so this is the new year

Why not start off 2005 with a look back at my favourite concerts in Toronto of 2004! (Click on each photo below[by the way, which are my own photos] to go to my original blogpost containing my review of the show. The table grid below the photoset shows at a glance what show each photo represents. The only exception below is that the Jeff Tweedy photo only links to my review of Wilco's show at Massey Hall, although their show at The Mod Club was also top notch.)

Stars @ The Mod Club Theatre	Badly Drawn Boy @ Palais Royale	Broken Social Scene @ Harbourfront
Wilco @ Massey Hall and The Mod Club Theatre	PJ Harvey @ The Phoenix	Luna @ Lee's Palace
Franz Ferdinand @ Kool Haus	Trashcan Sinatras @ Lee's Palace	Hidden Cameras @ Harbourfront
Sarah Harmer @ Lee's Palace	The New Deal @ Nathan Phillips Square	Lali Puna @ Lee's Palace

And on everybody's mind yesterday was "What are you doing for New Year's Eve?". Bill Janovitz even recorded the song. With nothing really planned, my friend and I ended up doing New Year's Eve on the cheap, which in Toronto means going down to the celebrations at City Hall in Nathan Phillips Square. Weather was fantastic which meant EVERYONE was out and about downtown yesterday. You know there isn't anything that I'd much rather do on New Year's Eve than be packed like a sardine with thousands of other people around me. The live musical lineup was well-rounded starting off with the punk-pop sounds of Not By Choice, leading into the soulful, hip hop, r'n'b sounds of Keisha Chante, who in turn gave the stage to the nostalgic top-40 pop sounds of Glass Tiger(who by the way DIDN't play "Don't Forget Me(When I'm Gone)") and concluding just before midnight with the lounge-pop tunes of Matt Dusk whose set included a stirring rendition of his version of "Two Shots of Happiness, One Shot of Sad". If the musical lineup wasn't entirely up my alley, at least the vibe downtown was good and the asshole quotient was way down than in previous years. [photos]

My resolutions/plans for 2005? Travel definitely. Go to Europe or New York City. Go to a concert festival perhaps such as Benicassim, Reading or Glastonbury. (It's not entirely inconceivable as over the past couple of years I've actually convinced friends to go with me to Pop Montreal[in 2003] and Coachella[in 2004]. And I never did link to the photos of me and my friend's California/Coachella trip from May 2004 so here they are.) Meet new people, make new connections. Read more books and watch less bad television. Get back into some sort of physical regiment and lay off the junk food. Eat at interesting restaurants more often. Explore other career opportunities. Continue my continuing education studies. Update the design of this blog. Stop proscratinating(if I resolve this issue, then I would guess everything else is cake, hmmm?). I'm not making any bullshit Dr. Phil-style affirmations of any of this panning out, but yes, I am optimistic. But then isn't everyone on January 1st? Happy 2005! :-)