Last night we took in Rock of Ages at the Royal Alexandria Theatre on King Street.  I was looking forward to a night of classic 80's arena rock and well, at least that part delivered.  The main characters I had seen in other performances: Yvan Pedneault played Galileo in We Will Rock You and Elicia McKenzie starred as Fraulein Maria in the Sound of Music - and I must say that the transition from nun to stripper was pretty fantastical!  Both did a great job with the material they were given, but unfortunately this show is no where near as great as their past claims to fame. The plot in Rock of Ages is pretty thin.  Still, it had it's entertaining moments... at least if you ask me (don't ask N -- his take is worst show ever and he's swearing off all future musicals).  On a side note -- they just announced that Wicked is coming back to Toronto -- so N will be forced to at least one more next fall - haha!

This is a synopsis of the show that I stole from the web:

In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small town girl met a big city rocker and
in LA’s most famous rock club, they fell in love to the greatest songs
of the 80s. It’s ROCK OF AGES, an arena-rock love story told through the
mind-blowing, face-melting hits of JOURNEY, NIGHT RANGER, STYX,
REO SPEEDWAGON, PAT BENATAR, TWISTED SISTER, POISON, ASIA, WHITESNAKE and many more.

Last but not least -- here's a clip -- though not of the Toronto cast (couldn't find one) but one of cast from NYC.

N and I went to check out Kid Rock at the Molson Amp. I know, I know -- Kid Rock??? Well, we both like his last album, Rock n' Roll Jesus.  No question that he's a bit of a guilty pleasure, but - trust us, it was a fun show.

Have a look:

Another year of marital bliss passed this week and to celebrate, the husband took me out for a night on the town.  Friday night we ventured out to see the Queen musical, We Will Rock You.  Before the show, the husband took me out for dinner at The Brownstone Bistro, which happens to be the very first restaurant we ate at when we moved to Toronto over two years ago.  Maybe it was nostalgia, maybe it was because we lack an imagination, maybe it was because it was within two blocks of the Panasonic Theatre -- the reason for this choice really doesn't matter, supper was delicious.  Afterward, we joined the very mixed theatre-going crowd (parents with their kids, old guys who have never heard of Queen, old rocker moms -- seriously -- the crowd was interesting) and sat back and enjoyed the show. 

The plot of the show is nothing we haven't seen before; the story takes place in the future where society has been brainwashed to forget a time when there were "artists" that played "instruments" and wrote "lyrics".  The new normal is a society wherein a corporation controls what people listen to and tells them what to download. 

Wait, this is the future?? haha!  The story goes so far as to explain that it was Simon Cowell & boy-bands that destroyed music... hmm, I'd laugh but I shamelessly love AI.

There is hope, however --  there are a group of rebels or "Bohemians" who are searching for the truth, searching for these long lost instruments, trying desperately to "break free" and to think and create for themselves.  Yeah... we've seen this before: Gattaca, 1984, Brave New World, The Giver... do I really need to go on.  What made the show worthwhile was the music.  The cast is very good and the performances were excellent.  Despite the weak storyline, We Will Rock You, has been a constant on the Toronto theatre scene since December 2006 so take my word for it, the music is what makes it awesome.

I searched for a clip from the show and found this promo... it's not the greatest... but it gives you an idea of what we saw.

I was just checking out some new sites that my google reader recommended to me and I came across this gem, Mixwit.

Use it to check out some new music for free and make your own mixed tapes that can be shared.  Check out the one I just made (below).  

Click here when this widget fails to load... mixwit is still a beta.

I have so much to update. Check in the next few days... in the meantime, enjoy some new tunes.

Before this will make any sense you must read this article:
http://www.blogto.com/music/2007/12/wanted_bon_jovi_ticket_

buyers_dead_or_alive/

My take:
We all know the problem isn't just the 905ers... the rest of Canada is just a suburb of TO. TO being the most hip, cool, vibrant metropolis around - or "the centre of the universe". I say blame the 204ers and the 306ers (the further out suburbs of TO) for this hair teasing travesty! Everyone knows that everything east of Vancouver is a suburb of Toronto and that they are all lovers of cheesy 80's glam rock.

As a former 306er living in the uber trendy and pretentious 416, I feel I must represent (as best I can -- cause let's face it -- living in the centre for almost 2 years now I've been drawn to the pretentious side... I'd rather head down to the Horseshoe and see Lowest of the Low or enjoy Cuff the Duke at the Mod club) -- but for one afternoon, I'm going to go blow the dust off my New Jersey CD and dance around to some, "Lay your hands on me!"

K