On December 11th, Stereos hit the University of Calgary's Den with openers The Envy, The Artist Life, and The Midway State. The show, although scheduled at a typical 18+ venue, was an all ages performance, which meant a definite hoard of young girls would be expected to crowd the small space.
Stereos were seen on last season's finale of MuchMusic's disBAND, which saw the band go through the usual struggles to get a thumbs up from the show's judges. Surprisingly, the Edmonton born band went away with overwhelming praise, and also with a record contract from Universal. From there, they quickly hit the radio and television waves strong. The first single 'Summer Girl' off their self-titled debut disc saw the band pinpoint a unique and successful dance-pop vibe, and have continued that feel with follow-up singles 'Throw Ya Hands Up' and 'Turn It Up'.
With the release of their debut EP earlier this year, Inner City Elegance have been taking over Calgary's music scene in a powerful and strictly energetic manner. Lead singer and guitarist Bruno Rodrigues, originally from Brazil, moved to Canada in 2007, later forming the band with bassist Justin Parsons and drummer Spencer Kathrens.
Like any other band, they've had to put in a lot of time and effort to get to where they are today. "In the beginning, we tried to play as many shows as we possibly could," they said. "From there on we worked hard to build our fan base and get the word out about our band."
After bursting onto the music scene in late 2008, the three of them had the opportunity to record and release their first disc.
"The album was produced and engineered by the wizard Casey Lewis," the band told us. Lewis operates Echo Base Studios in north Calgary and has worked with a substantial variety of artists. "We spent four days in the studio to record the five song EP," the band also said. "The whole time was spent twittering, cracking jokes, and upgrading our musical superpowers."
The Independently released cd includes title track Hot & Dangerous and fan favourite Jager Baby, as well as others. The EP finishes with a song called Can't Always.
"Can't Always was a big step for us," the guys said. "We feel it made us realize where we were headed as a band, and it gave us the inspiration to come up with our next batch of music." That being said, during live shows the band always plays a whole set list that includes songs that do not appear on their EP.
All ages fans gathered at Tubby Dog on 17th Ave. on Dec. 5 to hear them play, despite the blizzarding weather conditions. Beverages, fries and hot dogs were provided by the venue, and Christmas lights and retro decorations created a completely unique atmosphere. The bands performed in a small couch-lined area with old Loony Tunes cartoons playing in the background.
Opening the show was another local band called When We Were Dinosaurs. Unfortunately, those guys had other places to be after the show and couldn’t stick around. However, t-shirts and cds were available at the front of the venue while the band played.
Inner City Elegance took the “stage” to a small crowd of loyal fans, most of them knowing the lyrics and loudly singing them back at Rodrigues. An all ages show provided opportunity for a larger number of younger and more familiar concert goers to attend, regardless of the conditions outside.
The show was originally planned to take place on the 4th at The New Black Centre, but due to noise complaints the venue was shut down. Luckily, they’ve recently been reopened and the band has scheduled another show with them for Jan. 29. “We had a blast playing there and wish that Calgary had more venues like it,” the band said.
Given their crowd-pumping energy and loyal following, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Inner City Elegance is making their way up the popularity charts; the band has all kinds of hopes for the future. "We are planning a cross Canada tour in 2010, as well as working on getting everything in line to record a full length album," they said. "We are also working hard to arrange a tour in Brazil, which would be a trip of a lifetime."
Visit myspace.com/innercityelegance for more information on the band or to check out their music. But keep in mind that listening online is nothing compared to their live show, so make sure you get your tickets for next month's gig at The New Black. All photos by fourfourbeat.
Three Days Grace hit the stage Monday, Nov. 30 at the Stampede Corral with openers Default and The Used.
Three Days Grace recently released their third studio album Life Starts Now with first single Break, following their highly successful second disc One-X.
The show was originally scheduled for the Saddledome but got switched to the Corral with suspected cause being low ticket sales. With this change there came tons of confusion and hassle with exchanging tickets. For people who bought them from ticketmaster locations, they actually ended up waiting until the day of the show to get them officially exchanged regardless of many conflicting statements from online and radio sources saying to exchange before the show day.
Half of the Corral stadium was made available for the show, which filled up substantially by the time the show began around 7 p.m.
Defualt brought a spotless performance as the first band to come out. They sang hits that included Wasting My Time, Count On Me and Deny.
When The Used hit the stage, the crowd began with the usual fist pounding mosh pit and consistent crowd surfing. The band brought a heavy, grunge act that was only topped off by lead singer Bert McCracken's greasy hair, crazy facial expressions and constant f-bombs that always got the crowd even more pumped and excited.
Three Days Grace came out with huge applause, singing many of their Canadian hits such as I Hate Everything About You, Never Too Late, Pain and newest, Break. The stands were on their feet most of the show rocking out to Adam Gontier's seamless rock vocals, the infectious guitar riffs, the pounding bass lines and the intense drum beats. The show finished with a three song encore ending the night with the crowd favourite Animal I Have Become.
Faber Drive hit the Olympic Plaza stage for a free show a little after 5 p.m. Friday as part of the weekends Grey Cup festivities. Regardless of the worsening winter weather that was seen, fans began waiting much earlier in the afternoon trudging through the wind, cold temperatures and occasional snow falls to see the band up close and personal.
The band performed songs from both albums, Seven Second Surgery and recently released can'T keEp A SecrEt, and even touched Owl City's song 'Fireflies' to great audience surprise. The performance surely did not disappoint the devoted fan base considering the blizzard that scattered many of the football supporters indoors that were there previous in the day. The high energy and emotion seen from the band on stage seemed to warm crowd hearts as well as shivering hands and feet that filled the Plaza.
fourfourbeat@live.com ---- Email us anytime regarding photos, features or interviews you may want us to cover/blog about. Also any questions and comments are welcome! We're happy to chat it up. ----
