Bookie's Holiday Bash 2009

Here in Toronto, local Edge 102.1 DJ Dave Bookman (Bookie) has a tradition of bringing great rock to the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern every Tuesday night. No cover. What a great guy! This particular Tuesday night was his second annual Holiday Bash with the Arkells, joined by Hollerado and The Order of Good Cheer. I'll be using the word "fun" many times in this post.

I hadn't heard of The Order of Good Cheer until the show. They're from Toronto, they're a little bit punk, a little bit country blues, and a little bit unexpected. Their frontman, Francesco Guidoccio came out all decked in white, pants, shirt and blazer. I thought he looked friendly but tired and disheveled in a very rock and roll kind of way.

Francesco Guidoccio displays good cheer.

They sang about taking it off, marijuana girlfriends and trannies. No, I'm serious. When I type it out it sounds immature and silly, but really they've got a wicked sense of humour in their songs and lyrics. I insist that you go out to their next show to witness them perform Lady Pizzle live. "Oh my god... it's bigger than mine". The few tracks and videos on their mySpace page don't do them justice in showing what a fun live act they are. Also, I'd like to give credit to their ukulele player. Never have I seen a person so enthusiastic about such a tiny instrument. He was really, really into it. That guy was shredding!

The second band of the night was Hollerado. Oh, Hollerado. I was just as excited to see these guys live as I was to see the Arkells, headlining later that night. They've been one of my new favourites since I found out about them last month and downloaded their record, Record In A Bag, for free on their official site. They sell their home-burned album at shows in Ziplocks, use doot-do-doos instead of la-la-las, send postcards to their fans, and exude an all-around aura of fun and good times. Last month they won $250,000 at a battle of the bands type gig hosted by Live 88.5, a radio station in Ottawa, and then immediately flew to China for a brief tour and about 24 hours after arriving back in Canada, they played this show.


In addition to spurring shout-along choruses with loud and boisterous crowd-winning tracks from Record in a Bag, they also conducted us through a drunken rendition of "Happy Birthday to... JESUS...", not because they're at all religious, but because Jesus has the best birthday parties. They tossed out paper cups with hand-drawn marker doodles on them, inviting whoever caught them to share a round of shots with them at the bar later. Even the people that weren't familiar with Hollerado's material were jumping and singing "whoa-oh-oh"s and pseduo-moshing. In fact, they were so won over that they continued singing the last song's whoa-oh-ohs even after the band left the stage!



Hollerado - Do the Doot Da Doot Doo (mp3) (download the album free at hollerado.com)

And of course, to top of the night- The Arkells.

You know how some people talk with their hands? One of my favourite things about seeing the Arkells live is that their lead vocalist, Max Kerman, sings with his hands. If the lyrics of a song tells you to reach out, he'll raise his palms to the sky. If the lyrics say that "there's no room for the sweaty", like in their hit single, Oh, the Boss is Coming!, he'll wipe his brow with a sleeve. It's the most charming thing. I think you should click here to vote for Max, or Arkells guitarist Mike DeAngelis, at Chart Attack's annual poll for sexiest Canadian man... Currently, Deryck Whibley is winning.

This was not your regular Arkells set. This was their Holiday Motown Dance Party. The entire tavern was singing along to Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Four Tops covers, just to name a few. You could tell that the guys in the band were having a genuine good time playing an entire show of songs that they loved without having the obligation of playing songs that they wrote. It was a very fun-loving and care-free vibe that they spread through the crowd. It's kind of like there was an unspoken but mutual agreement between the band and the audience that they'd play whatever the hell they wanted, and make Beck references whenever they wanted, and invite their friends onstage whenever they wanted, and the audience only encouraged it further.

There were actually a lot of people that shared the stage with the Arkells that night, including Josh Tranger from the Sam Roberts Band, and this guy:

Figure 1: This is what awesome looks like.

