yukon blonde reviewish

we happened upon a free tix to go see Yukon Blonde at Lee’s Palace in Toronto last week.

expectations were low as we’d only heard the new single “stairway” once or twice. its catchy so how bad could it be?

well, they reminded us of an updated Grapes Of Wrath just with more technology behind their songs. their lead guitarist is good. really good. drummer impressively solid. bassist came out to the front with his awesome Ric more than a few times. that was nice to see him instead of not. the crowd banter was pathetic. “its so cool to be here” was said numerous times. they were all pretty much tall and super skinny which makes them an odd sight. also the 2 step lunge by the lead guitarist at the lead singer interplay seemed ok once but in every song??? in the end, we liked about 5 of their songs. what they are who knows.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

return of the bloodskin

if u can recall, we recently found blood on the rental drumkit at the rehearsal factory. so we even more recently returned (a full 2 weeks later) to the exact same room to not only find the same old blood on the snare but even more blood than before!

good thing we had anticipated this & had brought our own snare for the rosalita jam!

speaking of the rosas, we did our last pre skipapalooza prep show at an open mic at grossmans tavern this week. each member got to choose a song for our mini set which was way cool. also the stage setup at grossmans is now improved and makes a massive difference.

whoa! lights even! a riser too! better soundboard! the grossmans we knew has changed for the better! we played decently on the kit. but once we were done, we were once again told we were too loud on the drums. struggling with the combo of keeping the BIG drum sound of springsteen alive while not being too loud for patrons. its tough lesson to learn & even a harder one to put into practice & use!

bloodskin

so a week ago we were jamming on the kit with rosalita at the geary st rehearsal factory. after a song we realized there was blood drops on half the hihat cymbals & the snare. first we made the quick check that it wasn’t ours then got mildly disgusted. who bleeds on a hourly rental kit & then doesn’t clean it up? who doesn’t clean the gear? then we thought, why haven’t we come across this more often? fret not, we moved the hihats/snare so we were hitting the non bloody parts & told the powers that be about the mess.

lo & behold we come back a week later to find the same blood drops (see pics) on the snare! the hihats had been cleaned or the blood wore off. but no attempt had been made on the snare. now we were truly disgusted. rehearsal factory loses big points for not cleaning their gear within a week!

the Chamber door closes

just an quick update. things are moving fast here at the Hills (as u likely guessed) due to the lack of posts.

we had a killer show with Rosalita and Mollys Chamber on March 2nd at Duffys. Playing the drum kit for the Rosas has been wikked fun & we are enjoying the vibe immensely. Mollys Chamber’s new singer was on display for the first time with the band & hit a homer out of the park. great times all around!

here’s a megamix of some slightly distorted viz from the nite:

Mollys Chamber Megamix

Sadly though this was 2 be our last official show with the Chamber as we had to give our notice just this past week. it was a great 7 month ride with the band & we learned a helluva lot of new songs & we also learnt a lot about bass along the way. can’t wait to see the band at their next gig as we are 100% sure they will have no probs finding an eager replacement! if u know some1 interested apply at their website. more posts soon!

sorry we missed yer jam

our gibson sg takes a break at polson

its a comment u hear often in this digital age.  not only have we said a few times but we’ve also fallen victim to it many more.

“sorry we missed yer jam“

yer band needs a member so u post online & get a few emails.  u write back &  forth for a bit(vetting the emails along the way) & firm up a jam & then that person doesn’t show.  most times there is no reason given & u never hear from that person again.  if u are lucky the noshow writes u to either resked or say not interested.  its a painful & sometimes frustrating process.

one group of guys we love to jam with fell victim to this very thing this past week.  its not our first time having this happen to this particular group so we were prepared to jam either way & had a helluva great time regardless.  that speaks volumes to how many times this has happened to us that we are ready to rock out a good time even if the singer is a noshow.  its just that this incident in particular was soooo disappointing to us personally.  usually the cloak of the internet can give the noshow a bit of a cover & we have no recourse.  this time though, the noshow is best buddies of a longtime jam buddy of ours.  on this count alone we won’t be letting this one in particular “noshow with no contact” just slip away.  we will be letting this dood know(using various methods hehe) that his good life long buddy is a major doofus & then some.  getting the hopes up (even though we do not keep them not that high) of bandmates/fellow musicians is just plain wrong.  to do that to fellow musicians is just not fair to every1 out there trying to make good things happen.

