March 2003 Archive
***Click on the above link to view the whole March 2003 archive***
March 30th, 2003
Is that not the coolest Tattoo ever! If you don’t think so go
HERE
March 29th, 2003
I was at Gardenscape today. My Dad won the
Design Competition
and the Peoples’ Choice Award which I am pretty proud of him for.
The pictures from
Monik’s
Birthday are up in the friends section. Aside from that… GOTO THE set
aside SHOW NEXT FRIDAY!
I have so much to say, but I don’t feel like saying anything, so you all have
to suffer for one more day! …sleep now….zzzzzzzz
March 28th, 2003
My brother let his friend drive his truck = we have a tarp for a garage door
now!
due to VERY popular demand. the FRIENDS section
is back. sorry I took it down. but I kinda went through a faze when I was
like “hey, there are hundreds of total strangers looking at pictures of all my
friends” but then I realized that a large majority of people tell me they like
the pictures, so their back! I removed all the old pictures, but the
pics of the last two weekends are up including HVC!!!
Funny enough, the pictures where always there…I just didn’t link them!
March 27th, 2003
This would be a picture of Brett scratching the ball. Notice the plethora of
awesomeness……
and this kid just looks WAY to happy….
Here are some shows coming up in Regina “that you should all go to”. As well
there are way more shows coming to Saskatoon. Not by Choice is playing at
Louis’ on April 19th and don’t forget the Set Aside show on April 4th *gasp*
THAT’S NEXT FRIDAY!
April 17th: Memorial/Aiden/Dirtbred at the State
May 17th: Dirtbred cd release with Memorial?Suffersurge/Sparky/400
Strong/Dirtbred
May 8th: Bigwig/Planet Smashers/Belvedere/Big D and the Kids Table… at the
Exchange
May 22nd: Death By Stereo/Nicotene/Downway @ the U of R
May 29th: Strapping Young Lad/Dirtbred/The Orchard/Memorial at the Exchange.
Another show that we’re waiting on is Soulfly/Otep/Dirtbred @ the U of R on
April 24th…
March 26th, 2003
I took this picture Saturday night of my friend Kyle doing a back flip off a
tree. He ran at it and kicked off backwards. FREAKING CRAZY!
Your probably wondering “Why hasn’t Ryan updated in so long?” “is he
sick?” “is he dead?” “has he *gasp* run out of things to say?”
HAHAH no! I have just been busy with “other things”. The thing is that
the other things aren’t really that important, and that sparks a rant which I
didn’t even intend on writing…
why do we waste time? I hate wasting time. Though I am probably
one of the biggest time wasters you will ever meet. Take this website for
instance. I have spent COUNTLESS hours working on it, and I really enjoy running
it and getting e-mails from total strangers telling me they like my site,
however, being in school I do have “better things to do” Strange
enough though, I update my website mostly when I should be doing more important
things. For an example, during midterms, or something important I update like
every day, but then once I have a week long break, or a few days break from
school, I don’t update at all… we all waste time when we shouldn’t. I could
say that it is human nature, but that would just be a cop-out for being lazy.
For some reason life is more exiting when it sucks. For instance, during
midterms/finals EVERYTHING non-school related seems super
interesting…like 1000x more interesting than school….and I (and my friends I
know (and you too?!)) will waste time reading some magazine, or watching some
movie, or doing something irrelevant when I should be studying…BUT then the
second I am done school and actually have time to do everything I
want….I do nothing.
It seems time is wasted no matter what we do. If we should be
productive, we waste our time being unproductive. If we have time to do whatever
we want, we waste our time being lazy and not doing the things that we would die
to do when we should be doing better things. Of coarse as I write this I
should be working on a project I have for a class, but here I am…wasting time
writing about wasting time so that YOU can waste time reading about it.
GET BACK TO WORK!
If you like wasting time, and haven’t checked out Strong Bad’s E-mails then
go HERE and watch
“dragon”, “new hands”, “techno”, and all of them!
March 24th, 2003
Wow 4 days without updating! I was busy all weekend with the HVC
Charity Hockey tournament. I am the photo director for Electrical Engineering
and between Friday and Saturday I took 600 pictures in 36 hours! (A new record!
haha).
