Decibel Geek and Juno

Who or what is a Juno Award, you might ask, that is unless you're from Canada. Well simply put, The Juno Awards are Canada's equivalent to The Grammy's and showcase the best in Canadian music from genres across the board. The Juno Awards are named for Pierre Juneau who was the first president of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and former president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The awards
 began in 1970 and celebrate the best in Canadian musical artists, acknowledging their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. Prior to the Awards, the host city features "Juno Week" with Juno related concerts and activities in the days leading up to the official ceremony.

As a part of 2015's Juno Week in Hamilton, Ontario eOne Entertainment and Gibson guitars held The Gibson All-Star 2015 Juno Extravaganza and Decibel Geek was invited to the event! I'm not too sure who made the mistake of inviting The Meister as Decibel Geek's representative, but I wasn't turning it down! The email evite contained only a R.S.V.P. which offered little information about the event taking place on Saturday March 14, 2015, the night before the actual Juno Awards. So I sent an email:


"My name is Rich "The Meister" Dillon and I'm a writer with Decibel Geek. I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to represent Decibel Geek at The Gibson All-Star Juno Extravaganza 2015 on March 14. Never having attended the event previously I had a couple of questions and I could find no information online.
1. What's the dress code for the event? Being a rocker my usual outing attire consists of ripped jeans and a sleeveless rock t-shirt, but that won't go over well if this is a black tie event.
2. Will there be any performances/special guests and if so who would they be?"

Answer: "1. No dress code, come as you are. 2. 13 artists from 9pm-3am, but can't say who they are, only that all of them are JUNO Award winners/noms." It all sounds so mysterious.

Liuna Station was where the event was being held (revealed only after you R.S.V.P.'ed) and the banquet hall was quite nice inside and a fairly large stage set-up. I certainly felt a little out of my element but was prepared to leave my 80's style hard rock and heavy metal bubble for a little while, expanding my horizons. For the most part, I was underdressed in my jeans, but hey, at least I threw on a collared shirt for the occasion! Learning earlier in the day that fellow Decibel Geek staff writer Kate Campbell was also going to be in attendance (invited as a guest of another invitee) the shenanigans ensued quite quickly as she discovered the Bacardi photo booth. So glad she was here
tonight! (see photos below)!

The affair was underway with the Julian Taylor Band serving as the house band if you will. They treated the spiffy crowd to about a half an hour set of covers  such as Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down", Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" and others peppered with an original piece or two and I must say that they were quite good. Julian Taylor possessed an excellent voice and covered a wide range of material including, at one point Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus". Their originals were also quite spirited especially the song announced as being from their new album which is named after the bar from the first Terminator movie, Tech Noir, and I'm definitely on the lookout to purchase the album....perhaps a Facebook message will assist me.

The Julian Taylor Band sometimes vacated the stage to make way for the next Juno winner/nominee performer and sometimes portions of them accompanied or provided the backing band for the performer on stage at the time. While I was unfamiliar with each and every artist aside from one, they each had fans in the audience and rightly so as they all seemed to perform well despite not being "my style". I wondered if we will be getting a hard rock or heavy metal band at some point? Definitely expanding my horizons. The hors d'oeuvres that began circling the crowd fully assisted in taking my attention and focus away from the performers on stage, well to be exact Kate playing the role of "food shark" as she trailed around the crowd following different hors d'oeuvres trays distracted me. All that was missing was the Jaws movie theme music as she sighted her prey and struck, snatching the tasty little morsels off of the silver platters.

