Heather Curtis

the hamilton music awards

On Sunday night I went down to Hamilton Place for the Hamilton Music Awards. An amazing night of music and skill. First off, I just want to say congratulations to High Voltage and 40 Sons and Daughters for winning one award each! I'm so proud of you guys! You will be getting more awards like this in the future.

My favourite part of the night was the High Voltage performance. They sung Hog. A really fun awesome song that I love hearing at every show. Eric Martin kicked ass on drums. It looked and sounded like he's been playing drums for years and years. Josh Alvernia sung like a pro as well. If you had to choose any night to be that amazing sounding, you would choose that night. When you have hundreds of people and even more people on tv watching your every move you have to bring it all, and they totally brought it. Their award was for best loud/metal recording.

The atmosphere of the awards was really light and fun. Everybody was pretty laid back. Some of the other performances were Saint Alvia Cartel, Lori Yates and Teenage Head. I've seen Teenage Head one other time at the Rock n Roll Picnic in the summer. I really dug them and couldn't wait to see them again. Tom Wilson introduced them as the best rock band to EVER come out of Canada. They totally are. Such a history, such a fan base and such a future. Teenage Head is going to keep going until they are dead... just my opinion. Teenage Head is unstoppable.

When 40 Sons and Daughters won that award, People's Choice Group of the Year, I was so happy. They work so hard to fulfil their dreams. Years of playing endless amounts of shows and recording amazing cds. They are really good role models. They show that if you work really hard and never give up on anything, you will fulfil your dreams. Once again, congrats.

This was a great year of music for Hamilton. The level of skill in this city will continue to grow and grow. No other city is like Hamilton. We have a unique music scene that is only our own.

super awesome night

On Saturday night i went to the Westside Concert Theatre to see my two favourite bands in the whole wide world, 40 Sons and Daughters and High Voltage.

I wanted to talk about something first. I feel that if you go to a show, you are supporting the Hamilton Music Scene as a whole. But if you go just for your band then run off, that isn't really supporting anything. Some people pay ten dollars to see a band play for 20 minutes. That isn't worth it at all, wouldn't you rather get your money's worth of music? If you don't stay and watch the whole thing (or as much as you can) you might miss something really important. I've seen my favourite bands for the first time because I showed up right at the beginning. If I hadn't came early to shows, I wouldn't have seen 40 Sons and Daughters for the first time. So people, stay for longer than just your band! You might enjoy it!

First band up was Stunlaw. Stunlaw is a rock band from Beamsville/Grimsby Ontario. I liked the set, but I felt that the guitarists Demetrius and Ryan didn't blend too well together. They sounded good separate though. Even though the crowd was extremely non energetic, they still kept up the energy which is really important. You have to know that not every crowd is going to go insane over your music. Bands must be versatile with this and Stunlaw was extremly versatile. It's  a shame the crowd wasn't into it because this is a kind of band that if people were rocking out to, it would be such a fun show to be at. So check them out, you might like it. www.myspace.com/stunlaw

So, next band is 40 Sons and Daughters. I was asked by one of the manager people to try to look for things that they could improve upon. I spent most of the set looking for it. I looked at the chemistry, how they interact with the crowd, how the voices blend together. I tried really hard to find something but couldn't. Up near the front were the very loyal 40 Sons and Daughter fans that I've seen at every show for about a year now. If it's a smaller crowd, or a sellout at the Underground, the fans always deliver just as much as the band does. At a 40 Sons and Daughters show you will see hair flying, kids jumping around, and people screaming the lyrics in each others' faces. The sound is just so intense that it makes it literally impossible just to chill out while at a show. You just HAVE to rock out in some way or another. Mike Repic wowed everybody with his awesome skill once again. As I've said a million times before, they improve after every single show. Next one is Rockin for City Kidz at Mohawk College on December 1st.

Next up, the one and only High Voltage! I always love High Voltage shows. Such fun, hard music. I love hearing Rumor Mill and Shake Hands with the Devil. One of the lyrics in Shake Hands with the Devil is "your sweat is dripping fire, with the disease of rock n roll." I personally LOVE these lyrics. Whoever wrote them is a musical genius:). A highlight of every High Voltage set is Good to be Home. Good to be Home is a really slow, soulful song. Makes you think about what the person is going through. That night was Eric Martin's debut on the drums. He was really good! I would have been so nervous just jumping in like that. But he pulled it off perfectly. Congrats Eric! Make sure to check out High Voltage at Rockin for City Kidz with 40 Sons and Daughters to!

such a fun night!!!!

This was a show to remember. I thought I was going to miss Euphoria's Depression and Guilty. If you know me at all you know that this is a verrry bad thing. But I got to see both of them!!

