elvis (Cuneyt) and Michael Jackson (Mary) are living in a "Gangsters Paradise"
For the last few months music fans and venue owners along King St. have become enamoured with a singer/songwriter from “Down Under.” (no, I’m not talking about Hespeler)
I first spotted Candice Long at The Boathouse’s Tuesday Night Jam last summer. During her set, we learned she was from Brisbane, Australia for a visit “for a few weeks,” and hoped to play a few gigs while she was here. She was not only a good musician, her charisma combined with her Australian accent helped give her a great stage presence.
Two days later I was walking up King St. and who should be playing outside Bobby O’Brien’s?
When we are at the Boathouse I had made a reference to Joni Mitchell, and when Candice saw me she smiled and broke into Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi.” This was the first time I really witnessed how infectious her sunny disposition is; she makes a crowd feel good about life.
Candice taking it to the streets
As her “few weeks” stretched out I saw Candice play almost every live music venue along King St. in Kitchener. Lucky’s, Millsy’s, Bobby O’briens, The Children’s Museum, The Hive, The Joint…Playing a mix of covers and originals she won the crowd over every time.
She covers a multitude of female artists from different decades. Patsy Cline, Nancy Sinatra, Janis Joplin, Alanis Morrissette… When she covers a song she breathes new life into it.
Her originals are fresh and inspiring. Candice makes no secret of her Christian beliefs, and makes reference to her faith in some of her originals but she never sermonizes. I had to laugh when she played at The Hive with Robert Reid opening night of Oktoberfest (aptly entitled “Oztoberfest.”)
Candice charms the audience at The Joint
It was not your typical Oktoberfest entertainment. People came expecting accordions and polkas, and they got Candice. When did a sultry cover of “Son of a preacher man” it made every male in the audience wish their dad was a minister, and by the time she closed with a rousing rendition of Amazing Grace the audience was eating out of her hand.
Using KW as her home base, Candice made successful forays to B.C., Quebec and Nashville to ply her trade.
Her “few weeks” ended on December 23rd she went home to sunny Australia. (Personally,I can’t imagine why anyone would want to leave a beautiful Canadian winter to sit on a sun soaked beach)
We can only hope that when winter hits there she’ll make a return trip to her Canadian home.
King St. misses her.
There is a benefit to help out local musicians The Stars Here who had their equipment stolen twice in 3 months. There is from a facebook site set up by Steph to help these guys out. You can’t tear the Stars down.
This is what Steph says on the site.
The Stars Here have influenced many Canadian musicians, and those who have had their ears graced by their gorgeous melodies, harmonies, and mash up of bluesy, rock, pop and folk, have swooned and fallen in love.
These guys work impressively hard and that’s part of the reason they have so much respect.
However, someone has shown them a sickening lack of respect by breaking into their jam hall twice within 3 months. Now, their friends have formed a musical circle around them in an effort to raise funds to help them recover their losses.
Please join us for a stellar lineup of 17 acts on January 16th at the beloved Boathouse in Victoria Park, Kitchener. Cover is ten bucks, and not only will you see a crazy awesome lineup of pure diversity and great talent, but you’ll also be supporting an amazing cause.
See you there!!!
Are you sick of a steady diet of the standard meat and potatoes music cooked up by a bass, 2 guitars and a set of drums? Are you looking for a different flavour of tune? I have found the perfect recipe.
Indie Restaurant
Special of the Day
Lyrics with a bite surrounded by honey coated voices in a perfectly mixed sauce of guitar and keyboards, on a solid bed of cello.
Many bands lay claim to the indie mantle and say that their sound is unique, but few are. Of the several hundred acts that I have seen in the last few years there is one that stands far above the pack as having a unique sound. This band has no drums or bass. From front to back, this band is different.
The first thing you notice about them are the delicious sounds that emanate from vocalist Steph D. Backup vocalist Kristy Bastien keeps harmonious pace with Steph’s vocal gymnastics. Glen Hughes on guitar and Greg Wilson on keyboards weave intricate patterns around the vocals, while the diminutive Trina Nadea is ten feet tall as she provides the backbeat on cello. Each note is honey coated, ready to melt your ear buds as they deliver melodious ecstacy to the musical pleasure centres of your brain.
