Jet @ The Mod Club

Jet @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Unfortunately I hadn't seen Jet live since their Live 8 performance in Barrie just about four years ago. At the time they were still feeling the success of their release "Get Born". The set was short but they really gave the crowd a good kick in the but to help infuse some much needed rock n roll into the lineup. I was glad to get a chance to get to see them again. The fact that it was a club show at the Mod Club made it even sweeter. What can you say about Jet. You don't say much you just listen and have fun and rock out a bit.


Jet @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

This time around the Aussie rockers were in Toronto before the upcoming release of their third studio album "Shaka Rock". Jet played through their set including the latest songs "K.I.A", "She's A Genius". The band seemed to be having a really good time that night. Hey you should feel good on your birthday. Even more so when you have a crowd in front of you. Yep,Front man Nic Cester was celebrating his 30th that night with the mod club crowd and was quite amusing as he kept reminding the crowd. Jet continued to play other favourites "Put your money where your mouth is","Are you gonna be my girl", and finished of with electrifying "Cold Hard Bitch". The crowd was very responsive to the bands energy and Nic got a celebratory drink from a fan on stage. A shout out from drummer Chris Cester also went out to three fans who snuck in at sound check. Overall good fun.


Jet @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The Artist Life @ The Foxx Lounge

The Artist Life @ The Foxx Lounge, Barrie, ON
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Artist Life @ The Foxx Lounge, Barrie, ON
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The Artist Life made their way to Barrie, ON for a show @ the Foxx Lounge. Any music fan in the Barrie area can tell you there has been quite a drought in the way of live rock shows so it was a treat to have them in town. The Artist life comprised of Ian Blackwood (vocals/guitar), Dean Richards(guitar/vocals), Chuck Leach(bass/vocals), Jake Parsonson (drums) are touring in support of their latest EP "Let's Start a Riot" released late last year through "Underground Operations" label.

The band played a short but quite energetic set including the title track "Let's Start a Riot", "The Last Time" and "Sleep So Sound". They took full command of the stage right from the start with their pop-punk sound and played a great set worthy of a much larger venue and bigger crowd.

The Artist Life will be playing a show in Toronto @ The Reverb, The Cutting Edge festival in Kitchener, and then a few dates out east. I know I'll be trying to make it out to one of the local shows. Can't wait for their full length release.
The Artist Life Myspace Page. Download their first EP "Living" for free @ http://www.theartistlife.com


The Artist Life @ The Fox Lounge, Barrie, ON
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Artist Life @ The Fox Lounge, Barrie, ON
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Artist Life @ The Fox Lounge, Barrie, ON
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Artist Life @ The Foxx Lounge, Barrie, ON
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Artist Life @ The Foxx Lounge, Barrie, ON
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Artist Life @ The Foxx Lounge, Barrie, ON
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Keane @ Sound Academy

Keane @ Sound Academy
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


Keane @ Sound Academy
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The boys from Battle,East Sussex rolled into Toronto last week for the first time since May of 2007. Known for their piano/keyboard rock/pop style they wowed the packed audience at the Sound Academy. The band played a set of about nineteen songs almost half from their latest release "Perfect Symmetry". As always Tom Chaplin could be found encouraging the fans to sing their hearts out and sing they did.


Keane @ Sound Academy
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Keane (Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes, and new addition the Mighty Quinn) seem to have a knack for writing very catchy tunes that had the two thousand plus fans at the Sound Academy singing to the top of their lungs. Granted most of them aren't blessed with the vocals of Chaplin himself but hey its all good fun.


Keane @ Sound Academy
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


Keane @ Sound Academy
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The set started off with "Lovers are Losing", followed by old crowd favourites "Everybody's Changing" and "Bend and Break". The band slowed things down through the middle of the set with "Playing Along", "Try Again", and "You Haven't told me Anything" and then build back up to finish off the set with two great sing along songs "Somewhere Only We Know" and "Crystal Ball". During the short wait for the encore fans could be heard chanting Keane, Keane, Keane with almost as much fervor as USS fans. With no surprise the last song was once again Bedshaped.