Anyways, I have much to say, but not much time to say it because I need to
sleep, but I will have a nifty rant for you tomorrow and for the time being
check out these pictures I took on Saturday from
atop a parkade downtown.
March 20th, 2003
I have a huge Computer Science assignment due so no update from me but..
BUNNIN updated!
March 19th, 2003
Did anyone ever see the “House Hippo” commercial? If not,
WATCH IT it is freaking hilarious and
proves a point that you shouldn’t believe everything you see on TV…. though I
wish they were real 
March 18th, 2003
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Today’s rant is about how you should register a membership on
www.threeohsix.org . There are
over 637 people that are registered as users on threeohsix (as of tonight) which
I think is great because it brings so many music lovers in Saskatchewan
together. Everyone can talk on forums and see when shows are going on (and see
links to my webpage 😉 One thing I don’t understand though is why
there are so many “Guests” on threeohsix whenever I log on. There are of
coarse some hardcore users who have like 400 forum posts and that is great, but
why aren’t those “guests” registering? Are you just a “guest” ?
Why don’t you register right
HERE right now!? What sparked this rant was my friend Riley when I
told him he should check out the calendar on threeohsix and he is like ” I’ve
been there, but don’t you have to register or something?” SO WHAT?
It doesn’t cost anything. I REPEAT: IT DOESN’T COST ANYTHING! It just
makes you an individual, and you can read and write on the forums about shows,
and have access to more of the site. As well girls will start to like you if
your a guy, and that cute boy you have a crush on will as you out if your a girl
so GO REGISTER NOW!
song of the day
(I know I haven’t had one in a while…) “Down like me” by Thumb
http://www.threeohsix.org/register.php
March 17th, 2003
‘Tis sad that I must resort to pictures of bunnies I took at the U of R last
week when I saw Snapcase for my pictures of the day, but they are soooo cute!
I put three new pictures of Saskatoon in the PHOTOS section.
GOODMAN updated his first rant today and I
must say it is REALLY good. Thank you Kirk, that is exactly what I
wanted! Also Kirk recomends you check out BBC
Radio 1 which is the
best streaming radio you will find anywhere. It plays every kind of music 24-7
and you can listen to prerecorded shows so pretty much any time of the day you
can listen to whatever you want. I recommend “The Lockup” which is the
punk show. They play killer music and interview every awesome band so read
Kirk’s rant and check out BBC
Radio 1 !
TANIS also updated so check that out. + NOT
BY CHOICE @ Louis’ April 19th!
In other news….who watched Bush do his “we’re going to war” speech tonight?
I would have to say that he did it very well. So well that by the end of it I
was like “Hey, its a good thing that the US is doing this. GO THEM!” and then
after I watched all of the commentaries on Bush’s speech and what not. I got
really into the whole war thing, and for some reason had forgotten all of the
negatives that this will bring…Did anyone else stop and think about this too?
CTV news interviewed a dozen important people, from military, to parliament,
to university professors and they all talked about US’s, or Canada’s side, or
Britain’s side, but for one interview they actually talked to an Iraqi-Canadian
about how he felt. What he had to say completely changed me around on how I feel
about this whole thing. Basically he was in Desert Storm back in ’92 and he said
that Bush’s speech tonight was basically the exact thing that old Bush said back
in ’92. Saying how there is not intent to hurt the Iraqi people, except that
estimates are at 500,000 possible casualties if war breaks out. No
matter what happens, a lot of people will die over there. However after about a
minute of this man talking about all of the negatives to war and how “this
happened before and hurt more than helped” he was cut off so they could talk to
some other person who was going to talk about WAR and not, how bad war will be.
I’m saying all of this to you for this reason: DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING
YOU SEE ON CNN! I often wish that I got TV channels from other
countries. I think it would be neat to see what the news reporters are saying in
Iraq or Africa, or Japan, or Greenland. I wonder what the people in Iraq were
hearing when Bush’s message was translated and played over their radios and
TV’s. Do you think the message was translated 100% or do you think anything was
cut/added? What do you think is cut/added from what we see?
