CMW Day 2: Oh, to be 16 again...

Day 2 went considerably better than Day 1.  Picked up the media pass at around 3pm (for the record, they did not use any computers.  All they did was pick up a pass out of a box, hand me a Canadian Music Week guide, and have me sign beside my name... and the pass doesn't even have my name on it - it just says Media.  Fail, CMW Staff.  FAIL.)

I still had to line up for an hour outside the Rivoli, but that was my own fault for not getting there earlier (got there at around 8:30 - first band went on at 8, and the "special guest" that everyone was pumped about was scheduled to go on at midnight)

Who was that special guest, you ask?  Well, it was the band that my life revolved around from the ages of 13 to probably around 19 or so: Our Lady Peace.

When I was a teenager, everything I did, lived, breathed, etc... it was all about OLP for me.  I was known to all my friends as "olpphreak" 

I fell out of the scene shortly after their Gravity album was released, and guitarist Mike Turner announced that he was leaving the band.  After he left, nothing felt right about OLP for me anymore, and I closed the door on that chapter of my life.

I bought their "Live" cd which was released a year or two later, but it just wasn't the same.

I saw them at Live 8... and I thought it was the most horrible thing I had ever seen in my life.  I vowed to never see them again, because it was just ruining my youth at that point.  

So, fast forward to a few days ago.  It was leaked on facebook (via Jeremy Taggart, OLP's drummer - who is on my friends list... who, for the record, I had 3 drum lessons with, back in the obsession days.  One of the coolest things I've ever done) that they would be playing a small club show.  I started to think about it.

I still had no concrete CMW plans for Thursday night.  I decided what I would do is go to the Rivoli (where OLP was playing), and if the lineup was crazy long, I'd just go down to the Horseshoe (about 50 feet away) to see the ChartAttack showcase.

I got to the venue at around 8:30, and the line was only about 6-7 people deep.  I asked if they were still letting media in, but alas, no, and he sent me to the back of the line.  They were at capacity for wristbands/passes, but were saving room for guestlist, and people who had actually bought tickets to the show.  The line got longer behind me.  A few people dropped out in front of me.  I texted some friends of mine (who I actually met through the Our Lady Peace message board - the Clumsy Congress - and we've been very good friends ever since then, for more than 10 years now) and they were already inside, so I figured I might as well wait in line a little longer, even if just to see them.

Finally at around 10 minutes to 9pm, I got in.  (Did I mention it was absolutely FREEZING in Toronto last night?)

Saw two bands before OLP went on: Cure Gravity (they were okay, kind of generic, nothing really memorable, but not bad either) and Hail The Villain (reminded me a lot of Billy Talent, but not quite as good yet... WAY too loud - I was standing right by the speaker to get good pics) - and one band afterward: Inward Eye (very good rock, from Winnipeg)

OLP took the stage at midnight.  My inner 16-year-old could barely breathe :)  I remember looking at the pictures that the photographers took at those small clubs, when I was too young to get in, and thinking "some day... that will be me."

That day was last night.

It wasn't nearly as magical as it would have been when I was 16.  But I was still in awe of myself at that moment.  

They played one or two new songs.  A few songs that were on their last albums that I didn't recognize, and then some older songs like Innocent, Clumsy and Superman's Dead (can't help but think of Mike Turner, every time I hear the "ooo ooo ... ooo weee ooo" line in the background at the end of the song.  They closed with Starseed, a perennial favourite.

It was good.  

After the show, Jeremy remembered me... I met the new guitarist, Steve (who complimented my shirt)... and my heart did not skip a beat, as it would have if I were that 16-year-old, meeting her favourite band.

I'm over my hatred of them.

I just don't think I'll ever love them the same way again.

I leave you with a picture :)  (I took close to a million, it seems LOL... It'll take a while to actually get a photo set web-ready... but here's one I snapped of OLP with my wide angle lens)

CMW Day 1: Dumb and Disorganized. FAIL.

