The Serge says: The Arkells

Dec 22/09. Horseshoe. The Arkells decided to askew their bland repertoire of nondescript songs to treat the crowd a set of various Motown songs. Surprisingly they did a pretty good job. No Arkell songs + no cover + Motown + beer = good time.

The Serge says: King Khan & The BBQ Show

Dec 4/09. Horseshoe. I always enjoy watching these guys perform and piss on the laid back, subdued, staid crowds at the Horseshoe. When I first saw these guys 3 years ago, they tore apart The Comfort Zone with the whole audience experiencing a musical religious moment. Based on this type of show, Toronto patrons expect this feeling without reciprocation. That doesn't happen. Make the band feel you are there and they will bring you on the journey. hat being said, King Khan put on another quirky, fun, loud show filled with their garage punk/R&B/rock style. Say hallelujah my friends.

The Serge says: Bob Newhart

Dec 4/09. Roy Thompson Hall. Watching veteran comics perform is always a delight in throwback. This being no different. Newhart is a low key, just below legend status comedian, whose most famous for his two hilarious sitcoms ('70's The Bob Newhart Show and '80's Newhart"). I felt so young here - the median age must have been 55. Newhart's routine was filled with old standards, old joke references and a little new material which easily pleased the crowd. With many of the audience probably suffering from Alzheimer's, the jokes were new to them. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable evening with an old master.

The Serge says:

Here are a couple of acustic versions of Young Rival songs done by a local film maker.

YOUNG RIVAL - Untitled from Mitch Fillion on Vimeo.

YOUNG RIVAL - The Ocean from Mitch Fillion on Vimeo.

The Serge says: Bwahhahahaha

What can be said???

The Serge says:

Here's some obscurity for you. Former members of Spirit ("I Got A Line On You") formed this band Jo Jo Gunne. Check it out.

The Serge says: Devo

Nov 23/09. Phoenix. Devo's first show in Toronto in 25 years was definitely no disappointment. They played an energetic and exciting show to a packed house of receptive fans and curious onlookers. They started with a couple of their earliest videos I suppose to show us how skinny they used to be. Devo, still displaying their knack for showmanship, were decked out in their trademark outfits - you would think someone would point out that yellow jumpsuits are not slimming. Their enthusiasm and energy were boundless this night, jumping around and "Devo posing" looked silly and awesome for a group of men this age. They played their first album in its entirety, blessed with crowd pleasing songs such as Uncontrollable Urge, Mongoloid and Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy. After a short break, they returned to play a handful of songs and finished with a rousing Gates Of Steel. And it was much appreciated that they skipped Whip It. Enjoy some "Nerd Punk" below.

The Serge says: White Denim

Nov 9/09,. Horseshoe. It seems "buzz band" is synonymous with "Austin, Texas" now. I can see the connection from the amazing SXSW festivals held there every year. White Denim is a garage rock/southern rock style type of band with loud, dirty jams that obviously do not match their polished, relatively subdued recorded music. The guitarist relied heavily on reverb, distortions and delays that just made him sound muffled in comparison to the vibrant rhythm section. The rhythm section were solid and tight which adds comparisons to Double Trouble and Cream's Ginger Baker/Jack Bruce. Having the drummer up front with the other two members of the band really added to the sound. One of the most original encores I've have ever seen: they came out and tore the place apart for 1 minute then called it a night. In all, it was a good show mainly due to the great musicianship of the bassist and drummer.

jay says: Mickey Lee Lane

Here's a cool tune I found while searching for forgotten 60's garage rock/soul bands.

The Serge says: Young Rival review

Nov 4/09 Horseshoe: Still rule.

The Serge says: Deep Dark Woods

Nov 4/09 Horseshoe: This is a band from Saskatchewan that plays music tailored-made for the hippie crowd. That would explain the excess of facial hair and so much flannel that I thought I was at an unemployed lesbian conference. The myspace page has music that is eye-gouging boring which doesn't represent the live show properly. Don't get me wrong, they are still boring but not to that extent. The long jam sessions are in the Phish vein and I always enjoy a good Hammond organ solo. Basically, they didn't suck as much as I thought they would.

