WEEK IN PREVIEW: February 23 - March 1, 2009

Here's a quick glance at the week ahead in music in the Windsor area. Check out the Open Mic listing at the end for a stage near you!

For sound samples for shows, click on the bands names for a quick trip to their MySpace or other music outlet site.

Monday February 23

ALL-AGES: The Artist Life (Toronto, ON) wsg Orphan Choir, My Son My Son, and The Gutterhearts
The Chubby Pickle (762 Ouellette Ave.)
Toronto pop-punk darlings The Artist Life (who recently played Windsor opening for Protest The Hero) return to The Chubby Pickle for a Monday All-Ages show packing some powerful local punch with Orphan Choir and My Son My Son. I'm afraid I couldn't dig anything up on The Gutterhearts (I'm assuming they're not the more well-known UK punk act). The Artist Life's frontman Ian Blackwood cut his teeth in the popular street punk band Jersey for years and this new project was recently named Unsigned Band of the Month for September 2008 in Alternative Press Magazine. This is an All-Ages event and it starts earlier than usual, at 7pm.

The Milkmen
Milk Coffee Bar (68 University Ave. West)
Another night of chillaxin' at Milk with the sultry improv jazz sessions of the Monday Milkmen.

Tuesday February 24

Clare Renaud's Session
The Kildare House (1880 Wyandotte St. East)
A real traditional Celtic feel to this impromptu jam session that has all the flair of a Cape Breton house party. You never know who's going to stop by with what instrument and play what song. And the beer ain't half band neither.

Ron Leary & "Mr. Chill" Kelly Hoppe
Aardvark's Blues Cafe (89 University Ave. West)
Ron Leary and Mr. Chill play a smattering of songs, with some choice covers mixed in with songs from Leary's brilliant debut CD, theroadinbetween, and Mr. Chill's fantastic Cold Testament.

Wednesday February 25

Daren Dobsky & Josh Zalev
Aardvark's Blues Cafe (89 University Ave. West)
Dobsky and Zalev lead an occassional all-star ensemble through a series of covers, from Led Zeppelin to Jeff Buckley, rock and roll to the blues.

Kenneth MacLeod
The Dominion House Tavern (3140 Sandwich St.)
Kenneth MacLeod is a one-man musical wrecking crew. His talent is overwhelming and his intensity equally so. A variety of music, from East Coast to contemporary, with a supporting cast of local musicians.

ALL-AGES: TerminaTour featuring:
Blessed By A Broken Heart (Montreal, QC), Lovehatehero (Hollywood, CA), Agraceful (Dayton, OH), Vanna (Boston, MA), In Fear and Faith (San Diego, CA), Kiros (Calgary, AB), I Am The Vine and Jack London
The Chubby Pickle (762 Ouellette Ave.)
An All-Ages Windsor stop for Blessed By A Broken Heart's Terminatour, a smattering of heavy music diversity featuring heavy alternative to screamo, from pop-punk to Christian hardcore. They've added two locals, I Am The Vine and Jack London, easily two of Windsor's fastest rising young stars on the hardcore circuit. This is an All-Ages event and it has an early start at 5pm.

Thursday February 26
The Windsor Scene on CJAM 91.5 FM
Randi Irving continues to host the on-air version and multi-JAMMY Award winning companion to "The Windsor Scene", each and every Thursday evening from 6pm to 7pm, on CJAM 91.5 FM, Windsor's Campus and Community Radio Station. Hear tracks from some of Windsor's current musical stars as well as nuggets from the vault, not to mention live interviews and peformances! On this Thursday's edition, hear a live acoustic performance from two of the members from Two For The Cascade, Kevin Buckridan and Stefanie Zacagninni.

Huladog
The FM Lounge (156 Chatham St. West)
Always a great night of live jazz and funk jams by a group of Windsor's premiere players. Huladog have been at it for years now and they play the perfect blend of great jazz and booty shakin' funk.

Jamie Reaume
The Gourmet Emporium (1799 Wyandotte St. East)
The former brainchild behind Foreign Film Star, Reaume is still one of the city's hardest working musicians. Despite the break-up of FFS last year, Reaume keeps busy with a series of shows throughout the week around the city showcasing a deep pocket full of songs. He should be launching a new band, The Golden Eagles, and a solo project, Between Blinks, early this year.