Euphoria's Depression was on first. Marcio told me that he was extremely sick. He sure didn't sound like he was sick. He sounds like ten times better sick, than some singers do when they are perfectly healthy. What trooper eh:)? My favourite song in his set was called Better. Really mature lyrics that actually tell a story. This song also takes a very wide vocal range, which Marcio obviously has. He had a full crowd of kids watching him and singing along and cheering. One time he held a really high note then stopped playing. It was just him singing with no guitar. It was amazing! Me and my friends were standing there with our mouths open. After the song I went "Oh my god hes soooo good!" He brought it all that night. He didn't hold back at all. He's got skill and one day the whole world is going to see it!

Next up is Guilty!!! I've written about Guilty tons of times. Each time I go to see them I get too excited. Like another band called Chasing Mercury, Guiltys voices blend perfectly together. It's magic to listen to. They also played a brand new song that they have never played before that night. It was great!! Kind of like the old Guilty sound, but more catchy. They are really evolving as a band which is really important. The first thing that caught me about Guilty was singer Brad Vanderwoerd and the lyrics. Brad's voice makes me stand there going wow every single time. So do the lyrics. In the song Departure the band sings "Runaway to escape from the haunted." I personally LOVE these lyrics. I also love in the song Something Deeper when Brad sings "Words can burn a scare." This is my favourite line EVER in any song. Listening to Guilty is like listening to the life story of the five of them. They are such mature and talented musicians. Congratulations guys on the kick ass set!!

Next up was, get this.. Skye Sweetnam. Yup, Skye Sweetnam at the Underground! I was so pumped. I actually got to meet her before the show. She's so cute and nice and down to earth. She was signing autographs for all the adoring and star struck fans that were coming up to her. The second she started playing, I knew I was going to have so much fun! She has such a fun voice and the music is really catchy and hard at the same time. Unlike lots of other young famous girl singers, she actually writes her songs. So you actually know that her music reflects who she is as a person. She spent her whole set dancing around the stage flinging her hair around and having little conversations with her fans. The song Human is a tune that you will not be able to get out of your head. Not just because of how fun it is, but the lyrics and meaning behind it. It's telling you not to be influenced by what's around you. To not follow the crowd and be the person that you are. It's obvious that Skye is her own person. That's how she's so popular. She is such a great role model for young girls around the world. It was great meeting her and seeing her in action. I hope I can see her again!

Next up was the band most of the people there were waiting for, Faber Drive! The second they got on the stage the whole club bursted out into screams. I have never been in the Underground when it was that loud before. They had a spell over the crowd. You looked around and people were screaming in their friends faces, dancing around, taking pictures and just covering their faces with huge smiles. You can tell that seeing this band meant the world to so many of the fans. Myself, I really enjoy Faber Drive, but I don't know much about them. There were so many diehard fans. I looked around and saw probably like 50 cameras in the air trying to get good pictures of the band. Faber Drive has such a powerful sound. It blasts right out into you. They played an amazing song called Second Chance. It's about messing something up the first time, and not getting a second chance. It could be with a girl friend or boyfriend, or with your best friend.  Everybody can relate to this song. Lead singer, Faber was so nice to all the fans having little conversations with them. After the show, the band stayed like 40 minutes after their set was over signing autographs. Right before they were done, they said "We want to met every single one of you!" No wonder they are so popular. With attitudes like that, nobody can resist them or the music.

veryyy long over due post

Hey. This is my review for the show last Saturday with 40 Sons and Daughters at the Underground. Sorry for the delays. My computer wouldn't let me post it. I tried like 10 times. Since I waited too long to write this review, I kind of forgot who the other bands were. Sorry. I'll still tell you all about the amazing 40 Sons and Daughters though.

As you may know, 40 Sons and Daughters always draws a big crowd. Tons of kids in 40 Sons and Daughters hoodies and sweaters. Really diehard fans. To start off their set they played a kind of creepy intro video. I don't even know how to explain it. I guess it was themed for Halloween. It was over and the 40 Sons and Daughters symbol flashed on the screen and loud heavy riffs from the songs started blaring. The crowd exploded and started cheering. The atmosphere was intense!! My favourite part of the night was Mike Repic saying "Everybody up on the stage and sing with me" during Green to Black. Basically the whole crowd sqeezed into the tiny stage. I look off and there was barely anybody left cuz they were all on the stage. Imagine like 100 people on a tiny stage rocking out and screaming the words in unision. It was sooooo much fun! They played a flawless performance once again. They even played a brand new song! It was so good. As usual, the crowd's response to every single thing the band did was great. The screams and cheers didn't stop once throughout the set. These guys fit together to well while on stage. With anybody else on any of the instruments, the band wouldn't be as good. These guys really feed and groove off the amazing energy given off by their fans. Them in a stadium with 15 000 people would be a show you would not want to miss. I'm going to miss their shows once they get famous, but thats okay they will always be my favourite band!!!