NXNE Holy Joe's - Day 1

So I’ve been meaning to take the time to sit down and write about my experience as a Stage Manager at Holy Joe’s for NXNE 2009 and I wanted to take some time to really let it soak in. Two weeks later what really still sticks out, is not only the music, but my experience working with so many different bands and different personalities. So I’m going to go through a mini review of each of the artists that played the venue, and not only talk about their music, but the experience of meeting and interacting with them on a professional level. Though overall every artist was great and definitely appeals to music listeners of all sorts, this is my opinion and does not reflect NXNE in anyway.

Thursday, June 18th, 2009:

9pm Beekeepers Society – Coming in as a last minute replacement, Beekeepers Society took on the dreaded first night of programming first performance spot. My sympathy for this situation quickly faded when come their 9pm start time, two of the band members opted to go out for a smoke cutting about 20 minutes out of their 40 minute set time. Clearly playing at a festival, timing is the biggest factor, as fans jump from venue to venue in order to catch as many acts as possible. Also because I work part-time as a music manager, I find myself greatly disappointed that this Brampton based band, quite obviously didn’t promote their show, judging by the 4 people in the room (forgivable), but then made their few fans wait 20 minutes to hear 20 minutes of music, that cost them $10.00 (not forgivable)! When they finally did get on stage, they were more concerned with the fact that their rotating mannequin (propped on a record player) wasn’t rotating than playing their music. I have no background about this band and have only come across one review that was less than stellar. This is a situation where their performance was no longer about the music but about these details that paint a picture of a band that lack professionalism. Sorry if it was just an off night, but how you present yourself as a band is just as important, if not more important than the music you play.


10pm The Champion Heartache: From the time I first contacted Matt from Champion heartache I instantly liked the band. He was very appreciative of my help answering questions he had, and very concerned with keeping a good relationship with me, as the stage manager. This, I obviously found very endearing.
When it cam time to play their set they had a good crowd come out to their show, and I was really impressed with their music. On top of all being very nice and talented after their show I got a free CD. Who doesn’t like free stuff? Anyway Matt and the rest of the members of Champion Heartache were a prime example of how important attitude is when it comes to being a band.



11pm Deanna Devore: Filling in for a last minute drop out, Deanna Devore showed up to the venue with what I’m pretty sure was her family, being a family oriented person myself I thought this was really sweet. From what I could gather about her she’s a Canadian, who now lives in Chicago and plays in a band, but for this show she came to do an acoustic set. What I can say is that for someone who seemed quite shy and is very petite in person, she carries a serious voice and great stage presence. The only downside was during her acoustic set the band next door at the reverb, (think the opposite of acoustic) would blare into Holy Joe’s every time the door was opened, which was quite obviously distracting. Oh, and not to mention that her poor father was trying to film her set looked like he was about to have a minor heart attack each time. All in all a good show, although maybe more suited to a quieter venue. If you like Annie Defranco, you’d like Deanna, as their sound is very similar. I would be really interested in hearing her with an entire band though.


12am StereoGoesStellar: This is not a band that lacks personality, that’s one thing for sure. Quoting their bio, they are “Composed of four of Windsor's least attractive musicians, and one of its hottest” their sound is something that mixes an almost boy band punk sound with powerful piano and guitar offset by softer vocal harmonies. Although this isn’t my usual pick of music, I found myself enthralled with the performance and different sounds this band carries.
Not only did they thank me and all the other volunteers for taking the time to set up the show, they were all around great, and fun to have at the venue.


1am Joel Lightman Band: What can I say about the Joel Lightman Band, other than the fact that I genuinely enjoyed them, they ended up playing to who I believe to be Joel’s girlfriend, the NXNE staff and the Holy Joe’s bartender. They are a great upbeat band, the kind that makes you want to tap your foot. To be fair I will give them the same criticism as the 9pm band, that if you are based in Toronto, you should be able to get at least 15 people out to your shows, but again a bad programming spot, on a work night is sometimes a tough sell. Joel himself made light of the situation saying we got a very intimate show, lucky us! They didn’t play for long, but all of the band members were a pleasure to work with, and I really appreciated the follow up thank you note sent by Joel. Something I also send out regularly after working with people. You'd be surprised how well it works to make a person or band stand out, and not be forgotten.

