CANDIAN MUSIC WEEK 2008


BY: FRIDAE MATTAS





This year it was going to be different, I did not attend any of the award shows, all the chaos and boredom that entailed in covering the events was overrated, simply not feeling it this year, although they did move the "Indies" to a far more convenient location. All about the discovery of new music, the original schedule I had was filled with mainstream artists (Alanis, Finger Eleven, K-os) floating between the indie bands. Of course there is always a backup plan, you have to have one and be prepared to wing it if it doesn’t go as expected it rarely does. A good thing I am intuitive, already planning my schedule as if I were to be alone in the adventure of CMW. My photographer cancelled on me the day of our first mission, he was sick or so he said, either way I knew it was just going to be me the first night, things go smoother when it’s just me anyway. Having a festival amidst all this snow is extremely detrimental to the success of the event. This year we were slammed with it, I hate snow with a passion!


Always around my birthday it snows as if we are in the arctic, this year the snow is never ending. These eyes have not seen so much snow since I was in the fifth grade trekking to and from school in waist high snow. I can’t wait to migrate to L.A all I want is sunny skies, warmth and the ocean. Trying to battle this stupid flu this was going to be a challenge, the first band on the list was ‘Econoline Crush’ at the Tattoo Rock Parlour Thursday March 06th. I arrived at the venue to a packed house it was rammed, claustrophobic when it comes to being in a huge crowd I need my space especially when already feeling nauseous. The band was not on yet and I do not like waiting around I don’t care who they are, if you take too long too bad for you others need exposure too, especially at a festival like this with hundreds of other bands to choose from. Contemplating on if I should stay, head back down the street to the Kathedral or hit up the Bovine. After a split decision the Kathedral it was, a complete miracle the building is still standing, just a few weeks earlier four days after my birthday on ‘February 20th’ Queen Street West was a blaze between Bathurst and Portland where an immense six alarm fire erupted. It took more than 150 firefighters to subdue the out of control flames, burning almost all day devastating the residents and store owners. Once the fire was put out the end result was that eight historic buildings were destroyed many lives afflicted, over sixty people homeless, jobless some both. Just a few steps away, the sidewalks are still closed to the right passed the Reverb’s entrance. You may be confused if you are not a Torontonian or have not been to the venues in question, ‘The Kathedral’ is a venue within venues, the building also houses ‘The Reverb’ and ‘Holy Joe’s’ all a part of ‘The Big Bop Concert Hall’.


FORTY SONS AND DAUGHTERS LIVE @ THE KATHEDRAL





Walking into the Kathedral the band on stage was “Forty Sons and Daughters” they started off a little shaky but there was something that drew me in. I stayed to hear and see why they were on the stage for CMW 08’. As I watched and listened the band was decent, the lead singer had such a big voice for a tiny dude, he looked pretty young maybe 17 or 18 sporting dreads that were continually active in their set. The tunes were of substance good to hear that from a metal band, many people have their misconceptions sometimes throwing in age discrimination not every kid wants to jump in front of a bus or snort themselves to death. These dudes have a message with their own sound, the closest comparison I can think of is, early Nirvana with a feel of Marilyn Manson and S.O.A.D mashed up into the music and melody. The vocals were not forced he has a good set of pipes, great control and tone. All of the boys brought charisma to the stage and used the space very well they enjoy to play, exactly what a band should do is enjoy their music. It does come across in a live show if you love rocking out it shows!! Most bands and artists who are truly into their music are the ones who last the longest. ‘FSD’ is from Hamilton, Ontario about an hour and a half out of Toronto the members are Mike Repic – Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar, Mike Szpakowski – Lead Guitar/vocals, Graeme Hawkins – Bass/vocals and Cristiano “Animal” Andreatta – Drums. A Bright future indeed for these dudes from ‘The Steel City’ you cannot capture their essence in a recording fully, in order to understand you have to see them live they are diagnosed with “BLS - Better Live Syndrome”. Links of all the bands at the end of the article, you’ve been here long enough you should know the drill by now. My favorite tunes of theirs are “It All Comes Back to Me” and “Deceit”.


ART OF DYING LIVE @ THE KATHEDRAL - CMW 08’





I decided to stay at the Kathedral for the night to see if any of the other bands in the lineup could bring it. Luckily the next band was just as good if not even more energetic but with a slightly softer sound. The band in question migrated all the way from Vancouver that explained the dynamic set they played. “Art of Dying” is the name, they have buzz surrounding them and I found out why. ‘Art of Dying’ has this Vancouver sound, I noticed every band that comes out of Vancouver has ‘Nickelitis’ not a bad thing it’s something in the music that’s similar with other Vancouver bands. What I mean by ‘Nickelitis’ is they have a faint tinge of ‘Nickelback’ reminence enveloped in a sound of their own, I like Nickelback don’t get it twisted! The track that caused the diagnosis is “Get Through This” the sound in the vocals and the overall composition from the arraingments to the melody are where the Nickelitis lays. This band is sick, magnetism coming out of every one of those dudes, I recall the guitarist going crazy all over the place the lead singer captivating the audience, managing to raise their drunken asses up from the tables and feel the music. The only problem is when lead vox used the megaphone in a few tracks; you couldn’t understand a word he was saying. Other than that miniscule abrasion, the fusion and chemistry of this band has the making of Canada’s next Monster band. All of their tunes are catchy with strong melodies and harmonies all in the right place with immeasurable confidence in their talents and abilities to tear it up! ‘A.O.D’ is Jonny Hetherington – Lead Vocals, Greg Bradley – Guitar, and Jeff Brown – Drums, they will be on tour with ‘Disturbed’ as of April 27th if they hit a city near you go see them trust me they are worth your time. My favorite tunes are “You Don’t Know Me” and “Get Through This” although like ‘F.S.D’ I liked most of “A.O.D’s tunes!