Throughout the evening the performers that spent some time on stage included (and please don't crucify me if I missed someone or made a name error, but I've tried my best to get everyone) JUNO winner for "Country Album of the Year" Dallas Smith and his band for one song, country artist Meghan Patrick from Bowmanville, Ontario and The Once (a three piece band from NFLD). Alysha Brilla with the house band and her strong voice covered "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" and an original with help from her sisters and publicist. JUNO Award winner Amelia Curran & Hamilton, Ontario's Harlan Pepper with Colin Linden delivered Teenage Head's "Let's Shake" (at least I'm pretty sure that's who was on stage for that excellent cover!). When Tom Wilson (of Junkhouse...and the only performer I knew) graced the stage with his band Blackie & The Rodeo Kings (also featuring Colin Linden) he spoke into the mic "What we've got up here is a bunch of JUNO losers!" before breaking into Junkhouse's "Out Of My Head" I had forgotten about this song/band and how much I played that cassette when it came out in the early 90's, in any case it was friggin' awesome to hear it tonight, a definite highlight! This performance was followed by a rap/hip-hop style artist, Kardinal Offishall who called for the crowd to come closer and they responded as such (I did quite the opposite). He probably had the biggest response, the crowd the most into things I'd seen yet, but I'd never even heard of him before this and had to ask someone nearby for the name. Steve Strongman, Steve Hill & Matt Anderson teamed up to deliver some awesome "dirty blues" next, more albums to search out for. It wasn't metal, but ole Meister can certainly groove to this! Amanda Rheaume ripped through some covers like The Black Crowes' "Hard To Handle" and The Rolling Stones' "Honkytonk Woman". I personally was definitely preferring the latter half of the acts, but maybe that's because the comedic "food shark" had vacated and I was simply paying more attention. The Dead South from Regina, Saskatchewan were something different with their bluegrass style and served up an amazing cover of "House Of The Rising Son" from The Animals before Lindsay Broughton took the stage with the house band for spirited versions of the rock n roll/blues classic "Shake, Rattle & Roll", Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" and more, taking us well past 2AM! Finally at around 2:30AM the now rather sparse audience was aurally abused by what I'd been searching for all night long...loud, heavy, smashing, headbanging music! It was served up in the form of a band that I had as yet unheard of (a theme of the evening it seems), The Wild! The Wild! hail from the West Coast Canadian Province of British Columbia and when they hit the stage, literally assaulting the audience's ears, I was jolted alive. Described on the band's Facebook page as "the bastard son of AC/DC and ZZ Top", The Wild! have recently signed to eOne Entertainment and I'm now waiting to get my hands on their forthcoming album. Check out this video from the event for their song "Road House".

After The Wild's blistering three song assault I drained the remainder of my final adult beverage and headed toward the door, pausing only briefly to check out the evening's final performer (I missed their names) with their cover of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" before I spilled out into the cold dark night. Now to kill time in a 24hr A&W until the next bus to Union Station, Toronto at 4:30AM, then waste 2 hours there until the next bus north to Newmarket at 8AM....what a long night and a chore to make it home!

What did I learn at the eOne/Gibson All-Star 2015 Juno Extravaganza?

#1-Well, I'm rather seriously out of touch with some of my own country's musical talents and not just in genres that I usually avoid, but all around. Time to search out Julian Taylor, Steve Strongman, The Wild! and others all while spinning my age old copy of Junkhouse's Strays.

#2-If you get invited to an event such as this in the future, book a hotel room you idiot so that you don't have literally hours of bus travel to and from, finally reaching your bed at around 9AM, you're too old for this shit nowadays!

Canadian music offers some of the best in the world across all genres and tastes so check some out! Some of my favorite local area bands include Diemonds, Sarasin, Skrou, Shock and Wild T & The Spirit.

Cheers,
The Meister

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LINKS:
eOne Music / Gibson / The Juno Awards / Julian Taylor Band / Dallas Smith / Meghan Patrick / The Once / Alysha Brilla / Amelia Curran / Harlan Pepper / Colin Linden / Lee Harvey Osmond aka: Tom Wilson / Blackie & The Rodeo Kings / Kardinal Offishall / Matt Anderson / Steve Hill / Steve Strongman / Amanda Rheaume / The Dead South / Lindsay Broughton

The Wild! Website / The Wild! Facebook / The Wild! Twitter

Insightful Minds At Ease: A Review of the Abandoned Souls Album

Abandoned Souls are a band from London, Ontario, Canada currently consisting of vocalist/bassist James Todd, drummer Steve Thomas and guitarists Derek De Kort and Tim Thompson.  I must admit that I was unfamiliar with them until they reached out to me after seeing The Meister's Decibel Geek review of Lee Aaron's concert on December 6, 2014 in Whitby, Ontario.  The evening previous, (attended by DBG photographer Brian Ronald) in London, Ontario saw Abandoned Souls setting the stage for the Canadian Metal Queen.  The band has also opened for Skid Row, Red
Dragon Cartel, and Kings X among others in their Southern Ontario stomping grounds.  In 2006, they issued their debut record, Circles of Shadows, trailed with Some Never Will, both of which assisted in garnering the band nominations for two London area music awards and appearances on many music shows and programs according to what I can find about them on the internet information highway.  Damned If You Don't dropped in 2012 and their latest offering, released October, 2014, is called Insightful Minds At Ease.  Insightful Minds At Ease is actually the first part of a two-disc collection that was the "result of some blistering songwriting and recording sessions throughout 2013 and 2014".  The second CD is set for a mid-2015 release.  The album was self-produced by James Todd/Abandoned Souls and recorded at Foundation Studios in London, Ontario.  The album features photography and digital mastery skills from Darkophoto.  Citing interests like Three Days Grace, Godsmack, AX7, Alter Bridge, BLS, Ozzy, Pantera, AIC, Shinedown and Disturbed I fear that this one may have a little too modern of a flavour for my particular tastes, but with Helix's Brian Vollmer supplying guest vocals on one track my mind is definitely open.