As I said above with the Iraqi-Canadian only getting a minute of time to talk
about the negatives of war on Iraq, you are going to get a very PRO-(or if not
pro, then WILLGOALLONGWITH)-War media right now, simply because war makes news
and so that’s all your going to hear about. You will be lucky if you hear much
about the negatives of this war until after it is all over, unfortunately that
is the way our society seems to go with these things. But remember to keep an
open mind on this whole thing and don’t just sit around and watch CNN all day,
or else you will be brainwashed into wanting this war to happen as much as Bush
does…..
“CNN brainwashed me back in 9/11. What is it doing now?”
March 16th, 2003
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I picked up the new AFI cd yesterday and all I can say is GO BUY THIS CD!
Amazingly enough it is only $8.99 at Future Shop too!
BUNNIN wrote a very “wordy” review and if I
had time I would do one too, but in not so many words all I can say is:
YES – The cd is different from their other stuff. If this comes to you as a
surprise then obviously you have never bought more than one album of a band
before because no two albums sound the same with any band, they always change.
Sure its not always for the better, but its change and we all have to accept
that.
NO – The cd does not suck. It is really good. I have heard some people knock the
new album because it sounds so much different, but it is still AFI and even
though it is a bit slower, there are still faster hardcore songs and if you love
Davey’s voice then you will love this cd because there is heavy emphasis on his
voice which I love.
NO – you shouldn’t just “download the cd” because it is only $8.99 at Future
Shop ( $9.99 at HMV ) and the album insert, lyrics, and booklet are all super
nice, as well you get a card that gives you access to “the secret AFI website”
with even more sound and video of the cd. Finally, I would have to say the
actual cd itself has the nicest label on it I have seen since KoRn: Follow the
Leader. It’s worth buying the cd just to see the artwork on the cd label.
YES – I have listened to the cd more than once and it gets better every time.
YES – There is a secret track bringing the cd to 13 tracks and 59 minutes
(THAT’S ALMOST AN HOUR!!!) for only $8.99
YES – There are two different cd covers and you have to decide or buy one of
each like me! (ones a present, but it was cool to buy both 
NO – It has not left my cd player since I got it.
YES – I’m done now.
Wish me luck on my midterm!
March 15th, 2003
Want to do your part? Print off
THIS or THIS (more
ink friendly) poster and put it up at your school/work/ local lamp post!
March 14th, 2003
The Pinch and The Paper Kites were amazing! If you were there, the
pictures are in the BANDS section. If you weren’t be sure to go see both of
these bands the next time they play because WOW!
In other news BUNNIN and
TARRAH updated, and both their rants are
VERY good so check them out! Remember, if you don’t see anything new,
click REFRESH.
I’m off to sleep and then study for a math test that I will for surely fail
:*(
March 13th, 2003
Pictures of Snapcase, Juliana Theory, and Hopesfall are in the BANDS section
now so check them out!
Also I have gotten a HUGE response from people wanting to help out the scene
which is great!
How can you do your part? GO TO:
I’ll be there AND SO SHOULD YOU AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!!
I got a lot of positive responses about my last rant and I think that is
great to hear! I hope there are a lot more people who want to help out the
scene. Speaking of that, Peter Jelinski of
Surreal Productions (the company that usually puts on all the big shows)
e-mailed me with this:
” I was reading your section about why Regina gets more shows than Saskatoon
and I hope you don’t mind but I’d like to share my take on the situation.
Plain and simple, it comes down to paying the bills and Saskatoon has a
tough time getting enough people out to cover the expenses for a show. In
a lot of cases travel isn’t really an issue. Take the Fat Tour and
Snapcase, both bands we’re traveling from Edmonton and drove right on
through Saskatoon. I know for a fact both tours were interested in
playing your city.
The stupid thing is it doesn’t make sense why Saskatoon, being the bigger
city and IMHO the cooler city, has so much trouble getting enough people
out to shows. You’ve got a big college and an active music scene but
people just don’t come out in the numbers they do in Regina.
Also when
it comes to purchasing advance tickets Saskatoon drags way behind the rest
of Western Canada. When that happens agents and bands get scared
then
figure no one cares, I’ve talked with a number of people who hate to feel
that way but in reality have no choice. Bands WANT to play Saskatoon
unfortunately it’s just not economically feasible in most cases to do so.
