Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
Wild At Heart
Being the concert nut that I am, the main thing I hate about this time of year is trying to plan ahead for day trips too far in advance. This year I had to miss both Doro and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band because of bad snow storms. Thankfully, the weather is looking good this weekend as I make my first trip to Toronto for the year (and the second this month).
For those that read my blog on a regular basis, you know it is my favorite city. I enjoy the great restaurants, the ease and relative value of the public transportation, the museums and of course, the great concerts. Sure it is a little too far to go too often, esp with these gas prices, but a lot of bands play through Toronto that bypass a lot of other areas, including Detroit.
I was mainly going to Toronto for their Comic Con which has the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation (actually minus Wil Wheaton) which I am looking forward to attending this weekend. Even though I am a Trekker, how can anyone pass up meeting Patrick Stewart, one of the best actors on TV no matter the genre? I also want to meet Brent Spiner, not just because Data is one of my favorite Trek characters but because I remember his guest roles on the TV comedy series ”Night Court”.
I was originally going to try and get tickets for Pink w/the Hives but that sold out too quickly and didn’t want to get tickets too far in advance due to possible weather concerns. Luckily I found a cool alternative by capturing tickets to see Sezen Aksu, a hugely popular Turkish singer/songwriter (she was the first female Turkish artist to write her own songs) who has sold over 40 million albums worldwide despite the fact that I know 98% of my readers have no idea who she is. Of course, that is one of the big reason I write this so I can introduce you to things you might not come across otherwise.
She draws on regional Turkish musical traditions and western classical to bring a very experimental and progressive pop style that has earned her fans throughout Europe and her home country. I hesitate to call her the Madonna of Turkey but that gives a framework to see how popular and influential she has been to the music scene in Turkey where she has been performing since the mid-70’s. She is also known for her work against injustice and social causes.
So I got that to focus on for this weekend and I hope you have a good week. Here are a few shows you can enjoy this week:
Tuesday (3/05) – Ra Ra Riot @ Blind Pig
Wednesday (3/06) – Gaelic Storm @ Magic Bag
Thursday (3/07) – Queers @ Magic Stick, Johnny Winter @ Callahans, Sarah Brightman @ Fox Theatre
Saturday (3/09) – Flyleaf w/Drowning Pool @ St Andrews