nero! nero! nero!

[Ms.Huxtable]

I don't give a shit if anyone thinks there's too many nero threads going on in the next two weeks and I sure as fack am not seeking a nero exclusive forum. I just feel the need to share my excitement for the upcoming nero shows and ask you the following question:

What does nero mean to you?

To me, nero is what set my life in it's curreent positive direction. Before nero, I moved around alot, looking for my home, looking for the people and place that make me happy. Because they played Ottawa twice a week, I decided to move from Toronto and spend every Tuesday and Sunday with them and the wonderful people that chose to do likewise (sure a guy was involved as well, but we connected through nero). Years later, I call Ottawa my home and I ain't going no where! I feel at home for the first time in my life.

At nero shows, I met the most wonderful people and became a part of the jambands.ca community which of course eventually lead to my meeting bouche and all the other people I love today.

nero's music took me on a journey when I listened to it. I didn't think of anything else, just the music. No work, no life issues, just the music. Nothing has taken me to the same place since, and I can say with 100% honesty that I have not danced the way I do to nero, with ANY other band.

My gawd do I look forward to going there again!

You?

[Schwa.]

nero is three fellas who i am proud to call friends

(put that one on a postcard )

[ggrtrhhrtgg]

Nero---hmmmmm.... Well, I am definitely not as familiar with the band as most of you are. I have only seen Nero a few times--my most memorable was at Izzys a few years back... I was on a serious trip that night. I think I took off a cast at that show if I do recall correctly---hehe...

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend these shows, however, I am sure I will get a few smiles from the mere enthusiasm and hype that will surround the most anticipated event.

[StoneMtn]

Could anyone tell me when Dave is supposed to hit the stage on Friday?

Lassie and I will be travelling directly from work in Toronto to our hotel in Ottawa to the show, and we will be lucky to get there by ten. (In actual fact, I guess it doesn't matter too much when Dave is going on, because I really can't get there any earlier, but I'm curious.)

[Gateaux]

I think that from the beginning what Nero meant to me was loving seeing three of my best friends captivate an audience with their talent.

Oh that and i fucking love the music they make.

[Esau.]

What does nero mean to you?

Hard for me to say, there's so many great memories when I think back on any nero show I attended - not a single memory, musically or socially that doesn't make me smile.

Fuckin' solid guys to boot, I'm glad to know them.

See ya'll at the shows.

[Cully]

Is Jay playing drums for the reunion show? I swear that he said that he wasn't on New Years...

[AD]

I will be playing the drums for the reunion shows.

[bradm]

I will be playing the drums for the reunion shows.

Your picture isn't on the tickets.

Aloha,

Brad

[Booche]

[AD]

You have counterfeit tickets.

[StoneMtn]

Well, to be accurate, AD and I will be sharing the drum-stool those nights, and each of us will be playing one drum-stick. We've been practicing with our electronic ones.

Just wait until we go into our YYZ solo.

We're gonna rock!

[bradm]

Well, to be accurate, AD and I will be sharing the drum-stool those nights, and each of us will be playing one drum-stick. We've been practicing with our electronic ones.

Just wait until we go into our YYZ solo.

We're gonna rock!

::rushes home, rents woodchipper, fires it up, throws recording gear into it, saluting the emerging plume of metal, plastic, and silicon dust::

Aloha,

Brad

[AD]

Well, to be accurate, AD and I will be sharing the drum-stool those nights, and each of us will be playing one drum-stick. We've been practicing with our electronic ones.

Just wait until we go into our YYZ solo.

We're gonna rock!

You bastard. You totally ruined the surprise. I'm kicking you out of nero.

Anyways, to get back on topic - I like nero, the shows back in the day were a great place to go and get drunk, listen to some crazy music and watch all the crazy people get drunk to crazy music.