For example we did the Strung Out/Snapcase show last summer in both Regina
and Saskatoon. The ticket price was exactly the same for both shows yet
in Saskatoon we had 320 people compared to 650 in Regina. Saskatoon was
the only date on the entire 13 city Canadian tour that did not sell out.
We were offered a chance to do the Snapcase/Juliana Theory show in
Saskatoon but we had to turn it down. We would have needed more people to
break even (about 400) and we honestly didn’t feel Saskatoon could do it.
Now, having said that I’m as excited as you about threeohsix.org and sites
like yours doing things to promote live music in Saskatoon. We would
love
the opportunity to bring bigger shows to Saskatoon and if we knew we could
get the type of crowds we get in Regina we wouldn’t hesitate for one
second. Keep up the great work with the site and promoting the
scene!!! ”
Now after reading that, I am even more inspired to make it my mission to make
the Saskatoon scene as big as Regina’s. As you read, its not the bands fault,
its the fact that we need to get more people out to shows. With that
said, if you haven’t read Mondays Rant (below) then do so!
Otherwise the joke of the day :
“What is a Dinosaur’s favourite book? …… thesaurus ”
<— I made that up on the bus on the way to school today. At this rate I’m
going to be rich someday!
March 10th, 2003
There have been A LOT of shows lately = a lot of pictures. This is
really good for my site because it means the BANDS section of my website is
getting larger and larger, but on the downside, with all of these pictures
taking up my updates, I have been neglecting MY rants. Though I have been
thinking up a lot to say, and I will say it on the days when I have nothing else
to post. With that said, here is my rant of the day.
why doesn’t everybody go to shows? I have
been going to punk shows since grade 10 when I saw Reel Big Fish and The
Portmans at Louis’ which would be my first “real” show. Since then my music
tastes changed and grew and I discovered a lot of great local Saskatoon (and non
Saskatoon) bands. I had some really great friends who always wanted to go to
shows with me. Pretty much every show at the Bassment that went on, Murphy
and I went to. Even if we didn’t really like the bands, just because “it was a
show” and we wanted to go. I remember “back in the day” (though not that
long ago really) when there were shows at “The Pit” and even who knows how long
ago when it seemed Louis’ got tons of cool bands to play. (What happened
there???!!!)
the point of this rant is this picture:
I took that picture at the Fat Wreck Chords Tour last Thursday in Regina, now
to the right of the picture is the stage, you can see the pit (which is larger
than the turnout of far to many Bassment shows) and to the left is even more
people that didn’t fit in the picture because THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE!
Why does Regina get all the good shows? you ask. Well for one thing The
#1 highway goes through Regina so its always on the path of a cross Canada tour
whereas Saskatoon would be a 6 hour out-of-the-way drive to play a show where
there may not even be an audience.
Now if you’ve been to the “big shows” in Saskatoon: Propagandhi, Strung
Out, and AFI then you know that “the big bands” can draw a surprising crowd
which is awesome to see. But what about all the other shows? Saskatoon
needs to prove itself! I have seen the scene grow lately. There are
more and more bands, and there have been more and more shows. I thank Ryan Smith
for creating www.threeohsix.org because
it brings a lot of music lovers together and creates awareness of shows going
on. But we need more people out to shows. Too many times I
have been to shows when there are more band members than audience. (the last
TWO times Downway has played here comes to mind right away)
What are you doing Friday night? This is what I hear every week
and when there is a show going on I always say “going to a show, you should
come”. Unfortunately, 9 times out of 10 I get a response like “we might show up,
we’re going to see whets going on first”. THE SHOW IS WHAT’S GOING ON.
