CampusIntel

Now that classes are finished for the summer and the temperature is starting to climb, it’s time to dig through your drawer of summer clothes and hit the mall to pick up some hot new items.  Whether you’re having lunch on a patio or going to the beach, here are 5 summer staples that you should have in your closet:

1. Distressed denim shorts. As a student on a budget, it’s hard to justify forking out $40 on a pair of denim shorts. To get the same effect for free, take a pair of old jeans and cut them into shorts. Go here for an easy tutorial. If the washing machine doesn’t distress your shorts to the degree you want them to look, take some sandpaper to them to fray the ends a bit more.

2. Two words- white cotton. Everyone has a white shirt tucked away in their closet, and summertime is the perfect time to debut it. Nothing says “fresh” more than a white cotton tee paired with distressed denim shorts and a few simple accessories.

3.  Bright nail polish. ‘Tis the season for bright polished nails! Opt for colours like fushia, watermelon and my personal favourite mint green! Check out your local drug store for your favourite hues.

4. A versatile summer dress. If you’re going to buy a dress, make sure you can wear it for multiple occasions.  This dress by American Apparel fits the bill for versatility. Dress it up by pairing it with chandelier earrings and heels or dress it down with bangles and flats.

5. Dewy skin. Okay, okay, this isn’t really something you keep in your closet, but its super important in order to achieve a stylish summer look . Start off by lightly brushing your cheeks with blush/bronzer and top it off by smoothing a light moisturizer with SPF over your face. By putting this little trick into your daily beauty routine, you’re protecting and hydrating your skin and making it look like you’re living a stress-free life.

And there you have it! Do you have any of your own style secrets for a great summer look? Please share!

Photo Source: amazon.com

Critically acclaimed award-winning novelist of Fight Club and Choke, Chuck Palahniuk has released his latest novel, Tell-All on Doubleday on May 4, 2010.

A Random House review of Tell-All on The Cult, Palahniuk’s official website, describes the novel as a “Sunset Boulevard–inflected homage to Old Hollywood when Bette Davis and Joan Crawford ruled the roost; a veritable Tourette’s syndrome of rat-tat-tat name-dropping, from the A-list to the Z-list; and a merciless send-up of Lillian Hellman’s habit of butchering the truth” (Source: chuckpalahniuk.net).

Narrator Hazie Coogie, caretaker of Hollywood actress Katherine “Miss Kathie” Kenton, guides the mysterious tale turned murder plot when Miss Kathie’s latest suitor, Webster Carlton Westward III, is discovered to have written a celebrity tell-all memoir alluding to Miss Kathie’s death in a forthcoming Lillian Hellman musical (Source: chuckpalahniuk.net).

Tell-All thus pays homage to American playwright Lillian Hellman, who died in 1984. Following the discourse laid out in Hellman’s autobiography, The Unfinished Woman (1969), Palahniuk reproduces Hellman’s controversial starlet persona crafted during her forty-plus year career. After penning critical successes such as The Children’s Hour (1934) and The Little Foxes (1939), Hellman’s public image was tested in the 1950s when she was blacklisted by the Hollywood Movie Studios for her long-time affair with communist party member and detective-novelist Dashiell Hammet.

Palahniuk is also set to release a novel, Damned, in 2011, which he said in an interview with Doubleday is “about an eleven-year-old girl who finds herself in Hell and learns how to manipulate the corrupt system of demons and bodily fluids. Imagine if The Shawshank Redemption had a baby by The Lovely Bones and it was raised by Judy Blume, and you have my next new project” (Source: chuckpalahniuk.net). Watch for a North American tour by Palahniuk soon in support of Tell-All.

The 10^th Annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash is scheduled for May 19 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza in New York City. This year’s event is being headlined by Hank III and Morningwood, with supporting acts The Sic Fucks, The Independents (whom Ramone managed shortly before his death), Spanking Charlene, and Heap. The Joey Ramone Birthday Bashers, a parade of rock and roll underworld royalty featuring Little Steven Van Zandt, Mickey Leigh, Richie Ramone, Walter Lure, Cheetah Chrome, Thunderbolt Patterson, Ed Stasium, and Hank III will also perform at the night. All proceeds from the event go to the Lymphoma Research Foundation.

