Rockin Around the Christmas Tree

Is it just me, or did Christmas come and go way too quickly?? We’d like to carry the holiday partying into the new year and want YOU to join us. We’ll be having a Holiday Wrap Up Show on Friday, January 7^th at Piranha Bar (680 St. Catherine St. West) at 9pm with Luther Higgs (http://www.myspace.com/lutherhiggs) and Brian Massimetti & the Chicago Mint Club (http://www.myspace.com/chicagomintclub). Look out for an invite via Facebook soon!  

Seeing as 2011 is now less than a week away, I decided to look back on the year and compile a list of band and music-related highlights (in no particular order):

Ø   Degrassi: October 22 - City Stars was featured in an episode of Degrassi called Love Lockdown 2. It was the first time our song was played in a television show, so this was a very exciting moment for us.

Ø   Album Launch Party: January 15 - We released our first full-length album, Maps & Directions, at our launch party at Clydes Pub in the West Island. This was a great night for us on so many levels. First, we were finally able to share an album that we had spent years writing, preparing and recording. Then to see all of our friends at the show to support us was a wonderful feeling J Thanks again to those who came and made it a memorable night for us!

Ø   Hearing Test: April - Kathy and I complain that we can’t hear properly anymore (which really, we can’t). So we both decided to have our hearing checked. Turns out, no hearing loss has been caused by our years of jamming and going to lots of live shows! With that said, if you are also in a band and/or like to go to shows, I would encourage the use of earplugs.

Ø   Osheaga: July 30 & August 1 –This was my second year going to the festival and it was amazing. Being outside in the sun for two entire days, having a chance to listen to upwards of 40 bands, and chilling with great friends (shout out to Kelly and Nastasia!) is what I would call a fantastic weekend. Some of my favourite shows that weekend were The Black Keys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQL6Hhplm5s), Metric, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0RQnGhxZzg), and The Cat Empire to name a few. Also, thank you Sabra tent for giving us tons of delicious hummus J

ØLa Ronde: August 10 - We played a show at La Ronde this summer that was a little out of the  ordinary. We played two sets on the terrace of a "saloon" in one of the food areas of the amusement park. THEN, we got to take full advantage of all the rides for the rest of the day. We thought it would be a smart idea to start with the ride that completely drenches you with water, since we figured we would dry off on the other rides. Yeah, we ended up being soaked for the entire afternoon, haha.  

Ø   Finally, my favourite moments of the year are definitely the fun times shared with friends all year round over dinners, coffees, drinks, shows and Luther Spectra game nights and jams!

So cheers everyone to a fantastic year, and an even better one ahead!

Vanessa   

At Least It Was Here

Bonjour!

Let me first start off by saying ONE WEEK 'TILL CHRISTMAS!!! I'm very excited! Also in a mere few hours from now my good friend "Aussie Chris" will be coming home for the holidays from down under to spend a month here and I'm stoked. It's another thing I look forward to every year around the holidays.

More importantly, though, right now I'm on my Christmas break from school and it rules! Last year I also finished my undergrad, but like a silly goose I am back in school.  This time however, I'm back in CEGEP...weird! I'm basically going to school to get the papers for a job that I've been doing since I was 17 which is being an early childhood educator.  Without those papers I'm not "legit" and frankly, I'm too legit to quit so I'm back at school.

The point is, I have 39 days off and it's great.  My life is also eerily similar to Jeff Winger from Community, which is probably one of the best shows I've ever seen, yeah I love it that much.  I'm this older person with a BA in a crows of youngins, I'm in a study group, there is a "Shirley" and an "Annie" in my classes and sometimes things that happen in my life end up on the show!  But it's okay because school is alright and I get 39 days off!!!!! I don't know what is going to happen when I finally finish school for real and have to work with only 2 weeks off.

...I'll probably go back to school.

HAPPY EARLY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE XOXOXOXO
KATHY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsyzP8pkaTI

It's in the photograph

SO, it's my last blog of 2010 and it's pretty last minute...To look back on the last year, I picked out some iphone photos that sum-up the last 12 months...I also realized that more than half of my photos are of cakes I made, but there was a whole other post just for that (HERE).

Sometime between finishing school last December and starting work in April, I took the time to re-decorate my room. The most exciting part was getting an upgrade from a twin bed with no frame to an adult-sized bed! BUT, my favorite piece is the 40-year-old dresser (from my Mom's teenage bedroom set) I decided to re-paint (with major help from my brother) instead of buying something new. I really love how it came out, and that its totally one of a kind!

 Then in May, I got my diploma to make things official. (I should probably get that framed soon...)

 Llamas!!

Cabane a sucre was awesome, especially because they had llamas.

Finally, Cosmo's a jerk and will even try to steal plastic food!  

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

See you in the new year!!

-Diana

Take Me To The Riot

We're very lucky to live in a city that is home to so many great bands, like the bands we saw last night. Despite the fact that the temperature outside was below zero and the thought of having to face the cold made us angry, we put on our winter coats and went downtown to see one of our favorite local bands: Stars. Another local band, Young Galaxy, opened the show. We’d never seen Young Galaxy perform, so we were especially excited to see what they would do live. Let me tell you, they are a band definitely worth checking out! Their songs are beautifully written, and their singer can SING. My favorite song they performed last night was called “Firestruck”. Have a listen:


After Young Galaxy’s set, Stars hit the stage, opening with “He Dreams He's Awake,” off their latest record, “The Five Ghosts”. This was the last show of their tour for this particular album, and was definitely the best I'd ever seen them perform. That was mainly due to the fact that they had a bubble machine! Stars had a lot of great moments on stage last night, but the acoustic performance of this song was probably my favorite:

Conclusion: go to shows and support local music! And invest in some gloves - it's getting cold outside.

Vanessa