Truth Be Told Victoria

Well, where to begin?  To say it's been quite a week is a big understatement.  HUGE!!
I thought the week before was a big hit with 163 views.  This week 1564!! Unbelievable!
The attention due, it seems mostly to a crappy art show at the 50/50 and the quick jump to taking negative review, well, negatively. The more I've been able to let it sink in, the more I feel I had been light in my review of last weeks night at the 50/50.  What felt to me like a high school art exhibit on 'in class doodling' apparently is too sacred for negative review. Oh well, that was last week.
So, to fill you all in on what has been going on, my facebook profile has been imitated, as has this blog. At last count there were 3 other Maxine Felixas out there. Unbelievable! It is a great compliment I suppose.  I found it fun and quite entertaining for the first 2 days until one  or more of them decided to defile me or send hate mail.  I suppose that is what is to be expected if one is to revue anothers work.
However, I have been affected by current news and details made public of Kimberly Proctors brutal murder.  It has made me physically ill after I had read the details of what those sick little animals did.  My heart goes out to the families and friends that have been directly affected.  It has chilled me to such a degree that I am unwilling to tolerate any bullying or deeply hateful comments.  I have set out to review arts and culture in this town and many may not like what I have to say.  That's fine.  You are entitled to feel the way you do.  I am up for criticism and discussion.  It doesn't have to be deep or friendly,  just non threatening or hateful.

Ok. Tuesday I had set out to have a drink at Logans Pub.  Passing by the empty bar I decided to detour to the small liquor store attached.  I purchased a bottle of wine.  Cheap wine, and proceeded to walk towards the ocean.  Not much to tell here, except that there is a peacefulness that can be found in this town that may be rare.  Walking down a long main street in the rain, past coffee shops and stores with a bottle of wine in hand and reaching a bench that overlooks the ocean, sitting and breathing in this thick moist air.
One of the best nights I've had so far.

Wednesday I decided to stay in and do nothing. Feeling sad and disgusted with people, I decided to forgo any kind of review.

Thursday my spirits were up.  I  felt like I needed to see something good. Problem was, there didn't seem to be much going on but DJs and more DJs.   There aren't any real gallery activities going on until the weekend.  This town bites for something to do.  Go to a movie?  Not really what I'm into reviewing.  I stopped in to a BBQ restaurant called PIG and had some wings.  They were wings.  A little larger than what you find at most bars.  I felt the flavour  of their BBq sauce a bit lacking.  So, thursday was kinda the pits (non sweaty).

There was a show on at logans. Is this the only place to go see some music? I dropped in on my way home. The band playing was Year of the Rat.  Kind of like interpol, but much less interesting. It seemed the high light of their set was a cranberries song that people actually moshed to.

What a lame crowd too.  they all seemed strangely excited by this cranberry/joy division like shit show. So far it seems that the nightlife here is mostly excited by canned music, bad music, and bad art. 

Another disappointing night.

Friday. I eat some of thursdays words. A record store party!  A small record store off of China town called Talk is Cheap hosted a monster surf party!  This was cool.  This is where nightlife and culture and art meet and become replenished.  a surf band, monster art and a crowded little record store. I 

loved it!

Sipping off a mickey of schnapps from my purse and bobbing to the ventures is my idea of a good time.

After a little of that I went over to Lucky bar to catch Run Chico Run and Women.  I hadn't seen Rn Chico Run in a few years, and they seem to be 3 insted of 2 people now.

They have been around quite a long time and the reason is because they are really good.  Dreamy vocal harmonies, strange swirlling keyboards and great arrangements.  I am a fan.

Women were not as fantastic as I had hoped.  I lsitened to their album when it came out and prepped myself with a listen before the show.  They felt kind of limp in comparison to their album.  The crowd seemed to eat it up more than Run Chico Run.  It seemed pathetic to me.  I guess it's just exciting to have a band from out of town even if they are lacklustre in comparison to local talent.

the lay out of the bar still sucks. A giant hallway.  Nice brick wall though, reminds me of back east.

Sat. night. This is the Halloween fun time night!  House parties and more! Donning my horny little devil costume out into the night I went.

Passing logans on the way downtown the window showed no signs of life.  The Grand Old Country band isn't so grand of a draw I guess.  Too bad, I like me some country!

I heard of  a party in Fan Tan alley I wanted to check out. I got down there and boy was it crowded. In fact downtown was alive with people. Happily surprised by the festive spirit I was quickly disappointed by what my ears heard as I approached my destination. It was Ball Gag 'n' Chain Gag. The same band I had heard last week at the Zombie afterparty. What's with this band and Haloween? I don't get it.  I decided to skip it and skip on down to Luck bar where i stood in line for 1/2 hour to see Bloody Betty. This was a gorelesque show.  And while it was what it promised to be I was so uncomfortable in this overcrowded bar room I missed most of the show. It took me 20 min. just to get a drink, another 20 to use the bathroom.