The bash celebrates the punk godfather’s life which ended on April 15, 2001 due to complications with lymphoma cancer. Shortly before his death, the 59 year old Ramone made his brother, guitarist Mickey Leigh, Rattlers, and mother Charlotte Lester promise they would celebrate his birthday that year. Now a ten year long tradition, the annual bash is notorious for its wild party atmosphere and performances from punks the Ramones hung out with and influenced alike. The first bash featured Cheap Trick and Blondie, and since The Misfits, Rocket From The Crypt, The Bouncing Souls, The Waldos, and The Saints have all hit the stage for Ramone’s birthday.

After Joey Ramone died the legacy of the Ramones thrusted into the mainstream. The seminal punk rock band responsible for stripping down pompous rock and roll in the late 70s with such worldly hits as “I Wanna Be Sedated” and “Blitzkrieg Bop” were recognized for their importance to modern rock. The first Ramones album, released in 1976 and produced by the reputed Phil Spector (Beatles’ Let It Be), is widely considered as the prototype for the first wave punk era that reshaped mainstream music.

Joey also did a lot of work outside the Ramones. In 1985 he joined Little Steven Van Zandt’s advocacy group Artists United Against Apartheid acting against the Sun City Resort in South Africa. Other acts he worked with include Youth Gone Mad, Helen Love, Ronnie Spector, Blackfire, and The Independents. In 2003, a section of East 2^nd Street near CBGB’s nightclub where the Ramones played their first shows in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place. In 2002, the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the same year that Joey’s last work, a solo album entitled Don’t Worry About Me, was posthumously released by his predecessors. On May 14, 2009, Joey himself was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as well.

Photosource: junoawards.ca

The 2010 Juno awards were held in St. John’s, Newfoundland last night. Here’s the top info.

The ceremony addressed the past year’s young superstars’ induction into the international spotlight. Like Stratford, Ontario native Justin Bieber, who at age 16 has monopolised tweeny-pop in less than a year’s time. Despite his international success including being the youngest male solo artist to have two albums in the Billboard Top 200, Bieber fell short on all three of his Juno nominations.

It seems where Bieber disappointed the judges, fellow overnight success Drake proved more substantial. The new Canadian rapper captured the Best New Artist award, and also won the Juno for Rap Recording of the Year for his song “So Far Gone.” It didn’t look like there were any hard feelings between the running mates, though, when Drake laid down a few rhymes for Bieber’s performance of “Baby.”

Michael Bublé was the biggest winner with four Junos. His hit album Crazy Love earned him both Album and Pop Album of the Year. He also took home Single of the Year for the song “Haven’t Met You Yet,” and the Juno Fan Choice Award.

Respect was paid to 70s Canadian rock super-group April Wine in honour of their recent induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Frontman Myles Goodwin accepted the honourary Juno by listing all 13 April Wine members past and present.

Metric won two Junos with Group of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year for their work Fantasies. Artist of the Year went to K’naan, who also received Songwriter of the Year for his international hit “Wavin’ Flag.” Click here for a complete list of 2010 Juno winners.

There were also a variety of performances that struck high, and low, chords of the broadcast. Lowest was Drake’s f-bomb laden rendition of “Over.” It assumedly severed traditional and new-age Canadian audiences. Whatever, props Drake, you got two Junos without even having a record out. Billy Talent rocked out to new single “Saint Veronika,” that lead to singer Ben Kowalewicz struggling to achieve respectful screamo-rock tenure. He looked like he was trying to purge a Satan fetus rather than rattle a microphone. But, the band was tight.

Then the goodies. Blue Rodeo was out in full Canadian-Country garb laying down a usual flawless performance. However, I’m reserving best Juno performance award for K’naan, along with Drake, Justin Bieber, and Nikki Yanofsky, who dazzled the audience with the Young Artists for Haiti hit “Wavin’ Flag.” A wildly catchy song written by a talented young artist, K’Naan effectively moved the audience in a way no other performer did.

