Tag Archives: music

Gordon Is 25

Happy birthday Gordon!

Yesterday was the 25th birthday of The Barenaked Ladies’ first studio album, Gordon. Formed in 1988, a few years prior to the release of Gordon, The Barenaked Ladies formed in Scarborough with Ed Robertson, Steven Page, Andy Creeggan, Jim Creeggan, and Tyler Stewart.

In 1991, thanks to the massive success of the band’s independently released cassette The Yellow Tape, Barenaked Ladies won the “Discovery To Disc” contest hosted by a Toronto radio station. The Canadian quintet used the prize money to record Gordon with producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda. Following its release on July 28, 1992, the Diamond certified album topped the Canadian charts for eight weeks. (AMAZON)

Front Side:

  • Hello City
  • Enid
  • Grade 9
  • Brian Wilson
  • Be My Yoko Ono
  • Wrap Your Arms Around Me
  • What a Good Boy
  • The King Of Bedside Manor

Back Side:

  • Box Set
  • I Love You
  • New Kid (On The Block)
  • Blame It On Me
  • The Flag
  • If I Had $1000000
  • Crazy

 

Blue Rodeo (with special guests, The Sadies)

Last night Canadian iconic band, Blue Rodeo (with opening act, The Sadies) brought their 1000 Arms Tour to Oshawa’s Tribute Communities Centre.

While my favourite song is Diamond Mine (see above) I was introduced to an old song by Blue Rodeo called “Disappear”. A sad story, great lyrics and wonderful song. Here’s a fan’s recording from a gig in Toronto:

Here is last night’s setlist:

blue rodeo setlist oshawa

minaz asani with karim kanji

Skratch Bastid spinning tunes at Samsung

All week long, Samsung has been hosting a pop-up activation in downtown Toronto ahead of its latest Galaxy release. I happened to walk by the location yesterday after leaving the Blue Jays game a bit early. You wouldn’t believe what happened next! I literally bumped into Toronto’s own Skratch Bastid playing in front of a small and intimate crowd.

He’s been a favourite of mine for some time now.

skratch bastid | samsung

 

 

Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap – Concert

Last night, Thursday April 21 2016, we went to see Randy Bachman in concert at Toronto’s iconic Massey Hall. We attended with heavy hearts as earlier in the day saw the passing of one of the greatest musical artists of our time: Prince.

Bachman and his band played an amazing set which included a dozen #1 hits from his time with The Guess who and Bachman Turner Overdrive. He was also joined onstage by The Sadies and Terra Lightfoot.

randy bachman with terra lightfoot

randy bachman with terra lightfoot

 

randy bachman with the sadies and terra lightfoot

randy bachman with the sadies and terra lightfoot

Bachman ended the first set with The Sadies and Terra Lightfoot with an amazing rendition of Taking Care of Business.

Bachman came out for a second set and ended with an encore he dedicated to Prince. It was an amazing concert capped off with a heartfelt guitar solo to honor Prince.

The Barenaked Ladies in Ottawa

Finally. I finally saw everyone’s (in Canada, at least) favourite homegrown boy band: The Barenaked Ladies. I few of us hung out in Ottawa last weekend and found out that the Ladies were playing that Saturday night. There were no tickets available so I did the next best thing. I emailed Jim Creggan (name drop!) and asked him if he had any extra tickets to sell. He didn’t.

But he invited us to come to the show and hang out backstage! Yes!

The Barenaked Ladies | Karim Kanji

View of The Barenaked Ladies from side stage!

The Barenaked Ladies Playlist | Karim Kanji

The official playlist of The Barenaked Ladies on November 20, 2016 in Ottawa!

The Barenaked Ladies

The excited gang!

 

 

U2 shows why they’re still the biggest rock bad in the world today

Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. proved that their band from Dublin, Ireland called U2 is still the biggest band in rock and roll today. And they can still deliver one of the best live performances in music.

On July 7, U2 brought their critically-acclaimed tour to Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. and for this long-time U2 fan, they did not disappoint. By the end of the concert I was dripping in sweat with a smile permanently fixed on my face. This was my fifth time seeing U2 live. I saw them at old Exhibition stadium during their Zoo TV tour, I saw them at ACC at the Vertigo Tour, and I saw them twice (or was it three times) during their last U2 360° Tour at the Skydome.

The current i+e tour stage set up was something to behold!

U2

If you’re wondering if you should catch U2 on their current iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour do yourself a favour, don’t read the critical write up by Jane Stevenson of Postmedia/Sun.

Here’s the setlist:

U2 setllist

One of my highlights, which I’m sure you’ve already read about, was when the U2 tribute band were invited on stage to play with U2. They played Desire.

Meerkat and U2

U2 have teamed up with technology giants Apple and Blackberry in the past. On this tour they have teamed up with startup, Meerkat to livestream various aspects of their tour.

U2 playing in their stage!

U2’s stage. The most interactive stage in music history. Not only did it display images but the entire band opened the second set playing inside the stage. Freaking amazing!

Thank you U2

Thanks U2!