It’s only after the sweet notes have hit your soul that the lyrical bullets smash your heart..
Their song “Death by Wardrobe” on their myspace is a perfect example of this.
Death by Wardrobe
Desperation’s not a dress that flatters my curves
still I wear it every day, it’s covered in your dirt
every morning I put it on
But it’s not my choice
it’s very ragged, it’s not a nice dress, it swallows my voice
it makes me sad that you’re not around
to see the new light in my eyes
transformation from moth to a butterfly
but you’ll regret what you’ve done to me
trust me baby
you’ll never be quite the same…
Although they spent most of last year on recording hiatus I was fortunate enough to catch them twice.
In February they played The Warehouse opening for Bad Pickle, a local cover band who play everything from “AC/DC to ZZ Top.” The fans came craving pickles, but were more than sated by the “taste of colour.” (I’m sorry, there’s something about Bad Pickle that makes me want to write in puns)
At The Joint. in October they wowed the crowd, made up mostly of fellow musicians. In the middle of their set, just when everyone was suitably impressed and settling in to a comfortable groove, Nadeau and Wilson broke into a keyboard/cello duet that was awe inspiring. Steph told me that their EP “should be out by mid-February,” after which they will be playing local gigs.
They will be making a special appearance on January 15th at The Boathouse at a fundraiser for The Stars Here.
Lucky’s is recruiting 25 Bands for this event. The entry fee is $15 per Band. Those entered by the deadline will battle it out by vote for a $500 cash prize! Support your local music scene and a growing venue with great sound, and good vibes, and Lucky’s amazing Wings!!
After the success of the Metcalfe St. and the Riverside Pool Hall reunions earlier this year people have been pestering me to do another, bigger event.
! have managed to contact some of the musicians from “back in the day,” (I was amazed to find any who survived the eighties!) and found the perfect spot, the old Baker’s Warehouse. There will be 3 bands, Bad Pickle, LIFT and Heavy Lights. There will be door prizes and security.
My alter ego, The Mad Hatter, is envious of the many hats that Carrie Humphries wears. Promoter. Radio host. Columnist. No-one in this area works harder for Indie Musicians than her, and haberdasher Humphries is hoping to add another cap to her collection; VJ at Much Music.
Her company, I.R.I.S. Entertains, has exposed more local artists to the public than an exhibitionist on ecstasy and her column “Indie Seen” has resurrected the respectability of Echo Weekly among local musicians.
Local musicians have nothing but accolades for her. “I remember when she first started (promoting),” Robert Sex tells me of Carrie when she was 19 “She was a whirlwind from the start. I expected her to burn out, but she just got better “.
Carrie is currently in the running to be a VJ on Much Music, to be determined by fan votes. Not only do the local “Indies”and their fans owe it to her for all her hard work it will give her the opportunity to give local acts National Attention.
click to vote for Carrie for the Coolest VJ for Much Music
I’ve made this really easy for you. Just click on Carries pic on the left and it will take you right to her page on Much Music, vote for her there. (If you don’t I will personally track you through your IP address and jeer your shows!)
We were contacted by Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (Waterloo Region Chapter) about a rally they are having January 23rd at Waterloo Public Square. They are looking for Indie Bands, and it would be great exposure. If you are interested please contact Katie through their Facebook group.
Cambridge. This is from an email we recieved from the promoters.
Mary 5e is one of the best known singer/songwriters in the KW area, but few people know how far she has come.Her Bio reads;
For the last few months music fans and venue owners along King St. have become enamoured with a singer/songwriter from “Down Under.” (no, I’m not talking about Hespeler)
Are you sick of a steady diet of the standard meat and potatoes music cooked up by a bass, 2 guitars and a set of drums? Are you looking for a different flavour of tune? I have found the perfect recipe.
Lucky’s is recruiting 25 Bands for this event. The entry fee is $15 per Band. Those entered by the deadline will battle it out by vote for a $500 cash prize! Support your local music scene and a growing venue with great sound, and good vibes, and Lucky’s amazing Wings!!