Insightful Minds At Ease opens up with the lead single, "Leave It Behind", and it's familiar (to those of us old enough to remember) sound of a phonograph needle hitting the vinyl.  The track quickly blossoms into a powerful up-tempo rocker and excellent choice for the album's representation.  "Want And Need" is next in the roster and holds up the qualities of the opener, having great harmonic melodies to the chorus, somehow reminding me a little of Alice In Chains.  We then have "Black", ripping off at a fast pace after the more melodic predecessor and in the fourth position, we find "Save It All", the track featuring the assistance of guest vocalist Brian Vollmer of Helix fame.  Now at the halfway point, only being eight tracks contained on Insightful Minds At Ease, "Take Yourself Away" begins the second half and doesn't seem to offer me anything different than we've already received from the collection.  To be totally honest I was beginning to lose interest by the time we hit "Anybody" as this more modern, grungy-flavoured style of rock is not particularly my preference, but that certainly doesn't mean that these are poor quality tunes.  "Sad Eyes" was more memorable with a chorus that seemed to stand out a little more to me, but I wasn't keen on the I Mother Earth reminiscent title track, "Insightful Minds At Ease" that serves as album's final inclusion.

Overall I found Insightful Minds At Ease to be a little thick sounding and modern for me to spin this on a regular basis, but for fans of that style, this album is definitely right up your alley!  I did find that separating the tracks and listening to them one on one while mixed into a playlist of other music caused them to fare much better than the whole package from start to finish.  Just my personal opinion, but certainly these Canadians are worth checking out, especially if you're into this sub-genre.  A Meister score of 7/10.

Cheers,
The Meister

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(Abandoned Souls Website) (Abandoned Souls Facebook)

"Some Girls Do".....A Lee Aaron Concert Review (Including Photos by Shawn Irwin)

Lee Aaron - @ Barney's in Whitby, Ontario - photo by Shawn Irwin

There was some dividing and conquering of the Canadian Decibel Geek team for this trio of Lee Aaron shows in the southern Ontario area.  Photographer Brian Ronald attended the sold out London, Ontario show on Friday December 5th, 2014 and had rave reports for The Meister and photographer Shawn Irwin, who hit up Whitby's December 6, 2014 show.  Here's my (The Meister's) account of the Whitby event including a photo gallery from Shawn Irwin and a couple of The Meister's videos from the show.

Our initial reaction to this new venue for us was at first less than positive.  There seemed to be bit of a bottleneck just through the entrance doors as patrons collected behind the soundboard.  With a bar on the right side stretching the length of the venue and booth seating on the other it made for a crowd in this area and poor vantage points for ones of challenged stature such as ourselves.  Once we pushed through, however, there was relatively no one on the floor area and this is really where you need to be for a rock/metal concert anyway.  I noticed that the only way on and off the stage was via stairs at the front and center, a poor design.  I can't imagine trying to clear drums and equipment during set changes if this was a packed house with everyone crowding the front of the stage!  Other than that I loved the size of the venue, the balcony which would provide great views of the concert (but I'd rather be down front!) and the sound was awesome.  I do hope that this venue succeeds, I'd definitely make the three hour public transit trek there again to see a great live band.

Cindy Weichmann

It began to look a little like The Rockpile in here as we spotted a couple of our regular concert attending friends and even another random guy sporting a Rockpile t-shirt.  The opening band, Nail (featuring Cindy and Rainer Weichmann, once members of Helix), had a thick and heavy, rather industrial sort of sound and I'll have to check into their music.  As we caught up with our Rockpile friends and met some new friends at the same time, Nail were wrapping up with their final song, a radio friendly track titled "Fuck Off and Die".  It was actually about women getting out of a bad relationship, I believe, and was a great song with Cindy Weichmann's strong powerful vocals leading the charge.  At one point she left the stage into the crowd (few people milling about) and stopped to sing in front of us, pushing me in the chest a couple of times as she sang the chorus.