that is why on the times we’ve had to miss meetup jams, we write back or get in contact the day of.  there are indeed so many great ideas & great bands out there but only so much time.  if only we didn’t have to work for a living & could concentrate on just music, life would a grand.  we get that & we are sure we are not the only ones out there with that same feeling.  just be respectful & get in touch the day of.  trust us, the feeling of not knowing a “noshow” is happening is better than wondering if noshow will show at any point during a jam & just leaves a bitter taste afterwards.

having said all that, we’ll put out there that our mates that love to casually jam are still looking for a singer/2nd guitarist.  here’s what we write to prospects.  if u read this & it speaks to you or someone u know in the gta, apply within.

BAND COULD USE A SINGER/GUITARIST

we get together with a few guys every so often for a jam.  we effort once a month. sometimes its less, sometimes its more depending on our skeds.  anywho, we just play and have fun while doing it.  we don’t have a singer/2nd guitarist nor do we have any great plans for world domination.  its just a fun thing that might lead to something one day.

here’s the setlist. if you wanna come out, you can suggest some songs as well. we are easy going that way too.

Weezer – Say it ain’t so, El Scorcho, Hash Pipe
Pixies: Wave of Mutilation, Monkey Gone to Heaven, Gauge Away, Subbacultcha, UMass, Where is my Mind, Here Comes Your Man, Cactus
David Bowie: Suffragate City
Joy Division: Transmission, Love will tear us apart, She’s Lost Control
Rolling Stones: Brown Sugar
The Cure: Boys Dont Cry, Just like Heaven
Neil Young: Like a Hurricane
Sublime: Badfish, Santeria, Smoke 2 Joints
Police: Message in a bottle
CCR: Fortunate Son
Kings of Leon: Red Morning Light

Clash: Brand New Cadillac

Various Nirvana songs

Various medleys of classic rock songs

Gettin’ Jiggy with It

as Janaury comes to a close its been a whirlwind both off & on the music front.
first a BIG HELLO to this fine puppy:

this blog needs more sub woofer!

its been a life altering week already just with her in the mix. she’s great & well worth a few puppy hiccups.

add that Mollys Chamber finally narrowed down the decision on a new singer last week & things are sounding fantastic on that front! one official jam into the version 2.0 & its a bonafide upgrade that will delight every1′s ears & eyes.  first show is in under 5 wks at Duffy’s Tavern in Toronto on Friday, March 2nd.

that show will be a hootenanny!  not only will the Chamber be headlining with 2 face melting sets & debuting the new singer with a few new songs BUT yours truly will also be spinning rockin’ tunes throughout the evening AND drumming for the opener.  Whoa.  Whaaat? Waitaminute?  did you just say drumming?

for the time being, we’ve joined the ranks of Rosalita, a Bruce Springsteen cover act.  its got a female twist with all vocal duty being done all by the fairer sex.  its something that came our way unexpected but a few jams in & its sounding awesome already.  can’t wait to play for this show on all fronts but we are beyond cloud 9 because we finally get to do a show behind the kit again after a year &  a half (excluding a few open mics)! we’ve already broke a stick & busted thru our taped up kick drum head (again!) in prep for this BOSS debut. at least we got a few extra months out of it. looks like we need to do some percussion shopping!

busted again!

great times spinning tunes this past weekend.  so much work these past few wks catching up on what has been getting ppl moving lately but well worth seeing everybody groovin!

lastly, we have no idea why we called this post what it is. it just popped into our head!

gettin’ our groove back!

once upon a time we dj’d.  we dj’d A LOT.

once we put a hold on drumming & picked up the bass it became clear that this bass love affair was time consuming (& gladly so!) & at the time we thought one of these things has to go.  there is just not enough time for both.  so for the calendar year of 2011 we put the dj stuff to the side.  that way we could concentrate on the bass & give it the full attention it deserves & needed. despite taking 2011 off from dj’ing we still managed to squeeze in a half dozen events.  so much for taking the entire year off!