Time to slip out.  I was tipped off to a party off of Douglas st. at a place the kids call the Ramp.  The police were turning the corner towards where I was going with the lights flashing.  Recognising some of the same people I had seen at the 50/50 a week earlier I thought maybe this wasn't the best decision.  I wasn't really in the mood for a confrontation of the wills.

So walking the streets back home drinking my cooler I reflected on my night. I found some life crammed into the one small alley downtown and the one crammed little bar downtown.  None of what I could really comment on, sigh.

I passed by an empty dark Logans on my way home and a few people puking in the streets,

A couple having a drunken fight and sirens wailing in the distance.  Truth be told Victoria, for all that I have had to say about this last week, I haven't had as much to say as I had hoped for.

Perhaps tonight, when I take the kids trick or treating the true spirit of this season will descend upon us all.

Until next week,

Max xoxox

Truth Be Told Victoria

Well, it has been quite the week!  I'm putting myself out there now!  I decided to start a Facebook account, and have made friends quick and steadily. This Blog has had 163 visitors in 1 week!  Hard to believe. 
Well Victoria, we may be friends now,  however, i am critiquing you for whatever may come my way.  I am searching for signs of life,  yet I am having difficulty finding your pulse.
Wednesday night I went to Smiths for a drink and a some food.
The special was a free range beef burger.  Though it was good, after I had made a stupid remark about how 'free reange really does taste better', and someone asked 'how so?'. I was stupefied by own lazy tongue.  Aren't most cows 'free range'? You can still pump a free roaming animal full of hormones.
So, although I truly did enjoyed the burger, I would not be able to tell you by taste that this was a penned or free roaming creature.  Plus charred meat with sauces and the like taste good.
Victorias oldest DJ was the provider of music.  DJ B-money.
I could have cared less.  I am not a big fan of canned music as it is, but if it is some how interesting and different, I might stick around.  This was not the case for me. Plus the crowd that came in for this was all gelled up and fake 'n' baked.  No matter how much of that orange goop you apply boys & girls this town will never become Miami!
I walked through downtown, past the Sticky Wicket and all of those obnoxious people writhing over each other in the street.  Coming up to the Cactus Club, I felt more turned off than ever. It was time to go home. I hailed a cab and home it was.


Thursday night I set out with hope and an open mind.  There was a gallery show at the 50/50. I arrived to the kind of crowd you might expect at a hipster hangout in the village.
I felt fairly uncomfortable.  Eyes of judgement gaze. Why? I can't figure out?  The fashion on the shoulders and feet of most of these people is terrible!  Like something out of an American Apparel ad.  The art was mediochre at best. Some was meant to be shocking I suppose,  though it was really just porn.  Why the works of these 3 artists was placed together I haven't a clue.  Perhaps friendship.  That would be the only acceptable reasoning in my opinion.
The artis were Liz Dempsey, Lee McLure and Eric Volet.
This exhibit was bullshit!  Not to say that all the artists works were crap (though some of it was for sure), it just didn't make sense as a group showing.  Again with the DJs!  Stop!  If you're going to spin records at a gallery make sure it is complimentary.  In hind sight the music made as much sense as the show.
Home with nothing but irritable sweaty pits again!


Friday night!  This is the night of nights is it not? 
I went to Lucky Bar to check out Humans with WIZERDZ.
Electro dance pop music! Could be fun.  I tried my best to surrender to this night.  I wanted so bad to be able to let myself go and feel the night!  Instead I felt cramped and pushed and shoved and hit and groped!  My shoes were wet with spilled beer and these people!  Gross!  It was hard to concentrate on the music fully with so much testosterone in the room.  This music was an art.  Or a fart?  Techno art fart?  Fun but not strange enough to really bend the air.  Stinky in all the right parts?  Not quite.  Alright Victoria,  it's 2am and it's all over, where's the afterhours?  No afterhours?  No bands at an old wharehouse or closed boutique?  How can we have a nightlife without these?  Hmmm....something smells funny.  Shit! It's my pits again!