There will always be something else happening. But that doesn’t mean
going to a show has to be at the bottom of the list!
want to get drunk? The Bassment is one of the only THREE
places in Saskatchewan that are allowed to have Licensed/All Ages Shows. This is
a privilege, not a right. But it is a very good privilege. The Bassment is
downtown, and I always say that if you were planning on “going to the bar” on
Friday or Saturday night why don’t you catch some great local music and then
walk to one of the bars downtown? This doesn’t mean you can get shit faced
and make an ass of yourself, but there is always a way to get the best
of both worlds so don’t miss out on a show just because you may have
something better to do. Try to do both! Great parties etc never
really get going till 11pm and WOW that’s about the same time shows end
typically! “Don’t miss out on something great while waiting for
something great to happen”
If you go, more will come. Saskatoon has a larger
population than Regina, yet a quote from my friend Adam last week in Regina
“Regina has a bigger Saskatoon scene than Saskatoon does”. We saw so many people
from Saskatoon in Regina which was great. But the question is: “If we got a show
like The Fat Wreck Chords Tour in Saskatoon, could our turn out be as big as
Regina’s?” I think in time it could be, but we need to prove ourselves in
order to get shows like that to come here! If more people to come out to
shows and show their support of what’s going on here, what’s going
on there will come here too! I’m trying to do my part by going to
shows, and encouraging shows with this website, but what can you do!? If
you have a band, talk on threeohsix and talk to Ryan Drabble and try to get a
show going. Whenever there is a show TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS! (AND ACTUALLY GET
THEM TO COME!), if you are putting on a show ADVERTISE and e-mail a
poster to me ( jackson@punkoryan.com
) and put the poster on threeohsix for people to print off and put up at their
school/work/local lamp post, DO YOUR PART and try to help out. If you go
to threeohsix you’ll see a record amount of shows going on this month which is
awesome. Lets try to keep this going and get a scene, so big, and so close, that
it will be worth the 6 hour out-of-the-way drive. Finally, if you
don’t know what to do, then go back to the beginning of this rant and read it
over again!
“or you could just do nothing like everyone else”
March 9th, 2003
HOORAY! More time to waste! Welcome
Tanis!
March 9th, 2003
Finally! Well there are 8 new bands in the BANDS
section in including THE FAT WRECK CHORDS TOUR!!!!
So check out Mad Caddies,
Rise Against,
The Real
McKenzies, and The Flipsides
and the show at the Bassment last night (sorry I missed the first band
Tombstone
Diaries,
NO PARKING,
To The Point, and
Samuel the Black Shaman
Enjoy and goto:
If you didn’t notice I also moved the BUNNIN and TARRAH section into the
WASTE section. The Waste section will be all
about Rants of people you don’t know but have nothing more productive you want
to do, due to laziness so you read other people’s opinions, and goto their
links, and waste even more time. *WHICH IS ALL THIS SITE IS ABOUT* (but shhhh
don’t tell anybody!)
“I’ll rant when I can keep my eyes open”
March 8th, 2003
So I’ve slept 3 of the last 41 hours and I work 13 hours tomorrow so I’m not
going to have all the pics up tonight BUT
Click HERE for a
video of Tombstone Diaries playing their last song at the Bassment tonight. If
you weren’t there, it was awesome!
March 7th, 2003
A lot of people have voted… but a lot more voting needs to happen!
C’mon People! YES THEY ARE REAL E-MAILS! Vote!
will Brett ever learn?
if you think Brett will ever learn then send an e-mail to:
hewilllearnbutthenhewillforgetwhathehaslearnedbecauseheisstupidandihatehim@punkoryan.com
if not then send an e-mail to:
nobrettwillneverlearnbecauseheisstupidandihatehim@punkoryan.com
(if you have no idea what I’m talking about
read yesterdays rant about Brett’s security jacket.)
March 7th, 2003
It’s 3:49am and I have to wake up in 3 hours to go to class! Anyways, I
don’t have time to put up all the pictures but here’s a taste of what you missed
(or hopefully saw) in Regina last night:
Also!!!
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Click
HERE for the full sized poster!!!
Finally check out the BUNNIN section. He
actually updated!
March 6th, 2003
C’mon! Doesn’t some one want to give this girl a home?
My good friend Tera is still looking for roommates! She gave her notice on
the first and only has 3 more weeks to live! (at the place she’s at right
now…)
If you or anyone you know is looking for a roommate (girl or guy, doesn’t
matter!) e-mail me at
jackson@punkoryan.com
quote of the day: “if I enjoyed failing exams, I would be having a
good day” – Bolster
so remember when you were a little kid, and you always lugged your little
blankey around with all the time because it made you feel safe? well you would
call that your “security blanket” because it always made you feel safe and you
never wanted to be without it etc…….well Brett is the same with his jacket.
