This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive. Damn The Torpedoes: Matt Mays & El Torpedo By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, May 2005 Matt Mays followed up his first self-titled with another.  Joined this time around by El Torpedo, Matt Mays recalled the killer sounds of Neil Young and Tom Petty and resurrected them for a harmony driven rock and roll extravaganza! Yes I did just use the word extravaganza. Losing the country feel of his previous album, Mays isn’t afraid of rock ‘n’ roll.… Read More »Damn The Torpedoes: Matt Mays & El Torpedo

This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive. By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, April 2005 Canadian Music Week is a celebration of Canadian and international independent talent.  Celebrated over four nights in March, with more than 400 bands and 30 venues, I couldn’t see everything I wanted to, but isn’t that part of the fun?  Plans changed and everything had to be flexible.  I learned that the hard way. Musicians came to Toronto for CMW from every part of the country: Kelowna, Barrie, Cape Breton,… Read More »Canadian Music Week

This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive. By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, April 2005 These are some of the things I have learned from the Inbreds: If you make an android of yourself, it will take over; Prince is a toy dog on wheels; You don’t really need guitar; Raymond Lowey is the one who designed the Canada Dry logo; Amelia Earhart’s safe, because she’s an excellent navigator; And Finally, rap and tap is a genre fusion that should never happen. The Inbreds story… Read More »The Inbreds: Telling People They’re The Super Friendz

This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive. Lee’s Palace in Toronto, Ontario, Canada March 29th, 2005 By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, April 2005 Greg Keelor is one of Canada’s rock ‘n’ roll royalty. I think all Canadians are born with Blue Rodeo songs forever ingrained in their souls. The songwriting team of Jim Cuddy & Greg Keelor are known for some of the best Canadian music since Neil Young. Easily compared to Lennon and McCartney, the two have a similar dynamic. How many musicians… Read More »Greg Keelor

This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive. By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, April 2005 Back To Me shows Kathleen Edwards to be a great storyteller, musician and singer.  Unfortunately the album is not as strong as I had hoped. The slow paced album is very mellow and dragged out. Edwards is a good songwriter but unfortunately the songs don’t tend to shift theme or style much. Going from song to song, Back To Me has a solid feeling that carries through the entire album,… Read More »Kathleen Edwards – Back To Me

This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive. By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, April 2005 Crosby, Stills & Nash bring back many memories for me. During my years in high school, I spent a lot of my weekends in downtown Toronto at the now gone Vinyl Museum.  I spent a lot of money on cheap used records that helped my vinyl collection grow exponentially. All of my CSN(Y) records have The Vinyl Museum’s stamps on the inner sleeve. I have listened to Crosby, Stills &… Read More »Crosby, Stills & Nash – Greatest Hits

This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive. By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, April 2005 The self-released debut EP from City Field is a great sampling of what might become a great band.  The band features Gregg Millman (vocals & guitar), Mitchell Wiebe (vocals), Brent Randall (bass, keys & vocals), Dave Ewenson (drums) and Matt Murphy (guitar & vocals). This six song EP stands out because of Millman, Murphy and Wiebe’s harmonies. Wiebe, formerly of Soaking Up Jagged, when singing with Millman are very reminiscent… Read More »City Field – Authentic City

This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive. The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Ontario, Canada January 27, 2005 By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, March 2005 Going cold into an opening act can be hard.  You never know if they’ll be terrible or amazing.  James McKenty and The Spades warmed up the audience in preparation for The Joel Plaskett Emergency. An energetic rock ‘n’ roll ruckus, The Spades have all the power to be a large arena band, but unfortunately their songs aren’t strong enough.  Still,… Read More »Joel Plaskett

This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive. By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, March 2005 I went into this album with high expectations. Plaskett’s previous solo album, In Need Of Medical Attention, is my favourite of his work; Thrush Hermit and the Emergency included. La De Da has its highs and lows, but most of the album seems to ride out in the middle. Very little of the material stands out as exceptional, but those four songs really do make the album worthwhile. “Happen Now”,… Read More »Joel Plaskett – La De Da