Mother Nature’s latest ice storm hit Ottawa Monday night but didn’t slow down the I Mother Earth/Finger Eleven show at Algonquin College. The bands kicked off the night with an acoustic set which fans eagerly waited for. After a quick turn around the main event started. JJ Thompson kicked off the night with his acoustic set. Telling stories about joining the tour on the condition of fulfilling a request each night from the other bands, Thompson provided the audience with none other then Whitney Houston.
Recent Posts by Els Durnford
Shine on You Crazy Diamond – Brit Floyd @ TD Place
A Tuesday night show time did not stop TD Place from filling up with Pink Floyd fans. Brit Floyd is the Pink Floyd approved tribute band and fans could see why! This was not my first Pink Floyd tribute, this was actually my third. The first two were Australian Tributes, who followed albums in order, gave a more predictable set, but the Brit Floyd show provided the audience with a unique experience. Bouncing between albums from throughout the bands history gave the audience a taste of all the hits. The sit down show often took to standing as eager and appreciative fans gave standing ovations to soloist including the Great Gig in the Sky.
Lawnya Vawnya Releases 2018 Line Up ft. Alvvays and Land of Talk
Lawnya Vawnya: An Exposition of Independent Art and Culture in St. John’s has released it’s 2018 line up and let me tell you, it’s a doozy. This year’s headliners include Alvvays, Land of Talk, and Yamantaka // Sonic Titan.
Osheaga 2018 Line Up Released ft. Travis Scott, Florence + The Machine, and Arctic Monkeys
The highly anticipated 2018 Osheaga Line up has officially been released with headliners including Travis Scott, Arctic Monkeys and Florences + The Machine! 100,000+ people will flood the city of Montreal in early August for the festival which has a reputation for pulling some of the biggest names in music to the stages. Other names included in this years festival are; Tyler, the Creator, Anderson .Paak, Blondie, Rezz, Alan Rayman, Franz Ferdinand, Amy Shark, The Beaches and more!
Amy Shark makes her Ottawa Debut at Babylon Night Club w/ Milck
Walking into the Babylon to see a shirt that read “One Woman Riot” hanging at the merch table I knew I was in for a night well spent. With it being International Women’s Day, I could think of no better way to spend it then supporting women in music doing their creative thing. All the way from Australia, Amy Shark made her Ottawa debut alongside LA’s Milck Thursday night at Babylon Night Club. This show turned out to be STRONG, on many levels.
VANS Warped Tour lineup announcement for 2018
On November 15, 2017, Warped Tour fans were greeted with a sad blog post, entitled “All Things Must Come To An End,” followed by the man behind the event, Kevin Lyman, stating it would be the last official year of the Vans Warped Tour. After 24 years and more than 1700 bands, artists who have been propelled into stardom, and millions of fans coming out each year, its run will be over. But not before an amazing final year of shows, taking place this summer between June 21 and August 5, 38 pit stops in 46 days. Vans Warped Tour will land in Toronto for its only Canadian date on July 17th, 2018. Veterans of the tour and those who were propelled into stardom from it will be giving back, as seen in the lineup below.
Alan Doyle live in NAC’s Southam Hall
Sunday night’s show with Alan Doyle and his Beautiful Beautiful Band left the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall buzzing (and slightly buzzed) as he played fan favourites, traditional songs and some of his new tunes as well. The night was filled with Newfoundland folk artists who graced the stage for the full house of adoring fans. The night was opened up by St.John natives, Fortunate Ones, who brought their traditional folk sound to fill the hall. Their unforgettable harmonies and accordion laced songs have made their way through Ottawa a number of times, this time bringing with them some new work with a pop twist to it. My first taste of the duo was at Blacksheep Inn when they opened for Nova Scotia’s own Rose Cousins (who is playing the NAC this Friday!) They have also come across the stage at City Folk as well as other stages at the National Arts Centre. The fashionable pair are always a good time, and I recommend you heading out to see them the next time they pass through.
Are you cracked?! Alan Doyle talks his tour, album and shampoo of choice.
What do you get when you spend ten days at Vancouver’ Warehouse Studio with talent like Alan Doyle? Well, when you ask him, he will tell you all about his appropriately named album A Week at the Warehouse. With an old school way of making this record, he had his whole band, (affectionately named “the Beautiful, Beautiful Band”), set up within the studio to do full recordings together. This created a fun environment for the musicians to record in, and an interesting space for the album to grow from.
Montreal’s Pouzza Fest – 50% of Line up Announced
Montreal’s Punk music festival, Pouzza Fest, has officially announced 50% of their line up for the May long weekend. Pouzza 8, a festival named through a blending of poutine and pizza (not literally I hope… or do I? I’ll get back to you on this…) has once again brought together some of the most sought after punk bands to the multi venue/stage festival.
Avenged Sevenfold bring the Stage World Tour to Ottawa
There was no shortage of a crowd at the Canadian Tire Centre for Sunday night’s Avenged Sevenfold show. Unsure of what to expect in terms of crowd size for a Sunday night, I was pleasantly surprised by a decent crowd for the first set. Bullet For My Valentine was first up on the bill and went on just after six, which is quite early, but the crowd was excited and ready for the night to begin. Groups of those on the floor were eagerly awaiting the headliners, while many were clearly fans of all three bands. The Welsh heavy metal band got the crowd going, encouraging those on the floor to start moshing they traced back through their bands history for songs. Tornado pits quickly grew in the crowd and bodies began surfing around those with tickets on the floor.