Random Channel Surfing

This year's SONiC Boom has quite the lineup. Jack White. Death Cab for Cutie. The Arctic Monkeys. Tegan and Sara. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE. Foster the People. The New Pornographers. Stars. MS MR. July Talk. Oh. And DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE. There are more bands (obvi), but the amount of sheer excitement I feel over the bands I listed (one in particular... not sure you can figure which one I'm referring to...) is ridiculous! I thought going to Montreal for Osheaga would be enough, but no. Sonic had to go and book THE ARCTIC MONKEYS, FOSTER THE PEOPLE, AND DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE. I feel like I'm going to be thinking in caps for the rest of the week.

So after a long search for someone to go to concerts with, my friend Lucina is officially my concert buddy. This is the same girl that I would see every time Nix and I would go to a show. She and her sister Fabiana are as music obsessed as we were back in the day and it's nice to know that Lucina is still trying to keep going to shows, despite the fact her sister moved away to Toronto this past year. Last night Lucina and I met at The Artery to support Bedouin Soundclash's front man's new project: Jay Malinowski and the Deadcoast. I got there earlier than we'd agreed (social anxiety makes me overly punctual) and I settled in, ruminating over the fact that the majority of Edmonton's population are hipsters in flannel and beanie hats. Or, at least that's what the audience last night would have you believe. The Artery is a fairly small venue and I'd been there previously for my friend Sean's band's CD release party last February. It had been packed...

I was right about Outkast, Lorde, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Foster the People, Haim, Arctic Monkeys, Cut Copy, and the 1975. Kinda bummed that none of France's "biggest acts" are on the board. *whomp whomp* So. We gotta wait 140 days before we leave on July 30. Soon .

I might have to cancel my trip to Montreal next month. And it's balls and I'm a little angry and just totally heartbroken. Thing is, Nix might not have enough money to join me in the M-Dot to see Foster the People and the Tokyo Police Club in June. I'm trying really hard to be a good friend, but I'm so upset that I might have to cancel my trip that I'm just feeling heartsick. Woe is me. WOE. WOE. //enddramaticflailing

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

Life. Made.

I have three -- THREEEEEEEEEEE -- concerts lined up for December. That means that I didn't meet my concert quota for 2011. Boo. BUT, on the plus side, I still had fun at those shows! :)

One word to describe this show: EPIC. Lights + sounds + Matt + Dominick + Chris = E P I C Honestly, I have no other words to express how awed I was during the entire two-hour show. Muse is one of my favourite bands, so seeing them perform LIVE (in Edmonton, no less!), was nothing short of spectacular. From start to finish, Muse was nothing short of surreal. What amazes me most is that these three guys are incredibly humble and gracious. I mean, there they were: the best live performers of my generation, but they seemed humbled by our screams. Gah. Perfection. One more thing, in addition to feeling awed by the trio, t'was interesting that for once in my life, I felt sated after a concert. Most times, I just want to re-live the experience over and over again. This time, I felt complete.

I haven't been to one in MONTHS! Well, five months and 11 days. It was for City and Colour who are (rumoured to be) touring with Tegan and Sara. Thing is, though the twins are coming back to Edmonton, Dallas Green won't grace us with his presence... Instead of City and Colour, Paramore will be comin' to Deadmonton with Tegan and Sara. LAME. Anyway, I'm going to Billy Talent on Monday. It's funny because one of Billy's openers are Alexisonfire (Dallas Green's main band--he only does City and Colour on the side), so I'll get to listen to his LOVELY, wonderful voice then. I took some REALLY bad pictures on October 3, so I thought I'd share 'em :D

The All-American Rejects opened for Blink for most of their tour. Them and Fall Out Boy (*yawn*). All I have to say about the Rejects is they weren't Weezer. I wanted Weezer to open for Blink, but noooooooooooooo... Weezer only plays HUGE venues like Toronto and LA. Jerks. *sticks out tongue* "Please just don't play with me / My paper-heart will bleed." OMG! It's Mark Hoppus! askjfa;sdfj! I am a creeper... I feel ashamed. And now, for the main attraction... BLINK 182! During the entire show, there was great camaraderie between the three boys (particularly between Mark and Travis. I found that Tom, being the snarky dude that he is, seemed petulant and insufferable at times). The Blink 182 concert was as hyped-up as any "reunion" tour concert is expected, and I gotta say that the hype was completely justified. They are great showmen and know how to kiss Canadian ass! haha! I'm glad they paid us a visit and am saddened that they were *together* only for...

“'Over time, being in a band’s an intense thing,' Malinowski told Metro, not adding much in the way of specifics expect that things seem amicable. 'We pretty much reached the end of that chapter.' [sic]” What did Jay mean by all of this... and what did the reporter mean when he wrote "things seem amicable"?! I never thought that there was any animosity between the former-Bedouin and Jay and Eon, but this article makes it seem like there is. But then I find videos like this one  and I realize that there can't be animosity... Just look at the comraderie between them! Jay affirms that he can't live without Pat! In other Bedouin news, these dudes were (*apparently) very naughty at the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Fest . Tsk tsk, Eon and Jay, tsk tsk.  Naughtiness aside, the more I think about it, the more I realize that if it weren't for Bob Marley and Bedouin, I wouldn't be as into music as I am. Sure, it all started with Bob Marley and the Wailers,...

... when I said I would stop at 8 concerts. I blame Fabiana. I was all set to stay home and mourn my lack of loyalty towards my favourite band when she phoned to see if I wanted to join her--and I wouldn't have to pay her back! How could I say no? She's a temptress !! haha! In any case, Bedouin was, as always, A-fucking-MAZING! And their opening band was from Edmonton! They support local talent--how can I NOT adore them? Anyway, the above picture is of Fabs and Luls. Both these chickies (having attended all of the Bedouin shows in the city, haha!) were pulled onstage by Jay! It made my heart happy to see them up there! Especially since they literally haven't missed a single one of their shows and this show was phenomenal (though I hate to admit that the horn section almost stole the show...) During Bedouin's  Rudy  cover, these dudes played two of the wickedest solos I have ever heard (the only exceptions being Taylor Hawkins' solo at the Foos concert last March ...

To date, I have been to seven shows.  Arkells - February 21 Hey Ocean - April 8 The Killers - April 27 Green Day (though I went because of The Bravery ... *blush*) - July 6 Arkells (Opening for Pilot Speed) - July 18 Blink 182 - July 31 Virgin Fest - August 8 and 9 My cameras have been... difficult, so I only have pictures for the Green Day/Bravery show and VFest. I did take pictures for the other shows, but as my camera is being a lil bitch, I won't be posting them anytime soon. In any case, here are pictures I took at the Green Day concert. Truth be told, I wasn't going to go to this show because, though I like Green Day, they're not among my favourite  bands. However, I check my favourite bands' websites once a week. It's part of my Monday work ritual; it was then that I discovered that The Bravery was opening for Green Day. My gosh...! How I love them! Sam Endicott  is amazing (and not just because he looks like that... swoon). He's so chill and I lo...