Photosource: esquire.com

I’m getting sick of doing this. Last Thursday, April 8, 2010, Malcolm McLaren died due to complications with mesothelioma. He was 64.

Malcolm McLaren is most notable for being the manager of seminal punk rock bank The Sex Pistols, arguably the world’s most famous punk band. The Sex Pistols popularised the punk fashion of the late 1970s. Safety pins, ripped and torn clothing, spiky haircuts, leather jackets and bondage gear, and straight up negative attitudes toward anything mainstream – this all stems from The Sex Pistols. They also helped usher in a highly influential anti-political musical movement called anarchy punk, prominent today in mainstream music with bands such as The Casualties and The Exploited. However, The Sex Pistols were nothing without McLaren.

It all happened like this. In 1971, after giving up on formal education after a series of expulsions from various British arts colleges, Malcolm McLaren and then girlfriend, now renowned fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, opened a fashion boutique in London called Let It Rock. The shop specialised in costumes for cinematic productions and saw some success, but McLaren grew a new itch. In 1972 he travelled to New York City and hung out with inspirational protopunk group The New York Dolls, who had a huge underground following at the time. McLaren was drawn to their provocative dragqueen stage personas which countered the egotistic, no-fun direction rock and roll was heading toward. McLaren renamed his London shop Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die and began outfitting the Dolls for all their shows. But, The New york Dolls split in 1975 after a gutsy move by McLaren: to draw attention, he dressed the band in red leather suits and used a hammer and sickle as their new logo. Dolls guitarist Johhny Thunders would go on to become the underworld face of punk, a foreshadowing fact in the later success of The Sex Pistols.

After The New York Dolls, McLaren set out to create a band with members from local London. After a scrounging period, at the newly renamed McLaren shop SEX, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cool, and bassist Glen Matlock started producing rough-edge rock similar to The New York Dolls, and with the new do it yourself anti-rockstar ethic conceptualised by NYC punk prototypes the Ramones. McLaren found what he needed most for the band in a young man sporting a t-shirt reading “I Hate Pink Floyd.” Oh, so punk rock. This Floyd-hater was John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, the most recognisable voice in punk.

So, the band was complete. McLaren named them The Sex Pistols after his shop and another random controversial image. The Sex Pistols countered Top 40 music of the late 70s. They didn’t play ten minute guitar solos or have trained musical knowledge, which is the essence of punk: regular people playing rock and roll, instead of larger than life heroes who didn’t give a shit about their fans. Punks wanted to recreate the rock scene of the 50s and 60s by playing short, 3-chord rhythm and blues songs. No filler.

In 1977, the Sex Pistols blew up. New bassist Sid Vicious became the ultimate punk anti-hero complete with a nasty heroin addiction and total lack of personality on the surface. The band’s “Anarchy Tour” with up and coming London pals The Clash and The Damned, and headlined by infamous junkie-punk Johnny Thunders and his Heartbreakers, gave them a previously non-existent soapbox.

The rest is literally history. The band’s one and only studio album, Nevermind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, was released in fall 1977. Complete with now punk classics ”God Save The Queen” and “Anarchy in the UK,” Nevermind the Bollocks reached No. 1 on the UK rock charts. It is widely considered by music historians as one of the most, if not the most influential rock album of the twentieth century. If you’ve never listened to it, do so, and play it loud.

Then, as quickly as they appeared, the Pistols were gone. They broke up after their dismal first US tour in 1978. In February 1979, Sid Vicious was dead due to a heroin overdose. McLaren went on to manage British punk rock group Adam and the Ants, and create his own music with various backing bands.

So after this brief punk history, my message ends with remembering Malcolm McLaren, punk’s PR representative. Without the pop culture and fashion vision of this man, it is quite possible that punk never would have reached the heights it now floats upon. RIP Malcolm McLaren.

For those of you from Nova Scotia, you may not realize that the Dollar Store or Dollarama or a Buck or Two is not available in every province. This luxury of a store where we can get stuff — from baskets to Halloween decorations — for under $2, is not available all over the nation.

