Jamsterdam Radio: Pretty Odd

Showing posts with label Pretty Odd. Show all posts

The Perfect Date Night: Dinner and An Orchestra
Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Hey ladies and gents!

On Saturday, November 23rd, I went to see “Heroic Brass”, a Mississauga Symphony Orchestra show, featuring the amazingly talented trumpet player/pianist, Guy Few, who played for a packed hall. He only played the trumpet this time, but it was still pretty sweet (side note: I totally thought he’d play the trumpet and the piano at the same time- hope to catch that sometime!)!

MSO photo courtesy of Ryan Tobin

The show was great- with a lot of powerful numbers. There was a point in the first half of the show where they had the image of a Disney-esque castle projected in the background, and as I looked at the musicians and the way they synchronized their movements while playing, I felt like I was watching a classic Disney movie, like “Fanstasia” for some reason.

During half time (I know it’s called the intermission, but I notice I tend to call it ‘half time’), I caught a few local ‘celebrity’ sightings as well, including 3/5 of the band, Pretty Odd, as well as guitarist, Matt Hamilton from the punk band, IVS- all who were dressed up, and looking quite dapper.

To kick off the 2^nd half of the show, MSO President and bass player, Paul Weston cracked a few jokes (he’s awesome), as well as mentioned how we can “adopt a musician” before continuing the show. I noticed even from the October show, when Paul Weston takes the mic, he is always entertaining.

At the end of a crazy week, it was pretty sweet to just kick back and listen to a live orchestra playing classical music.

Click photo to zoom in.

It was a successful date night: a high-carb dinner (yes, I feel entitled to one diet cheat day a week), red wine, romantic sounds of live classical music, and more live music- the simple pleasures. I say more live music because following the MSO show, my date and I made our way to Streetsville-based pub, Cuchulainn’s for a drink, where another one of my favorite musicians, Matt“Zaddy” Zadkovich’s cover band, The Infringements, were playing.

Interested in scoring one pair (2) of free tickets to the December 14, 2013 Mississauga Symphony Orchestra show entitled "Holiday Spectacular? There are two ways:

1. Quiz the Maestro video blog series. Info can be found here: http://www.mississaugasymphony.ca/quiz-the-maestro/

2. MSO is closing in on 500 "Likes" on Facebook. The 500th person to "Like" the fan page will receive a prize package that will include: a ticket voucher to any concert in MSO's 2013/2014 season, and a CD of Kevin Lau's "Voyage to the East" as performed by the MSO. Invite your friends to "Like" the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra Facebook Page, as well!

See you there!

@JerZGrlinCanada

Jersey Girl in Canada at Cuchulainn's Jam Night- Feat. Pretty Odd!
Monday, March 11, 2013

Hello, my sexy readers!

On March 5th, Chris Number 3 and I headed to Streetsville, Ontario for a Tuesday well-spent at Cuchulainn's Jam Night. The reason for my third consecutive Tuesday night spent at this pub was the band, Pretty Odd!

Pretty Odd (L-R)- Nicole Cain, Daniel Rengifo, Huy Pham, Bence Czuka, Luke Prosser

My faithful readers, if you recognize the name of this 5-piece band, I have mentioned them last month in my blog about their gig at the Smiling Buddha with The After Hours, Bike Thiefs and Dystonia, and how I took video footage of part of their set then regretfully accidentally deleted the video off my camera. After seeing them perform on Tuesday, I'm not that sad about the lost footage- I got footage of them rockin' the hell out of the pub the night they celebrated lead guitarist, Bence Csuka's 20th birthday!

Not only is this young group of musicians super-talented, you can really tell they love what they do when they're on stage! Another thing I noticed, besides the fact the level of awesome their tunes are, the entire band happens to have amazing hair! The energy of the crowd to see Pretty Odd was insane!

Some other artists that played that night included Sleepin Tom, who is an amazing song writer.

Iman Wain, who has an angelic voice that can melt the ice-cold heart of any alpha-male.

Christopher Pozzi, who you may know from hearing his tune "For You" on Jamsterdam Radio, as well as a previous blog I wrote last month about him. The musicianship in this video is so on-point all around! Great song too. The guitarist is Mathew Brown from the band Tomahawk Love, the drummer is Nikhil Shetty from the band Wasted Summer and the bassist is Matt Zaddy.

Matt Zaddy, who is the multi-talented singer/songwriter/guitarist and the host of Jam Nights every Tuesday. I like this song by Dashboard Confessional "Hands Down", but emotional songs shouldn't be whispered, so I dig Zaddy's version a lot more- it sounds more sincere his way.