It's not even 9pm, and I'm already home. I believe this is poor organization on the part of the organizers of the Canadian Music Week festival. Here's how my evening went:

Firstly, I checked the information email that they had sent to me, 12 days ago (the only communication I have received from the CMW staff), and it clearly states:

Please note: Badges and/or Tickets will NOT be mailed out, you must pick them up at the Registration Office. Your delegate pass and/or tickets can be picked up during the following hours in the Registration Office in the British Columbia Room which is located on the Main Mezzanine Level of The Royal York Hotel Toronto.

Tuesday March 10 5pm-8pm
Wednesday March 11 8am-8pm
Thursday March 12 7am-7pm
Friday March 13 8am-6pm
Saturday March 14 8:30am-6pm

Okay, great. So, my plan was to go to the Royal York, and then head over to the Mod Club to see Sloan & Will Currie and the Country French.  I got to the Royal York at 7pm (and paid an arm and a leg for parking in that area), giving me plenty of time to pick up all necessary documents.  Went to the "A-L" line, and was able to get a wristband, no problem, from the nice lady who was working at that counter.  I asked if she also had my photo pass there.  She told me that it was at the media desk, but she wasn't sure if it was still open, so she would ask someone.

She came back and told me, yes, it was open, and I could just walk over there (it was about 5 paces away, in the same room).  At the media desk, there were at least 4 people sitting at the desk, yet they told me it was closed.  I showed them the email that I received, and they replied saying that "it wasn't the email that the media desk sent out" ... hmmm. Why I had not received any other email, then?  Seemed slightly fishy.  (However, I am talking to my friend Andrew from S&H, and he forwarded me a copy of the email he received.  In it, it clearly states 6pm... but I never received this email.  This is the first I've seen of it.  ARGH)

For the record, I also just logged into the media section of the website, and it simply says, " Media passes may be picked up onsite at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in the British Columbia Room. Specifics will follow. " - it might be a good time to update those specifics, seeing as how the festival has already started.

They told me that all their "systems" were down, and they could not give me the pass (though they could look up on a printed sheet to see that I was, indeed, accredited for a photo pass) - if they do not use some kind of computer network to get me my pass, I will be doubly pissed tomorrow.

They told me to come back tomorrow before 6pm, and they assured me that with my wristband, I would be able to get into the shows that night.

Fine.

At this point, it was a huge hassle, having to come back, but as long as the rest of the night was okay, and I could photograph the three bands that were playing, I would be fine.

I got to the venue at 7:55.  The first band, of 3, was scheduled to go on at 8, and they're almost always late at the Mod Club, so there was still plenty of time.  Got to the front of the doors, and the security guard says, "We're not taking wristbands anymore."

So... that means I just drove all the way downtown, wasted a quarter tank of gas, for absolutely nothing.

I hope tomorrow turns out better than today.

La Belle Ville, c'est fini

The last of the updates on Montreal... finally, nearly a week after the trip!

So, on Monday morning, thanks to my brother-in-law's complaining about the loud, annoying people, the hotel decided to appease him a little. Thus, we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, on them. I had the most delicious blueberry waffles ever (was dying for a croissant, but didn't think that would be enough to tide me over, since we had a long journey ahead of us).

Before we left, we went to St Laurent, to see all the cute stores that we had passed by the night before, but were closed. Ell and I went into a whole bunch of different shops. Saw some very cute things, but didn't buy anything. My sis and bro-in-law took the time to buy a couple of outfits for my niece, as well as croissants for all of us! Good thinking on their part. (I ate my croissant on the drive home. Seriously. Best croissant EVER)

>We also went up to the top of Mount Royal. Google's directions sucked, so we got a little lost (not really lost... but not up the mountain either) ... eventually I followed the signs, and got us there. The view was amazing, but it's too bad it wasn't a sunnier day. I forgot that I had white balanced my camera in a red room the night before, so the first few shots I got were... well. Blue. I uploaded one of them, thought it looked kind of cool. But I'm glad I remembered to white balance back to normal again, because a bunch of blue shots would have been annoying. Here's a few shots from the top of the mountain:



      






From there, we began the 6-hour drive home. Ell and I passed the time with a few rounds of "F*** Marry Kill" - and she gave me an awful round, where I had to choose between Danny Michel, Jack Johnson and Jim Cuddy.  How could she?!!?    We also sang some of our favourite tunes at the top of our lungs - Sheryl Crow, anybody?  Perfect for a road trip.