I used to take the Dollar Store for granted, and just see it as a place where I could get candy, or a plain frame. But, now that I am a student, it has a whole new outlook.

As some of you may know I am helping a friend of mine decorate her apartment. Much of what we purchased for her bathroom (http://campusintel.com/2010/03/14/decorating-1000-how-to-decorate-the-bathroom/) was from the Dollarama. And as we go on with the decorating process I find myself wandering back to that same store.

The Dollarama

As I look around my room, I see many of the great purchases I have made at the Dollarama here in Lower Sackville. Recently a new Dollarama has opened in Bedford, just on the edge of Lower Sackville. I believe this is the best Dollarama I’ve shopped at, to date. It is HUGE. Isles with kitchenware, cleaning products, fake flowers, almost an entire row of different mugs and cups, plus so much more.

I am still living with my parents, but I have begun to realize when I do eventually move out I am going to have a shopping spree at the Dollarama. And I cannot wait for that day to come.

I often think, if for some reason I become poor in this lifetime, this is a store where I could actually afford to buy some of the necessities for my home. And since many students are very close to poor, remember this place if you need a new dishpan to wash your dishes, or if you need more utensils. It’s affordable and the quality, it’s not that bad.

The Dollarama has actually provoked many of my decorating ideas and has helped me in many times of need. For those of you who have access to the Dollar Store, do not take it for granted. Some of our fellow Canadians are without this great store. And must pay $3 for a plain frame.

Maximum Rock and Roll magazine’s website posted a sloemn comment on March 17 reporting long-time columnist, Bruce Roehrs, “passed away peacefully in his home.”

Maximum Rock and Roll is one of the longest running punk-zines, starting in 1977, and quite possibly the most reputable when it comes to coverage. It’s like this: if your band gets mentioned in Max RNR, you wear the mark of underground acknowledgement. Providing publicity for thousands of new hardcore bands over the last thirty years, Roehrs is Archbishop of Max RNR blessings.

Roehrs wasn’t originally a journalist, but he was educated. He attended the University of Miami in the 60s, where he developed a love for old school garage rock. Through the 70s he worked a number of blue-collar jobs, eventually ending up in San Francisco. By the end of the decade, he couldn’t stay away from the nightly DIY scene showcasing the new punk bands. This is where he met Max RNR founder Tim Yohannen, who recognized Roehrs from being at a bunch of shows, and recruited him to write reviews for his young zine.

In essence, Roehrs had a knack for recognizing great hardcore. He loved bands that did away with filler – like, now legendary bands, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Agnostic Front. The faster, louder, and more aggressive the better for Roehrs, and that is what he found in the budding early 80s hardcore scenes across the Western US. Publicizing the new style of rock, which was scaring most of the listening public, became Roehrs’s vocation. The spirit of hardcore was embedded into Roehr’s writing. His articles were often laden with four-letter words, and always ended with a now retired tagline, “See you at the bar.”

In one of his last articles, he reviewed Agnostic Front’s 1983 EP “Victim In Pain” that was recently re-released on Bridge 9 Records. His love for the band bleeds through the write-up: “‘Blind Justice’ has one of the best breakdowns ever committed to hardcore vinyl” he claims, a sentiment that I truly have thrown around in my head ever since I heard the tune. I am sure his passion was mirrored in many of the opinions of his readers. Check out the entire review at Bridge 9’s blog.

The passion Roehrs had for the new punk and hardcore of the 80s, 90s, and today led to many of his favourite bands boosting in popularity due to his praiseful penmanship. He was a lover of the first wave punk bands like Motorhead, Cock Sparrer and UK Subs, and then the ensuing wrath of American hardcore that got its start where he was writing in the San Francisco Bay/Los Angeles areas, and spreading all the way up the West Coast, even to Vancouver where DOA made Canadian hardcore a reality in the late 70s. He also used him column to promote the underdogs. For example, his praise of AntiSeen, a Seattle punk band beginning in the late 80s, in his Max RNR column helped create a following for the now renowned band. Jeff Clayton, AnitSeen’s lead singer, posted “We’ll never forget you brother .… RIP” on the “Never Forget Bruce Roehrs” Facebook group page.