Keane @ Sound Academy
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Keane @ Sound Academy
Originally uploaded by vasquezr
Keane have announced a Canadian tour starting in September. Toronto is not on the list but they will be playing a couple of shows in Ontario, Thunder Bay and Kitchener. I had originally speculated that they may be playing the Ontario leg of Virgin Festival... but the dates don't seem quite right. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

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Photographers Notes:
The Sound Academy is one of Toronto's best lit venues. For this show I used my canon 17-55 2.8 along with a rented canon 70-200 2.8 mounted on my trusty 40D. Lately I've been using my 40D exclusively in an effort to travel light. This works nicely for club shows with no song limit. I may think about carrying two bodies again for pit shows since changing lenses just seemed to waste too many precious seconds.

The Birthday Massacre, A Primitive Evolution @ Mod Club

The Birthday Massacre @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Toronto goth band The Birthday Massacre finished off their tour with a fantastic show Sunday night at the Mod Club.


The Birthday Massacre @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The sextet thrilled the crowd with songs mainly off of their last album "Walking with Strangers" with a sprinkling of songs from their previous releases "Violet" and "Nothing and Nowhere". TBM successfully balances dark synth swirls with hard heavy guitar sounds of hardcore metal bands. Their live show is also a great balance of high energy (nobody stays still) and great audience interaction. The mod club made the perfect setting for lead singer Chibi who makes it a point to meet her adoring fans up close multiple times during the set.

The Birthday Massacre @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The Birthday Massacre @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The Birthday Massacre definitely came out to rock starting out the night with fan favourite "Red Stars". They played a solid set including a cover of Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone". They were a lot of fun to watch and even more fun to photograph. Check out their site: http://www.thebirthdaymassacre.com


The Birthday Massacre @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The Birthday Massacre @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

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A Primitive Evolution:

A Primitive Evolution @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


A Primitive Evolution @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Also on the bill were Toronto's A Primitive Evolution, A.P.E. for short, and in short this band just rocked my face off. I knew going in that I was going to like them, but they completely surpassed my expectations. Hard rocking guitars all they way blended with great expressive vocals, upbeat tempos and rockin' female bass player.
This is a band I can't wait to here more from and see again... hopefully very soon. I still can't stop playing their "Beyond True" mix that can be found at:
http://www.myspace.com/aprimitiveevolution.


A Primitive Evolution @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

A Primitive Evolution @ Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

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Photographers Notes:
I Shot most of this show with my wide angle Canon EF-S 10-22mm. Knowing this lens isn't ideal in low light conditions I took advantage of the fact that I did not receive any flash restrictions and decided to use my 580ex ii on top of my 40D to add some fill.

The Midway State @ Rusty's at Blue, Collingwood

The Midway State @ Rusty's
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Midway State @ Rusty's
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

I was very excited to catch The Midway State at their hometown show at Rusty's in the Collingwood area. They weren't two songs into their set when I noticed they sounded even better than they did back at their November Tattoo Rock Parlour show.
The band played songs from their cd "Holes". With crowd favourites being Never Again, Change You, Fireflies and Can't Stop Waking Up to You. It was great to see the band in such an intimate setting; the stage at Rusty's at Blue has to be one of the smallest I've seen. The homey atmosphere combined with the Nathan Ferraro's banter helped create a connection between the band and the audience. At one point everyone shared a chuckle as Nathan mentioned having heard the song "Nobody Understands" blasting away from an unlikely source... a burly biker's stereo. Although the band has a great set of their own songs I've heard them play a couple of covers now. The first was a cover of No Doubt's "Don't Speak". This time it was an impressive cover of The Verve's "Bitter Sweet Symphony". I'm a sucker for live covers. I've always thought it makes the show just that much more interesting. Especially when it is one of your favourite songs. As far as I know their next show isn't until June 20 @ Edgefest. I wonder how many bikers will show up...


The Midway State @ Rusty's
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Midway State @ Rusty's
Originally uploaded by vasquezr