TRAFFIC ISLAND LIVE @ THE KATHEDRAL - CMW 08





The next band in the lineup was ‘Traffic Island’ from Turku, Finland they are Oskari Ruohonen – Lead Vocals and Guitar, Petri Huhtinen – Guitar, Santeri Ruohonen – Bass and Mikko Siusluoto on Drums. Having not heard of them prior to CMW it was going to be a complete surprise. There are thousands of bands I have never heard of, complete newbie overload it’s absolutely impossible to remember all the bands unless they have come to my attention and I like. The only other band I’ve heard of from Finland is ‘Disco Ensemble’ their music is so much better and I missed their performance at last year’s CMW, I really wanted to see their set. Anticipating this band to be just as fabulous as the previous bands, who set the bar extremely high for the rest. The minute the music started in I knew this was not going to be pleasant one of the guitars sounded out of tune here we go. The band looked awkward on stage as if they were severely frightened; the music is tremendously boring to the point where napping almost occurred. The lead singer’s voice has this lethargy about it, making it sound severely lackluster and uninteresting. The band just stood there concentrating on playing their songs right, lead vox was trying to hype it up. His way of getting the crowd into the tunes was hilarious he started to convulse looking as if he was having a seizure it was very awkward to look at and listen to. He obviously did the weirdness to get the crowd’s attention but he just looked crazy, he came off as a desperate poser apathetic to his own music rather than real and loving it. I had to get out of there my ears couldn’t take any more of that crap! The fact I was going to pass out in my seat until he started cracking out was the first clue although it did work catching my attention long enough for a laugh, giving me a burst of energy to run out the door. Looking back at this bands performance immediately I think of hobbits running wild in a field of flowers awaiting Gandalf and Frodo. That was that, the end of the first night for me it was time to take some meds and muster up the strength to battle the snow storm the next day.


SYRUM LIVE @ THE KATHEDRAL – CMW 08’






A new day, new bands, a new adventure but this time my friend came with to help me out. We hit up the ‘Masonic Temple’ to see a bunch of Mainstream Canadian artists in the blizzard. We missed Alanis, she only performed four tracks not a big deal or loss. Arriving at the Temple to see far too many people smushed into one place, I then remembered it was ‘Chum Fan fest’ everyone was a huge fan of those in the lineup, far too overcrowded, even if I stayed there was no possible way to get good shots of Finger Eleven or anyone for that matter and the act currently on stage was not worth my time or yours. ‘Elise Estrada’ Canada’s latest flash in the pan poptart *Laughs* yeah no thanks, her songs are garbage there is better talent to find absolutely inevitable that she will fade into the mist. After looking at the CMW Schedule for the hundredth time trying to devise a strategy looking for bands I have never heard of or seen rather than bands I like. Turning to the obvious it seemed as though this year ‘The Kathedral’ was my choice of venue. Planned on going there to see Jeffree Star later that night anyway, we decided why not check it out, they had a couple of good bands last night worth a shot. Off to the Kathedral in the blizzard that had been going strong since the early morning, stupid snow!! The first band to hit the stage was ‘Syrum’ lead vocals was a female intrigued to hear how she will do. On the verses her vocals were very weak; the tone was not enjoyable she sounded like a try-hard ‘Gwenabee’ unable to emulate Gwen’s vocals. There was no stability or emotion in her voice when she sang; during the chorus of the first track the music picked up becoming harder where she started in with the screaming unquestionably her forte and that she should stick to. While watching the band I didn’t understand why the guys in the band were not backing her during the verses? She undeniably needs backup vocals for her voice alone is not strong enough to carry a band. The music was alright but there is something missing in their sound, the performance was mediocre but I can see that there is some potential; although they are extremely rough around the edges they are tolerable.


DROWNING GIRL LIVE @ THE KATHEDRAL CMW 08’





Next up was ‘Drowning Girl’ hearing about them somewhere but have not had the chance to see them live, I wondered what to expect. Another female fronted band which is so awesome ‘Gurl Powa!!’ I love seeing chicks rocking out like the boys but some are too afraid to be so into their music, over analyzing everything or they want to be a hobag poptart but can’t sing or play an instrument to save their lives. The lead singer is Hill Kourkoutis - vocals/guitar/bass/organ/synth/drum programming she has this retro vibe about her, unique and charismatic. The others in the band are David Paoli - guitar/vocals/bass/synth/drum programming and Jesse Porter on the drums. The sound is a chill retro new-school vibe on the folky side. The vocals are alright she could use more projection the band almost drowns her out at times. The tone of her voice is enjoyable she has an edge with some soul and plenty of character; her voice is not as plain and dry as some vocals tend to be. The band sounds great together; the timing is perfect nothing over done they know how to play. The tracks are catchy they have their own distinctive sound, hard to come by that’s for sure. Worth another view certainly would see ‘Drowning Girl’ again, they are almost there. After DG’s set we left, I couldn’t take it anymore I wanted to check out Jeffree Stars skills but needed to go home, not immortal and the meds were not working I hate winter because of the stupid flu’s and colds CMW needs a new week in October! Too close to SXSW that is why the turnout is not as amazing as they would like it to be. A tip to the event coordinators people would rather go to SXSW in Texas where it’s warm and then NXNE in June rather than mission in the winter wilderness for CMW in March.


www.myspace.com/40snd
www.myspace.com/theartofdying
www.myspace.com/trafficisland
www.myspace.com/drowninggirlmusic
www.syrum.moonfruit.com

TO READ MORE ABOUT THE QUEEN STREET INFERNO
6-Alarm Fire at Queen & Bathurst





©FRIDAE2008™