The legendary punk writer will undoubtedly be missed by many people involved with punk and hardcore music. Rest in peace to a visionary, and an inspiration.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian printed Roehrs’s obituary on March 24.
Join the “Never Forget Bruce Roehrs” Facebook Group.

With sources from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and maximumrockandroll.com.

I am about half-way through my NativeLit research project for my final Honours course before graduating this spring, and have found a plethora of interesting reading to share with you. Be warned – I am not an expert in this field, but I am passionate about it.

NativeLit is possibly the hottest literary genre in Canada right now. There are many reasons for this: it’s a relatively new genre in the scope of CanLit, making its debut, arguably, between 25 and 40 years ago. Another reason people are chattering about NativeLit is the controversial discourse: This isn’t a fluff genre, there are real social topics coming to a head in Canadian politics – like land claims, residential school abuse, racism, and stereotyping – being represented in the new NativeLit of our country. So, I am passing on a brief who’s-who on the genre so you can get started on reading some excellent texts.

Phase One: The Old-School

Around the early 18^th century, in the earliest days of Canada’s formation, there were some interesting texts being written in the New World by the colonisers. A lot of travel-logs, frontier novels, and general creative fiction obsessed with the colonisation of North America. As a reference point, early Canadian writing gives a glimpse of how the colonisers perceived North America. However, it does not tell the whole story. Before the mid 20^th century, there were no Native authors in Canada being published. The vision of Canada represented in literature was biased – and out of this vision comes a clear stereotypical Native archetype in literature that was recycled in nearly all texts concerned with Native topics.

Essentially, the Native was used as an objective tool: The Native character is flat, one-sided, and almost always represents the Other compared to the coloniser. They are one with nature, uncivilised, the “noble savage.” This may not sound too ignorant at first, but think about what is not conveyed about Native peoples at the time. Topics like assimilation, dying cultures and languages, unfair land treaties, and the industrialisation of a previously unhindered land mass. The writing of the colonisers paid no attention to these themes.

Look up John Richardson’s Wacousta, a frontier story written in 1832 about the first encounters between Natives and Colonisers, and which also happens to be the first published Canadian novel. Also, the poetry and legacy of Duncan Campbell Scott from the early 1900s offers examples of the flat Native archetype. Campbell Scott actually was head of Indian Affairs during the early 20^th century, and worked to outlaw traditional Native dance ceremonies, on a loosely based argument that they wasted time and produced no good. American literature during the time also produced biased images of the Native, like in some of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, for example.

1972: A National Recognition of CanLit, and the Dawn of NativeLit

In 1972, Margaret Atwood published Survial: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature with help of a small publishing company, Anansi. The book was firstly intended to generate revenue for the young author, and also provide Canadian teachers with a guide on how to go about teaching CanLit. Up until this point, there was little recognition in Canada, or globally, of an actual Canadian literature scene. Miraculously, the book sold over 30,000 copies in its first year. People started to recognize Canada’s own literary genre, and the unique Canadian themes it projected.

In Survival, Atwood broke ground by addressing the problem of Native representation in CanLit up to that time. The chapter, entitled “First Nation,” acted as a battle-cry for the need of real, positive, Native themes to be recognized within CanLit. Thank Atwood, because almost instantly Canada was reading literature written by Natives authors and Native activists alike, writing about the opposite of what the colonisers saw: the negative effects of colonisation. Before long, post-colonial literature in Canada had a sore thumb for all to see, the genre of NativeLit.

After the ‘70s, Until Today

NativeLit is established, recognized, and in full force. First on the scene were the unrecognized Native writers of the past: Margaret Laurence, Pauline Johnson, and Maria Campbell, for example, were pulled out of CanLit’s camouflaging woodwork for all to hail as forgotten prominent authors. Thomas King also got his start in the early ‘80s, a man who is now considered new NativeLit’s forerunner. King is still a proficient novelist. Check out a book entitled The Native in Literature, a compilation of essays that were presented at the University of Lethbridge Native in Literature conference in 1984, for which King provides the introduction. King’s most famous work is Green Grass, Running Water, which takes an honest look at the state of North American Native culture in the ‘90s.

