Winter Blues

So far, in 2019-20, winter has been an unpredictable mess. One day earn the next freezing. Is this the new normal? Let’s hope not! Meantime Aurora, Ontario, Canada has the Aurora Winter Blues Festival upcoming to help quell those winter blues! Kickoff Bash is Feb 29 2020! Tickets @ www.musicaurora.ca 

Culture Bridge Festival a Festival of World Sights, Sounds and Tastes

I Love Your Colours! Photos from TPE's 2016 show files

Produced by Culture Bridge Initiatives, The Culture Bridge Festival has been running in one form or another in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada since 2011 when it was held at the Newmarket Seniors Centre. Since those first days the cultural festival has grown in leaps, after some years of switching locations from Riverwalk Commons to the Magna Centre and back again, to its now more permanent home at Newmarket's beautiful Riverwalk Commons where not only can patrons enjoy the sights, sounds and foods of the world - but are within stones throw distance of historic downtown Newmarket and its own amazing array of multicultural restaurants and beautiful, historic buildings too!

Little Actor waits excitedly in 2016 at the old Magna Centre location

View 2018 Cultural Bridge showcase video on F.B. here

From the beginning, Ranji and Leila Singh have been driving forces behind the growing festival and have done an incredible job of keeping it going, having to endure years of doing much of the "grunt" work themselves often with mostly volunteers to help organize and put on the annual festival. In fact the original foundation for the event was called the Ranji Singh Foundation.

This year their persistence seems to beginning to pay off, attracting some top performers to the Riverwalk Commons' main stage during a very busy festival season, such as 2018 Panarama Indian Junior Idol Aditya Matkar, as well as Reggae Grammy Nominee Jason Lindo. Sounds of India also features Bollywood Divas, Paromita Kar, Divya Vive Kanandan, as well Bhangra Crew Ontario and The Living Room Katcheri, The Topaz Ensemble, and Illusionist Raman Sharma while international performances include Territorial Stage - a youth based initiative that creates plays of ones cultural experiences through acting out scripts written and performed by youth, Tabla House, a Chinese dance troupe, violinist, Japanese drumming, Italian musical theatre, Irish Dance, performances by Sentir Venezuela, Bangladesh Geetanjali Music Academy and Raizes Porttugesas, Dominica fashion show and finally an African, Ecquadorian and Imbayacunas drumming circle will close out the festival while DJ Jus Flow wraps his vibe around the whole mix making for a very cool addition.

Day One - Sights & Sounds of India 2018

So one can expect an exciting array of international music and talent for 2018 including the sights and Sounds of India on day one at 4pm Sat July 14th alongside international food vendors and fun kids activities including everything from bouncy castles to learning / playing cricket, while on day two an array of international sights and sounds from 1-5 pm, including food, fashion, decor and performances showcasing the cultures of the Caribbean, South Asia, Ukraine, China, Africa, Latin America, Mediterranea, Ireland, Portugal and more...

Cooling Station

Held inside and out at the Newmarket Lions Hall @ 200 Duncan Dr. ensures some respite from hot or wet weather should the need arise as well as a featured splash pad and fountain!



Local Notes: Free Parking can be accessed near the event, however for a scenic walk in and stress-free parking, park at Newmarket's municipal building at 395 Mulock Drive just west of the railroad tracks and walk the scenic pathway north through Fairy Lake Park and on in!

Oh, and admission is all FREE!

Best Female Vocalist and a new 17 year old Phenom @ Aurora Winter Blues Festival

Angel Forrest rocks the house in Aurora 

Sat. Jan 21, 2017 I got a chance to check out Angel Forrest performing in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, as part of an opening to the 2017 Aurora winter Blues Festival, using a pop-up style location, like being utilized during the 2017 edition of the A.W.B. Festival, with the next pop-up location being Feb 4 at Highlands automotive showroom dealership showroom on Yonge St. Aurora, featuring  The All Star Band! Logistics over the years, combined with a lack of area venues and associated costs have evolved the crown jewel area event, which attracts top talent to perform as well as visitors in winter, to use a unique pop-up style venue via the staging services of Rent A Stage  - which also provides sound, lighting, and back-lighting services.

