Mmmm Cake: It's a sign!

As many of you know I will be embarking on a great adventure this Wednesday, heading to the foreign and wonderful land of Europe. My girls @aomok and @lymoffatt love cake and love me, so they decided to create a beautiful cake, with monogrammed icing; a celebration of my upcoming adventure!

EJon is replacing me for the two months I'm gone. The four of us ate the cake together and once full, stopped eating and decided we should save some until tomorrow. When me and the girls looked down we noticed the leftover cake looked rather phallic. Ada and ly and I gave the cake a quick trim, and changed it from a Bon Voyage Tanya cake into a Welcome Ian cake....The cake being symbolic of Ian joining the household.

This was not planned, it happened organically, which is a sure sign that this was meant to be!

Love and Kisses,

@TaCaGo

MODROBES RE-Launch Party: Sustainable garments have never looked better!

Remember that wicked brand from the 90's called Modrobes? You know the colourful pants that were a big part of the Hospital Pants craze? You may have even owned a pumpkin orange pair? Personally, I had navy blue and black.

Well Modrobes is back, and sustainable! The new product is made with recycled and environmentally friendly materials. I went to the launch party this past Saturday at it's 620 Queen West location, and here are some pics!

DJ Greg Gouw keeping the crowd boppin while they were shoppin! (30% discount at the party, niiice)

@lymoffatt working it...literally!

@Ionus_ being a poser with Steve Sal Debus (the brains behind @modrobes). Ian is wearing a Modrobes Williamsburg jacket in coffee.

My loves RJ and Josh wearing matching Alternative Earth (also sold at Modrobes).

@Lee_Van, @K_O_ and friends drinking some free wine and looking hawt!

My goodness this party had so many attractive people at it!

Model wearing Modrobes Riding Jacket...oops I mean RJ te he, I thought he was a model.

The girls of @SidePonyNation working as SidePromoNation. @TaCaGO is wearing Modrobes Harem pants and @lymoffatt is wearing Modrobes Eucalyptus Lyocell longsleeve.

Party was a blast and went strong until the keg from Beau's Organic brew ran dry! It was a good night!

Check out more @Modrobes here: http://www.modrobes.com/

Love and Kisses,

T

SuperTest @ El Mocambo April 9th

I hit up the El Mocambo (464 Spadina) this past Friday April 9th, to see one of my favourite up and coming bands, SuperTest, play as part of the Supernova "Band On The Run" competition. The Competition brings together diverse indie bands to cool venues and leaves the winner to be picked by the votes of fans!

I had never been to the El Mocambo before, rather the "Elmo", as those "in the know" call it. It was built in the 1800's, so is basically a historical landmark, especially since rock legends the Rolling Stones played here back in the 70's. It was dark, grimy, and had quite a plethora of explicit poetry written on the walls by past patrons....the perfect place for a rock show!

SuperTest went on stage around 7pm, and that's also when a crowd began surrounding the stage....coincidence? I think not! This band is young, and has only been together since May 2009, but they have a following. As I write this, I have just been informed that they were the 1st prize winners of last Fridays "Band on the Run"competition because they garnered the most votes, so they will move on to the city finals in June at the Sound Academy. Pretty good for a rock band whose members are all under the age of 18!

The band is composed of co-lead singers/co-lead guitarists Luigi Casole and Michael Licandro, with Michael Menecola on bass, and Patrick Casole manning the drums. When the boys got on stage they were happy to have a crowd and we're pumped that people had shown up just for them. Luigi wore a Guns and Roses T-shirt, (probably older than he is) and he thanked the crowd for coming as Michael M. began playing a funky and recognizable bass beat...then came the eerie drum. Michael L. came in with perfect time with the distinctive electric guitar and the crowd knew they were listening to a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train", we were just waiting for the first "Aye Aye Aye". And we got it! Luigi's voice is deep and strong, and very mature sounding. It was perfectly matched to a song like "Crazy Train". The boys started strong, and finished strong with a solo by Michael L.

