Search Results for: CANADA

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Concert-goers and performers alike sang and danced as Canadian artists such as Avril Lavigne and Sarah McLachlan took the stage for a tsunami relief fundraiser. A capacity crowd of 18,000 happy revelers packed Vancouver’s GM Place Saturday night for a sold-out show, featuring Lavigne, McLachlan, Delerium, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida and Sum 41 and the Barenaked Ladies. The show raised almost $3 million. “This is an incredible, incredible cause,” said CBC-TV comedian Rick Mercer. “We’ve shown the world how generous Canadians are.” Mercer hosted the event aimed at helping relief efforts in south Asia where the… Read more »

During an interview a few months back, Serena Pruyn – the enthusiastic frontwoman for Can-rockers Oliver Black – said her band were in no rush to get signed. The Welland, Ontario, quartet were taking their time perfecting a live set and building a loyal audience while several record companies courted the increasingly popular group. It seems Oliver Black are now ready and have announced details of their first record deal. Turns out they’ve signed to New York City label TVT Records and Universal Music will distribute them here in Canada. TVT is famous for introducing Nine Inch Nails to the… Read more »

Just like everything that surrounds Sum 41, Chuck, the band’s fourth full-length album, has an outlandish story behind it. Last May, the group of 20-somethings were in the Congo, doing the charitable rock star thing by filming a documentary for War Child Canada about the civil war there, which has claimed over three million lives. In the midst of their altruistic act, the band suddenly found themselves in the midst of a serious violent outbreak as gun-fighting and bombs began falling just outside of their hotel. We caught up with Dave “Brown Sound” Baksh to talk a bit about dodging… Read more »

The John Bassett Theatre in Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre has become best known as the home of Canadian Idol, but the concert hall will be filled with many of the people who inspire the Idol hopefuls next month. The Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame will be inducting a selection of great Canadian songs and their writers on February 8 and the list of performers who will celebrate the songs is just as impressive. A Canadian all-star band featuring Tom Cochrane, Three Days Grace, Ian Thornley, Jeff Healey and Margo Timmins of The Cowboy Junkies will gather to perform The Guess… Read more »

Green Day topped the U.S. pop albums chart for a second consecutive week Wednesday, passing the two million sales mark and extending its lead over Eminem during a quiet sales period. Overall U.S. album sales in the week ended Jan. 16 were down 9.5% from the previous week at 9.6 million units and 8.6% lower than the same week last year. Year-to-date sales stand at 20.3 million units, down 20% from 2004. Green Day’s “American Idiot” (Reprise) sold almost 100,500 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan, up 271 copies from the previous week. Along with Shania Twain’s “Greatest Hits,” which bolted… Read more »

In what may be an attempt to avoid Canada’s cold winter, Victoria indie-rock quartet Hot Hot Heat are heading to the land of beer and Beatles, to perform a one-off gig in London, England. According to nme.com, Canada’s garage rockers will perform at the Borderline on January 26, previewing some fresh tracks from their upcoming album Elevator, which is due for release in April. The British gig will show off their newly acquired guitarist Luke Paquin, who replaced former axeman Dante DeCaro, who left the band shortly after the completion of the latest album. Originating from San Francisco, Paquin was… Read more »

To many touring bands, the East Coast of Canada is uncharted territory due to logistical and financial reasons. Some bands manage to make it to the Maritimes, but few are able to extend their tours over to Newfoundland. Even many Maritime bands have never been over to The Rock. And in reverse, some Newfoundland acts have never performed outside of their home province. The St. John’s music scene continues to thrive, but longtime scene veteran Liz Pickard says that it’s time for local bands and labels to get their respective acts together and to get some national exposure. As a… Read more »

Los Angeles – Grammy-nominated punk trio Green Day returned to the top of the U.S. pop charts Wednesday with its hit opus “American Idiot,” which sold just 178 copies more than Eminem’s reigning champ. “American Idiot” (Reprise/Warner Bros.) sold 100,167 copies in the week ended Jan. 9, according to Nielsen SoundScan, taking its total to 1.9 million units. Worldwide sales stand at over five million copies, the label said. Upon its Sept. 21 release, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, a first for Green Day, and it also opened at No. 1 in Britain, Canada, Japan… Read more »

Alexisonfire inherited the screamo crown of Canada this year, knocking it right off the emotionally hardcore heads of their peers. Their sophomore disc, Watch Out!, which the band describes as sounding like “two Catholic high-school girls in mid-knife-fight,” went gold in under three months, even though the band received little radio play. We caught up with lead screamer George Pettit to talk about the finer points of fronting the band and how his success is finally allowing him the chance to move out of his parents’ house. You guys have had a crazy-good year. Has the success been any different… Read more »

It wasn’t a very good night for openers Killswitch Engage, as they announced right before their set that their singer had “blown his voice” and Unearth’s frontman (who already sang that night) would be filling in. Fortunately, no angry rioting ensued, not even when they cut their set short and promised to bring a better show through town next time. Their technical defeat was accepted gracefully by the pierced-and-tattooed hordes, who gave KE a roomful of raised metal horns as a salute. Without a doubt, the night belonged to Slipknot. With Number 8 (Corey Taylor) holding up a framed award… Read more »