FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Growing up in Calgary in the pre-Noctis Valkyries days, I was deprived of live music in my formative years. Though the burgeoning oil metropolis was ever-expanding, it was not a regular tour stop for bands, especially from outside of Canada, as it was at least four hours to the nearest sizable city.
Let’s just say that in the five years I’ve lived out east, I’ve been making up for lost time.
It takes a certain breed to travel roughly 600 miles, round trip, by Greyhound bus only to spend a total of 18 hours at the destination–a third of which was spent sleeping. But given the right motivation, I have done so on occasion and will do so again. Last nite, the occasion was the nearest stop on Accept’s North American reunion tour, in support of their new album, Blood of the Nations.
Despite my quibbles with the lyrical content, this album is a great piece of throwback metal, Andy Sneap harnessing the classic 80’s Accept sound and bringing it into the 21st century. Their last Udo-less effort may not have aged well, but Blood of the Nations is timeless.
Last weekend, when I was on my way to the bank, I passed a cheap sign on Bloor St saying “1000s of vinyls, thattaway.” Intrigued, I followed the arrow up a residential street (I think it was Brunswick) to a parkette with a buncha milk crates laid out on the ground. This is why I love The Annex.
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Find out what HELLBOUND’s contributors have been listening to during the month of September. Almost every writer has submitted their Top 5 list and have an option to list a book and a film they are into right now too
In case you didn’t know, I just got back from the West Coast a couple days ago. Saw Sleep in concert at the Roseland Theater in Portland, then caught the Seattle Seahawks’ season opener at Qwest Field. These were the best two days in recent memory.
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…