Back in my twenties, my brother and I had our own entertainment newspaper. He was in a photography course and basically spearheaded the entire venture. We would go to concerts and plays for free in exchange for doing reviews. My brother would do the photography and interviews as he was much more outgoing than I was back then. I would transcribe the interviews, write the reviews and do the listings for all the things happening in entertainment in and around the city. We even took on a “staff” of photography and journalism students to cover events after we had first pick of the ones we wanted to attend. They were able to go to stuff for free as well but also gain some hands-on experience outside of the classroom.

We drove around the city, asking places if we could put our free newspaper in their premises and if they'd like to put an ad in it. We would also try to get contacts, access to events and ads over the phone. I remember driving all over Toronto, back seat and trunk loaded with bundles of newspapers, my brother and I delivering them all ourselves. We soon found out that it cost way more to print and distribute a newspaper than we were making from our advertising revenue. Needless to say we only came out with one printed version and the rest of our editions were all online.

Out of all the plays I've seen, first as a drama student, then as an entertainment journalist I would have to say my absolute favourite would be Les Miserables. Funny enough, I have absolutely no interest in seeing the movie as it would somehow taint my original experience with the play. Besides, that production makes me do the big, ugly, sobby cry.

As far as all the concerts and festivals I've been to, the absolute number one experience would be Woodstock. Not the first one because I wasn't even four years old yet. We went to the second one in 1994 with all the mud and peace and love, not the third one with all the riots and destruction. First we went to the original site in Bethel. It seemed to have an older crowd vibe to it which felt kind of boring as I was in my twenties at the time. I'm sure it wasn't such a snooze fest once the older performers came on stage but we couldn't really stick around. Then we went to the new site in Saugerties. We soon found out that we were considered “International media” even though we were from just across the border. This meant that we were not entitled to the food tent for the U.S. media. We were not prepared for that at all and didn't really bring any food or very much money, just basically for the road trip and some camping gear for sleeping. Not that we slept as we were camped on a steep hill, in the rain, in an area designated for “International media” and there was too much going on to sleep. I think I ate a lot of hotdogs while we were there as it was probably the cheapest and most filling food available at the concession stands. I also forgot my camera in the trunk of my car and cooked it on the inside, you know the ones you had to put film in. I still have the t-shirt but I lost some of my t-shirts collected from all the concerts I've been to as they were stored in boxes and damaged by a flooded basement.

Wet, muddy, sleepless and hungry we were still elated from the whole Woodstock experience. It almost felt like it probably would have at the original one, just a different mix of music. We felt so privileged to be considered media back in the day when you didn't have cheap concert tickets, VIP seating or Meet & Greet packages to make more money. Musicians were not as accessible back then. Being able to get music for free has forced the industry to make buying music and selling concert tickets much cheaper.