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ROLL CALL: DRUMS S & TUBA in TORONTO


Jay Funk Dawg

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I've got the dirt on all of these bands. Don't know about the order though, I would hope D & T are headlining but I don't know that that's given.

Nihilist Spasm Band

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Deeply connected to the Canadian counterculture movement. Formed in '65 at Rochdale (Toronto's failed experiment in communal living and aquarian values). They are unique particularly in that they do free improvisation and they make their own instruments. It's essentially a noise band made up of members with no real musical ability- at least when they started. They have collaborated with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth (at Guelph Jazz I believe). They're sort of at the mouth of a river that spills out into Sonic Youth and other noise/distortion icons.

Vulcan Dub Squad

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I've been reading up on these guys and they sound particularly interesting. Their bio describes them as: 'a harmonious blend of shoegazer, 60's garage-psych fairytale and lush orchestral pieces that combine grandeur with Syd Barret sensibilities'. The guys in the band sound like real heavy cats bordering on total maniacs. They sound like they're decidedly in the post-rock vein. This quote from one of the bandmembers Ranbir Gundu was particularly revealing:

Subcultures, by their very design have a certain rigidity in them. Earmarks that denote allegiance to the subculture exist both materially and within it’s championed forms of music. These expressions are linked to the subculture and run commonly throughout the bands within the genre. Since the four of us listen to varied forms of music, and none of us share too much in common, we can take elements of these cultures…subconsciously mind you, and put them together in a way that creates a new hybrid with no name, no allegiance, and no owners. What this means is that listeners from different genres can hear certain parts of their ‘style’ incorporated with others so that there is a point of reference for almost everyone to start from…where it ends up though is what’s exciting----the land with no name or borders. It’s very exciting and alluring, but if strictly dealt with in clinical terms it can be scary.

I also found a story on 20hz.ca about a dustup at a TO show with another band the Hospitals.

13.04.04, Silver Dollar, Chimichanga, Vulcan Dub Squad, Bush League, Hospitals.

I did not see Chimichanga, but I'm sure he was good. The Bush League played well to an uninspired audience. And then the Vulcan Dub Squad played....

Murphy's law of shitty bands: if a band that sucks can play for too long, they will play for too long.

And that's exactly what happened. The crowd was getting restless and so were the hospitals. So they (the hospitals) decided to setup at the far west end of the dollar on the floor right by the washrooms. After the seventh or so post-rock epic by the Bub Squad, everyone figured their set was done and so began gathering around the Hospitals who were patiently waiting to begin their set. When all of a sudden, in the midst of their washed-out feedback, the Bub Squad decided to display their garage-rock roots by doing a cover of (you guessed it) "I want to be your dog." At this point the collective disgust had reached its boiling point and so the Hospitals tore in to their first song. Both bands were playing simultaneously. Feeling that his "band of the month" had been slighted in a not so elegant fashion, Dan Burke walked into the middle of the Hospitals' set and grabs the drummer's microphone. He starts blabbing incoherently (which he'd been doing for the last two hours). The drummer, rightfully, takes offence to this and so gets up and a tussle ensues between him and Dan. It escalates into fisticuffs (both getting some quality shots in). Then people start breaking it up. In the melee that ensued (I feel really bad about this) as I was trying to bring the drummer to a neutral corner, Dan got a final clean shot it. Everybody was pissed at this. OK, second round now...

Somehow the show got back into a state where the Hospitals were able to play again, but this time around, they were pissed and did not give a shit what happened to the bar or the promoter or anything (so it seemed). The guitarist was climbing all over tables and ledges and they were losing it. Guess who comes back? Yep, Dan. I think the drummer got up again and they started tussling, when the guitarist, fortunately positioned on top of a table, came down over top of Dan's head with the back side of his guitar breaking its neck and ending Dan's bullshit. The bouncer's came in and almost bounced the guitarist, but surprisingly were more concerned with kicking Dan out of the bar -- which they did. We all began to chant, "Play! More! Kill!" etc. and the Hospitals did. They borrowed a guitar and played one of the most enjoyable and satisfying sets I have ever experienced in my life.

11 years of punk rock eclipsed in a single night.

I wish that shit happened at our shows!

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Another solid set tonight, a little bigger crowd which was definately appreciative... No sleep for me during the D&T run... Thanks to those who made it fun: Alexis!!! Thanks for everything during these trying two days... Drums & Tuba for blowing my mind 2 nights in a row! Greg & Paisley, another solid effort. Pete & Tasha, great to party with you in a non-nero environment... shainhouse for driving our sorry asses to The Casbah on Wednesday night. Kung and your ever-understanding better half. MamaRed, nice to meet you. Briguy, M, Chickenbutter420, and all the rest of you clowns, what a two night run... Thanks again to anyone/everyone involved... bed-time for me, I gotta work at 11am...

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