So that was Day 1 of programming at Holy Joe's. The night ended with a much deserved beer and the cashier coordinator forgetting to pick up Mark the cashier that worked with me until 3:30am, but I was so tired I found it hard to care at that point. Stay tuned for my next post outlining the last two days and be sure to check out the bands for some great music.

Kings of Leon @ The ACC

So I've been trying to figure out an appropriate post to write as I just attended the Kings of Leon show on Tuesday. Despite thoroughly enjoying every moment of it, I have some observations that I have been pondering.
First of all they are hands down, no question an extremely talented foursome, whom I've been following and listening avidly to since 2006. Second of all it was pretty exciting as I had not seen them since 2007 @ The Hammersmith Apollo in London, England (they were big in the UK, long before North America).
The crowd was very energetic and even though I was up in the 300's everyone stood the entire show, singing along and we were even told Toronto has been the most lively crowd on their tour so far!
BUT here's the thing. I'm not saying all bands don't transition, because it's a natural thing to do as you grow and make new music, HOWEVER, I got quite a shock when they came on stage I barely recognized them. Where are the dark clothed troubled looking KoL that I once knew and who are these indie clad rockers they've turned into?
Here's what I'm trying to say in images...

The show I saw in England back in 2007:

A press picture from back in 2007:

Here is the harder rock band image that I've known and loved KoL as for a long time now. It's no secret that their newest album (Only by the Night) has become more "poppy" then their last three, but it amazes me how much their image has become the trendy band image right on par with their large growth in popularity.

A recent KoL pic:

I don't mean any disrespect, it's very nice to see a band with a crazy amount of success but I cannot help but wonder what the cost of that success is. Is it possible to become wildly successful without "selling out"? They still play great, but I would love to know how much of the transition was based on their own tastes and how much is based on the record label trying to make them more widely marketable.
I guess after the Only by the Night tour if they release another album it will be easier to determine where they're headed....

Regardless of their image, great show and great opening by The Walkmen!

Lands' End Online Live Help

So I'm not too sure if this is something everyone already knows about but I'm writing about it anyway. I just was shopping on the Lands' End website looking into pricing on a few products etc. All of a sudden a box pops up in the middle of my screen saying "may I help you with sizing/fitting or answer any questions" then gives me the option to call a customer service person or live chat with them online. So I decided to live chat and my service representative "Susan M" was very helpful and answered all my questions. I think this is an amazing idea that leverages Lands End above other online stores, it felt like I was really in the store with an actual store clerk. I am thinking this type of online customer service will catch on quite quickly.

Job well done Lands' End Canada!

Pomegranate Phone

So I haven't been very good at blogging as of lately but I came across something today (granted two months later than everyone else) in a forward that I thought was a great online campaign. Here is Nova Scotia's newest tourism campaign. It's creative and it's intriguing and I don't think they could have done a better job....EXCEPT....

As I started looking into what it was all about I came across a series of other bloggers trashing the campaign and making very valid points.
Then to prove that this campaign is a bit of a muck up, I forwarded the email on to a few friends who I thought would get a kick out of it, and one replied "wow, that's so cool, I'll never be able to afford it though...when does it come out?"

point proven.

As a true libra I'm going to have to say that I think the $300,000 of taxpayers money probably could have been spent on better things, but at the same time the buzz that it generated even amongst sites trashing it shows that it made an impact and got people forwarding it along (like myself) and actually taking the time to discuss it.

I'll give it a B+ (not amazing, but not horrible)

Style Your Sole: TOMS Shoes Toronto

A good friend of mine recently introduced me to these shoes as she is helping with the Toronto product launch titled "Style Your Sole". TOMS Shoes is a very interesting company and epitomizes the greatness of creative capitalism. How it works is that for every pair of shoes you buy, TOMS shoes will give a pair of shoes to a child in need (check out this video)Though I work in the corporate world I must admit that part of me always has this small desire to move to a jungle and live in a hut and this type of company makes me more confident that you can be a consumer and still give back! I know that things like Bono's (RED) already exist but it's just nice to see more social awareness happening, especially in my city. The launch party is being held at The Spoke Club on September 12th and they are currently looking for sponsors if anyone is interested. I think this is a great cause and personally am really looking forward to owning a pair of these cute shoes!! I don't have details on how to get tickets etc. as of yet, but shoot me an email if you're interested and I can pass it along to my friend.

