Gavin DeGraw's SOLD OUT show at the Mod Club on Oct. 25th marked his 5th show in Toronto over the short span of 4 years. With a smattering of other Canadian dates in between the U.S. and European tour dates, this seems to mark an increasing trend of more exposure in Canada, hopefully a trend that will continue to expand. As word gets out about his amazing talent, so too will more opportunities. Of course, hard work and seemingly constant touring has made these things come to pass.

Each time he's come to Toronto, it's been in different venues and different formats. He's been an opener, co-headliner, headliner but this time it was different. Two hours of all Gavin with a set list spanning his entire career thus far that took off 14 years ago in 2003. No backing tracks and a stripped down band consisting of just Gavin on piano, Billy Norris on guitar (plus some stand up bass) and Michael John Baker on drums and percussion, it really allowed you to hear the vocals and the instruments. It felt less formal than big production shows and allowed the musicians to play around more instrumentally and vocally. As much as we love the other band members, Gavin being accompanied solely by Billy and Michael in a smaller, more intimate venue made it seem more earthy and organic, almost as if we were all just hanging out in someone's living room and jamming, albeit with a flashier light and smoke show. It also seemed to allow them to play around more with the set list, making it easier to change things up a little each night to keep things fresh, for them as well as the audience, especially for those that attend multiple shows.

Always writing and working on new music, Gavin plans on keeping this raw thing going to reflect on his next album which is forthcoming, perhaps harkening back to his earlier music with a splash of this and a twist of that to give it a current and less produced flavour. When you use classic elements, as Gavin has done on all his previous albums, and have an eclectic mix of genres that defy any one specific pigeonhole, the music has and will stand the test of time. With no more dates scheduled on this tour after early November, we eagerly anticipate his 6th new album to be in the works soon. 

So...after many, many hours of uploading,  and without further adieu, below please find the better-late-than-never collection of videos from that momentous night in Toronto:

"Chariot"
"Making Love With The Radio On" aka King Kong
"In Love With A Girl"
"Kite Like Girl/Best I Ever Had"
"Run Every Time/Where You Are"
"Stealing"
"Won't Back Down (Tom Petty cover)/Lover Be Strong"
"Follow Through"
"Something Worth Saving"
"Maybe I'm Amazed (Paul McCartney cover)"
"Annalee"
"Sweeter"
"More Than Anyone"
"Change Gonna Come (Sam Cooke)/Hallelujah I Love Her So (Ray Charles)" covers
"Soldier"
"She Sets The City On Fire"
"We Belong Together"
"I Don't Want To Be"

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

25th Anniversary

with David Wilcox & Kim Mitchell

(The better-late-than-never edition)

So this was my last concert of 2016 and what a blast! Usually I only record a few videos, just of the songs I like, but there were too many to leave any out. I intentionally did not list the song titles a) in case I got them wrong and b) to allow you to explore and find some old and maybe some new favourites.

First, it amazed me that David Wilcox still sounds the same as he did when I first saw him probably 25-30 years ago. Second, I loved the fact that Kim Mitchell did such a great mixture of songs including those from his Max Webster days.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! Granted, I wish the sound quality was better but lowering the volume seems to lessen the distortion :)

Photo Gallery of the hallowed halls of The Phoenix

Video #1 - David Wilcox

Video #2 - David Wilcox

Video #3 - David Wilcox

Video #4 - David Wilcox

Video #5 - David Wilcox

Video #6 - David Wilcox

Video #1 - Kim Mitchell

Video #2 - Kim Mitchell

Video #3 - Kim Mitchell

Video #4 - Kim Mitchell

Video #5 - Kim Mitchell - First time ever the memory in my camera was full!

Video #6 - Kim Mitchell - Had to switch to my phone

Video #7 - Kim Mitchell

Video #8 - Kim Mitchell

Video #9 - Kim Mitchell

Video #10 - Kim Mitchell

Video #11 - Kim Mitchell

Video #12 - Kim Mitchell - And then my phone memory was full too!

Musicians and their "Wheelhouse"


Whenever a musical artist refers to trying to stay within their "wheelhouse", they're usually referring to a genre or sound that works well with their voice and style. They don't want to alienate or throw off their fans by doing something way out of their norm. To me, it conjures up a different image.

I picture a big house with a giant waterwheel on the side. They use the water as a source of power for various purposes. When I think of it as an analogy regarding music, it refers to a different meaning. Follow my train of thought, if you will...

The wheel itself has many wedges that each represent a different genre or "flavour" of music. An artist can take these different wedges, like wedges of cheese for example, try mixing them together to see if they work well, not unlike pairing wine with cheese. Creating songs, or cheese for that matter, take time and care to craft, at least authentic ones do.

Creating records, an artist uses a variety of flavours so they don't all sound the same. Instead of just having one album, you would want to check out more of their body of work. People have different palettes and identify with different lyrics or flavours...they find something that speaks to them that may not speak the same way to someone else.