Except when you're driving so slow you're practically crawling.  V was leading the way, and he was going so slow that I was ranting about it every two seconds to poor Ell.  At one point, I got so annoyed that I turned to her and said, "okay, enough of this, we're never going to get home going 90!" and I passed him. Haha.  I ended up dropping Ell off and being back home before 10pm though, which was the goal.  So it was all good.

Fabulous long weekend.  I definitely want to do stuff like that more often.  :)

La Belle Ville, partie deux

On Sunday morning, we woke up a lot earlier than I wanted to. Our friend Nick came to pick us up, and the entire gang went out for breakfast in Laval. I'd say Ell and I look remarkably good, considering the previous nights' activities! Nick is hiding behind me, and continuously hid from my camera throughout the day.

During breakfast, we formulated our plan for the rest of the day, trying to fit in as many things that we wanted to do as we could.

After breakfast, we all headed out to Old Montreal, for a little bit of European charm. Ell and I very much enjoyed a fantastic, high-end book store called Librissime. It was absolutely beautiful. (Totally made me think of my friend Rae, I think he'd really like it).  It was full of first editions, limited editions, and several other books in the $50,000 range.  Absolutely lovely.

Of comparable beauty was the Papeterie Casse-Noisette. No doubt, even in another language, leave it to me to find a paper store. I ended up buying an agenda, with a faux leather cover in robin's egg blue. It's all in French, and it's a July - August, so it's already half over... but it was $5, and so pretty, I couldn't resist. I also bought a little notebook made by the company "Claire Fontaine" ... Hawksley Workman lovers will know exactly why I bought that book! (Amy, Danielle - I'm looking at you, kids!)

Afterwards, we parted ways. Nick dropped Ell and I off on Ste-Catherine Street, for a shopping adventure. Oddly enough, it was pretty much all the same shops that we have in Toronto, especially on Yonge St.. I was hoping for some local stores, but nope. I ended up buying a jacket, bra and book about Cinderella at Urban Outfitters. Go figure. We met up with Alex, at the Centre Eaton (The Toronto similarities are killing me!)... dropped off our bags at the hotel, and went out again.

We went to the Cafe Republique for coffee (and discovered that Celine Dion was in town that night... I guess we looked like we were on our way to the concert) ... and then we went to La Belle Province, so that I could indulge in some poutine (I was very upset about having to eat by myself, so Ell shared with me). I ordered all in French (or at least I tried!), and the guy told me that "c'est fait avec amour!" (he made it for me with love) ... very sweet. It was definitely the best poutine I've ever had. Quebecers definitely do it right (let's hope so, since they invented it...). We then got Alex something to eat at one of her favourite places.

After we were all nourished, we made our way over to St-Laurent, to a very cool place called the GoGo Lounge.  It was this super cool mod club - a throwback to the late 1960s, and we actually got to sit in hands!  (see the pictures, it'll make sense).  The drink menu was presented to us on a record - there were at least 25 or so delicious sounding martini's.  I settled on a Mr. Freeze (which perfectly matched my sweater).  Alex had an Orange Crush, which also matched her top.  Very amusing.  The music in there was an awesome retro mix that I constantly felt like singing along with.

Okay, that's it for now... More pics at my flickr... and the last of the updates hopefully to follow tomorrow.

I am very behind in my blog reading, and I promise to get to all of your blogs from the last week and a half by the end of this weekend :) Love you guys!

Valentines, La Belle Ville & lovely long weekends - part 1

I haven't updated in a while. I actually did have something to write about last week when I said nothing was going on, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise.
On Thursday night, Ell and I got together at her place to craft and bake, in preparation for our Friday night Valentine's date. Cupcakes and paper crafts... what could be better?!