"Mr. Chill" Kelly Hoppe, Tom Hogarth and Chris Borshuk
Mezzo Ristorante & Lounge (804 Erie St. East)
Mr. Chill teams up with the incomparable voice of Tom Hogarth as well as Chris Borshuk for this intimate showcase. A great night for dinner and some music.

Friday February 27

Mr. Chill & The Witnesses
Big Tony's Original Woodfired Pizza (911 Walker Rd.)
"Mr. Chill" Kelly Hoppe and his Witnesses play an intimate show at a great pizza joint. If you feel like some music with a bit of food without the bar crowd, this is your place to go.

The DoneFors (Toronto, ON) wsg James O-L & The Villains
Phog Lounge (157 University Ave. West)
Toronto's The DoneFors have beeen building up quite a buzz on the indie circuits, garnerning press coast to coast for their brand of roots music. Singer/songwriter Janine Stoll leads a troupe of seasoned musicians through a quirky array of music that is as equally influenced by Joni Mitchell as it is Radiohead. Warming up the stage will be locals, James O-L & The Villains, another of our fine storytelling units.

ALL-AGES: Aquila, Kingdoms (Kitchener, ON), Assassinate The Following, Final Fall and Blessed By Tragedy (Point-aux-Roches, ON)
The Chubby Pickle (762 Ouellette Ave.)
The All-Ages metal assault at The Chubby Pickle continues with their third all-ages event in a week. This time it switches from a more punk veined outing to pure doom and metal. This onslaught features some of the new blood of Windsor's metal scene, lead by Aquila, whose metal onslaught has been ripping apart Southern Ontario for a while now. This show apparently marks the final performance of Final Fall. It's a fantastic warm-up for the 19+ bill that follows it that night. This is an all-ages event, with doors at 5pm.

Shot Down Stars, Sledgehammer, Chuck Norris & The Delta Force Chorus, Weapon of Choice and Academy Drive
The Chubby Pickle (762 Ouellette Ave.)
The 19+ version of the evening's prior all-ages showcase brings a different line-up without losing any of the thunder. Scene vets Shot Down Stars and Sledgehammer always pummel a club to dust with their sound and performances and the younger bands warming up will surely do their best to keep up. Should be a loud one...

Jody Raffoul
The Village Inn Concert Hall (Leamington)
The man has played Giants Stadium in New Jersey, opening for hometown heroes Bon Jovi, yet still finds time to repay his love for his own home in Windsor-Essex County by playing so many shows in every area of the county. He continues his non-stop rock and roll journey with a stop in Leamington at the Village Inn.

Saturday February 28

A Charity Event for Rafiki Kenya featuring
"Mr. Chill" Kelly Hoppe & Greg Cox (of Mr. Chill & The Witnesses), Ron Leary, David Dubois (of The Locusts Have No King), Adam Rideout-Arkell (of Yellow Wood), Jim Meloche & Kyle Marchand (of Orphan Choir), Joel Bruyere (of Thousand Foot Krutch), Eric Welton and Stefan Cvetkovic (of Efan!).
The Kildare House (1880 Wyandotte St. East)
Pick Of The Week: This is my pick of the week as the show to check out (which was tough because there are so many great shows this week, not to mention the calibre of talent on this Saturday night alone), but the validity of the cause was the clincher. A stellar line-up of some of Windsor's finest singer/songwriters, all donating their voices to a great good. Check out my previous article of this event for more info on the cause and the performers.

ALL-AGES: My Son My Son wsg Whale Tooth (Toronto, ON) and Chad Howson
Phog Lounge (157 University Ave. West)
My Son My Son headlines a special all-ages show at Phog Lounge as part one of a double-header bill. Toronto's Whale Tooth, who have been on a steady rise in Toronto's indie-rock scene of late will also be on hand following their recent EP launch last month. Another Saturday Knight's Chad Howson will open the show with a special acoustic showcase. This is an All-Ages event, with doors opening at 5pm.

Another Saturday Knight wsg Whale Tooth (Toronto, ON) and My Son My Son
Phog Lounge (157 University Ave. West)
For part two of the double header (and the 19+ version), Chad Howson brings all the boys up on stage as Another Saturday Knight plays party host and headliner, again with Toronto's Whale Tooth and with My Son My Son starting off the festivities.

