It was a few weeks ago and Weezer were not long in our fair city before they felt compelled to remark on its greatness thusly:
St. John’s is all that and a bag of fish and chips!
The comment made its way through the online social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and even this blog, where local fans rejoiced.
We’d put off a good show for Weezer. Would they return the favour?
By all accounts the answer turned out to be a resounding hellz yeah.
Photographer Steve Keats was front and centre and here’s how he saw it all go down:
I was lucky enough to be in the photo pit (aka. the best seat in the house) for the first few minutes of the Weezer show.
To say they came out rockin’ would be an understatement as Rivers was jumping over us and into the crowd before the end of their opening version of ‘Hash Pipe’.
At one point, Rivers “borrowed” my camera to snap some shots of the crowd and a closeup of himself as I stood by in a mild state of shock.
They went on to play a high-energy set filled with tons of crowd interaction, including some love for our breath-taking scenery, friendly people and unusual town names.
You really got the feeling they enjoyed their stay and wanted to thank everyone with a stellar performance; and the crowd loved every second.
All photos by Steve Keats and appear courtesy of SNAP St. John’s. Thanks Steve!
The concert was only announced as an event on Facebook four days ago. In that time, the event page has amassed over 2,000 “confirmed guests.”
This morning tickets went on sale across five separate locations.
20 minutes later they were sold out.
I remember a couple of winters ago a friend of mine went to Miami for the Winter Music Conference, where thousands upon thousand of artists, DJ’s and industry folk gather to celebrate and discover the latest in music from around the world.
He came back raving about this group he’d discovered there called LMFAO, and he had this great track of theirs that he’d always play who’s chorus slyly bragged, “I’m in Miami, bitch!”
Within a year LMFAO had blown up and that chorus practically became a slogan on the party scene in St. John’s.
And now they’re coming here to play to a sold out crowd courtesy of the folks at Loft 709 and sceneSTIR.
Tickets may be sold out for the LMFAO concert at The Breezeway on Sunday, October 25, but it’s first come, first serve for the official after party at Loft 709 featuring the one and only DJ Mark Power.
So if you missed getting your ticket for LMFAO, at least you’re not totally SOL.
At yesterday’s general meeting, MUNSU gave a post-mortem on the September 12th Snoop Dogg concert, revealing that the Student Union suffered a loss of just over $100,000 in hosting the MUN student orientation event.
The Snoop concert only sold 2560 out of a possible 5914 tickets, which went for between $45 and $55 dollars.
Even the official after-party at the Breezeway, which featured an appearance by Snoop (for a $10,000 fee, half paid by MUNSU, half by event sponsor Ballistic), suffered from a lack of attendance. But then, no one ever actually expects the star to show up to the after-party, so the fact that very few people came is hardly surprising.
After the Nas fiasco from earlier this year, it’s likely some people wondered whether Snoop would even make it to the stage at Mile One. It’s hard to imagine that not affecting ticket sales.
Meanwhile, the recently announced Matthew Good concert happening in December is already close to sold out, while MUNSU’s Our Lady Peace concert last year netted them an unexpected profit of $50,000.
The fact is, MUNSU does not throw concerts in an effort to raise money. They do so as a service to the students of MUN. As such, they expect these services to cost them money. It was said yesterday that $30,000 is deemed an acceptable loss (or cost) for MUNSU to host a major concert. But the Snoop Dogg concert more than tripled that figure.
Though some arguments were made and ideas were tossed around (like actually polling the student population to find out who they’d like to see in concert), no decisions were made at yesterday’s meeting about how to better plan for large-scale concerts so as to avoid the kind of massive loss suffered in hosting Snoop Dogg.
Anyone who enjoys alt-rocker Matt Good will be pleased to hear that he is touring his new album Vancouver and will be playing at the breezeway on Dec. 5th. Tickets go on sale at the breezeway on Sept. 18, according to his website
If you were not aware of the new album, a preview is available until the official release on Oct. 6. Check it out…. here.
I’ve always bemoaned St. John’s’ geographical location in relation to the standard North American tour circuit. While inroads are being made and bands from out of province are showing up on these shores with greater frequency, the sad fact is that, in large part, St. John’s is still too far away for all but the most well-funded, most mobile bands.
And while visits from these jet-setters—Elton John, Neil Young, etc.—are all well and good, a fair assertion would be that St. John’s has been somewhat deprived of appearances by lesser-known, but nevertheless critically lauded groups and artists.
