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London

Concert Review: Freedom or Death & Shout Out Out Out Out

Stepping inside Call The Office can feel like taking a gigantic step outside the Western bubble, but it’s one worth taking, especially when you walk away with a renewed sense of appreciation for Canadian talent.

The disco ball hanging from the ceiling near the stage was hardly indicative of the alternative and electronic sounds heard Tuesday night from Toronto’s Freedom or Death and Edmonton’s Shout Out Out Out Out.

When Freedom or Death’s lead singer Sway took to the microphone, he teased the crowd that it was a sound check, during which he wanted to gauge reactions from everyone in the “party town.” Before long though, people left their barstools to hear the as-of-yet unsigned band perform tracks from their album, Ego. Within their 40-minute set, their engaging stage presence quickly transformed young patrons into fans who yearned for an encore, some of whom found a spot near the stage to dance with friends.

While the headliners set up their gear, Sway chatted outside with some audience members who compared his guitar skills to Prince and overall style to Mars Volta. Suddenly Freedom or Death had acquired fan girls, who barely looked of legal age, anxiously wanting to dance with the singer during Shout Out Out Out Out’s performance.

As soon as Shout Out Out Out Out took to the stage, they attracted more people to the dance floor, including Sway. Their music sounds similar to recordings by Hot Chip, a band with whom they could definitely produce a great collaboration. The Edmonton rockers shared little commentary, except to introduce some new tunes, including a track called “Total Loss.”

The lack of lyrics in their songs drew focus to the band members’ onstage nuances and attire, particularly the keyboardist’s patent leather red brogue shoes.

Regardless of how you access music, be sure to add these Canadians to your playlists—your friends will be glad you did.

Originally published in The Gazette.

October 28, 2011 by

Second Helpings, Please!

After two days of enjoying some of the best recipes in Second Helpings, Please!, a staple in any Jewish home, with my family, I tasted new concoctions by Chef Jason Bartenger at the Oliver and Bonacini Canteen in the TIFF Bell Lightbox. There, I reunited with ladies whom I’ve affectionately categorized online as the “Indigo Tweets Crew”. For this reunion dinner however, there were not even any Indigo employees present! They were greatly missed though, especially by those of us who hadn’t seen Captain Awesome (aka Cammy, the author of @indigogreenroom tweets, who arranges for fans to meet celebrities across Canada) at the Word on the Street Festival last weekend.

Jennifer, a librarian technician at Humber College who made tonight’s reservations, showed off her new “practical, yet sexy” pumps from Naturalizer, which received the group’s stamp of approval for being stylish too. If only I had been on the other side of the table to capture it on camera when she pulled one off to show us… That was a funny moment, right there in the restaurant on a Friday night. Oh well. It just goes to show you how after meeting each other only once or twice at Indigo events, we already share a great camaraderie.

The reunion dinner couldn’t have been scheduled much later in the fall because after exploring all that Toronto has to offer, including a gig working at CTV, Elizabeth is returning home to Newfoundland this week! Hopefully she’ll be able to squeeze in a trip to the theatre to see Kim Cattrall on stage, which is on my to-do list as well, time permitting. It has already been agreed that a tweet up will be built around her next visit to Toronto. Plus, I just documented it, so now it’ll for sure have to happen!

 

 


 

 

Oh yes, and then there’s the food, i.e. the scrumptious platters that Chef Bartenger delivered to us himself, accompanied by detailed explanations of the ingredients and preparation. There’s a reason we returned to eat at the Lightbox and it wasn’t just because of the chef’s good looks.

Tonight marked the first time I’ve ever had a beet salad and liked it and I wasn’t alone in loving each piece topped with Greek yogurt and granola.

 

 


 

 

Servings of flatbread, chicken pate, steak tartare and frites with grated cheese were also slid down the table in between us and enjoyed by all. At this point, the menus doubling as placemats beneath our plates had been nearly forgotten about, but we continued to indulge by ordering beef brisket sandwiches, scallops and desserts, including a root beer float. The float was also served to an eleven year old birthday girl upstairs who apparently has impeccable manners and an excellent vocabulary, or at least that’s the word on the street.

 

 


 

 

There was some conversation about book signings, recent purchases and the new augmented reality interactive experiences offered by Indigo, but there was surprisingly little talk about social media at all this time. We were simply 8 friends gathered in downtown Toronto, unwinding at the end of the week and enjoying each other’s company before returning to our regular routines as students, young professionals, teachers and mothers.

At the the end of the evening, as we reached for our coats and decided to institute our tweet up as a quarterly event, Jennifer generously offered tickets to a blogger event. Things like that just don’t happen in London, Ontario, nor does the event Word on the Street I’m afraid.

 

 


 

Marketing professionals are continually seeking ways to make their initiatives appear organic. There’s something quite authentic about women feeling inspired by a corporate-sponsored event to coordinate their own that’s equally as intimate as the first by using the tool that brought us all together in the first place: Twitter.

October 1, 2011 by

Another First From Indigo

From a heads up on contest giveaways to exclusive invites, I’ve truly been enjoying all that Twitter has to offer, including the opportunity to connect with people in real life who I would have never met otherwise.