StereoGoesStellar wsg One Man's Opinion and Firelife
CD Release Party for StereoGoesStellar's full-length debut
Plush Lounge (375 Ouellette Ave.)
I recently reviewed SGS' debut full-length for WAMM Magazine (it appears on the website, WAMMonline) and I must say I was quite impressed with the result. These guys have developed an indie pop that draws on some familiar resources, but they've made their own watermark on it as well. They've enlisted One Man's Opinion, the hottest alt. rock band to come out of Windsor since Ashes of Soma. These guys are getting monster radioplay on stations like 89X, WRIF and others, not to mention high profile gigs in the U.S. Also on the bill are up-and-comers Firelife, who have been drawing some great praise of late.

Meters To Miles
The Coach & Horses (156 Chatham St. West, below Pogo's)
Meters To Miles marks the return of long-time scene vet Dan Marshall to the Windsor's stages. Dan was the frontman behind one of Windsor's most popular power-pop bands of the 1990's, B-Plan. Following B-Plan's dissolution in 2000, he resurfaced in the short lived dark electronic project, Cinch (when Dan left Cinch a year later, the remaining members formed Dronefly). After a brief hiatus, Marshall emerged not only with a new endeavour (as a solo performer under the name Dhani Marshall) but an EP released on Universal Music. The title track of the EP, Dandelion, was getting critical acclaim and he was getting acolades across the country. But family called and he was unable to properly support and, once again, he disappeared into the shadows. He has re-emerged with a new project, closer to B-Plan but still sounding modern.

Inoke Errati wsg Junior Achiever (Hamilton, ON), Turn It Up! (Edmonton, ON) and Heels
The Chubby Pickle (762 Ouellette Ave.)
Windsor's reigning power-pop kings, Inoke Errati ("I Know Karate" if you still haven't figured out there name yet) are back bringing their infectious hooks to the stage they helped make famous. Caught somewhere between Cheap Trick and Foo Fighters, Inoke Errati write great catchy pop songs that were meant to be a soundtrack for life's greatest party. "Jennifer" has been stuck in my brain for years now. They're headlining a great bill that features a sampling of more great power-pop from across Canada, including Hamilton's Junior Achiever, the latest project of former Killjoy Gene Champagne.

Client 9
The Mill Tavern (3199 Sandwich St.)
Fun selection of rock and roll covers, featuring Dale "Elad" D'Amore from Guitar Army and ex- of The Spy's and Bill Desmarais of The Wannabees.

Jonathon Roung Band
The Gourmet Emporium (1799 Wyandotte St. East)
Local singer/songwriter Jonathon Roung leads his band through some select covers as well as songs from his debut EP, Stranger on the Corner.

Sunday March 1

Dusty
Aardvark's Blues Cafe (89 University Ave. West)
One of the city's premiere entertainers, hand down, he plays an impressive mix of songs, from outlaw country to rock and roll to a little dab of hair metal. Genuinely super dude with a great sense of humour.

Open Mics Around Windsor
Monday: Open Mic Surgery with Tara Watts, Phog Lounge (157 University Ave. West)
Monday: Open Mic with Clinton Hammond, The Kildare House (1880 Wyandotte St. East)
Tuesday: Open Mic with Stefanie Sarafianos, The Mill Tavern (3199 Sandwich St.)
Tuesday: Open Mic with Andrew MacLeod, The Dominion House (3140 Sandwich St.)
Tuesday: Open Mic with Jamie Reaume, Twig N' Berries (2135 Wyandotte St. East)
Tuesday: Open Mic with Travis Reitsma, The Sanctuary Coffee Lounge (1735 College Ave., 6-10pm)
Wednesday: Long & McQuade Open Jam, The FM Lounge (156 Chatham St. West)
Thursday: Open Mic with Brian VanderPryt & Mark Crampsie, Mick's Irish Pub (28 Chatham St. East, 2nd Thursday of each month)
Friday: Open Mic with Tara Watts, Cafe Morena (999 Erie St. East)
Sunday: Open Mic with Dan Marshall, The FM Lounge (156 Chatham St. West)