When you see descriptions of wine or cheese, they use imagery, emotions or flavours not unlike song lyrics. Coming back to the wheelhouse, the water drives the music and the lyrics pour out of it...hence the waterwheel analogy. I could go on...I guess I just really love music, finely-crafted songs, water...and apparently cheese.

Sting & Peter Gabriel

Rock Paper Scissors Tour

Air Canada Centre June 29th, 2016

No words, or these videos for that matter, could do it justice. Both amazing artists in a tag team concert of sorts, taking turns playing with and off each other. Just breathtaking!

[Video] Sting "Fragile"

[Video] Peter Gabriel "Red Rain"

[Video] Sting "Message in a Bottle"

[Video] Peter Gabriel "Don't Give Up"

[Video] Peter Gabriel "Big Time"

[Video] Sting & Peter Gabriel "Every Breath You Take"

[Photo Gallery] Peter Gabriel & Sting at Air Canada Centre

Unison Jam 2

at The Phoenix Concert Theatre
June 16th, 2016

"Unison Benevolent Fund is a non-profit, registered charity that provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community."

"The Unison Benevolent Fund is an assistance program – created and administered for the music community, by the music community – designed to provide discreet relief to music industry professionals in times of crisis. There are two distinct types of support available through the fund, Financial Assistance and Counselling & Health Solutions."

This was the second year for the Unison Jam. Canadian musicians helping Canadian musicians and an opportunity for the public to experience an amazing concert and contribute to this amazing cause. Not only is the price of a ticket ridiculously low for such an awesome line-up but there's also a silent auction for fantastic music related merchandise.

Personally I have been to both the 1st and the 2nd Unison Jam and will definitely continue to attend every year. If musicians can't work, they have no income and no health care. It is particularly tough for Canadian musicians to make a decent living. I will continue to support them any way I can, even if it's just by attending the Unison Jam and spreading the word.

[Video] Ascot Royals

[Video] James Black of Finger 11

[Video] Tomi Swick

[Video] Tim Hicks

[Video] Tom Wilson of Junkhouse & his son

[Video] Tom Wilson & son doing Junkhouse's "Shine"

[Video] John Cody's last show ever

[Video] The Trews

[Video] The Trews

[Video] Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace & Chantal Kreviazuk

[Video] Raine Maida & Chantal Kreviazuk

[Video] I Mother Earth w/ Edwin

[Video] Raine Maida & I Mother Earth doing Tragically Hip

James Sayer - Taking Back My Love (Live @ Wax Recording Studio, London)

Blue October

"Home" Album Review

First, an analogy:

Imagine yourself as a piece of coal...in a cold, dark pit of despair, encrusted and trapped inside a hard, black shell. Yet there's this tiny glimmer deep inside of you saying there has got to be more to life than this. So you start slowly chipping away while deep inside that shell. Self- pity, self-loathing and self-harm make you realize you don't want to live your entire life this way. Each step, each piece you chip away brings you closer to the surface, closer to the air until finally smashing all the way through and you can finally breathe and feel the sunlight on your face. It took that darkness, that feeling of being trapped in a dark place to make something almost equally indestructible yet brilliant in its beauty, something that can be polished and multifaceted...to look at it takes your breath away and still has a fire deep inside it saying it will never go back to being coal.

There's always that memory in the back of your mind of the dark places you've been. As you get older and evolve you never really forget and you carry a fragment of that coal and learn from it. It's that little reminder that drives you forward. You know you can't stay there in that dark place but it's what precipitated your ability to evolve and makes you grateful for it.

Music is emotion. It stirs something deep within us. It reaches us in a way that mere words can't. It's akin to actions speaking louder than words yet the lyrics speak to us as well. There's only so many letters in the alphabet, only so many words in language. As well there are only so many musical notes, only so many chords you can play but there's magic in taking sounds and words and putting them together in such a way to evoke emotion and reach into our minds and drives us to take action, whatever that may be...to break down, to build up, to get out of a bad situation into something better.

Blue October's music is as complex as we are as human beings. You can have a softer side but still have that dirty, gritty, moody side as well. Their new album “Home” has a mixture of all these things. There is a flavour for whatever your taste. Some flavours may not appeal to you at first...it's a bit different from how it tasted before...it may be a taste you acquire over time. It may take one listen or maybe several to reach you but each time you really listen, you find something you didn't hear before.

“Home” just like all Blue October's albums has variety, depth and substance...something you can truly sink your teeth into. Most pop music is all fluff and superficial, repetitive nothingness. I gave up on radio, music award shows and “popular” music because of that. Blue October will never be pop music in that sense.

Music is subjective and I fight the urge to pick apart each song because that's just what I do with lyrics. It's not up to me to interpret each song's meaning. It's up to you how it affects you. Personally, this album is just as brilliant if not more so as all of Blue October's previous albums, it's just speaking from a different, evolved perspective. My analogy at the beginning kind of encapsulates what this album evoked within my mind. I went from smiling to crying to making that stank face that musicians make to dancing around like a free spirit. After over 20 years, shine bright with the brilliance of a diamond, Blue October!

[Video] Blue October title track "Home"