For their second song SuperTest switched up lead singers and Luigi picked up his guitar, so they could perform an Untitled original. Michael L. is a really good vocalist, and he's definitely a hand talker because when he wasn't joining Lui on guitar he was bouncing and having fun singing with his hands, which shows he was really feeling the music and was into his performance. Michael M. looked to be enjoying himself onstage and was bouncing with his bass, but is definitely the more strong silent type of the group. Patrick was hidden in the back behind his drum set, looking cool and confident...I foresee some panties being thrown his way a la Tommy Lee in the near future. Not too near of course, I mean this is my cousin we're talking about.

Before the third song, another original called "Gotta Move On", the boys gave a shout out to their "taxi drivers"; moms and dads who were in the audience. It was sweet and made you realize if you didn't know, that they were probably a lot younger than you thought. They play so strongly, and sound like a band who have played dozens of shows and been together for more than a year. Check out "Gotta Move On" below.

The fourth song "Too Late" was written for a television show SuperTest was recently featured in called "Can your school Rock?" (CYSR). The song wasn't loved by the judges on the show so it lead to SuperTest's time on the show being cut short, but the crowd at the elmo dug it and were more than happy to "headbang" along. One brave soul even crowd surfed... (well he was small and was lifted by his friends so I don't think he had much choice in the matter). CYSR should be on TV sometime in June!

The last song was called "No Way To Win", and it was the song "to remember SuperTest by". Lui got the crowd cheering before he wailed out the lyrics in his screaming deep style. Michael x 2 sang back up, and the whole crew headbanged along, some members have a lilttle more hair-flair than others. These boys are showmen though, and seem to love performing in front of crowds. Methinks, they are destined to perform in front of large numbers of screaming fans. They are young and fresh, but reminiscent of classic rock bands, and will only get better with age.

After the set I had a chance to chat with the boys and it was SuperDuper to be able to bring you SuperTest's FIRST EVER INTERVIEW! (So awesome when you're a music blogger and you have rockstars in the family!)

(Paraphrased)

TaCaGo-How long have u guys been playing together?
SuperTest-We've all been playing together as SuperTest since May 2009. Michael L, is cousins with Luigi and Patrick, who are brothers. Patrick knew Michael M. from school, and he played guitar, but switched to the bass "for the band".

The boys are all multi talented, hence why Michael and Lui are co's in both vocals and guitar. Having two lead singers was an issue with the judges in CYSR and may have been a factor in their farewell from the show, but personally I dig it. They work vocally and musically well with each other and as a band they play as a unit.

TaCaGo-SuperTest? What's that all about?
SuperTest- In our house we have an antique SuperTest Gas station pump....it was right there when we were thinking of a name.

Ehhh, good story bro's...maybe make something up next time....lol

TaCaGo-Where do u see yourselves in 5 years?
SuperTest-Platinum recording artists (Said without hesitation)

TaCaGo- What about the cars, the money, the houses and the babes?

SuperTest-We're in it for the music! Well, except for Michael M., he's in it for the babes.

TaCaGo-Who would you love to open for?

SuperTest- Slash of course, and Ozzie for sure. (Before that they said some bands that they begged me not to print *clears throat* Nickelback *ahem*...so I won't. :)

TaCaGo-Three words to describe SuperTest: go!
SuperTest-Real Fucking Awesome!

Ya that about sums it up!

(From left: Luigi, Patrick, TaCaGo, Michael L., Michael M.)

That was all the time I had with SuperTest, as they were wisked off to another show. I know it won't be the last we hear of these boys, because winning First Prize at "Band on the Run" got them 8 hours of studio time...definitely something to be pumped about! You can see more SuperTest here: http://www.youtube.com/user/somthineLCe and I'll definitely let you know about their next show!

Love and Kisses,

T

Washed Out @ Wrong Bar: April 7th

Never one to turn down the opportunity to see a live show for under 20 bones, I ventured to Queen West Wednesday night to see Georgia State musician, Washed Out, play a show at Wrong Bar (1279 Queen West). My good friend @CamTheJuice turned me on to the up and comer and made sure I check out the song and fresh/fun video for "Feel it all Around". You can see it here:

FEEL IT ALL AROUND from Northern Lights on Vimeo.

