Concert Photos: Toronto Plays for Haiti - 02.02.2010

Toronto Plays For Haiti was held at the Sound Academy on Tuesday February 2nd, 2010. The artists involved were The Trews, Moneen, Die Mannequin, Maestro Fresh Wes, The Junction, Ill Scarlett, The Salads f. Choclair and Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker. Many athletes also attended the event which raised over forty thousand dollars which the government matched. As a result over eighty thousand dollars was raised for the people of Haiti. The Sound Acadmey was packed and all had a good time. As for the entertainment… I have to say this is one of the best events I have ever attended. The Trews started it off with a great acoustic set. Everyone else just blew the crowd away with amazing energetic performances. Many thanks to all involved, to the Sound Academy and to Darrin Pfeiffer of The Edge and James Cybulski of TSN who started the ball rolling with the event.
Check out the video Toronto Plays For Haiti on YouTube.

The Trews, Inward Eye, Flash Lightnin' @ The Wasaga Dome - 09.05.2009

The Trews @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

I guess its a sign of the times, a symptom of the recession. It's been a dreadful summer for live music this year. From poor attendance at festivals like Wakestock and Virgin Festival to a slow night on the beach at Wasaga. I thought this place would be crazy busy. What would be better than a day at the beach a drink as the sun sets and then walk in to watch a few great bands rock on the Saturday night of your long weekend. When I heard The Trews were playing a show at Wasaga Dome it was enough to get me back to the beach after several years. When I found out Winnepeg's Inward Eye and Toronto's Flash Lightnin' were supporting acts it just made the idea all the more enticing.


The Trews @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Trews @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The Trews are one of my favourite Canadian bands to see and shoot live. The Juno nominated band always come out to rock and are never short of classic guitar faces and poses which makes them really fun to shoot. Unfortunately the place was not as packed as I thought it would be, however that made no difference to either the bands performance or to the loyal fans that did make it out this night. The Trews have released three solid albums "House Of Ill Fame", "Den Of Thieves" and their latest "No Time For Later" from which the band played a good mix. By the time they played hits "Not Ready To Go", "Paranoid Freak", "I Can't Say", "Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me", and "Tired Of Waiting" they came back for their encore which included "Man Of Two Minds" and a cover of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" for which they invited openers Inward Eye to share the stage. As always a solid performance.


The Trews @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Trews @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Trews @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

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Inward Eye:


Inward Eye @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Energy, Fun, Punk... Just looking for words to describe Winnipeg's Inward Eye. These guys are just a lot of fun. I haven't had the opportunity to listen to their debut cd "Throwing Bricks Instead of Knives" but I'm totally loving their self titled EP which is available as a free download from their website. I can't get over how much I like these three brothers. Their music is so full of energy and their live show if possible goes beyond that. The only somewhat static member is Anders and the only reason for that is because he's behind the drums. Dave and Kyle are pretty much all over the stage and half the time a few feet above it. If you haven't yet seen these guys make a point to do so. They have a busy September full of dates with other Canadian bands Thornley, Mariana's Trench, Bedouin Sound Clash, OLP, some more dates with the Trews before their tour with Flogging Molly.


Inward Eye @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


Inward Eye @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


Inward Eye @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Inward Eye @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Inward Eye @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

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Flash Lightnin':

Flash Lightnin' @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr
Toronto's blues based southern rock band Flash Lightnin' opened the evening at the Wasaga Dome. Unfortunately due to an error in scheduling/promotion they played to a group of about ten people me included. The first time I saw them was at the 2008 Virgin Festival. Since then they've released an EP called "Destello" and their myspace page says they are working on an album with the likes of Ron Sexmith, Serena Ryder, Kevin Drew, and Jimmy Shaw. Interesting No ? Looking forward to seeing and hearing more.


Flash Lightnin' @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


Flash Lightnin' @ Wasaga Dome
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The Trews @ The Mansion Night Club, Barrie, ON

The Trews @ The Mansion Night Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The Trews will be playing a couple of acoustic shows in Japan this week. As a result the people of Barrie were treated to a special warm up acoustic show. The house was packed which was quite nice to see as it was the first time I've ever seen it that full since the renovations. The anticipation was met by a solid intimate set by the east coasters. These guys always put on a great show and the acoustic version was no different. Even acoustically they were able to rock out to crowd favourites like So She's Leaving and Not Ready to Go. Other special highlight were the renditions of the very popular Man of Two Minds and Ishmael & Maggie. Overall a great treat for Barrie.

Y108 Rock and Roll Picnic, The Trews, Teenage Head... and more

The Trews @ Gage Park
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


Teenage Head @ Gage Park
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Headed down to Hamilton for the Y108 Rock and Roll Picnic. It was my first time there and I thought it would be spoiled by the weather. Luckily after a bit of a down pour the sky cleared up and everyone was ready for a good time. Unfortunately I missed Age of Daze who played before the big storm. I was lucky enough to catch the next two bands Rides Again and Pride Tiger who warmed up the crowd quite nicely.



Rides Again @ Gage Park
Originally uploaded by vasquezr
Rides Again is a trio out of Oshawa, Ontario. They played a short but really good set which included singles It's too late and the very well recieved Infected. The guys put on a really good show. I'd love to see them in a club setting so I'll be keeping my eyes open to see when they'll be playing in the next little while.


Pride Tiger @ Gage Park
Originally uploaded by vasquezr
Pride Tiger took to the stage and grabbed everyone's attention with their fun and energetic brand of rock and roll. Lead by their very entertaining drummer/vocalist Matt Wood the band rocked out tunes including White Witch Woman Blues and my favourite Let 'Em Go. These guys are from East Vancouver so I'm not sure when they'll be around again but they really are worth seeing.

Next up were the "Canadian Ramones" Teenage Head. The Hamilton crowd was very happy to see their own on stage. Teenage Head thrilled their fans with an hour long set during which Frankie Venom invited quite a few of them onto the stage.



The Trews @ Gage Park
Originally uploaded by vasquezr
The crowd was more than warmed up by the time The Trews hit the stage. This is the second time I've seen The Trews live. The first was in a small club in Michigan that I just happened to stumble by on my way to the zoo. What can you say about these guys except that they are true pros and a lot of fun to watch. They played a great set which included fan favourites Not Ready to Go, Ishmael and Maggie, Poor Old Broken Hearted Me, Tired of Waiting as well as a few from their latest album. They were a great choice to cap off a great day of Rock n' Roll.

The Trews @ Magic Bag - Ferndale, MI

The Trews @ Magic Bag - Ferndale, MI
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

I hadn't planned on shooting this one. Drove my girlfriend to Michigan for work. I was gonna check out the zoo and do some cross border shopping. After a few wrong turns on our way to the zoo we found our way on to Woodward Ave. Then Nick points out that the Trews are playing @ a local club. At first I didn't believe her. Went back later that night and caught the show hoping they'd let me in with my camera. Overall it was a pretty good venue(Magic Bag). Lighting was tough...well maybe just for me. Alternate Routes opened the show and did a great job. Then The Trews came on and rocked the place out. John-Angus MacDonald helped me out a bit by jumping into some light for a couple guitar solos. This shot is the result of one of them.