I witnessed my first taste of the venue style on Sta Jan 21 2017with Montreal based, Angel Forrest, who was headlining the bill with the Cara Lea Band, and boy was she phenomenal ,with vocal range and energy that inspired the players it seemed to even higher highs. All seemed in synch and the sound setup for the venue was excellent with little if any reverb and being set inside a warehouse just gave it all the more a cool vibe to it. Re-mindful of shows from back in the day...dare I say.

But Angel was the main cause for excitement on this night , leaving nothing out there , owning and feeling every song with conviction and no add-on walk-throughs. If she sang it, it was no throw in.
And she belted every note, raspy and non while holding nothing back theatrically, from dancing to dramatic head toss-backs, to costume shedding changes, Forrest never missed a beat.

View part of the the performance here.

Certainly Angel showed she was every bit worthy of winning  2017's Top Female Vocalist one night later at the Maple Blues Awards, as well as winning, alongside Denis Coulombe, for best Songwriter and Producer / recording, for Angel Forrest II.

Also having a great night at the M.B.A.'s was Paul Deslauriers Band with Blues-rock guitarist Paul winning both Entertainer and Electric Act of the Year while bass player Greg Morency was best bass and Sam Harrison drummer was picked best drummer.

I can tell you I witnessed Paul Deslauriers Band in 2015 when they performed at the Aurora Winter Blues Festival and were just remarkable. I have footage of that as well as Paul playing with the A.W.B.F.'s All Stars Jam Band.  What a pheenom!

Tom Pearson with Paul Deslauriers Band - 2017 Maple Blues Awards winners

2017 Aurora Festival Line up includes

One other notable from Jan 22nd's Maple Blues Awards that will effect locally, as far as draw power goes, is the pick for the Best New Artist was Fort Erie's 17 year old wunderkid Guitarist, Spencer Mackenzie who plays on the card with Downchild Blues Band on Feb 24 @ St Andrews College Theatre. Tickets?..Better get em fast.

Click here for Aurora Winter Blues Festival tickets info.

TP Out

Live Entertainment Guide - Madchild,Newmarket Jan 26

Tickets

Upcoming Live Ent N York Region

Stellar Hall and Event Centre continues to establish itself as a viable go to venue, with Canadian Rapper, Shane Bunting, AKA Madchild, coming to Newmarket's Stellar Hall, on Thursday Jan 26th, for a one-off performance presented by To The Beat and Kinetic Media Arts.  Early access VIP tickets are sold out. $30 general admission tickets click @ TicketGateway.

The Swollen Members original now lives in West Hollywood, hails from Surrey B.C. and was also named a member of the legendary Rock Steady Crew in 1993. In 2009 he released solo EP Madchild followed by Dope Slick & Silver Tongue Devil. Listen Here.

Aurora Winter Blues Festival Coming...

Meantime, south of Newmarket, Feb 4, 24 & 25, another child and legend to their genre is coming to town, as The Downchild Blues Band is part the Aurora Winter Blues Festival featured on the 24th, with special guest, The Spencer Mackenzie Band, while the 25th its " Lady Plays Guitar" with the Sue Foley Band and guests Sue Vinnick Band as well Cecil Doo-Kingue Band. 

Headliner Sue Foley started out at the age of 16 in Ottawa and has won a Juno Award 
for "Love Coming Down" and 17 Maple Blues Awards as well as Trophees De Bleu de France and garnered several several international Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee as well as collaborated with American blues guitarist Peter Karp.. Whooooooweeeee!

A.W.B.F. Tickets range $50-60. Tickets Here.

Other Tom's Top 10 Choices 

No Cover

Aw Shuks - Fri & Sat's Yonge St Aurora @ Wellington. Various dance rock.

Aurora's Lou Moore plays Thursdays at Newmarket's Col Mustard's on Yonge St

C.J. Barleys Keswick - Sun Jam at @ the Wick Host Neil Chapman, 1st of the month 2 -7 pm

Old Village a.k.a. "The O.V". Fri or Sat Night Live Bands - Main St Newmarket 9PM start

Village Inn - Yonge St Bradford - Live Sats

Metal Heads Show - Sat Feb 11 Stellar Hall and Event Centre, Newmarket " Rock the Metal" Two...6 plus bands $20.00 advanced includes dinner. Call 289-380-3786 for tickets or check out the F.B. Event Page.