Heavens Fire was up next and having seen them a couple of times before, I was looking forward to their show.  Actually they're not using the Heavens Fire name at this time due to some internal legal band disputes to my understanding.    Darren James Smith (Harem Scarem/Warmachine/Red

Jesse Jack-Heavens Fire-photo by Shawn Irwin

Dragon Cartel) was the former lead singer but he has moved on to front Jake E. Lee's Red Dragon Cartel and so Jesse Jack has stepped in to fill the void, and does so excellently I might add.  I noticed that the guitarist was different, JT Harris being absent, but this new guitarist did a fantastic job and had a great tone.  Perhaps Harris' absence has something to do with the use of the Heavens Fire name, at least that was the rumor going around.  In any case Heavens Fire ripped through a spirited set comprised mostly of songs from the Judgement Day CD.  The original version of the CD featured Darren James Smith, but the band were passing out the re-recorded version at the show featuring Jesse Jack and titled Judgement Day A.D. (which I assume stands for After Darren?).

Drew Masters, editor of M.E.A.T. Magazine (a staple in my days of youth), bounded on to the stage bringing with him the lady of hour (or should I say "Lady of the Darkest Night"?).  After Drew's introduction and welcome to the stage Lee Aaron and her band, Sean Kelly (Guitar), Dave Reimer (bass), John Cody (drums and Aaron's husband) and Matt Weidinger (keyboards) ripped into "Hands On" from her 1989 release Bodyrock.  I was able to capture this opening track on video.

Post by The Meister.

"Powerline" followed as everyone in the audience sang along with Canada's "Metal Queen".  During "Rock Candy" Aaron was sure to give some special attention to the gentleman in the front row at the
foot of the steps as she came right up and sang directly to him.  Lee Aaron stole the hearts of men all over the world in 1984 and she's still doing it today!  "Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi", "Sweet Talk" and "Baby Go Round" all followed bringing us to a real treat for Lee Aaron fans.  Lee Aaron with guitarist Sean Kelly have been working on new music and she let us know that they are hoping to have the new album out by December 2015 at the latest.  They debuted "If You Don't Love Me",

Lee Aaron - photo by Shawn Irwin

one of the new tracks and it went over extremely well from what I saw of the audience, both Decibel Geeks gave it "two thumbs up".  "Some Girls Do" had the crowd rocking and saw Lee Aaron invite a young lady up on stage to join her for a few seconds of chorus singing.  Although I do appreciate many styles of music it's the hard rocking that's true to my heart and so, subsequently, the following selection of "I'd Love To" from Aaron's Jazz era was not a favorite for me.  "Odds of Love" took us to the emotional ballad "Barely Holding On" which Aaron struggled to promote and get played on Canadian radio upon it's release back in 1986 she told us.  I marveled at just how strong and ridiculously powerful her voice was, "Barely Holding On" a complete showcase for these talents.  I readied the video camera once again and caught "Metal Queen", a song that as I understand, Lee Aaron dropped from the setlist for a number of years.  But for me, that song alone was well worth the admission price.

Post by The Meister.

Our friend from the Rockpile found himself being invited on stage for a few moments as Lee plucked his hat from his head to wear herself and quipped that she'd found Walter White in Whitby (prompted by our friends fashionable headgear).  "Watcha Do To My Body" wrapped up the set, but the crowd at Barney's in Whitby would have none of that!  Aaron and band were soon back to deliver a two punch encore set.  Aaron invited two gentlemen concert goers from the crowd up on stage to be her "Go-Go dancers" for "Sex With Love".  The guys looked to be having a lot of fun and "selfie" photos were being snapped all over as they danced, flanking the "Metal Queen" on either side.  "That was awesome!" one exclaimed as he exited the stage afterwards and I recalled that exact feeling when I was called up on stage to sing in the past with other bands.  "Bad Boyfriend" was the final song for the evening and Aaron announced that she would be over at her merchandise table to sign autographs and pose for photos after the set, so please come and say hi she invited.

Shawn Irwin's Photo Gallery (71 Photos)

Another excellent night of homegrown Canadian rock featuring some of the best performers Canada has to offer!