[Velvet]

My most recent nerolog sums it up fairly well for me:

Stardate 123104

nero @ Maverick’s, Ottawa, Ontario

It’s curious how an arbitrary marking on a calendar can actually influnce the world. A long time ago a group of people somehow settled on January first as the biggining of what they decided was to be a year and a whole bunch of wars and leap years later everyone in the even partially civilised world gets a calendar of some sort from their local drug store or the pizza place and it has all these little arbitrary markings on it, telling us when we should feel different things. January first is supposed to make you feel fresh and reborn, a new start at all those resolutions once again, and consequently New Years Eve is supposed to make you reflective, thankful, perhaps sad or even a little analytical, and wasted.

There’s no denying that the arbitrary calendar marking influenced the date of nero’s final show before taking a touring break, and no denying how much of a reflective, thankful, sad, analytical, and wasted night it turned out to be. The influnce of arbitrariness.

I have before me a tape labelled “nero’s 1st show/August 15 97/@ Cracker’s 2000â€. I can’t remember if I was at that show or not, it seems to me I was, but I can tell you nero grew great strides beyond that first show, both outclassing and outlasting the venue, undergoing lots of changes and influencing many lives since then. I had seen the band several times under the name of “Plowâ€, and when Dave, Jay, and Shane left the band to start something else up I was behind them all the way (the other guys sucked). I remember Dave asking me what I thought of the name “nero†and I thought it was a good name, though I hated the lower-case “n†(still do) and mistook it for Nemo; I thought nero was the dude under the sea. They added Emily on vocals and Steve on dancing, and I thought they were both awesome. Emily really captured the audience with her charm and her Edie Brickell-like good looks, but she had this intangible quality about her when she sang that was like a…I dunno, maybe I was just in love with her. Steve danced, and I guess mucked around with a sampler a bit, but it was his dancing that really added to the show. I was dissappointed when he left the band, I liked the Frankie Goes To Hollywood thing about it, especially with Emily on vocals (it woulda been a bit weird with only guys in the band – maybe a little too much Frankie Goes To Hollywood). Eventually Emily had to leave the band for good to move out west and they (obviously) couldn’t find an adequate replacement. I remember telling Dave they should just play the tunes without vocals - they had enough interesting stuff going on in the music. He recalls it differently, but however it happened, it happened, and they went on as an instrumental trio.

Then two other great things happened: Tuesday nights at the Whipping Post and Sunday nights at Babylon.

I went to a few of the Weekly Whipping shows and there was this table, the second from the stage, and every week there was this group of people around it. The table grew to a couple of tables and eventually I found out these were people that knew each other through a new website called phishsanctuary.ca (which eventually grew into jambands.ca). I soon signed up (it was my first experience with an online forum) and an incredible support group grew before our very eyes in the intervening years, a support system which is in a large part responsible for any successes enjoyed by the band. When we registered for the board there was a few dozen members, now there are almost 2000 signed on and I can’t tell you how many people in how many cities came up to me at shows telling me their avatar names, nor can I describe just how integral the site was to the band.

Babylon was a new bar in town and willing to experiment with their Sunday nights rather than just keep their doors shut and a few months into the Weekly Whipping gigs they gave nero a regular room to play every Sunday. I lived nearby and came pretty much every week, so I offered to work the door for them every Sunday, and that, coupled with my relationship with the guys already, laid the seed that led to me managing the band, which had a fairly dramatic impact on all four of our lives (and later Chris’s) as well.

Here’s a story: In August of 2000 nero scored a gig at this new festival to take place in (of all places) Antigonish, Nova Scotia, with a show booked the night before somewhere in town above a Chinese food restaurant. Around the same time I planned a crazy trip for myself – 21 days hiking solo through Algonquin Park with no booze, no drugs, and no cigarettes. Kind of an iron-man body-cleansing trip. By day two I was bored to death and my mind was racing for an excuse to give in and get the hell outta the woods and I thought, “Hey, maybe I should go with nero on this trip and sorta be their manager.†Tin foil man reared his ugly head, I packed everything up and virtually ran out of the woods hitting the first smokes store and fast food restaurant I could find and badda-boom, I’m their manager. And oh, the difference to me, to appropriately quote The Path Least Chosen.