Here's a few images by TPE from Toronto's, The Birchmount, Thursday Jam Night

Live Entertainment Venues drop like the Celebs of 2016

Aurora Winter Blues Festival All Star performers 2015 Sean Pinchin, Conor Gains, Paul Deslauriers

Are smaller live entertainment venues going by way of the dinosaur? It seems possible, based on the closures of so many G.T.A. live venues. Mainstays like Hugh's Room and even the El Mocambo, once untouchable, and where the Rolling Stones once played unannounced, are throwing in the towels it would seem and of course flagship never-a-cover, Gasworks, is long gone, as is Club Blue Note. Even Toronto's Hard Rock Cafe doesn't host live bands anymore while longtime venues like Yorkville's The Pilot and TO's The Silver Dollar are still around but are they thriving enough to resist the condo brigade from moving in on them too eventually?

Today's youth often embrace Hip Hop's Electro beats

A recent visit to another longtime Toronto live act venue, The Birchmount Tavern, saw a sparse crowd to take in often really good rockin' talent for no cover. If this is the support these performers are getting regularly it could be a death knell there as well. I do know a longtime sound and lighting guy is no longer an in-house luxury there, perhaps the first casualty of their live rock and roll war. Click here to check out TPE's video visit.

TP with Paul Deslauriers Band Video footage here

The owners of Toronto live act venue The Rock Pile - 2 locations - know the haydays of live bands, along with throngs of attendees, are gone, yet continue to run their venues anyway and you have to respect that. The former owners of the infamous 3 floor bar at Queens St W, The Big Bop, are theme oriented too and so a cool spot, with a good stage and plenty of seating for a show - but again, much of the onus is on the promoters to bring people in, as there is not a regular bar crowd per say. Each show being an independent one put on by the acts. Click here to check out TPE's visit to The Rock Pile.

El NO Mo'cambo

Even in smaller towns that once sported live entertainment in almost every venue, it's getting harder to find bars featuring live acts, and certainly beyond just having just locals play. Even the venue operators these days seem to leave all the promo work to the bands, acts, and promoters making it even harder to get people out or aware. Often the venue will also "pay" you the door - that you have to man to collect - and perhaps a cut of sales which never seem to add up to much.


On New Year's Eve the event we promoted offered great, live ambient entertainment during dinner & later a DJ, a 5 course meal, bar inclusive at $75, and it was still tough to get people out! It certainly would have been both cheaper and easier using "canned" music but some appreciate live, and it's they who the eve was targeted. Click here to check out great live ambience highlights from New Year's.

Imagine no live music....

Sure, we have internet means and Face Book to get the word out nowadays - but they don't always transform people from their seats at home to seats in the establishments. And these days they can get some video footage often from a show or event they are missing or missed.

That said, perhaps there are ways we can better use technology to entice bar and event / venue operators, to want to accommodate live music by perhaps additionally selling on-line live streaming to live shows using stationary in-house video cameras. Do it right, and this could be extra revenue streaming in potentially from around the world. They can set it up or promoters can and give them a cut, whatever works best in each case. Make it simple to tune in @ $5 a pop or monthly fees for unlimited live shows viewing. TPE currently records performances for perhaps future use or viewing on one of our on-line shows like I Really Am Tom, but I believe revenue from "attendees" not present could go a long way to supporting acts / venues to stay operating in the future.

Upcoming Not-To-be-Missed Live Events

Thursday Night Jams at Birchmount Tavern, Scarborough

Upcoming, there are a few live venue shows in the G.T.A. that I'm looking forward to, one being at the Horseshoe Tavern on Wed Feb 22, 2017 with The Marcus King Band featuring US guitar wunderkind Marcus King and the other being The Sixth Annual Aurora Winter Blues Festival, just north of the city along Yonge St., and running Feb 4, 24 ( Legendary Downchild Blues Band) & 25th 2017.... And keep checking in with TPE as we have some live shows in the works and live shows to announce and the Great Valentines Day give-away. TPE video clip AWB Festival past.

Stay in the loop on TPE Face Book.

Tom out