In the last video, you see the backup vocalist with the tambourine- that's Jay from the band, Tomahawk Love. The drummer is Christopher Pozzi.

I had to share the following video because check out the dark haired singer- it took me a while to figure out who he reminded me of.. if Jay from Jamsterdam Radio had a long lost younger brother, he would be it! I can actually pinpoint the moment I came to this conclusion, where in the video you hear me laughing for seemingly no reason at 00:02:30. Yup, Jay- you've got a doppelganger in Mississauga! Don't worry- that's a compliment for the both of you.. and no, I'm not hitting on any of you, just saying!

One of the other singers was this cute chick, Desiree. Chris Number 3 and I were mad crushing on her! She's one hell of a performer with a great voice and this electrifying energy! Yes- I said electrifying and now, you most likely have a "Grease" tune stuck in your head... or maybe that's just me.

Oh, and if you've been wondering what your favorite Jersey Girl in Canada looks like when she's about to accidentally get head-butted by a cute and enthusiastic chick in the mosh pit, check out this video of Pretty Odd performing "Silvery Sheen"- you can see me disappear into the crowd in the beginning of the video, and I come back at the end of the song. Thanks to Chris Number 3 for lending me his steady camera hand when nature called!

I took a few more videos, but I am pretty sure they will just slow down loading this page, so they're all on the same youtube channel.

Like what you see/ hear? The 2-year anniversary of Cuchulainn's Jam Night is happening on Tuesday March 19 at 9:30pm EST- they always manage to have awesome talent make their way over- see you there!

@JerZGrlinCanada

Jersey Girl in Canada Meets Mississauga Bands in Toronto!
Sunday, February 17, 2013

A few weeks back, my long time buddy, Martin, (aka "Polish Cheeks"), invited me to check out a Mississauga-based band called Bike Thiefs, who was playing a show in Toronto at a venue called Smiling Buddha on Feburary 7. I have never heard of them before, and I'm all about new music, so I was pretty stoked to go!

Bike Thiefs L-R: Ryan Perry, Marko Woloshyn, Kris Pandeirada

Turns out, Bike Thiefs was playing a show with a full line-up of other Mississauga-based bands, which I found interesting that we had to go downtown to see. We arrived at the venue around 8:30pm, so we missed the first band, but the bands I did get to see really impressed me.

The first band we saw was called Pretty Odd- the band members all looked really young- like 19 or 20 years old, but their sound was very mature and they had their own awesome sound. I wish the venue had better sound, as I couldn't hear much through the speakers at the back of the room, and I also wish I hadn't accidentally deleted the video I took of this band, for it was something worth sharing with my readers! I'm following their Facebook fan page to find out when their upcoming shows are, so hopefully I can get some live footage of them. They're an amazing live band- check them out!

Next up, was a band called The After Hours, another awesome band I had the pleasure of seeing play live! I remember going to the restroom in the basement of the venue while this band was up on stage and I could hear their set. I found myself rocking out to their music while washing my hands! Much respect for their well-developed musicianship! Love their tunes! As I'm typing this, I'm listening to their songs on Soundcloud and I cannot get enough of their sexualicious tune, "Sugar", which I'm pretty sure they played at Smiling Buddha.

Bike Thiefs took the stage and I had to make the choice between dancing to their set (which I really wanted to do), or video taping their set without shakiness. I chose video taping their set and bobbing my head every so slightly. These guys were wicked! Again, I'm on Soundcloud, listening to their tunes as I type this and I definitely want to add these tracks to my spring/summer playlist! Their tunes totally made me forget about the crappy snow storm outside the venue doors that night, and reminded me of songs I'd play on road trips in the summer. I cannot believe these bands were in my city this whole time and I just found out about them! I've apparently been living under a rock!

Final band that took the stage that night was Dystonia. I was pretty shocked and pleased to hear how hard this band's sound was in comparison to the previous bands who shared the stage. Just watching these guys, with their incredible stage energy made me feel like I just drank a matcha tea, which kicks any espresso you've ever had's ass! They were very entertaining to watch along with their great tunes!

My rating of the night on a scale between 'Meh' to 'Dayum!': I give each of these four bands a "Double-Dayum!"

Tune into the Jamsterdam Top 10 every day at 10:00am and midnight EST to hear these Mississauga bands take over the countdown!

@JerZGrlinCanada

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