The Serge says:

Tribute bands. What the fuck are they doing still around? Weren't they erradicated back in 1997? I was trapped into watching 2 tributes in one night at a Halloween party. First was an Ozzy tribute. Okay the music was not bad but you are not fuckin' Ozzy nor ever will be. Get the fuck over it. Copying his mannerisms and tattoos!!??!!?? Aaarrgh.
The Kiss tribute was just shitfuckingawful. You cannot have a fat tub of lard doing Paul Stanley. Think about it. His costumes never cover his chest. Big floppy jelly chest jiggling about with a nasty goth styled Raggaddy Andy wig. And they take this stuff seriously. Delusional bastards. If you want to play covers all night, have fun with it. Moe Berg sometimes gets his friends together and play `80's covers with a different spin to the songs. That is fun. Copying songs verbatim right down to an intro from a live album is pathetic (see Cold Gin from Kiss Alive). I wanted to stab them with Darth's light saber. Damn thing was fake - the irony.
By the way, The Great Gazoo costume was freaking awesome.

The Serge says:

Here are a couple of cool bands that should be checked out.
The Black Angels from Austin sound similar to Black Mountain (psychedelic hard rock).
The Horrors from UK sound like The Cramps but their latest album stears toward Black Rebel Motorcycle Club/Jesus Mary Chain style. This video was from their earlier work but check out "Who Can Say" from the Primary Colours album.

jay says:

the beer fund is up to $2.62 YAHOO! that's a half pint at a Parkdale dive.

The Serge says:

Check out the suit. The Guess Who circa '73/74 not 1970 as stated. Also, not Randy on guitar.

The Serge says:

Cool song from early archives of The Guess Who catalogue.

The Serge says: The Rifles

The Rifles from the UK sounded exactly like The Arctic Monkeys. Even dressed the same. The Rifles - originality not included.

The Serge says: Young Rival

As Jay stated, we were following these guys from the Hammer (imagine: 2 good bands from Hamilton in the last 35 years) for a while now that we became friends. And if you think I'll give a good review just because someone is my friend, then that would be a huge disservice to them. How could they better themselves if I don't point out their shortcomings? Plus, I don't suck up....unless there was plenty of gin involved.
As for the show, they were solid. Young Rival's garage rock sound is heavily influenced by old, obscure (for most people) bands such as The Pretty Things and The Ugly Ducklings but enjoyable for just about any music fan. The rendition of Misirlou by The Del-Tones (that Pulp Fiction song) was fun, energetic and really showcased Aaron's guitar skills. Plenty of new songs mixed with the older songs that blended seamlessly kept the crowd going (for a 'Shoe crowd).

jay says: young rival

OK, so I'm a little late with this. yesterday was spent licking wounds, big'ol Jameson wounds. I think I'll leave the nip of the o'l Irish to the potato people from now on. Moving on. Young Rival is a band that I've been into for quite a few years now. I had originally seen them, we'll say six years ago opening for the Burning Brides under their former name The Ride Theory. Their 60's garage/surf style blew the doors off the Shoe that night, and left an impression on moi that survives to this day. Their style has remained mostly the same, well mostly. The addition a few years back of kyle on rhythm guitars, brought more of a pop sound to the band, a good Beatles like pop sound. And then John on bass to complete.
Well, Monday past brought us back to the Shoe. The place was pretty busy for a Monday. The guys were opening up for a band called The Rifles (from the UK I think). They were already rippin into their set when we got there. Of course they were on... FIRE (da na na) playing their asses off to the crowd of typical Horseshoe, to cool for school, arm crossers. Their set was a great mix of older stuff and three or four songs that were new (to me anyway). Due to my drunkenness I totally forgot to get a set list. This makes it extremely hard to review what I heard, so I'm just gonna say it was all good, $10 bucks well spent. ALL MUST SEE THIS BAND!
The pride of Hamilton are Young Rival ( sorry Mr.Venom )

Here's a vid

The Serge says: The Black Crowes review

So The Black Crowes decided (or should I say Chris Robinson decided) to stick mainly with material from recent releases rather than play the older songs that the fans wanted to hear. There were only 2 songs from the first 4 albums (She Talks To Angels and Remedy). The new stuff played was boring hippie shit.
If you took a survey of the patrons and asked them "Who has heard the new album?", 2% would say yes, 11% would say no and 87% would say "There's a new Crowes album?". I understand that you want to play new stuff and constantly playing the older material tends to be tedious, but if you didn't want to play the older, popular material then tour under a different name so you wouldn't bore the crap out of the people in the audience whom came to hear the popular old stuff. And you had to play way out in Orillia to boot. Way to screw with your fans, wartface.
Are we missing Kate too much, Chris??? Don't fucking care, just play some good tunes.

jay says

Fucking beautiful luv ditty. I just wish i had played it at my wedding, fist dance ya, the folks would have loved it! Thanks Tim...