enter 2012 & some solid dj bookings have reappeared on our radar.  back by popular demand(seems like there are a few more weddings in 2012 than 2011?), we are going full steam into spinning music for your ears enjoyment in 2012.   guess it boils down to the fact that we can’t say no to a good party so let the good times roll once again!  we got our groove back this past weekend spinning at Duffys in Toronto.  a fine establishment with friendly patrons/staff & some nice micros on tap.  hopefully we’ll be back there again someday soon!  it felt great to be back behind the mixer again & having a great time while doing it!

our dj motto is “all styles, all fun” so we aim please! no event is too small or too big and whatever the circumstances, we can provide the right atmosphere for your next wedding, pub party or special event. for more info surf on over to www.groovinmusic.ca .  now off to find some new music!

The Saints Conquer the Shoe!

one of our fave bands of 2011 has got to be Hamilton’s The Saints Are Coming. they do celtic covers and covers in a celtic way. its just way too good for our ears to put into words. not only do they look impressive onstage with so many members but they SOUND impressive as well. each member carries themselves to the highest quality and standards at each performance. the choice songs and energy are off the charts! u add all that up and its a show not to be missed! we only wish we could see them more often. a short one hour set at nu music night the Horseshoe Toronto has only left us wanting more. hurry up and get here as quick as possible st. paddy’s day!

there are also some vids posted at our youtube site for your listening pleasure. twas the first show we took vids with the iphone so xcuse the learning curve. iphone needs a zoom but i guess that is why we still need cameras.

On Cue, On Time

the setup at oncue

a later starting Leafs game pushed back the start of an evening with Mollys Chamber at On Cue.  ah, such is the life of a band playing sporting-related venues.  we cut down the sets and for the 2nd show in a row, nailed our 2nd set. a great mix of rock, acoustic and dancier numbers that got some xtra spice with our funky hat.

also adding to fun, earlier in the day we had bought a 12v adapter and finally got the full moxy out of our catalinbread sft.  we had been browning it with the 9v and the change made a massive diff! more room to play and tweak.  can’t wait to play more and tweak more in the month ahead.  hands down, one of the best items we’ve obtained this past year.

as far as our playing goes, we had 3 brain cramps over the course of the evening but other than that we were generally pleased with the gig.  earlier in the week we’d passed over reviewing a couple of the songs thinking that we were good2go with them but alas yet another reminder to self to GO OVER EVERY SONG despite what u might think.

we cannot say enough about the fine and tasty perogies at OnCue.  always a highlight and highly recommended!  what are u waiting for?  grab your pool stick and feed bag!

oh, that's what we play? ha!

recent videos au go go!

eton house stage. watch that railing!

just a quick post to review last weekend’s gig with Molly’s Chamber at the Eton House.  3 sets of rockin good times!  we had a soundperson but he didn’t do much other than run our mics thru the house PA which was a bit different than the norm.  folks said the sound wasn’t horrible and u could hear everything but not up to snuff for a gig with a soundperson.  despite not hearing much of the vocals and lead geetar while onstage(no monitors), we’d give ourselves a B for the overall performance.  getting more comfortable with the material is a high priority and there is lots of room to improve.  speaking of room, we were on a stage with a railing and we kept hitting our headstock on the pole at the end of the railing during the show. yet another reason to not gig with your best bass. poor EB3 took a beating but luckily no scars the next morning!  thx 2 all who came out to witness and the props.  we sure had fun and totally dug the overall vibe of the joint!

both the bands released some video evidence this week.

check out Eton House viz from Mollys Chamber from the homepage.

check out Orleans viz from Those Handsome Hooligans from the new youtube site.

enjoy and will blog soon!  finally a weekend off from gigs and a load of songs to learn from the likes of OLP, Velvet Revolver, Foo, Van Morrision, Hip, big wreck, coldplay, black keys, steve earle, doors & more!  lots of jams til the end of the month.  let the good times roll!

eton house back door