The one obvious pro of this isolation is that a fabulous provincial music scene, nearly self-sustaining, has developed through the decades.
But aside from practically annual visits from the Constantines (a band that, I’m sorry to say, has struggled to stay relevant in the latter part of this decade), and Canada’s pop powerhouse Feist, bands from North America’s thriving non-mainstream musical renaissance seem to pass North America’s eastmost metropolis by.
Or at least I thought that was the case. Recently I was strolling around Facebook and saw that a friend of mine was attending “MTEERIE” and Julie Doiron, with guests. I like Julie well enough (well enough to own most of her catalogue, including some of her 7″ splits) so I thought I’d check out the event page.
My jaw literally dropped when I saw that whoever had created the FB event had mispunctuated the headliner’s name. It really should have read Mt. Eerie, the current moniker of a man who’s been on my “artists I would amputate a limb to see” list since I was in high school.
I have to congratulate MIGHTYPOP: The show on August 8th at George St. United is the best lineup I’ve ever seen in St. John’s.
Mt. Eerie, whose birth certificate reads Phil Elverum, is one of this decade’s most innovative and best songwriters.
Elverum formerly recorded as The Microphones, releasing six full-length studio albums including 2000′s brilliant outing It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water and arguably the finest record of 2001, The Glow, Pt. II.
Elverum’s work encompasses a staggering amount of territory, from the utmost in pop accessibility to sludgy experimental pieces and everything in between. Whether crooning softly with his beautiful boyish tenor or issuing blistering solos and squelching feedback from his guitar (often in the course of one song), everything he’s done is fresh, exciting, and wholly original.
OK, so maybe I’m biased. I’ve been a fan since I heard “The Pull” off of It Was Hot, given to me on a sentimental mixtape when I was in grade 10, over nine years ago. A Mount Eerie-only show would suit me fine.
But the reason this show is going to be so effing wicked is that, not only is Julie Doiron—Canada’s indie-rock godmother—appearing, but Calvin Johnson as well.
Calvin Johnson is the founder of K Records, based in Olympia, Washington. K’s catalogue boasts releases from Mt. Eerie, Mirah, Built to Spill, The Make-Up, Chicks on Speed, Modest Mouse, and many other members of the indie elite.
Johnson also produced One Foot in the Grave by Beck, one of this generation’s most celebrated songwriters.
He’s the lead singer of another of my favorite bands, Beat Happening, essential listening for any North American indie rock completist.
Needless to say, I’m thrilled to see him perform as well.
The show also features Doiron’s band Calm Down It’s Monday, as well as an appearance by local talent Danny Keating.
The show takes place August 8th at 7pm, George Street United Church. It is all-ages, with tickets available at Fred’s, O’Brien’s, Folly, and The Ship.
This was the scene earlier this afternoon as crews worked to prepare George Street for the hoards of revellers due to engulf this narrow roadway tonight, intoxicated by the sounds of Blue Rodeo and the undeniable novelty of drinking outside.
It might be Thursday, but, as far as many people in this city are concerned, the weekend starts now.
Moments ago, fellow Twitterer stevendavis shared this shot of the stage from inside Mile One as fans take their seats for tonight’s Tragically Hip concert.
On the one hand, this is pretty mundane stuff. But on the other hand, this is a prime example of the fact that we’re living in the future.
To all you people of the future pictured above, enjoy the show!
New York hip-hop phenomenon, Nas, was set to play tonight at the Torbay Arena just outside St. John’s, but unfortunately his set was cut short (by which I mean it never happened). According to an audience member, fights broke out which then led to the police showing up and then the fire alarm going off.
A fight broke out between a local resident and a friend of the Halifax based promoter (this is based on reports from various anonymous witnesses). It’s uncertain as to whether or not Nas ever arrived in St. John’s, but what eventually became apparent was that he would not be taking the stage tonight, and that’s when the violence began.
As pandemonium took hold of the Torbay Arena, one patron claimed to have been arrested by an RNC officer for being drunk and was only released after her continued protests that she was at a licensed event, not out in public.
Sounds like there was quite the show, just not the one everyone paid for.
One can’t help but be reminded of last year’s Queens of the Stone Age concert at Mile One where the band unceremoniously left the stage near the end of the night after being repeatedly pummelled by miscellaneous debris from the crowd such as cups and at least one shoe.
He came back raving about this group he’d discovered there called 
