Toronto July 22, 2007

My dreams have come true!!

I'm going to see the Police if it kills me.

Patti Goodwin put it best when she said, "Are you kidding? Of course I'm in! They're the fist band I ever gave a shit about."

Mr. Bon Soo...not a music fan, apparently

Well, as it is now late Sunday night (or early Monday morning, depending on how you wanna look at it), Bon Soo is now officially said and done with.

I am ashamed (not really) to say the first, last and only event I actually made it to was the Battle of the Bands that took place at the Holiday Inn Friday night. And even had I not been covering it for SooToday.com, I still would have gone. In case you didn't know, I am a HUGE live music fan and try to get to any and every show possible.

Unless I'm sleeping. I do that a lot.

Shaddap. I'm old.

Three bands took part in said Band Battle; Sailor's Tongue (blues/rock young guys headed by Kyle McKey who you may have seen around town performing with Jay Scali), the Blackberries (old-school rock and/or roll with the infamous and unnaurally skinny Norm Rosteck at the mic) and the Crossed (uber-talented emo/progressive/rock/metal group still in high school fronted by the energetic and quite cute Jordan Flesher).

The Crossed took it, hands down.

This is just a smidgen of the energy these young lads have. I was happy such a young gang 'o fellas who perform in a not-so-popular genre were validated by beating out a couple of what this city normally deems as the creme de la creme.

This is not to say that the others are not talented or did not deserve to win, but the Crossed went above and beyond. Maybe a few of our local celebrities are getting a bit comfortable and, in turn, lazy. The Crossed worked damn hard on stage that night and I'm happy for them.

And making everyone sound awesome that night was none other than George Ravlich and Crank Sound Distribution. This is the hand of George. Say 'hi' hand.

I was disapointed that Mr. Bon Soo did not make an appearance. I guess he just does not feel the same affection for our local talent that I do. He'd rather disrupt the work day at Cross Country or stare like a pervert at all the local loonies that feel the need to plunge into the frosty St. Mary's River.

Oh well.

Following the Battle of the Bands, I headed to Foggy Notions for a beverage of the adult sort. Stiffler's Mom was playing. It had been quite some time since I had seen them. As I entered the bar, they sarted into what my opinion is one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever written, AC/DC's A Whole Lotta Rosie.

That was it for me. I didn't care if they did nothing but fart into the mic for the rest of the night, although that would have been HILARIOUS. Rosie always makes me very, very, VERY happy.

Still with camera in hand, I took a lesson from Canadian Mark and took a table-top-in-a-bar shot and ended up with this fun image...

...too bad I hate Coors Light...a beer for people who don't like the taste of beer but want to appear cool by drinking a beer and not soda water like they really want...

I gave the notion of going to photograph the Polar Bear Swim some thought...a small, tiny, brief, flashing thought...but opted instead to go for brunch at Shannon and Maria's. This has become a Sunday tradition ever since the Downbeat closed and is quickly becoming my favourite part of the week. Not only do I get to chow on some yummy grub, but it's always a good source of laughs and photo ops.

This is Dan sitting in front of some of Shannon's graffiti.

This is Shannon eating an apple in front of some of Shannon's graffiti.

And this is Dan's dog, Nico, and Shannon's dog, Maverick, looking more evil and scarey than enything I have ever seen. They were only playing, honest. By the time Dan and Nico left, Maverick was completely exhausted and covered in doggie spit...eewwwww gross...

"So get out and enjoy Bon Soo..."

Nah. I'd rather sleep and drink and eat and referee a dog fight, thank you very much.

My Nipples Are Hard

Is anyone else as excited as I am about this?

Yes, the Police performed at the 49th Grammy Awards.

Yes, they did a killer Roxanne.

Yes, they looked and sounded amazing, even Andy Summers who is now 64 years old.

Yes, they all held hands and took a bow (or two) after their performance.

No, Stewart Copeland did not punch Sting in the head, nor did he look like he wanted to.

Rob and I have already decided that if a tour is in order for the Police, we will do whatever it takes to see it including taking out a loan from the bank to procure tickets and get to any and all destinations that are even remotely feasible.

The only thing better would be bringing Curt Cobain back from the dead and reuniting Nirvana...or resurrecting Elvis (sorry, he REALLY is dead)...or Johnny Cash...or the Beatles...

OK. There are a lot of cool things I would like to happen, but they won't. This could actually take place.

Dear sweet Jebus, make this happen!

Just because...

I am posting the following pictures just because I like them. They may not be the best band pics, but for whatever reason, I happen to like them a lot.

Some are slightly out of focus. some are REALLY out of focus and some are happy accidents....little oopsies that I couldn't have achieved if I tried my darnedest to get 'em. Some of them you have seen before, some you haven't.

And I chatted with the House of Blues dude at the Hip show and he told me that as long as I don't put the Crue pics on t-shirts, mugs and stuff, I can do whatever the hell I want with them.

Fuckin' eh!

Ready for some Motley Crue?


...definitely an unplanned shot...the strobe light just happened to work in my favour...Mr. Nikki Sixx right at the beginning of the show...



...every photographer prays for a photo-op like this one...I nearly shit when he pointed at me...I blew him a kiss for it...he winked...my husband was proud of me for flirting with Nikki Sixx...



...Vince Neil...you can barely tell who it is but this shot really appeals to me...maybe it's the motion captured...I think it illustrates the energy of the show...



...two and a half members of Motley Crue...you can see a tiny bit of Mick Mars...how does Nikki get his hair to do that?...

And now for some Tragically Hip...





...a terrible shot but I LOVE it...not sure why...






...I think this one is my favourite out of all the Hip pics...the glare off my lens - sorry, Curt's lens - adds to the intensity of the moment...I need to use this one for a poster or something...

The History of a Camera, Part II

Now that the craziness and sickness of the holiday season is behind me, I have found the time to publish the second installment of the History of My Camera. Here are the next 10 pics...


...the Sheriff from White Cowbell Oklahoma when they played at Foggy Notions...super fun show and I can't wait for their return...



...the Cousin Who Hath No Name, also from WCO @ Foggys...



...the singer of Paper Moon at their Downbeat gig...AWESOME band...



...a weird metal thingy behind the shed at Carrie's camp...having my camera set to a completely inappropriate exposure resulted in a neat photograph...



...I like lamps...and plants...



...another killer band, From Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Z as they rocked the DBL...



...from my first official band photo shoot...not the best of the bunch, but it was a really fun day...



...Bubba of WCO as they performed as Blue Velvet Kentucky at the DBL...



...another of my favourite Canadian indie bands, The Wheat Monkeys...terrible shot...



...a band who is currently making pretty big waves, the Tokyo Police Club...I have heard them played on Indie 103.1 out of L.A. and they recently got a couple of mentions in Rolling Stone...they're amazing...