Cheers,
The Meister

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PHOTO CREDIT: SHAWN IRWIN 2014

(Lee Aaron Website) (Lee Aaron Facebook)

(Barney's Website) (Black Moon Entertainment Website)

Running Wild in Brantford...A Helix Concert Review

Well, a night of oddities and anomalies has just dropped itself upon the ole Meister!  Make no mistake however, for the most part that's a good thing.  Allow me to elaborate some.  For anyone that has read my ramblings previously you'll know that a rather long trek (usually via public transit) to a concert gig is not out of the ordinary for me by any means, but that's where I begin my story for today.  While at another awesome live music event and subsequent drinking experience at Decibel Geek photographer Brian Ronald's house in October (Halloween to be precise) he asked me if I would be coming out to Helix.  Totally unaware that there was an impending Helix gig, I enthusiastically responded with a "Hell yeah!".  The Helix gig in question was to take place on Friday, November 28, 2014 in Brantford, a three hour public transit venture for me.  I began to chat about the event around work over the following weeks as I was quite excited to be seeing Helix again, not having seen them since 2013's Monsters of Rock Cruise.

Anomaly #1: Two co-workers began to express an interest in coming with me to the show!  Serious?  Rarely does anyone outside of my circle enjoy my musical tastes, but it turns out they were dead serious.

Since they are also from my home town of Newmarket, Ontario their attendance would also be saving approximately two hours of public transit travel time.  Excellent!  That's where the trouble began.....we set out in plenty of time, planning on having dinner somewhere in Brantford prior to the event.  En route we encountered horrendous traffic like I've never seen before, turning a 1.5 hour drive into nearly 3.5!  The public transit game would actually have been faster!  Finally after pit-stops and the assistance of Google Maps we arrived and my first impression was; "Holy crap, this place looks all wrong!".  We had arrived at a strip mall plaza and a rather desolate looking one at that.  But the illuminated light-box sign reading "Army, Navy and Air Force Club" informed us that we were indeed in the correct spot.  As we entered the shopping plaza store front I was struck by another thought....this place really, really reminds me of a wedding reception hall or a year end sports team banquet at the local Legion!

Anomaly #2: I've seen Helix at festivals, on a cruise ship and at smaller clubs, but now I'm about to see Helix play at a wedding!

This event was actually a toy drive and as we entered the venue, presenting our unwrapped toys we received hand stamps and proceeded into the "wedding reception".  A Santa-dressed gentleman, who I assumed was the promoter or organizer of the event, was on hand at the door to warmly greet us and thank us for coming.  To the right hand side near the bar was an enormous pile of donated toys awaiting their Christmas destinations to those children in need.  Every child should experience the magic of receiving toys at Christmas and I was proud to see one of my favorite Canadian bands supporting such an event.  The three of us occupied chairs next to Brian and a friend of his.  Brian and I immediately lapsed into "rock talk" with preparing our "Top Ten Albums of the Year" lists for Decibel Geek and the latest Helix effort, Bastard of the Blues among the subjects.

Anomaly #3: I have known Brian for about three years and never, ever at a show, even on the cruise, have I seen him void of his camera apparatus as he was on this night.  As happy as I am to see him cut loose with some beers, I want some damn photos for this review slacker!

Unfortunately, we had basically missed the opening act thanks to our traffic nightmare, but we were able to catch the young lady and her guitarist as they wrapped up the final song of their set.  The evening's MC then took over for a series of prize giveaways and on-the-spot auctions, as well as drawing attention to other raffles that would be going on later in the night.  We learned that this was the third annual Helix Toy Drive event and I've already marked my calendar for next year's.

Helix was welcomed to the stage with a keyboard rendition of their most popular song, "Rock You" emanating from the PA sound system.  They blasted into "No Rest For the Wicked" to lead the charge and unfortunately the sound was not the best from our position seated at a long banquet table that was only missing the wedding tablecloths!

Anomaly #4: I have never seen a Helix show where pretty much the entire audience, let alone me, were seated!

"Wild in the Streets" was the next selection and that was it for me!  I'll be damned if I'm gonna let this flaccid crowd dictate how I see Helix!  Brian and I, both with freshly replenished beverages, headed up to the stage on the right side.  The sound was much, much better up here, probably the evils of bouncing off of the ceiling further back.  Brian Vollmer (vocalist) let the crowd know that Helix had just returned from a tour in Scandinavia as Brian and I remarked on the skills of newest Helix member, guitarist Chris Julke.  They went next to their latest release, Bastard of the Blues, for "Even Jesus (Wasn't Loved In His Hometown)", the first single.  With dry ice clouds billowing out from Greg "Fritz" Hinz's drum riser I was able to capture "Dirty Dog" on video.