"This guy" is actually a dude from local Toronto band, Dinosaur Bones. He got his very own rap interlude during the Arkell's rendition of Ms. Jackson (wooo!). Isn't he awesome with his facial hair and Casa Loma t-shirt? I've changed my mind; you should vote this guy for Chart Attack's sexiest Canadian man of 2009. He joined them onstage once again with Order of Good Cheer and a handful of guys I don't recognize for a massive rendition of Don't Let Me Down.



Some might call this a dance party. Some might call it a fine bromance. Some might call it a sausagefest. In any case, it was definitely one of the highlights of the set and it gave everyone at the Tavern a warm, fuzzy, feel-good sensation. What a great way to kick off the holidays.

The Beatles - Don't Let Me Down (mp3) (amazon) (iTunes)

The Arkells - John Lennon (mp3) (amazon) (iTunes)

Let's do it all again next year, yeah?

the Arkells wanna get next to you

These guys will always be able to make me smile.

Totally gonna be seeing the Arkells in Toronto at Lee's Palace on November the 27th. Who's with me? They released their full-length debut, Jackson Square, almost exactly one year ago and it is well worth a listen. At first, I didn't want to like them because the big hit Oh, the Boss is Coming! was played and overplayed a bit too much on Canadian radio, but a friend of mine let me borrow a copy of the album, swearing that it was the best thing she had heard in ages. I definitely warmed up to this Hamilton five piece, enough to catch one of their sets at Toronto's Busking for Change event. That's when I was completely won over. They are such amicable boys!

November the 27th at Lee's Palace. Mark it on your calender. It's gonna be an epic night, especially with both the Novaks and Sweet Thing opening.



Arkells and Temptations. The resemblance is uncanny.

The Temptations - Can't Get Next to You (mp3) (amazon) (iTunes)

Things learned from Busking for Change

Here are some things I learned from War Child's Busking for Change.

1. Luther from Crush Luther gives great hugs!


That's a great cardigan he's wearing. He and Matt (on the left) like to perform jump kicks and power stances during the most inappropriate times of a song. Their second album was released digitally yesterday on High 4 Records, and it's pay-what-you-can until October 13th. So go get it. Otherwise you can pick up a physical copy on October the 13th. Here's a busking preview of a track from the new album called "A Light". It'll make you go "awww". Kinda the way Luther's hugs would make you go "awww".



2. Daniel Victor's hair gets even MORE magnificent in strong winds.


Daniel Victor, mind behind the Neverending White Lights has magnificent hair. You've seen it before in the music videos. You know, The Grace, Angels and Saints, Age of Consent. The wind makes it even better. Doesn't matter how strong the winds are, it'll still look like a glamourous wind machine on that coiffe. The Neverending White Lights made a small crowd of us wait out in the cold rain in the morning outside of Much Music, and then they never showed up there. What's the deal, man?! But they did do the rest of their sets. I caught them at the corner of Queen and Bay, and the rain was gone but the wind was ridiculous! They did some unexpected covers, including Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes. That's not the epic brooding Neverending White Lights I know!




3. The dudes from Default are so chill.

So chill. I didn't know much about them before the set, other than my sister thinking they have the most awesome band name. But I did meet a very nice woman at the Neverending White Lights set who's a big fan, so I sort of ended up tagging along to the Default show too. They were very cool. No puns intended on the weather (har har har). She's probably reading this. You're awesome, Eden! It was a pleasure!


4. The Arkells are so charming!


By the time the Arkells played their last set of the day, it was freezing! And despite the wind chill, these two were great fun. They're fantastic live and have a knack for terrific banter. So charming and funny! Hell, I thought they were pulling a Flight of the Conchords on us. But instead, they pulled an OutKast.




5. Sharing is caring.

I got some birthday money this week, and a massive chunk of it went out to War Child yesterday. Just know that I got the warm and fuzzies from donating all that. Busking for Change was a fantastic event. Great concept, and great spirit from all of the performers and everyone that gathered round to be a part of it. I can't wait to do it all over again next year.

Visit WarChild.ca to find out more about their cause.