A Disappointing Article

I recently came across an article in the Toronto Star that I decided can't go without being mentioned on my blog because of how much it really disgusts me. Michele Henry a crime reporter who has been covering the tragic deaths of Dylan Ellis and Oliver Martin in the Toronto star had the audacity to write an article on her challenges of reporting this crime. Basically the bulk of the story Michele spends criticizing the families and friends of the departed on their failure to open up to her and let her into their homes to share their grief with the public. I'm sorry but while she's worried about how challenging her career as a journalist has become these families and friends are wondering how they are going to get out of bed in the morning and cope with a horrible loss of two great people for the rest of their lives. I cannot seem to understand what she was thinking when she wrote this article, nor can I fathom what editor would approve such garbage.

She starts off the article completely contradicting the whole reason for writing the story "I understand when others decline my requests for an interview, even if they slam the door". Enough said.

I wanted to take this chance to say that I have met some of these people who Michele speaks about in the article. They are doing the best they can under the circumstances and I assume would prefer to keep Dylan and Oliver's memories between the people who knew and cared about them. They held a candlelight vigil on Friday for anyone who had lost someone and wanted to share memories. They are not closing off the public they are embracing their support, just not through the media and I see no problem with that. It is really their choice to share or not.

I don't think for a second the spitting and yelling was necessary, yet at the same time I think respecting the families wishes and leaving them alone to get through this would be a more tactful route. Although I was not there to witness any of the acts she speaks of, I can only assume that the spitting or yelling was because she was repeatedly asked to go away and continued to persist all in the name of getting her story back to the editor for a pat on the back. It's really pretty sad when you think about it.

My train ride to Ottawa..

As I have said before I currently work as an event planner. I planned a three day conference in Ottawa this past Tuesday and because of good turn out I was asked to attend for the first two days to meet everyone and make sure the event runs smoothly. I took VIA Rail from Toronto to Ottawa here is my itinerary:

Depart Toronto - Monday June 9th, 2008 @ 3:30pm
Arrive Ottawa - Monday June 9th, 2008 @ 7:56pm

Depart Ottawa - Wedneday June 11th, 2008 @ 5:00pm
Arrive Toronto - Wednesday June 11th, 2008 @ 9:25pm

At first I was a bit skeptical because really I would rather fly for 45 minutes than be stuck on the train for 4.5 hours, however my company is cheap and refused. So VIA it is! I get on the train at the scheduled time on Monday and after two hours of smooth sailing the train stops abruptly. "Weird, I wonder why they stopped?" I think to myself, but remain patient because I'm in no rush the conference is not until the next day.

Finally after about 45 minutes of not moving they announce over the PA that someone has jumped in front of our train and they have to wait until the police and coroner arrive before we can go anywhere. It will probably be about 3 hours. This is the point where I didn't know what to think. I couldn't be angry because such a tragedy had occur ed so I sat tight and thankful that at least I had my computer and an insanely slow Internet connection. Two hours and fifteen minutes later they tell us that we are going to Belleville where we will transfer trains, but first the fire station has to arrive and hose off the front of the train. YES they actually announced this over the loud speaker to the entire train, children, elders, everyone! I was appalled. Anyway after a stop-over in Belleville and finally getting back on the train the total travel time came out to 9 1/2 hours. I could have flown to Paris in that amount of time (and I probably would have been much happier).

So Wednesday rolls around and I am dreading getting back on the train, but assure myself that it'll be fine, if I can do ten hours I can handle four and a half. Then about an hour into the journey the train stops. In denial I think it'll just be a minute then we're on our way. They announce over the loud speaker about an inspection that will only take a few minutes. Forty-five minutes later we are told that the train has broke down and we have to wait another hour until another train comes and can push us the whole way to Toronto. Then as I get up to use the washroom, I am told that we cannot use the washrooms until the train is moving. So not only are we delayed, but we cannot use the washroom.

I am thoroughly unimpressed with VIA Rail and really cannot believe that anyone would want to take a train. Call it my bad luck, but two nights in Ottawa and 17 hours worth of train time is just a bit much for me. NEVER AGAIN!

I now have three 50% off vouchers for the troubles I encountered while travelling, which are useless because I never want to take the train ever again. Plus when I called VIA Rail to speak to customer service, there are no representatives, instead you leave a message and they call you back. I'll update on how long this takes to receive a call.