Post by The Meister.

Anomaly #5: While there were now several patrons standing and approaching the stage, there seemed to be a force field in the shape of a semi-circle at the front of the stage that no-one seemed to want to break.  Certainly not the style of crowd that we are used to at a show!  Actually kinda nice not to be pushing and shoving, trying to defend your position leaning on the front of the stage.

Brian Vollmer-photo by The Meister

The title track from the new album, "Bastard of the Blues", was up next featuring Kaleb Duck and Chris Julke both wailing on their guitars in an awesome display.  "The Kids Are All Shakin'" for some reason had me reflecting on the inaugural Monsters of Rock Cruise in 2012.  I had been dining alone sporting an older Helix tee and seated at a long eight person table in the buffet.  With my head down, shoveling in food in a flurry so as not to miss the next shipboard concert, I simply grunted approval without even looking up when someone commented "Nice shirt, mind if I sit at your table?"  It was a good several minutes later before it registered that it was none other than Brian Vollmer that had chosen to sit with me upon spotting my support for the band!  Kaleb Duck and Brian Vollmer now shielded their eyes and looked to the sky as the sound of an aeroplane passing overhead resonated through the PA system before Kaleb's guitar prowess lead off "When the Hammer Falls".  I've seen Helix quite a few times, but I can't recall a bass

Daryl Gray-blurry photo by The Meister

solo from Daryl Gray in previous events, so this was a new addition for me.  Gray called out "Give me some light!" and the fluorescent overheads illuminated the entire "wedding hall" as he pulled out what I believe was a violin bow to wield across the strings of his bass guitar.  I was also surprised to hear "Danger Zone" next as I don't think it's a usual inclusion in the setlist, either that or my memory's going in my old age.  One of my all time favorite Helix tracks, paling only in comparison to the rarely played "The Storm" and "Get Up!", "Running Wild in the 21st Century" saw me headbanging and singing away (apologies to those within earshot.....I'm tone deaf and tend to monotone hum the words that I don't actually know, but hey, I'm having fun!).  Vollmer made an appeal for us to support Canadian music, especially classic rock bands as Canadian radio is far from a supporter and buy merchandise from, not just Helix, but other bands as well.  This year marks the 40th Anniversary for Helix he informed us next.  He reminisced that when they first started out bar owners wanted dance bands to get the people up off their seats.  That's what the next track, "Make 'Em Dance" is all about.  The Crazy Elephant cover "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" followed before Vollmer told everyone that the band would be at the merchandise table after the set to sign autographs and take photos.  He then dedicated the next selection "To my lovely wife, a song from the Wild in the Streets album, "Dream On"."  "Deep Cuts the Knife" was next and after that I got the camera out again to film "Screaming At the Moon" from Bastard of the Blues.

Post by The Meister.

Getting into the festive season next with "Jingle Bells", I certainly don't remember any guitar work like Kaleb blisteringly delivered in the traditional version!  Asking about the Toronto Maple Leaf fanship in the room served as the intro for "All I Want For Christmas Is the Leafs To Win the Cup" and I sung "Go Habs Go!" in my head, not being a Leaf fan by any means.  "Heavy Metal Love" was on the roster now and as Vollmer jumped off the stage to sing in the semi-circle that still refused to be broken you can clearly see Decibel Geek photographer Brian Ronald in the "Metal On Ice" tee-shirt drunkenly rocking out in my video...way to go Bri!!

Post by The Meister.

A little instrumental break led us to Kaleb's awesome "William Tell Overture", this time with some help from Chris Julke, something that I've usually seen Kaleb play himself, came off really well with both guitarists in the mix.  As would be expected, "Rock You" wrapped things up and one or two crowd members broke the force field semi-circle, edging closer and closer.  The boys left the stage

Helix Toy Drive setlist

for a few minutes to towel off while the crowd did a fair job of making noise to bring them back to deliver "Heavy Metal Cowboys" for an encore.  As I carefully peeled the silver duct tape off of the setlist that I had pilfered from the stage, I saw the other encore choices listed that did not get played.  One was the awesome ballad that always makes me think of Maxwell House coffee, "Good to the Last Drop", and a serious surprise in "Get Up!".  Although I loved this Helix show as I do all their performances, I dearly wish they'd played "Get Up!".  There's so many Helix songs that I love, such as "Jaws of the Tiger", that will probably never see a concert, so the fact that "Get Up!" made the printing of a setlist gives me hope that I may just hear it live someday yet.