Also getting started in the ‘80s was Canadian playwright/author Tomson Highway whose first play, The Rez Sisters, first staged in 1987, made huge waves in the CanLit scene. He is still writing new plays in his residential school themed series, and has a new novel, Kiss of The Snow Queen, largely about the same topic. You also may have seen some of Highway’s tragi-comedies that were adapted to the big screen.

I won’t be able to list off all of the new NativeLit authors, but here are some great ones to consider checking out: Joseph Boyden, who has written two novels, Three Day Road, and Through Black Spruce, which are excellent reworkings of the original Native archetype in CanLit. Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach is also great. Not only is it a suspenseful read, it addresses many current Native themes like residential schooling and stereotyping. Also, I praise Beatrice Culleton’s novel In Search of April Raintree, which addresses, among other issues, the niche problem of inner city violence on Native women.

So there you have it. Now all you have to do is read, and remember how NativeLit came to be.

A friend of mine just moved into a new apartment. She is a student who is near graduation and has a good bit of debt. Her apartment was pretty bare, and I love to decorate. So, the two of us got together to decorate her apartment!

So far we have finished the bathroom. I will update you on how the rest of the decorating goes. But we’ve tried to keep the costs low. It’s pretty easy to be cost effective, if you shop at stores like Wal-mart and the Dollarama! You can get a lot of nice things. Keep your eyes out for sales!

To the right is a photo of my friend’s shower curtain. This is a part of the before we re-decorated. She lives in an apartment and can’t really afford to buy pain, plus she would have to paint it back once she moves out. The counters are a tan colour and the sink/toilet are white. Therefore her bathroom really needed to get brighter!

Last winter she had gone on a trip to Cuba that I knew she loved. So I went through her photos and found six scenic pictures I thought she would like. The next time we hung out I showed her the pictures I had picked out. She picked the three she liked best, and those were the pictures we centered our decorating around.

We wanted to go with a beach theme to liven up the bathroom. She wanted it to be a place she liked, it is where she gets ready in the morning. It is important to have a positive image in the morning! So we thought in this small space a bright shower curtain would look great!

As you can see from the photos. Her bathroom was, well, it was blah! It definitely needed a pick-me-up. So my friend and I went on a shopping excursion where we purchased a few items and re-arranged some items that were already part of her apartment.

We first went to Wal-mart. There she purchased:

• One blue shower curtain
• One sandy-beige hand towel
• One blue facecloth
• One pack of wood-faced curtain hooks
• One blue hand towel
• One soap dish
• One toothbrush/paste holder

Everything at Wal-mart was affordable. We chose the prices she was able to pay. We found the perfect shower curtain. It looks exactly like the ocean. Once we brought it back to her apartment and hung it up we know it was perfect. The picture on the package did not do it justice. We chose the wood-faced curtain hooks because they reminded us of boardwalks on the beach. From choosing the wooden hooks that lead us to choose a soap dish that was on a white ceramic with a wooden base.

The towels were an easy choice. We found the most beautiful colour beige, it resembled the prettiest of all sand. As you can see in the photo to the left, we draped the blue facecloth over the beige towel.

The next store we visited was the Dollarama. Thank the Lord for this store! I tell you, this place is the best Here we purchased:

• 3 wooden frames
• 3 glass containers with metal lids
• One box of purple Q-tips
• 3 inspirational rocks

The items from the dollarstore were what pulled the bathroom together in the end. The three glass containers were put up against the far wall, and were filled with colourful items! Bath salts, bathbombs and pretty Q-tips. A cheap, easy way to add colour to a bathroom! The three photos were hung on the wall and this is where we placed the scenic photos of Cuba.

The inspirational rocks say: smile, laugh and love. These add “beachy-ness” to the room, but are also a reminded of some of the important things in life.

My friend and I loved the purple Q-tips! I have seen them in blue before as well, so check out your local Dollarama!