@CamTheJuice, and my new friend @iskanderbenamor, and I walked into Wrong Bar and instantly felt like we were far to pumped up and excited to be there. Why was everyone so standoffish and bored looking?.... Oh, we then realized we hadn't just entered a bar, we had entered a whole new Hipster Realm. I had never seen so many people wearing non-prescription glasses, leather jackets, fisherman hats, cool tights and moustaches!!! OOOh the moustaches!!!....We fit right in though...I mean, I wore a scarf!

After grabbing a "50" (No longer just for old men), we settled into catching the last song of the first band "Trust", from Brooklyn. Girl with keyboard, boy with mic, synth harmonies and ambiance... pretty boring, but I blame myself for only catching the ending.

Second opener was Small Black, again from Brooklyn. The band consisted of a lead singer, who was straight from the 90's in his plaid shirt and throwback Tupac neckerchief around his forehead. Lead singer also played keyboard alongside bassisst, guitarist and drummer.The first two songs were slower, but the third song got me to notice them because it was uptempo and laden with a heavy beat. The drummer was givin'er, and the whole band really played their shit hard at the end. Their sound is melodic and harmonius and allowed me to dance in my 3 by 3 space without having to move my feet.

After that, Washed Out came onstage, real name Ernest Greene. My first thought was that he was really excited, cute and happy to be on that stage in front of fans, it clearly brought him joy, which was nice to see. He makes laid back and joyful music, so the story was checking out so far. This was his third time in Toronto. His style was one of recording loops and meshing them all together during his set; synthpop, but more ambient then poppy. The first song was slow and chill, but the second song came out of nowhere. The beat dropped and it got the crowd moving. Unfortunately, there were some sound difficulties and the show was stopped to fix them.

When he came back he played another song and then invited the opener, Small Black, back on stage. This was a good thing. Washed Out has said in past interviews that he wouldn't tour because it's basically him and a laptop, and he wasn't much into the DJ thing. So now he is touring and that just might be due to teaming up with Small Black, which provides more musical depth, as well as something entertaining to look at while listening. The first song they played was "Belong" a medium tempo song, perfect for hanging out on the beach, much like all of Washed Out's repertoire.

The second last song of the set was "New Theory". I liked this song because you could make out the lyrics moreso then most of the other songs being played. It also had a catchy "Da da da da, da da da da da" part that the boys got the crowd singing and clapping along with. Again, perfect music for hanging out on the beach and watching the waves come in! The last song of the set was "Feel it All Around" which was definitely the best song, and was basically "Jump Around" to all the hipsters in the room, because that's what we did!...oh did I say we....oops lol.

For the encore Washed Out, admittedly, didn't have much else to play, so he and Small Black delighted the crowd with a bit of a jam session. But they were holding out, because for the second encore they did Despicable Dog's (Washed Out Remix) which was a crowd pleaser... I mean it got a hot to trot chick in tight tank and suspenders up on the stage dancing her heart out, looking like she was from Flash Dance. The 45 minute long set, just wasn't enough for this girl, she was ready to dance the night away! (Girl with hands up in pic below)

All in all I had a good time at the show and really was into the interesting and hip shake inspiring beats I heard. It's 80's synthpop, but it really reminded me of 70's disco but without the lyrics. Sometimes the lyrics and melody of the songs are far to soft and ambient for me, cause we all know how much I like to make that booty pop. But I would catch another show in the future, and maybe next time I'll even rock a Moustache!

Check out Washed Out on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thebabeinthewoods

Love and Kisses!

T

Dan Black @ SuperMarket April 2nd: TaCaGo's first Interview!

As I write this entry I'm sitting on my rooftop on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, working on my tan, telling you about my night, and pumping some hot new tunes care of @CamTheJuice. The tunes are from the mixtape for HBO's "How to make it in America"; an all around eclectic mix of songs, including Symphonies (Remix) by Dan Black featuring Kid Cudi.

Dan Black first appeared on my radar back in August when Justin Timberlake tweeted the song "Symphonies", as well as the wicked video for the song.

Recently, the song has been remixed by Kid Cudi, who called up Dan Black in Paris from NY and got the instrumental and put his own twist on it!