Even though I've met the guys many times over I headed to the merchandise table to do so once again and thank them for another awesome show.  I was surprised and proud when I saw my two friends, who had really seemed to enjoy the show even joining me at the front after a time, purchasing shirts and CD's!  I fear that Helix and I may have created a monster as they were very questioning about the Monsters of Rock Cruise during the drive home!  The whole band posed for a photo with them pointing at the Helix logo that appears in my full sleeve tattoo.  What an awesome night with an awesome band who truly do appreciate their fans and deliver their all on stage every single time.

Helix checking out The Meister's tattoo!

Thanks Helix.....when's the next gig?

BUY: Helix - Bastard of the Blues

Cheers,
The Meister

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(Helix Website) (Helix Facebook) (Brian Vollmer Facebook)

Brighton Rock Takeover - Ep163

This week's episode marks the third time that the "Hoser Heavy Metal Twins" have taken the reigns of the Decibel Geek Podcast. Once again Wally "Wallygator" Norton and Rich "The Meister" Dillon are back with a new batch of Canadian homegrown hard rock and heavy metal. Joining the Decibel Geek website writers turned hosts are two very special guests guitarist Greg Fraser and bassist Stevie Skreebs from Canadian bands Brighton Rock and Fraze Gang.

"Roadtrip!" was called, as the Decibel Geek podcast headed out to Niagara Falls Canada to the home of bassist Stevie Skreebs. Equipped with some Iron Maiden Trooper beer, we set up shop in the very basement where Brighton Rock often rehearse and where Fraze Gang came to life.

For the next hour the guys enjoyed some laughs, some beers and most importantly some great Canadian music. Also touched on throughout the show, the formation of Brighton Rock, playing a historic show with Triumph, how they came to be part of Mitch Lafon's KISS tribute album, their interpretation of "Creatures of the Night" and more. They also chime in on Gene Simmon's "rock is dead" quote and of course they discussed the progress on the upcoming and eagerly anticipated new Brighton Rock record that is in the works.  The Decibel Geeks can tell you.....it's gonna be fantastic!

Wally's Story...

Greg rocking the Hammer 1989

I have written about growing up a Canadian metal fan in the 80's many times now. We didn't get MTV north of the border, instead we got the Canadian version called Much Music. Much played all the big rock videos of the day. Crue, Def Leppard and Whitesnake were there, of course, but right along with them were plenty of great Canadian rock, Coney Hatch, the KiLLeR DWaRfS and Brighton Rock among the best. They were every bit the "rock gods" that Sixx, Elliot and Coverdale were. Of course they were, they were all over our televisions and radio airwaves. It almost seems strange to me that these great Canadian bands were not necessarily getting the same exposure south of the border.

Brighton Rock in the 80's burned quite a trail, released three incredible albums produced by Michael Wagener, Jack Richardson and Toby Wright respectively. They earned Gold records, won Juno awards and toured the country relentlessly. Over the years I was privileged enough to catch Brighton Rock live probably a dozen or more times. From various clubs in Hamilton (Dallas, Bannisters, etc.), my college pub on frosh week, opening for Honeymoon Suite at COPPS Coliseum and opening for Triumph at Canada's Wonderland.

Stevie's Peavey!

If you had told the 18 year old me that I would be invited to sit around and chat with Greg and Stevie, at Stevie's house no less, I might have actually peed myself. Fortunately as a mature adult now (shut up Rich!), I was able to contain my bladder and enjoy the experience. After the recording, the conversation continued on and as hinted on the show we got a sneak peak at one of the new songs slated for the new Brighton Rock record. A thick heavy riff sets off a great new tune that I can't wait to add to my music collection, hurry up fellas! Stevie even let me tinker with his bass as I suddenly went fanboy and almost did a Wayne's World "We're not worthy!" You can see how miserable I am in the photo.

Being able to share some Brighton Rock and Fraze Gang music has been a blast! I want to thank Stevie and Greg for being a part of the show, sharing some of your musical picks and for sharing some of the great memories with the Decibel Geek listeners.

Rich "The Meister"'s Story:
Thanksgiving is upon us once again and it's time for Chris and Aaron's yearly week off.  These two faithfully deliver an inciteful, humorous, and entertaining podcast each and every week, never having missed one for a total of 162 episodes!  In what has become a yearly tradition in itself, The Hoser Heavy Metal Twins, Canadians Wally "Wallygator" Norton and Rich "The Meister" Dillon are back for a third year of stepping in to bring you this week's episode.

