Last year, on March 13th, a group of men and women, most of us long in the tooth but younger at heart than most could imagine, gathered in the back of a bar called The Pilot to pay tribute and say goodbye to the very funny, eclectic, and absurdist comedian, Steve Shuster.
As hard as it might be to believe I did attend college, and, studied Journalism. Sure, I only went for one year before I was hired by Quality Records, but, I was the first in my family to get any sort of post-secondary education. Luckily my children took University a little more seriously and the family now has a Dalhousie and a McGill graduate in their ranks.
Anytime anyone has put pen to parchment or thumb to I-phone to craft a well-intentioned list of things meritorious, people have lined up for days to ladle the cold and lumpy vomit of their disgust down the back of that individual’s shirt collar. Today is no exception. Pull out your shirt collar, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, because I’ve got my whisky-barrel-sized ladle and it’s full to brimmin’ with the icy cold sick of my discontent.
It’s been a lazy Monday for me today as I recover from yet another multi-day music festival in Toronto. This Sunday night (or Monday morning if you want to get technical) marked the end of Indie Week 2012. It’s only the second Indie Week that I’ve attended and taken part in, but it’s rapidly becoming my favourite music festival in our fair city.
If you haven’t heard of Indie Week, you probably haven’t been walking around downtown Toronto with your eyes open; the intrepid indie week volunteer team has been diligently postering the city for weeks leading up to the launch party.
The great news of Sam Grosso (Cadillac Lounge) buying the El Mocambo last week got me to thinking of all the great old venues I was lucky enough to spend time at in my youth.
We are very fortunate in Toronto to have so many great venues for acts to play at. On Queen West alone you have The Rivoli, The Legendary Horseshoe, The Cameron House, The Hideout, The Bovine and Cherry Colas to name but a few. The Tattoo Rock Parlour had a ton of potential but they just didn’t seem to be able to fully commit to “the rock”.
Bullseye Records of Canada