Lastnight @lymoffatt and myself had the opportunity to see Dan Black live @ The Supermarket in Kensington market (268 Augusta). We had never been there before, but were greeted with a nice venue, an alright looking crowd and $5 Amsterdam's! The place was not crammed, but still poppin...which is just the way I like it! We got all warmed up by a Funk filled set by Supermarket's house DJ.

Around 12:30 Dan Black went on stage looking focused and ready accompanied by a guitarist and bassist, as well as a 70's dance floor looking device we later learned was an Ableton Novation Launchpad. SidePonyNation wants one!

Dan Black came on stage with PRESENCE. Looking cooly hip in white hightop AirWalks, track-like cargo pants, graphic T and edgy Black Mesh vest by Oak. Oh and I can't forget his signature warrior face paint that proved he was ready to kill it!

The energetic and sometimes reggae like beats got the crowd moving, and the venue seemed to fill up. The first song called "Pump my Pumps" did exactly what it promised and PUMPED the crowd up! Yes, I saw fist pumping....Ok I was fist pumping and singing along to the lyrics "That's OK, That's OK", and it wasn't just ok, It was Fucking Awesome!

Another song I was a big fan of was "Life Slash Dreams" With it's whimisical chorus "Life is life, dreams are dreams, and I'm floating somewhere in between", I think we can all relate to that feeling...and not just when we're high lol.

"Symphonies" was up soon after and was a crowed pleaser. As Dan Black's most well known song it got a loud cheer, and people were singing along and really feeling the music. Dan Black's music doesn't just make you want to dance, it makes you want to fly. It's about feeling good and loving life and living it! "Pass that dutch", was another crowd pleaser, for obvious reasons, and because it was really easy to sing along to: "Pass that dutch, pass that dutch, Pass that Dutch..." and it kind of made you want to MOSH along with it.

After the set was done, it didn't take long before the boys were back to perform an encore due to the pleas of the impressed crowd. The final song was one that Dan had never performed live before called, "I Love Life". Glad I was there for it's de-virginization! It's a vice infused song with a simple message: "You're a popsicle bubble, but I love life"! ....Clearly open to interpretation lol. But TaCaGo's interpretation is "Life is Wicked Awesome, let's live it". Kind of sums up the Dan Black vibe for me. Real fun, musically, lyrically, on stage and in person!

After the set, me and my partner in crime had a chance to chat with Dan backstage. The war paint had been washed off...rather sweated off during the high energy performance and he greeted us warmly as we entered the room.

Originally from Leads, but residing in France, Dan Black could make any girl swoon with his quiet confident demeanor, unique and fresh style, and of course that sexy British accent. He was happy to chat with us, and was really nice and down to earth...he even gave me some hot tips for my upcoming Eurotrip (Brasserie). Also, he taught Ly a little more about what new-fangled gadgets we need to get to bring SidePonyNation to the next level! (Launchpad)

Here's the interview: (Paraphrased)

TaCaGo: What do u like most about performing?
D.B.: The sense of freedom. That you can do whatever u want. You can't be as free on an everyday basis. I enjoy connecting with lots of people in a unique weird dialogue. And when it works it's like "wow"!

The show was very much like a dialogue with crowd participation being a big part of what Dan does!

TaCaGo: How did the collabo with Kid Cudi happen?
D.B.: Cudi rang me up and asked if he could get the instrumental for Symphonies. I was in Paris and he was in NY. I didn't know him at the time, but I sent it to him and he came back with something really good. Then I met him for the video rework.

TaCaGo: Who are your influences?
D.B.: I'm influenced by Missy Elliott, Prince, The smiths, The liars...a broad mix of influences.

This broad range of influences, cross generational and cross genre is definitely heard in Dan's music, which is layered with many interesting and beautifully awkward, rhythms and beats. Music thats makes you happy and really wanna move to...or fly to!

Dan Black was a delight to talk to and inspires me as a musician. I guarantee he will be someone you'll be hearing more from in 2010, and urge you to see him live if you get the chance. Def check him out on youtube and at http://www.danblacksound.com/.

Before I left we made a promise to link up on twitter (@Dan__Black) and I'm def going to try and see him again when I'm in Paris or Italy in May and June!

That's all for now folks, let me know what you think of my very first interview/concert review!

Love and Kisses,

@TaCaGo