Photo by Alex Ramon
When you turn on the radio don’t you find that most of the bands sound the same? They all seem to have this proven formula for success and they all seem to follow this to a dime. I’m not sure what this formula is, because if I did I would be ultra famous and have multiple minions doing my bidding. But with this “formula” there really isn’t any originality out there anymore. But of course, there are exceptions with mainstream music, and I’m just making a generalization, but that is what I see happening to the music industry. I guess everything has been done before and every band that does see success is probably just ripping someone off. Ok maybe “ripping off” is a strong word, so let’s just say they were “influenced” by other artists. Dawntreader, in my opinion, brings a unique style of indie rock with a European kick mixed with some good ol’ Canadian flavour, if that makes any sense. Read more »
At some point I am actually going to witness local guitar-and-drum wunderfrauleins THE PACK A.D. show Jack and Meg White how it’s done, but with chagrin I must admit that all of my efforts so far have been for naught. I’ve had full intentions of seeing them about five times now and something inevitably falls through and I can’t go. Last Sunday’s “Under the Volcano” festival was no different. Hopefully I can make it to the CD release party for their new album “Funeral Mix-Tape” on August 16th at Richard’s and give you a full write-up, but until then I’ll leave you with a short and sweet little review of their Under the Volcano set from our gal-in-the-field Alissa. Read more »
Pictures courtesy of Alex Ramon
So we’re back on the Pemberton train and going full speed with Low vs Diamond. You might not have heard about this band, or maybe you have, but trust me when I say this, they are the NEXT BIG THING. That is to say if they don’t crash and burn and bite each others heads off, which I highly doubt will happen. But let’s take a look at the bigger picture for a second. There are so many bands out there that have great success off their first album, and then you just don’t hear about them anymore. Why is that the case you ask? Well I just can’t tell you because every band I’ve been in hasn’t had success, but what I think happens (with an emphasis on the “I think” part) is that they just aren’t friends to begin with. Many bands form on the basis of either a hobby between friends or getting rich and famous, or even both for that matter. Those, in my opinion (because I don’t want to upset anyone…), whose sole purpose is to make it big will crash and burn, while those who are friends to begin with have that core group that will last and continue to make great music. Low vs Diamond falls into the later category, and that is why I think they will soon be a household name. Read more »
“I’ll listen to anything but rap and country.”
– me in Grade 9
“I’ll listen to anything but country.”
– me in Grade 12
“Johnny Cash is okay, but all other country still sucks.”
- me in second-year university
“Okay, Johnny Cash and Emmylou Harris are good. That’s IT though.”
– me last year
“Country music is the only music that makes sense to me anymore.”
- me last week after seeing Emmylou Harris and hearing Neko Case’s Canadian Amp EP
Read more »
All photos courtesy of Alex Ramon
Day 3 probably had the most ridiculous line-up, what with Jay-Z and Coldplay ending the night off. To be frank, I expected them to kick some major ass on stage and I wasn’t disappointed. But they get enough exposure as it is. Com’on, it’s the Jigga man for crying out loud! As much as I want to write about them, I think I’ll leave it up to the others to praise Coldplay for having an outstanding set. All I have to say is, it takes a band of outstanding calibre to come to the back of the audience and play a few acoustic songs. But on to some of the bands you most likely have heard of, but not enough of! Read more »
All photos courtesy of Alex Ramon
I have one, and only one, bad thing to say about Pemberton. There is just so much to do and see that there is absolutely no way of accomplishing it all. It’s sad, I know, having all these great acts and having to pick and choose. It’s like trying to decide which son you like more, the older smarter one or the younger cooler one. That’s pretty much what I had to do on Day 2, but what I was able to catch was absolutely amazing. It was such a drag, having to choose which great band I wanted to see. It’s a hard life. Read more »
All photos by Alex Ramon
The idea of a three day music festival is just amazing for any concert-goer, but also for the artists as well. So when Shane Bourbonnais, Festival Executive Producer, wanted to bring a European-like festival to Canada, lots of artists jumped on board. Coldplay was the first to sign on, and from there on in, other big name acts wanted to be a part of it as well, such as Nine Inch Nails and Tom Petty. It even got to the point where Shane had to be turning down some acts because, well, they just didn’t have enough room on the bill. Now that they have all the acts, they had to find a place to house all of these talented individuals. They searched from the coast to coast, and luckily for us on the west, they decided to settle in a little small town by the name of Pemberton, BC. Read more »
Well we’re back with another article, but this time it’s a special guest writer. Chris Morrison, a wonderful local photographer and writer, approached me and asked if he could help me out a bit. Well I was more than happy to oblige and here’s his first write-up for Ronatron! Hope you guys all enjoy it!
If you’ve never heard of a band called Kill Hannah, then you need to crawl out from under the fuckin’ rock you’ve been hiding under and Google them. Read more »
Earlier last week Ron came down to see me in the basement of the building we work in (suitably referred to as the Joy Division) and told me that in addition to the media passes he had scored for Pemberton, he had also been given the green light to attend the Whistler Music Festival as well. The big question was whether or not I could go with him on the weekend. Considering that The Roots were headlining, and considering my previous declarations to anyone with ears that I would, and I quote, “sell my own grandmother to the circus to see them”, there was only one answer. So with Ron on the camera and me on the notepad, let’s get this review started! Read more »
Photos courtesy of Dominic Cho
Well this night was very interesting to say the least. I wasn’t 100% sure if I was going to come out to this show at The Biltmore, mainly because I was heading up early in the morning (when I say early… I mean 6 AM!) to cover the Whistler Music Festival. But I’m not a person that worries too much about sleep deprivation, so I ended up going and now you all have an article to read. So this is solely for your reading pleasure and just to let you know, I’m dead tired and still recovering. The things I do for you guys… Read more »