After putting everything into the bathroom and setting it up we both felt like there was something missing. She had a bamboo plant in her dinning room, so we borrowed that to put on the back of the toilet, a little inside from the outside!

Lastly we added a white candle, not only will this scented candle come in handy if someone makes a stinky, but it will also be great for a romantic or relaxing bath!

Overall, my friend did not go over her budget. She was able to change her blahh and boring bathroom into a Cuban getaway!After looking at the bathroom all put together my friend said:

I just want to spend all my time in the bathroom now!

We had a lot of fun going shopping and then back to her apartment to decorate. So if your bathroom is looking blah, head over to Wal-mart and do some re-decorating! It’s totally worth it.

Over all my friend and I had a lot of fun. Next week I’ll be back with Decorating 1001. Stay tuned to find out which room I’ll be transforming next!

Baltimore hardcore band Give opened the show at the Opera House Friday night, and set somewhat of a heavy tone for the night. Sadly, I only caught the last two songs of their set, and I really wish I could have seen more. The thunderous, bass-laden drums that continuously keeps rolling on through both fast parts and slow breakdowns initially captivated me. Their uniqueness kept my attention. Give is definitely a hardcore band, complete with tell-tale aggressive heaviness. This gets mixed, though, with a lighter guitar sound. There isn’t too much distortion, making it easy to follow the rhythm. Comparing the guitar style to a similar band would not be easy.  And, when a band can heed me from b-lining to the bar as soon as I get into a show, which Give did, they usually stick around in my playlist for good.

The D’urbervilles, who took the stage after Give, are also great at keeping your attention. Their new-age brand of rock-pop beamed through the Opera House. Their sound is somewhere between Joy Division and the Weakerthans, and much in common with most dance-rock indie bands. However, they strike their own pose. They have some very technical, high-tempo, yet sometimes hard to follow, drum beats. Two synthesizers, looked after by guitarist/lead singer John O’Regan and lead guitarist Tim Bruton, work together well with the clean, palm-muted, not too overpowering guitar lines. There were highs and lows to this set – when at their best, The D’urbervilles can trigger sporadic, arm-throwing dance moves in any wallflower, like they did for O’Regan.

After the D’urbervilles, Kurt Vile played a captivating six-song set that I, once again, was very drawn into. He opened with “Overnite Religion” accompanied by a second guitarist/percussionist, who laid down the tambourine and maraca lines of the song. The trippy folk-rock made up of loop-dubs, looped drum beats, and guitar, set an intimate vibe throughout the Opera House before Fucked Up went on. At times I felt like it was just Kurt and I alone in a room, and when I would come back to my senses, I would look around and confirm that everyone else was also entranced by him. The third song was drummed by Jonah from Fucked Up, which added a refreshing crack to the low-key stoner rock. In total, the Kurt Vile set felt almost like a healing process, a cool rejuvenator before Fucked Up tore the place apart.

Tore it apart they did. Fucked Up started their set with drummer Jonah’s mother playing the flute line from “Year of the Rat,” and then dove into “Son the Father,” off their Polaris Prize winning album “The Chemistry of Common Life,” and staple opener for recent shows. They moved smoothly into “David Comes To Life,” with a tweaked breakdown in the middle, differing from the studio version of the tune. By mid-set, lead singer Damian Pink Eyes Abraham lit things up and tore his t-shirt off, as usual. For the next song, Damian sang while pulling an impressively long microphone cable around the entire Opera House floor, a perfect way to engage the crowd. Near the end of the set, while playing “Crusades,” a fan who grabbed the mic from Damian and started singing was attacked by another audience member, the attacker was swiftly removed from the event. After a quick break, the debacle was sorted out. The band just picked up where they left off, and finished the song with the final chorus. The performance was full of Fucked Up classics,  including a thrashing rendition of “Two Snakes” off the band’s debut LP, “Hidden World.” The sextet played well together, in sync at all times, while frequently switching and changing parts of many songs.  A tight set, that was undoubtedly planned and polished, from one of Toronto’s hottest bands.