Totally Wired

The only logical conclusion I can come to is that Mark E. Smith is afraid of Toronto because yet again, Toronto's been overlooked on The Fall's upcoming North American tour, at least according to the band's provisional North American tour dates[note: the key word is 'provisional'; the dates aren't yet listed at the band's official site and are so far unconfirmed.] The last time they were supposed to come to Toronto in 2003, they cancelled[actually, they also cancelled their Montreal show at the time.] Apparently both of these Canadian gigs were cancelled because of the financial viability of playing in Canada; they would have had to pay $500 (£500?) for a Visa, and the tour had been operating "on a shoestring" budget. However, others insisted that the SARS epidemic was to blame. According to the provisional tour dates info, The Fall have only three Canadian dates scheduled in the near future, including May 20th in Vancouver, BC @ Richards @ Richards, May 22nd in Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room, and May 23rd in Calgary, AB @ Warhouse. I'm happy for those three cities, especially for Edmonton and Calgary who particularly lucked out, but no Toronto? Mr. Smith, as far as I know, Toronto doesn't have SARS...Toronto has the odd panel falling off billboards in the downtown core, but don't let that stop you from coming to the city. [heads up of The Fall's Canadian tour dates from From Blown Speakers; photo from UrbanImage]

In the meantime, here are some live video clips of The Fall; first, live on The Tube performing "Cruiser's Creek", and secondly, live on Snub TV performing "Deadbeat Descendant".[second video clip via Ralphadeus]

Thanks to There's Always Someone Cooler Than You for pointing me towards Neko Case's music video for "Maybe Sparrow" which you can watch here. You can also watch it here and here.

chartattack spoke to Howe Gelb about the intrinsic Canadian-ness of his most recent solo effort, "Sno Angel Like You".

In other news, CNN profiles Billy Bragg while Salon exemplifies the concept of quality over quantity by asking Billy three insightful questions.

If you can't stand listening to The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" for the millionth time, don't go over to Berkeley Place.