Heck!

Gig Poster Gallery!

I have scanned enough old posters and flyers at this point that I thought some sort of gallery was in order, so that people could actually access this stuff.

I have therefore started a Gig Poster Gallery at flickr, reasoning that it would easier to display these files there all in one place rather than spread them out here at the blog (and rapidly use up all my allotted space for images here to boot). I will link to it here from now on, and may mention when I have put more stuff up or whatever.

As far as what it actually is we're talking about here, it's posters and flyers and whatnot from the Oshawa and Toronto area, circa 1992-??? Mostly stuff from shows my bands played at, but not exclusively. I'm just scanning whatever I can find in my vast files of assorted crap.

I've only got 30 files up at present but I have a lot more stuff to come, provided my scanner holds up.

So please do have a look at the gallery, and leave me a comment here or there. What do you think? Were you at any of these shows? Do you have any memories of these bands or venues?

RIP Ron Asheton!

Damn.

No need for me to tell you much of anything about Ron Asheton - he played some of the very best electric guitar EVER, and provided some riffs that will surely blow minds yet unborn.

And now the legend is gone, found dead on the couch in his Ann Arbor home, apparently lying there undiscovered a few days. Imagine if you'd been a thief and broken into his place and found him like that.

Many years ago, I was taking a road trip to Chicago with some friends, including Mike Gribben (former drummer of Grasshopper). I guess this would have been the mid-to-late 1990s - a period in which Mr. Asheton had long disappeared from public sight and was widely rumoured to be basically just living at home, playing guitar in his garage and not doing very much.

At some point in this roadtrip, while driving through Michigan, Mike suggested we give Ron Asheton a call and see if he was around. As I recall, his number was right there in the phonebook, believe it or not. Sadly, Ron did not answer the phone and we did not connect. I never did meet the man or even see him play a show.


Which brings me to the recent Stooges reunion, and the release of a new Stooges record The Weirdness in 2007. I'll be totally honest here:

I hated this record so very, very much that it put me off the whole reunion, and the ensuing tour, and even soured me on the Iggster himself a little bit.

Now that Ron is dead, Iggy Pop is quoted as saying, "he was my best friend".

Hmmm. Well, of course I'm really in no position to comment on that, but it sure didn't seem to this observer like Iggy treated Ron as you might a best friend - either before the reunion (when he seemed to basically ignore the fact that Ron was actually, you know, alive) or after (when Iggy's comments on the Ashetons read to me as being grudgingly respectful at best). I sometimes had the impression Iggy was resentful that he needed the Ashetons around for the record/reunion at all.

Anyways, I am glad that Ron Asheton was able to play to some big, appreciative crowds again before he passed on, even if it was behind *ack* The Weirdness.

RIP and major respect to this sonic overlord.

The Million Dollar Saloon!

So this is a print made by Angel Erotique's breasts at the Million Dollar Saloon, August 28th, 1997. I found it in amongst a whole bunch of old gig posters.

The Million Dollar Saloon was a strip club in the basement of the historic Genosh Hotel in downtown Oshawa, a long-disused building which may be finally seeing some measure of reclamation in the year to come.




I actually played a show there once, with The Exploding Tits no less, opening for some GM hair band called Wyld Bulletz or something.

Six or so songs into our set, the bartender told us to quit, we were done. We then played a long cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and, at the end of that, I left my bass to feedback against its amp, ha ha ha. We were not paid.

As to Angel Erotique - if I even recall her name correctly - the internet holds no secrets I can find. She is lost to the sands of time, leaving behind only some pink, green and yellow paint - and an excuse for this post.

Jeff Lemire!

A couple of posts back, I mentioned that Catl would be playing some release shows later in January to celebrate the release of their debut LP, "¿Adónde vas? A ningún lado" - the artwork for which was done by none other than rising comics star Jeff Lemire.

Without further ado then, here is that new Catl artwork --



Skeletacular!

Mr. Lemire, as you'll recall, also did the viciously awesome cover art for No No Zero's "Rough Stuff" record (a nice fat scan of which appears in this recent post). But what else has Jeff done?


Primarily, Lemire is known for his work in the graphic novel form, and it was his debut in this medium, 2005's Lost Dogs, which first made his name, winning him a Xeric in the process.

His follow-up was ambitious and has won him unambiguous accolades: a trilogy of graphic novels spanning nearly a century in the part of Ontario Lemire hails from, Essex County (which gives the trilogy its name).




The first two books - Tales From The Farm and Ghost Stories - were released in 2007, and the final installment The Country Nurse in 2008 - just listed as one of New York Magazine's Top Ten Graphic Novels for 2008, in fact. All three books (already nominated for a couple of Eisners) will be issued in one ginormous compilation edition later this year, with the addition of some 40 bonus pages. Wow.

So 2009 is shaping up to be the year of Lemire. Not only is a compiled Essex County Trilogy sure to have media milling to praise his skills, but he will also be releasing a new graphic novel for DC/Vertigo entitled The Nobody. There are some pages available online from this latest work in progress, and I must say it promises to be great stuff, decidedly different in tone from Essex County and more of a traditional 'superhero book' by the looks of things.


If superheroes are your bag, be sure to drop by Lemire's blog, where he regularly posts watercolour superhero pics and his own unique spin on any number of cult favourites, as well as a goodly number of his own links and suggestions to Jeff's faves.




Comic art collectors may wish to note that the Catl LP is limited to a vinyl run of only 300 copies, and those LP release shows are coming up shortly: January 23rd at the Silver Dollar in Toronto, and January 24th at Isabella's in Oshawa.

I close with some more examples of Jeff Lemire's art, which I have pilfered from his blog.

Model Kit Art!

Trying to clear out my basement, I came across the following model kits I'd long since finished. Before I toss the boxes, I figured this art was well worth preserving.

Matchbox and Roy Huxley were a 'match' made in heaven for many, and it recalls for me many fond memories of building kits with my brother and our dad. If waiting for the glue or paint to dry was getting me down, gazing over these fantastic pictures on the box was always enough to counter any flagging enthusiasm.






I include a couple of non-Matchbox kits as well; the Skyhawk isn't even artwork, but I liked the note about the crew men, so I'll let it pass.