He never takes it off and we bug the hell out of him for it.
Here’s an illustration:
will he ever learn?
if you think Brett will ever learn then send an e-mail to:
hewilllearnbutthenhewillforgetwhathehaslearnedbecauseheisstupidandihatehim@punkoryan.com
if not then send an e-mail to:
nobrettwillneverlearnbecauseheisstupidandihatehim@punkoryan.com
I will tally up the votes at the end of the
week and we shall let the people decide! (yes those are real e-mails, and
yes you should e-mail to the second one because its funnier that way…)
so you guys (and girls) may have to go a day without an update from me *gasp*
I’m going to Regina on Thursday night to see The Fat Wrech Chords Tour and
probably wont get back till 2am = no pictures till Saturday because there is
another show on Friday night (see below), but on the bright side, come Saturday
there will be pictures of 10 new bands (well 9 cuz I already have pictures
of Rise Against….but you know….) so be sure to check in then!
HOWEVER it may be worth your while to check the BUNNIN section
tomorrow he e-mailed me tonight and “Its coming on Thursday, trust me.
with text and photos” -Bunnin *ooooh anticipation*
Anyways, me sleep now, but all I have left to say is GO TO THE SHOW ON FRIDAY
NIGHT!!!! If you were going to go to “the bar” anyways then just
drink at The Bassment till the show is over then walk to the Pat or something.
C’mon! Bring all your friends, see some great music!
March 5th, 2003
what more can I say than LOOK AT THE POSTER –> GO TO THE SHOW!
as well if the above isn’t your cup of tea (Sorry Brook you don’t have a fancy
poster, but I’ll advertise for you anyways!)
Polk, with goodwhatgood @ Amigos March 7th $5
Well here are the pictures of
The Reason, Shackleford,
and
Richard Marshal Division from last night.
song of the day
is “Keasbey Nights” by Catch 22 (who is playing Match 30th with TEN
FOOT POLE with and Bombshell Rocks @ Riddle Center in Regina
“I’m going…you should too!”
March 4th, 2003
Well if you weren’t at the show then you certainly missed out because
it was soooo good! Holy Crap! Anyways, I took about 80 pics so above
is a taste, and I will have them all up Tuesday night.
March 3rd, 2003
You know if you abbreviated the date today it would be 03/03/03 ! Isn’t that
cool!!!!….well I think it is!
set aside saved me $300!…..so last night I talked to Bunnin for 40
mins on the phone from Victoria and we talked about how he’s going to be
updating his part of the website AND he told me that I should fly there to visit
him because AFI is playing in Seattle on April 4th!!! I am SOOOO tempted
because plane tickets would only be $300 and I could eat and sleep for
free…BUT #1. Edmonton trip cost A LOT of money and #2. THE set aside
REUNION SHOW IS APRIL 4th!!! …. but I “could” go….but I’ll stay to see
the set aside show and save $300….. *snivel*
So tonight:
Monday March 3rd – The Reason, Shackleford, Richard Marshal Division @ The
Bassment doors 7:30pm
I’m getting my homework done RIGHT NOW (well when I’m done writing this) and
going so YOU BETTER BE THERE TOO! (whoever you are…)
Pics wont be up till tomorrow though because I have a midterm on Tuesday so
you’ll all have to wait… *tears*
March 2nd, 2003
So tonight I went to see
Breach of Trust
at Wash ‘n Slosh and wow. They were good. Sorry I don’t have time to write a
super fancy review like last night, but I can for sure say that you should check
this band out because they are amazing! Click
HERE for
pictures.
In other news:
IT WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED! So by taking off
the Bunnin section, Shawn finally got off his ass and started writing = The
BUNNIN section
is back! He has been trying to call me almost every day for the last week
and then tonight he e-mailed me “promising to update twice a week”. Well Bunnin,
I can say that you do have some interesting things so say…but YOU HAVE TO SAY
THEM IN ORDER TO BE INTERESTING! So as long as you keep updating = BUNNIN
section stays.
