Jersey Girl in Canada Meets Mississauga Bands in Toronto!

  A few weeks back, my long time buddy, Martin, (aka "Polish Cheeks"), invited me to check out a Mississauga-based band called Bike Thiefs, who was playing a show in Toronto at a venue called Smiling Buddha.  I have never heard of them before, and I'm all about new music, so I was pretty stoked to go!

Bike Thiefs L-R: Ryan Perry, Marko Woloshyn, Kris Pandeirada

  Turns out, Bike Thiefs was playing a show with a full line-up of other Mississauga-based bands, which I found interesting that we had to go downtown to see.  We arrived at the venue around 8:30pm, so we missed the first band, but the bands I did get to see really impressed me.  

  The first band we saw was called Pretty Odd- the band members all looked really young- like 19 or 20 years old, but their sound was very mature and they had their own awesome sound.  I wish the venue had better sound, as I couldn't hear much through the speakers, and I also wish I hadn't accidentally deleted the video I took of this band, for it was something worth sharing with my readers!  I'm following their Facebook fan page to find out when their upcoming shows are, so hopefully I can get some live footage of them.  They're an amazing live band- check them out!

  Next up, was a band called The After Hours, another awesome band I had the pleasure of seeing play live!   I remember going to the restroom in the basement of the venue while this band was up on stage and I could hear their set.  I found myself rocking out to their music while washing my hands!  Much respect for their well-developed musicianship!  Love their tunes!  As I'm typing this, I'm listening to their songs on Soundcloud and I cannot get enough of their sexualicious tune, "Sugar", which I'm pretty sure they played at Smiling Buddha.  

  Bike Thiefs took the stage and I had to make the choice between dancing to their set (which I really wanted to do), or video taping their set without shakiness.  I chose video taping their set and bobbing my head every so slightly.  These guys were wicked!  Again, I'm on Soundcloud, listening to their tunes as I type this and I definitely want to add these tracks to my spring/summer playlist!  Their tunes totally made me forget about the crappy snow storm outside the venue doors that night, and reminded me of tunes I'd play on road trips in the summer.  I cannot believe these bands were in my city this whole time and I just found out about them!  I've apparently been living under a rock! 

  Final band that took the stage that night was Dystonia.  I was pretty shocked and pleased to hear how hard this band's sound was in comparison to the previous bands who shared the stage.  Just watching these guys, with their incredible stage energy made me feel like I just drank a matcha tea, which kicks any espresso you've ever had's ass!  They were very entertaining to watch along with their great tunes! 

  My rating of the night on a scale between 'Meh' to 'Dayum!':  I give this entire show a "Double-Dayum!"

@JerZGrlinCanada

  

Jersey Girl in Canada's Experience at "Art Fusion"!

  Last fall, my sister went as an event photographer for Art Fusion, showed me the pictures she took and explained how her experience was "an amazing and artistic sensory overload" because there were so many artists performing at once.  No matter which way you turned, there was something going on.  She told me I had to attend the next event, for it's just too much awesome to miss out on.  

  To be honest, hearing that there were a million things going on at once sounded like a potential headache, but it was fascinating hearing about a room full of Southern Ontario's talented artists doing their thing!  I became pretty excited to see this in real life.

The next event happened to be last Saturday at a place called Daniels Spectrum in Toronto.  That night happened to follow one of the longest, busiest days I've had in a while, so I grabbed a matcha tea and toughed out my fatigue.  I'm so glad I did... the venue was packed with: live music, belly dancers, cultural dancers, a pole dancer, acrobats, dude with some trippy floating ball, jugglers, unicyclists, photographers and painters displaying their pieces, face painters, hula hooping, ribbon dancing, percussionists, fire dancers (well, we saw this outside after the party ended).. and the list goes on!  

  The founder of this event, Lisa Chessari, was running around throughout the night, making sure everything ran smoothly.  It looked like a tricky event to pull off, due to all that was going on, but she nailed it while making it look easy.  The trickiest part was probably co-ordinating the two band stages- there was always one band playing to keep the music going, and the musicians just randomly jam together but sound like they've rehearsed for years.  It was seamless.

  In terms of favorite acts, I cannot really pick just one, because they were all equally talented in different ways, but I would say the percussionists set the mood for the rest of the night.  The initially separated crowd just became one big dancing, clapping cluster of people surrounding the percussionists and their dancers who took center stage (literally, this stage was in the center of the room).  I really felt the energy in the room get stronger after that. 

  There were food and drinks available priced at about $1.00-$5.00. I kept hearing how orgasmic the homemade crepes were.  Due to the fact I knew there was going to be beer at the venue, I ate before the event, but now I know to go there hungry!  Looks like the next event is on Saturday May 4, 2013.  I know I won't forget that date because that's Star Wars Day- May the fourth be with you.

  The name "Art Fusion" says it all!  The epitome of fusing the arts and stimulating the senses! Sight- everything was visually appealing.  Hearing- the live music!  Taste- The orgasmic crepes everyone was raving about!  Smell- when you smell sweat, you know it's a party!  Touch- It touched me to be at an event where everyone's dancing, having a blast!  Stoked for the next one in May!  

@JerZGrlinCanada