Saturday turned out to be the greatest treat and the worst.
This Blog is about nightlife, arts and music, however I must comment on the daytime activity of this past Saturday.  The city came to life with the Dead!  Zombies took over downtown Victoria for a good couple of hours in the afternoon!  Scowls from Sat. afternoon shoppers were as plenty as the awe and happy surprise upon the faces of the unsuspecting weekend afternoon consumers! Hundreds of people decked out in blood and pasty white make up. This was truly wonderful and I applaud the people who brought this to the streets of this hum drum town!  If I'm here next year, I want in on this.
The after party for this was at Logans Pub.  I was so there!
Too bad most people from downtown earlier in the day were not.  And the Zombie bands were not quite right for the mood of this pre-Halloween event. Slapstick country from M.D. Wren & the Sick Kids.  These were the two guys in yamakas last week at the OPen Space show!  This time with a full band.  The band was good and they were entertaing,  yet it put a bad taste in my mouth. And, no, it wasn't the brains from the brain eating contest!  It was the fake drawl and false country honky tonk feel of these songs hitting the air.  Strange band for a zombie night.
The next band was also in the country vein.  They were a bit more thematic with their music, however it was still a strange choice of band I thought.  They were called Ball Gag and Chain Gang.  They couldn't sing very well, however the enrgy was up a notch from the last band.  When they brought the dijeridoo out,  I was done!  Unless you're an aboriginee from the out back calling upon dream time, I am not interested in hearing this in any genre.  Trith be told Victoria,  you're better when the dead walk your streets mid day than when the brain dead inhabit your clubs and galleries.  


Happy Halloween!  Until next sunday,


Max. xo

Truth be told Victoria

Here we go! No nonsense feedback for arts and music in the Capital region. This will include the politics and clique critique of our fair maiden as well.

Let's start with Victoria as a whole (hole) for a nightlife city. Downtown is a mix of clubs and bars for the hopped up bopper in the night.The live music is limited to Lucky Bar-DJs mostly,some live stuff that gets repeatedly cut off early for the dj dance crowd.Real lame.  I can't keep up with name changes of the Straths live venue.9ONE9 I think.Sure it will change in a couple of months.
Sugar has the weekends to give for mostly overpriced mediocre music.They have a club night on thursdays that brings out all the Jaegerbombsters.
The one and only gay bar is Papparazzis.Sad.
Venture up town a bit,you get some neighbourhood pubs.Fernwood Inn,Christies,The Beagle. All sporty and kinda dull.Not much sense for night life discussion,however,if anything should ever happen in any of these places worth mentioning,I will.Mostly,they're depressing and dull.
Logans Pub in Fernwood/North Park is an exception to the norm.
It's a neighbourhood pub,but also a music venue that hosts bands & djs,open mics.
James Bay has the Superior.That's fine.Not much life there either.Jazz and bad rehashed rock and hippie shticky. They are a self proclaimed church of music.Fine.
There are some galleries out there that put on shows too.50/50,OpenSpace,Ministry of casual living(haven't done much in a long time).
This is a city that seems to think it knows something about arts and culture.Most nights do not reflect that.Some nights,magic happens.Barely.
DJs-pretty run of the mill and boring
Bands-pretty much the same.
The genres have maybe 1 or 2 bands that shine,the others are regurgitating shit that the machine spits out for them to lap up.Those that try something different are quite often ridiculed or alienated by their own.
This past weekend I checked out some bands at Logans,Lucky,& Open Space.
It was a lacklustre weekend. Po Girl on wednesday was a room full of girls trying to get with each other.The band felt like a rewind 10years to be Good Tanyas territory.Dull.
Well played musical dullness.
Lucky had some real crap on Friday,Guily about girls,Techromancer,Celebrity traffic-puke!
Bands that are all 'look at me,I've got a girl in the band and a keyboard! Now we dance to my shit!'-Puke!
Open Space had a Zombie Space thing going on.I got there half way I guess,they were doing thriller.Minus Michael! Lame-o! There was a girl rapping about Wikipedia-that was kinda cool-not that it had anything to do with Zombies.
There was some dudes who work at Logans that played,a freaky dude named Dieter rocked a miniature keyboard! The first real Zombies/space thing I heard.The visuals for this were awesome too! It was footage comprised from scenes of the norwegian zombie flick Dead Snow!
Then it was two guys fro logans dressed in yamakas and blue suits that did a couple of cramps songs.That was ok.
It seemed that this was mostly about the visuals,and most acts seemed to not play to that.
Ryan Beattie was up next,another Logans guy,and was good.His guitar sounded great and his somgs were great.The visuals for his part were real effective too.i liked the fact he complained about a lack of blood.
The room was getting pretty empty.Another example of lame night life.At midnight the last band came on,more Logans dudes! WTF! They were loud! Their set was instrumental and seemed to be focused on sound for the images.Truth be told,I enjoyed this the best.Most people got up and left,lots moved to the back wall and took in great visuals with real scary and effective music for a space/zombie night!
Let's see what this week brings.