Funny enough, at the same time as the BUNNIN
section returns the
TARRAH section opens. Welcome
Tarrah, and you better not suck! because “the people” demand the best!
I gotta sleep and then study tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures!
March 1st, 2003.
*** I added some VIDEOS to the story if you’ve already read it. So
watch them!
If you haven’t been here in a few days then check out
February Ramblings to see what you missed!
It was my first time seeing a show at the Wash ‘n Slosh and it certainly wont
be my last! In the last few years I have gone to countless shows at the
Bassment, Sid’s Garage, and “back in the day” at The Pit. But I always wondered
“if there is this punk scene that I’m always with….is there a metal scene?”
I hadn’t heard, or even heard-of any Saskatoon metal bands, but a couple or more
years ago I went to a show at the Bassment and the opening Band was SPARKY.
I was quite impressed with their covers of System of a Down and Deftones and
thought to myself about how good it was to hear “happy metal” as Sparky calls
themselves from a Saskatoon band. As time went on I discovered other bands
like Morally Sound and New Jacobin Club, and realized that there is more than
just this “punk scene” and there is other music going on too…but where?
I’m sure there are lots of places, I’ve just never heard of them, or saw any
posters for them. But tonight it all changed. I saw Sparky play with The Farkus
Affair, and Dirtbred at Wash ‘n Slosh and my eyes and ears smiled to see and
hear a different world….
It was Sparky’s CD release show for their first album “Seagull Meat.” I
got an early copy of the album back when they played at Louis’ in early February
and absolutely loved it. Thanks to Sparky, and Morally Sound opening my eyes to
the metal that’s always been there waiting, I went to the Wash ‘n Slosh with my
friend Tera and had an evening that shall start a new era “shows” for me.
As I walked into the front doors of Wash ‘n Slosh I was relieved to see that
there is a stairwell that leads to a basement. I was worried that the Wash ‘n
Slosh was only as big as the storefront on Broadway appears; about 20 feet wide
and only one door. The stairwell led down in a “downstairs bar”
complete with Laundromat (of coarse). I was delighted to see posters for
upcoming metal shows all over the walls, and on our table was a paper with 10
upcoming shows in the month of March. ALL METAL! There actually was a
metal scene, (or at least metal bands playing) in Saskatoon!
I resisted the urge to buy a cheap beer from the tub at the front door and
Tera and I sat down. Of coarse we picked the table closest to the speakers
which gave us a good view of the stage, but my ears are sure regretting our
location now! Tera and I didn’t know anyone there, and at the table next
to us there was a girl who appeared to be in the same situation as us, so we
invited her over and we all chatted while we waited for the first band to come
on.
Slipknot was playing in the background and at the next table over there was a
group of guys sitting down. One of them had drum sticks and was “air drumming”
perfectly to every Slipknot song that was played over the PA. After
a couple more songs, the guys got up and went on stage. They were the first
band! I was exited for the show to be beginning, but unfortunately they
were only doing a sound check. They played one song and by the end of it my jaw
had dropped. After some final adjustments to the sound system the band went back
on stage an my real evening began.
The band was The Farkus Affair (
www.thefarkusaffair.com
). They said they were from “Deadmonton” (Edmonton if you didn’t get that) and
after one song I was hooked. The lead singer Art Szabo with his long
dreads reminded me of Jonathan Davis as he arched himself backwards and screamed
perfectly in a way I could only compare to the lead singer of Pantera.
Art screamed (and sang of coarse) with perfect clarity, no distortion, or
cracking of his voice at all. I was very impressed by this and listened on as
the bands songs ranged from hard-driving to speed-metal in an instant.
Click
HERE and
HERE for two videos of them performing the song “cataract” (sorry the sound
sucks). The only thing equal to the sound of the band, was the contents of the
lyrics. As much as I love metal, the lyrics of many metal bands all too often
lack content or message. The songs I heard tonight though, actually had emotion
and meaning behind them. Half way though the set Art stopped to tell the
Audience that if they would like to know more about the lyrics to read a set of
books that he recommends. Of coarse I forgot what the book was, but I’ll be sure
to look into it later. As The Farkus Affair’s set came to and end I was
disappointed to see them end, but talked to the lead singer after and bought
their demo cd with three tracks on it for $6.
