Category Archives: Editorial

Yesterday it was announced that major radio stations across North America were dropping the classic “Baby It’s Cold Outside” from their rotations because it was deemed offensive.

A year ago Ian Campeau was on a high. A Tribe Called Red, the group he co-founded, was attracting more mainstream attention than ever for their acclaimed electric pow-wow beats, a powerful mix of First Nations rhythms and electronica. They’d come a long way from filling up the dance floor in Babylon to opening up the 2017 Juno Awards. The peak of that high was, perhaps, came this year when they netted Group of the Year.

Today is international women’s day and I want to take a minute to pay tribute to the incredible women that work hard to help Sound Check Entertainment sparkle.

It seems like just yesterday we were counting down from 2016 to 2017, it’s amazing how time flies when you’re having fun. 2017 also known as Canada 150 came with its share of highlights from the JUNOs to the Grey Cup and plenty of amazing milestones in between. Here’s a look back at the year that was and the year, we predict, lies ahead in 2018.

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to sit down and write a Monday Musings post but this morning after hearing news of the attack on Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas I knew I had no choice but to write.

Catching a World Wrestling Entertainment live event is sort of unlike any other type of live event in the world. Between dramatic entrances, sometimes scary masks, blaring music, colourful costumes, and unbelievable athleticism right in front of your eyes, professional wrestling can sort of sweep you up in it’s very unique universal of branded entertainment. And when the WWE comes to town specifically, it’s above and beyond any other form of pro wrestling in terms of production value and energy. I was lucky enough to witness this firsthand on Monday night, when the WWE Summerslam Heatwave Tour invaded Kingston’s K-Rock Centre.

So Montebello’s Amnesia Rockfest 2017 was amazing! Another great lineup of talent, reaching all corners of the globe, and encompassing a variety of styles. Again another 100,000 or so people descend on this wickedly beautiful little village, and they run amuck. Music is coming from every corner and can be heard for miles. Artists from Germany, Mexico, and all over the United States and Canada take the stage, as dust rises from the dirty boots of thousands of punk rockers and metalheads, and I got to witness it all from a very unique vantage point.

The times may be a’ changing, but not quite fast enough.

Before Green Day won Grammies for singing of an American idiot, and Rage Against the Machine urged us to take the power back, The Clash wrote intricate songs about isolation, poverty, utilitarianism, and cultural upheaval. Before Bob Dylan won a Nobel Prize for Literature, his songs were recited and replayed over and over at picket lines across the United States when citizens took to the streets to protest the Vietnam War. Before Dr. Dre was selling his headphones to Apple and being treated like hip hop’s elder statesman and Ice Cube was making movies about barbershops and Jump Street, the “Niggaz With Attitude” were challenging police corruption and slapping us unapologetic-ally with a lyrical portrait of their realities in South Central, Los Angeles.

It’s hard to believe that it’s really only been 5 years since I first put pen to paper (so to speak) to write the first ever post for Sound Check Entertainment. Back then it was called the Hoedown Blogger and the platform was under the banner of the Ottawa Citizen but had it not been for that day none of what followed would be possible.

Sometimes I just need to sit back and recall that just 6 summers ago I started Sound Check Entertainment, almost by accident. The traction it received from festivals and events across Ottawa and Ontario almost immediately was mind blowing but nothing compares to the feeling this week as we stage a massive benefit for Fort McMurray in Toronto on Thursday called “Bright Lights, Big Country”.