FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
When I heard that a chicken wing joint was opening two doors down from St. Louis on Bloor, I thought that was a dumb idea. A few months later, when another bar specializing in wings opened at the corner of Bloor and Walmer, well, I figured that was a really dumb idea. Yet I found myself drawn to the winning combination of spicy wings and beer, so today I went to all three wing joints. My verdict is as follows…
Back before the “Steven Tyler falling off the stage” incident, ZZ Top and Aerosmith were scheduled to tour the football stadiums of the CFL’s Western Division. What with the pissing match that ensued, Aerosmith haven’t made up the dates yet, but ZZ Top came to Calgary for a headlining gig at the Pengrowth Saddledome, just a few days after the city played host to the 97th Grey Cup.
After an eight-month hiatus, Gruesome Greg returns to the airwaves with Smokin Green’ now occupying a new timeslot: 1-3 am Saturday nites on CKLN 88.1 fm!
When I was 10, the holy trinity of hard rock bands consisted of AC/DC, KISS, and…wait for it… Nazareth. The Scottish rockers had a shoulda-bin stadium stomper in “Hair of the Dog” and turned Joni Mitchell’s “This Flight Tonight” into a hard-rockin’ hit. I actually used to draw pictures of myself wearing a Nazareth T-Shirt. I kid you not.
To this day, I still don’t own a Nazareth T-Shirt. I also haven’t seen them live, and I think I could live without doing so. But after catching AC/DC last November, my pre-teen dream was realized last nite when I finally saw KISS in concert.
Labour Day Weekend is gonna be another Long Weekend of Doom for me. There aren’t any shows going on, but I’ll be slow-motion headbanging to the large shipment of CDs I just got from AllThat’sHeavy.com.
And in this corner, with 12 years, five albums, three EPs and countless tours under their belts, NEBULA!
And in the opposite corner, with 3 years as a trio, touring in support of their first album, The Entrance Band!
So, last Tuesday I was checking my emails before calling it a nite, when I noticed a message from John Gallo via the Hellride Music Forum. He said he wanted my Top 10 doom metal albums for issue number 2 of his zine, and that he had to have it by the end of the day…
The closest thing to a stoner/doom festival we’ve had in Toronto was the 4/20 Sunday Stoner Rock Spectacular, a overambitious 10-band lineup put together by me and a buddy of mine. The lineup was all local, the attendance was mediocre, and the ElMo was pretty empty. Still, it was good times. So, when I heard that a similarly ambitious all-day ordeal was happening just across the border in Rochester, I made sure to confirm my attendance.
I know a guy who books a couple bars in Buffalo, and considers himself the king of their scene. (Well, he told me that in an email once, but I dunno if he was serious.) When I couldn’t get his band to play the Sunday Stoner Rock Spectacular last year, since it fell on a Jewish holiday, he suggested I get in touch with Chylde.
If you live in Toronto, and listen to any kind of rock music, chances are you’ve at least heard of the 3Tards. The ‘Tards are a local punk rock institution, gaining notoriety over the past eight years for (among other things) conducting an on-stage marriage ceremony between their bass player and singer–who are both guys–and holding up a “You Still Suck” sign at a Sex Pistols concert that made Johnny Rotten walk off the stage in anger. They’ve opened for the Misfits, Dayglo Abortions, Forgotten Rebels, SNFU and DOA, and are proud of the fact that NOW Magazine called them “stage diving idiots with absolutely nothing of consequence to say.” But on July 18th, they called it a day.
At least they went out with a bang.