More and more people arrived at the show about this time, and I told everyone
I knew as they came in that they should have come earlier because of what they
missed. But it was still okay because there were still two more bands to come!
The next band up was Dirtbred from Regina. I had heard of the band before
from www.threeohsix.org but had never
seen them play. There was a guy walking around the place with a mohawk and
his face painted like a skull before the show started and I felt it safe to
assume that he was in one of the bands. Of coarse I was right. He was the bass
player, and when the whole band went on stage, with their long metal-head haired
lead singer, I figured that this Regina metal band had something good in store.
After two songs the drummer broke the freaking bass drum! Having never
seen that happen before, I knew that this band had something good in
store. It sure was the case as they played music that ranged from so many
different types of metal I couldn’t even compare it to anything. Once
again I was very impressed with the vocals of the lead singer, and the overall
sound of the band fell into my always favorite “typical death metal” sound of
the double kick drum and not being able to make out a single word that the
singer screams. What the band added to the “stereotypical death
metal sound” was the most energy and showmanship I have ever seen in a live
metal band. (Aside from when I saw Pantera live of coarse cuz well c’mon!)
After the first song the bass player told everyone “we like being close to the
audience” and the floor in front of the stage became in instant mosh pit.
Several people came up to the band between songs and shook their hands saying
“we came from Regina to see you.” As their set went on they became
more and more energetic and the songs got harder and faster as they went.
It was interesting to watch as every persons’ head bobbed to the sound of the
guitar and you could see everyone tapping their feet or their hands to the
drums. The mosh pit was wild with everyone head banding and thrashing around.
(Click
HERE for a video). Finally their set same to an end, but I knew
that this would not be the last time that I would hear them because they are
definitely worth going to see again.
Around 12:30am Sparky came on stage. Being their first CD release show; they
had advertised on threeohsix “If you go to any of these Sparky shows, make
it this one” and I’m glad I did. I had listened to their album a lot
in the last month, and I was really familiar with the sound of each song.
Undoubtedly, when it comes to Sparky live, they are twice as good live than
recorded, and if you’ve heard their album that is saying a lot! Nealz
voice on every song was perfectly clear and you could make out every word he
sung, as well everything he screamed. ( Unless you’re not suppose to understand
what he’s screaming. (As it should be!).
Every song invoked a huge crowd response with the mosh pit going through
their entire set and the band not even going one song without jumping, turning,
head banging, and screaming with undying energy. The energy passed on to the
crowd with the second last song being a cover and Sparky getting one of the
audience members that had come up from Regina to come on stage with them to
sing. By the time they were done their last song, they had played almost
every song on their new cd (which they were selling for only $13) and several of
their new songs. They also covered Slayer, System of a Down (click
HERE for a video), and their own rendition of the dance mix ’92 song
“Unbelievable”. If you missed this show, then make a a strong effort
to go to their next show because I promise you that you wont be disappointed!
Bar far this was Sparky’s best show and I am looking forward to the next time
they play, as well as going to as many of the “metal shows” at Wash ‘n Slosh as
I can. For I have finally found what I was wondering if even existed….local
metal shows!
Click on the BANDS section to see all the
pictures of
The Farkus Affair,
Dirtbred, and
Sparky. And there are Videos of
the show in the text above.
February 28th, 2003
***COOL CHICK LOOKS FOR NEW ROOMMATE***
So does anyone need a roommate? My friend Tera Karol is giving
her 1 month notice on the 1st and she needs a new place to live. SO…. IF YOU,
OR ANYONE YOU KNOW IS LOOKING FOR A ROOMMATE THEN E-MAIL ME!
jackson@punkoryan.com
Guy roommates preferably.
So are YOU going to see Sparky tonight? (Friday) YOU BETTER
because it is their cd release, and even though they’ve been selling their cd
for a month now…you should still go because its a special event and an awesome
band. SO BE THERE! Wash ‘n Slosh 9pm with Dirtbred and Farkus
song of the day is “Academy Fight Song” by No Knife. It is
an incredibly catchy song and I don’t even know where I got it from…it was
just in My Shared Folder so I listened to it and its really good!