All the while, I was still trying to decide if I wanted to go to Montreal for the weekend. I was pretty sure I did, but I wasn't sure that I felt up to making a 6-hour drive on my own, and none of my friends really said that they wanted to come. By Friday morning, I decided that YES, I would go, regardless of who came with me. My sister and brother-in-law decided that they were going to come too, with my niece. After a particularly annoying end-of-day at work, first, I got a call from my bro-in-law, saying that he had booked us a hotel in Laval, which I promptly freaked out about - I wanted to go to Montreal. Not a suburb, that is nearly identical to where I live right now! So I told him to cancel it.

Then I met up with Ell, and we delivered Valentine's Day fun to Pete at his office. I'm pretty sure it was the best part of his day. Okay, I'm absolutely sure it was. I am confident in our baking and crafting abilities. Then the three of us went out for Thai food, to a place that I hadn't been to before in Chinatown. It was rather good, but it's no Thai Princess.

I spent a great part of the dinner, and the car ride afterwards, convincing Ell that she should come to Montreal with me.

And she said yes!

The weekend was definitely shaping up. We went back to her place so she could pack, and I could book a new hotel on Hotwire. However, at that point, I couldn't get a hold of my sister and bro-in-law, so we decided to book it back at my place.
Got back to my house, and still couldn't get in touch with them. Called other family members, and they hadn't heard from them either. Now I was kind of freaking out, because they are pretty much glued to their phones. Left them very angry voicemails telling them to call me immediately when they heard this message.

Finally, at some point after midnight, they called me back, and I booked the hotel for arrival later that day. LOL. Talk about random and spontaneous!

Elliot and I drove in my car following my sister, brother-in-law and niece in their car (and an adjoining room - we ran into many problems last time we shared a room on vacation). We left at around noon. Ell and I had a totally top notch road trip - good tunes, good food, and girl talk. It didn't even feel like a 6 hour drive.

My friend David was actually in the hotel parking lot to meet us as we got in. I hadn't seen him in a while, and my back was turned, as I was looking in my car for something. So I heard him say, "Excuse me, did you need help with anything?" and assumed it was one of the valet attendants, and then turned around and saw him. It was quite funny. Checked in, got ready, and then Dave, Ell and I went for dinner at Les 3 Brasseurs. (Sis and others went elsewhere, to somewhere a little more family friendly). Our dinner was great - I had an LA Wrap (love those avocados, even though I'm pretty sure I might be allergic to them) ... Ell had some delicious poutine (one of my goals - to eat poutine in Montreal!)


It took us a while to decide what to do that night. After compiling a bunch of suggestions, we eventually parted ways with David, and made our way back to the hotel to weigh the options. We met up with my friend, Alex, who I knew from online but had never met before. She was absolutely fabulous, and everything I expected her to be - totally wish she lived closer!



We went for a VERY cold walk, over to McKibbin's Irish Pub. The music was fabulous. A cover band played two sets - they started out with a cover of Free Fallin', that was so well done, we didn't even realize it was a band until midway through the song. (In looking at the band schedule page, I guess the band's name was FM - This is all I can find on them.) We met up with Ell's friend, Jake, who informed us that we walked further to get to this pub, than to any of the places she had suggested to her earlier. Oops. A couple of random guys tried to pick us up, when they saw three girls sitting with one guy. They were amusing, for a moment. Until one of the guys called me a "Filthy Eye-Tye" ... yeah, not really impressing me much there, buddy.

Did you know bars in Montreal close at 3am?!

We didn't stay quite that late, but by the time we got back to the hotel, it was almost 3. I barely slept that night, even though I was exhausted from being up so late the night before, then driving, then going out... there were annoying people yelling in the hallway, and then I could hear my annoying brother-in-law yelling at the annoying people yelling. LOL. He ended up calling down to complain, and I managed to get a few hours of sleep in.


More photos at my flickr, and the rest of the weekend to follow!