Indigo’s first tweet-up get together in February epitomized the power of Twitter when Cammy (@indigogreenroom) invited 9 of his loyal Twitter followers to an exclusive fun-filled evening at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The tweet-up brought new meaning to the term ‘reading week’, which had brought me home to Toronto at the time, as it shows how reading is not merely a solitary activity; it brings people together.

Given that the event took place back in February, I won’t go into much detail about the event, except to say that I met some lovely ladies that evening and enjoyed the opportunity to meet Cammy in person! Chef Jason Bartenger served some delicious treats at LUMA, including this tasty desert pictured below:

For more insight into the Indigo tweet-up, you can check out Sara Hamil’s rave review, from which you can learn why Ivey should consider creating a case study about Indigo’s thoughtful marketing strategy.

As much as I love Indigo, someone else scrawled this on an Indigo notebook for the record. On a previous page, you can find other girls named Sarah doodling their name with the pencil. It’s such a common name!

After brainstorming similar events geared towards bloggers and trendsetters while working at Matchstick, I finally was able to attend a fall preview tonight at Indigo’s headquarters downtown at King and Spadina.

Walking into the brightly lit room on the sixth floor, I found a room filled mostly with women, all of whom were booklovers and Indigo rewards members. For the first time, Indigo granted rewards members the opportunity to preview Indigo’s fall lifestyle collection, just hours after opening their doors to magazine editors and TV show producers. Lack of media accreditation aside, everyone seemed pleased to mingle and browse while munching on appetizers from Chef Michael Smith’s recipes.

While librarians discussed the potential looming strike, teachers and students tried to hide their anxiety about going back to school and Indigo employees worked the room to chat up event attendees about Indigo’s reward programs and stunning new products. It wasn’t salesy at all, but ideally they should have introduced guests to each other rather than approaching them individually without helping them to forge new connections. Then again, it’s more difficult to make that happen without the luxury of a private dining room, like there was at the tweet-up.

My friend Cora, an English major, is eager to start reading the book by Phillip Roth she received in her gift bag!

Speaking of giveaways, one of my lucky friends from the Indigo tweet-up took home a new touchscreen Kobo e-reader and other guests will soon delve into The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which is a highly anticipated book according to Indigo’s team. Check back soon to see which purchases will be bought with my Indigo gift card!

I must also discuss the strategic layout of the room used for the fall preview event. Entering the room mirrored walking into a foyer at a neighbour or friend’s home, whereas this is usually where you would find a branded step and repeat used for photography. The most sales-forward component was a display of leather Kobo cases, but for a company responding to consumers’ adoption of digital readers, that was to be expected and nothing was lost as a result.

The entire room maintained a good balance that showcased how Indigo’s products can be used to create either a classic, sophisticated look throughout your home or quirky, fun atmosphere, depending on the decorative items you prefer. For example, you can easily add colour to a home office with accessories as small as yellow moustache paper clips!

You likely wouldn’t expect such playful decor in a professional setting, but there’s lots of room to experiment with Indigo’s merchandise. For instance, their eco-friendly message wasn’t limited to the tote bags in which goodies were distributed at the end of the night, as a transparent display case set on a desk held pop tabs. Some collect these to donate to charities, while others use them to accessorize I suppose! Meanwhile, vases of flowers and throw pillows offered a feminine touch, while sleek picture frames and modern clocks had mass appeal.

Leaving the event, I realized I may need to return a lamp I bought for my apartment in London because Indigo clearly has a better selection than I realized!

Thanks again to the Indigo team for another great event. Fortunately there were no wristbands required for entry this time!

Waiting in line to meet Shania Twain at Indigo

August 30, 2011 by

The Stereotypical Western Girl on Twitter

I’ve been thinking about the new Rewd blog at Western and Ryan Dergy’s quest to learn who is behind the @wstrngrl Twitter account. In his article, he proposes that perhaps it is run by Gazette staff because he finds it suspicious “that they got an exclusive interview with @wstrngirl a few months ago.”

Most of the Gazette’s editorial staff identifies themselves as multimedia journalists. Any driven journalist will make optimal use of their resources to get the dirt on an upcoming story when needed and interviewing @wstrngirl is no exception. The creator of the account could easily create an anonymous e-mail to exchange messages with a reporter while maintaining ‘her’ mysterious identity.

Moreover, the Gazette staff operates Canada’s only daily student newspaper and many of its writers are full-time students who write personal blogs. They already have plenty of fun in their office on the third floor of the UCC, while writing editorial pieces and debating each other about hot topics. As for participating in Western’s Twitter community, they share links to new articles, monitor the #uwo hashtag and laugh at what fellow students are sharing.

As a spokesperson for the stereotypical female Western student who wishes Weldon washrooms had full-length mirrors, @wstrngrl has plenty of fame online and offline. Likewise, Gazette writers already have a large readership and do not have the same motivation as the average attention-seeking Western student or business-savvy Ivey folks who want to experiment with social media.

Stereotypical Western Girl

@wstrngirl is a conversation starter and a comedian. The account’s followers don’t need to probe for more info about the person behind the computer screen or BlackBerry. Just read, tweet, and enjoy.

March 25, 2011 by