So, with a fan base and some band management, off the band went. We bought a bus and started playing insane amounts of shows, learned to love and hate each other a bit, eventually Shane left and Chris came in to continue the journey of good times. There were crazy parties, crazy people, snowstorms that would stop a buffalo herd, breathtaking views and heartwrenching breakdowns, friends and fights and smelly ugly bars and some sweet, sweet gigs. Times I’ll never forget and nights I’ll never recall. Bagged a US booking agent and started doing all that shit to Americans too, pissing in their lawns and drinking their free beer while we try to sleep on the side of their nice tree-lined streets and Wal-Mart parking lots. There were some pretty questionable sleeping accomodations and some fantastic festivals and meetings. There was the excitement of going to Madison Square Garden for the Jammys, the excitement of hearing Zedonk come together, the excitement of getting press from Relix and Guitar Player, and just some really damn cool experiences.

And now all that’s done. Chalk up a little sadness to the old arbitrarimeter tonight.

Tonight, New Years Eve. 200 people can tell you 200 different versions of the night, and mine goes like this: Sitting at the door gave me the oppourtunity to see all those beautiful people walk through the door, each of them smiling, and most of them I consider to be a friend, thanks to that table of folks at the Weekly Whipping shows. It would be a damn big table now, and I can tell you there were several of those original table-dwellers through the door tonight. I sat there sober and loving it, hugs and handshakes and happy conversations with nero pouring their hearts out onstage for a soundtrack. The roar at midnite warmed my soul. Great sound eminating from a truly, truly great crowd. My evening was punctuated by a sit-in with the band. They asked me up for Black Betty>Voodoo Lady, and I really, really enjoyed it. nero really is one of my all-time favourite bands (even after seeing them about 300 times), and it’s so awesome to play with them. Sitting in with them the few times that I have has given me an acute appreciation of how much of a unit the three of them are musically. They’re hard to blend with; they blend enough on their own, you can just play on top or underneath. A couple of times I looked into the crowd and had to look away, the site was too beautiful and I don’t deserve it, but fuck it was fun. I even got to sneak a little Bolero in there.

The bar element of the night ended and many of us headed to the 40 Main afterparty. I gave a couple of Toronto friends a lift. As soon as we got there they wanted to leave without even going in! Weird drugs were getting the better of them so I spent the first couple of hours making sure they were staying and having fun. Aren’t I nice? The party took on many forms, from couch-climbing dance fiestas to hallway confessions to choked-up hugging to uncontrolled laughter to coming up with one of my best how-to-get-pretty-girls-away-from-you lines to drink after drink to bad jams to kitchen scrounges and eventually to an embarrassing noontime stumble home that had me flat on my ass about eight times. Suffice to say, our good friends ‘reflective’, ‘analytical’ and ‘wasted’ reared their arbitrary heads, curiously at just the right times. As I closed my eyes to sleep, somewhere off in the distance you could almost hear the fat lady singing.

Thank you nero. You changed my life, you changed many friends lives, and you changed your own lives, all for the better. It was hard work, but it was worth it, as hard work usually is.

Quote of the Day: “So now it’s just the sex and drugs then?â€

I

Whispy Mountain Wonder

Downside Up

Johnny Joe>

Basheeba

Holetown Charlie

Peaches

II

Zedonk>

Auld Lang>

Zedonk

The Year Of…

Black Betty>

Voodoo Lady

401 Theme>

Centragnome>

RLH>

Centragnome>

Dr. Who>

401 Theme

Breakline

III

Chocolate Monkey Machine>

Miko Mard

Darius

Lemondust>

St.Thomas>

Lemondust

Sgt. Peppers (reprise)

e: Condor>

Steppin’ Out>

Condor

[bouche]

When I started this site as phishsanctuary, the first articles and discussion was mostly about nero

Check out an old set of nero dates

Here's an old interview from 2002.