I wanted to do something different for our third year attempting to remotely fill the big shoes of the regular Decibel Geek hosts and basically give the faithful listeners something better than just the two of us "Hosers".  I didn't know quite what, but almost immediately after I expressed this sentiment to Wally he returned with the suggestion that soon became a reality.  Joining the Decibel Geek website writers turned hosts for this

The Meister mauled by Brighton Rock!

episode are two very special guests, guitarist Greg Fraser and bassist Stevie Skreebs from the Canadian bands Brighton Rock and Fraze Gang.

Personally, I almost feel deprived at times, especially when reading Wally's story above, in that although I was a long time listener my first concert experience with Brighton Rock was the October 2012 show at The Rockpile in Toronto.  Wally and I got the opportunity to sit down with frontman Gerry McGhee before the event for an in depth interview.  The boys had set the gig as a warm up for their planned appearance at that year's Firefest Festival in Nottingham UK and what a show it was.  It was thrilling to finally get to see these guys live and I don't know what they were like then, but I think I can safely say they're stronger than ever.  Over the next couple of years I would often speak to Greg via the internet and even run into him at various shows held at The Rockpile venues, to the point where a friendship has formed.  Even with this it was still exciting to sit down and talk with the boys in this revered space.  As Wally eluded to the fact that 18 year old him may have wet himself, 41 year old me was near that (well I did drink a fair amount of Skreebs' beer!).

With the traditional "Keep it Canadian" theme, the four play some great Canadian music, some Brighton Rock/Fraze Gang, chat about bands, music, concert memories and of course drink some beer.  Hopefully you find it as interesting to listen to as we did fun in recording it.

Cheers,
The Meister  (The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

Buy Music!
(click artist name to purchase!)

Brighton Rock -Young, Wild & Free
Brighton Rock - Take a Deep Breath
Brighton Rock - Love Machine
Brighton Rock - A Room For Five: Live
Fraze Gang - Fraze Gang
Fraze Gang - 2
Rush - Moving Pictures
Triumph - Thunder Seven
Step Echo - Songs For the Broken
Blood of Van Gogh - Blood of Van Gogh

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CONFIRMED: I am a Rockaholic!

I have had the pleasure of going on the first three Monsters of Rock Cruises and I am currently booked on the upcoming fourth one in April 2015. One band that I am still surprised about their absence on the cruise so far has been Warrant. They have all the qualifications – American, MTV stars, late 80’s/early 90’s sound and they are still touring. Maybe there is a story behind why that I have yet to learn. However, I did get my chance to see them live on Sunday September 7th, 2014 as they pulled into the Western Fair in London, Ontario for a one off Canadian date.

Local band Nail started things off as they began to attract the fair goers towards the concert stage area. By the time Warrant arrived the place was packed. My sister Donna accompanied me to the park. She then asked me the infamous question us concert freaks get all the time. “So, how many originals left in the band?” I was quick to mention that the band consisted of the four original players from the heyday of their fame - Joey Allen and Eric Turner on twin lead guitars, Jerry Dixon on bass and Steven Sweet on the drums. The only replacement was at lead vocals once greatly held by the late Jani Lane who passed away in 2011. In the case of Warrant it is hard to complain about a band that wants to continue on despite the fact a member has passed on. I DO in fact have issues where bands have all original members but can’t get along long enough to give the fans what they really want – especially at this stage of our lives and theirs. Skid Row, Queensryche, Great White, Journey, the list goes on and on. (Don’t get me wrong – some of these newer renditions are pretty damn good.....but!). End of rant.

New on vocals since 2008 is none other than the great Robert Mason (Lynch Mob, Big Cock etc.). He truly has a great stage presence and really engages the crowd. He has a very distinctive voice but can pull off the lighter ballads such as "Heaven", "I Saw Red" and "Sometimes She Cries" with perfection. Although their set was short and sweet, clocking in around 1 hour and 15 minutes they managed to squeeze in all the faves and a few from their latest album Rockaholic. Warrant has the claim to fame in my books of having one of my all-time favorite songs from that era (or any other) in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and one of my least favorite songs “Cherry Pie”. This show I heard them both live back to back to end the night and in between snapping pics I was actually snapping my fingers and fist pumping to the latter.

The power of loud, live rock and roll can do that to a person.

Here are a few pics from Warrant and openers Nail from the event.....enjoy!!
Thanks Brian
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