November 2001

Toronto Music Scene News

TORONTO ROCK APOCALYPSE 2001
Though there may not be a single music fan left in Toronto who doesn't know about it, but it can't go unnoticed, especially not in these pages. On Wednesday, Oct. 25, someone from the rock band Cleavage arrived at Ted's Wrecking Yard for their soundcheck and found the front doors padlocked. It seems Ted's/Barcode business owner Ted Footman was behind almost $9,000 in rent (as well as experiencing other financial difficulties) and was duly evicted. It goes without saying that this is a huge blow to the independent music scene and live club circuit in Toronto. Ted's was not only home to Wavelength, but was also one of the best-sounding and most comfortable rooms in which to play music in this city. The loss of Ted's follows quickly on the heels of the loss of the El Mocambo, which, as reported last month, will indeed cease to be once its new dance-studio-proponent owners take over. The last night at the El Mocambo is on Sunday, Nov. 4, featuring such Wavelength alumni as More Plastic, Stella Luna and The Yoko Casionos. The timing of these two evictions is interesting, as El Mo booker Dan Burke claims that the El Mo management team has signed the lease for the Ted's Wrecking Yard/ Barcode property as of November 1st. As for Wavelength, meanwhile, we have accepted an offer from Lee's Palace to stage our music series at their club, for the month of November at the very least. We will do our best to work the Wavelength magic in this bigger room, bringing you the excellent music and friendly faces you've come to expect from us. In other Toronto Rock Apocalypse news, Sam the Record Man has just filed for bankruptcy, and College Street lounge Fruition will be closing in January.

GESUNDHEIT CD Gesundheit - brilliantly brutal purveyors of art-metal theatrics - are releasing their debut CD, Asinus Ad Lyram, at Lee's Palace on Nov. 29. Due to guitarist Don Picolo (a.k.a. Justin Small)'s move to Montreal, the remaining membership of Kram (trumpete, vokal), Miss Adventure (gitarre), Gatsby (gitarre) and Jimmy P. Lightning (trommel) will be joined by Todd Gallant from The Strap on bass.

Email band news to wavelength@soon.com