[AD]

great read again todd.

i just remembered that i was at that new year's show. i was trying to recall the past couple new years over the holidays and couldn't fill that 2004 hole. thanks for filling my hole.

[shainhouse]

One of the first articles I ever wrote was about nero for Revolving Door. We did it at the Comfort Zone.

[ollie]

I only got to see nero for about a year (excluding the legendary JGB show) before they disbanded and it was just then that I was really beginning to appreciate their music. So the reunion is something I've been looking forward to for a long time.

A great bunch of guys too, past lineups and present.

[Sunshine]

What does nero mean to me?

I was introduced to nero through my brother, which led me to the drummer's brother, which led me to fall in love.....aaahhh love.

But inbetween all the love was the music, which led me to dance, and the music brought together new friends, which led me to a new family, which brings us back to love.....aaaahh love.

so in a nut shell (besides the obvious of the nero boys being amazing musicians) nero = love

Edited January 4, 2007 by Guest

[bouche]

he's the drummer's brother? poor Jay

[RobL]

In celebration of these reunion shows and this thread i am working on throwing my masters of a nero show I videotpaed in 04 at babylon. Two cam mix with my friends hi 8 footage with audio synch and full motion menus.. I gave it to a few people so if someone here wants to jump on it will seed fast on the tradersden. I will post the link once i am ready.. I am still making all the files and I am not as apt as I used to be with this stuff so I may have to wait until mattm comes home to help me out. I started seeing nero in 02 i think it was... Love nero shows always a great vibe and great set.. Really excited for these upcoming show.. cheers all can't wait to see everybody lovin the nero groove

nero babylon night club ottawa on

4-17-04

dual cam canon zr60 and sony hi 8

audio unknown

Disk 1

darius

breakline

johnny joe

miko mard

medicated

Disk 2

401>lemondust>401

luke's wish

zedonk

whispy mountain wonder

centregnome

[Jakis]

Sweet thanks rob. Hopefully matt seeds with his work computers again.

cheers,

Jake

[can-o-phish]

Nero...Nero...Nero...

Oh wait, yeah, that fuggin' band that STOLE my room-mate ONE FREAKIN' MONTH AFTER MOVING INTO OUR SWEET SWEET BEACH-HAUS! DIRTY BASTARDS!!!

Actually, no one had "been caught stealin'" as Buote was on a path that led him to a great city, great friends and a fantastic musical experience that many of us were lucky to have caught every one in a while

Because of Chris meeting and hooking up with Nero I was fortunate to meet some great folk who I am now happy to call friends though I hardly get to see cause y'all live in O-Town and it's a bloody four hour drive...

Punk & Nero have been front and centre on my mind lately as I've just moved to a sweet spot and was unpacking boxes that had stuff we had all bought as roomies at the Beachhaus...even lyrics that Mr. Buote penned himself to a song that never materialized (DownTime era and future blackmail material )

Driving through T-Dot I constantly think of the Punk and how he navigated those trecherous streets while working insane hours for his cousin and only finding himself in a few fender-bender mishaps...but boy-howdy did he look stylish with a cup of Timmy's brew and a smoke dangling from his grime-caked face...

Good times, good times, good times...

And then hanging with the boys and Tungsten while they were recording ZeDonk in T-Dot was a nice treat...always love to be witness to creativity as some of it finds it's way into my own work in some small way...and I'm still trying to track down the artist who created an amazing piece of 3D animation and used "Breakline" for the music...I swear I emailed her yesterday but it bounced back...

Nero...hearing those sweet note of Condor...and asking myself, "Is it morning, yet?"

Have a great weekend in Ottawa!!!

[Schwa.]

My personal nero highlight is the Chatham show, hands down. What a night.