The Serge says:

Tim says this is lyrical brilliance. I would have to concur.
"Cuz my heart belongs to you My Love is pure and true My heart belongs to you. But my cock is community property" Seriously, have a listen. Only an LA hair metal band would do this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikgxsFQ8FEo

The Serge: Perfecto, Las Vegas

Ok...so this was in Las Vegas and the cover is somewhat north of $25 but here's a review nonetheless.
What a spectacle even for a Vegas club. DJ Paul Oakenfold's Rain nights at the club Perfecto in the Palm's is filled with his signature prog/trance style celebrated by other DJ's (yeah he wasn't there...maybe he was hiding his crack accessories better than DJ AM did). The acrobatic and dance performers throughout the night were a cross between Cirque Du Soleil and Blade Runner. The weird flying pig monkeys with black boots was reminiscent of the Pink Floyd pig. And last, the fire show. Huge flames would shoot out from the light structure above the dance floor with searing temperatures that would send any Great White fan into serious remission. Oh yeah, there was absolutely no latino music. Check out the link for music / photos.
http://www.perfectovegas.com/

The Serge says

A two day hangover is a badge of honor. And thats what happens when you go through 1.4 litres of rum in one night.

jay says

I hate Cubans. why? they make the best dam rum in the world, and they're the reason for my two day hangover.

The Serge says: According to Cliff from Cheers

"Well you see, Norm, it’s like this ….. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”

The Serge says: The Russian Futurists

One of the catchiest songs ever: Paul Simon

jay says re: "The Detroit Cobras"

Big thanks to Darcy for the link to the Detroit cobras. as i listen, it grows on me faster than i can type, but lets face it; my typing's shit.
A very cool Detroit Motown sound; here.

The Serge says: John Evans Band

Fun show from this 3 piece unit in a venue that really suited them - The Dakota Tavern. Good rockabilly / honky tonk band that kept the crowd groovin'. Check out thier tour schedule on the link and catch them in your town. You will definetly enjoy it. The dude lit his upright bass on fire. That alone is worth the price of admission.

Yeah, that Waffle House video is hilarious.

jay says re: the john evans band

The walk from Dundas and St. Patrick to the Dakota was hot and sticky, and the air was thick. An evening fit for "John Evans Band". These Austin Texas boys do a sultry southern roots rockabilly thing that'al make your head spin. You kinda feel like you're sinnin just watching them.
Great performance at a great venue. I'm giving this show a solid 9, come back soon!

Oh ya, check the myspace link on the right side of the page. They have the funniest short vid done from a Waffle House somewhere. Some really funny shit!

here's the vid below




The beer fund is up $1.44 thx to all that clicked the sponsor adds.

jay says re: beer

To all my friends. Help my broke ass buy a beer at the shows we review! Click an add or two, the alcoholic in me thanks you. Also, check the blog archives down on the right for past posts and reviews.


We're already up to 38cents, giddy up!

jay says re: vid

here's a vid of serge and i riding across town to get datsuns tickets. we got pretty loaded!

jay says

twatgoblins! dude your gonna get the shit kicked out of us at shows! fuckin funny though.. we had better not find ourselves in any Ottawa ghettos on a dark and stormy night!
here's a link if anyone cares to listen.
http://www.myspace.com/downinashes
stare at the picture for 30 seconds then go straight to the link for the music.... very scary kids!

Down In Ashes

These guys made me want to drink elsewhere. Think really bad Puddle of Mudd garbage. Learn to play your instruments and then do the wannabe rockstar poses, you twatgoblins. - Serge

serge says ( review "The Answer")

Solid, tight, loud show from these guys from Ireland whom are touring with AC/DC. Sound kinda like Salty Dog meets Scum Of The Earth(from WKRP). Energetic singer with good raunchy pipes. Last song kicked ass. Good for hard rock/metal fans. Now...about the name.

jay says

just a quick post. down in ashes(followup to the answer)= not my thing. so not to be mean, that's all I'm gonna say.

jay says (review of the answer)

well i had a chance to listen to their myspace before the show, very classic rock kinda sound. i can't say i was impressed by what they had posted, but hey it's myspace the sound is shit at best.

the concert however kicked some ass. rippin guitars, (was that open g?) drums and bass to match, and a vocal the sounded like he'd been suckin the end of a Harley Davidson tailpipe all afternoon. favorite song was the closer," under the sky" i think it was called. so aside from this show being probably the shortest I've ever seen (not their fault), and a little too loud (ya i said it!), it was a very good show. 8/10

jay says

Well the first review will be tonight. A band called either Answer or the Answer; something like that.All post will be in a Jay says, Serge says kinda review format. I'm sure there will also be some comical rebuttals to each others reviews when we disagree!