Trevor's One Minute Reviews
March 1st, 2006
I consider myself to be a keen observer of people, places, and things. I also consider myself to be an expert in almost every field. Being such an overall expert, I am allowed to have an opinion on many things. That being said, from now on when I have a thought concerning everyday things, I am going to offer my opinion here. You can agree, disagree, agree to disagree, or even disagree to agree, but most likely you will not have an opinion on these things.
I am starting with a few that I have noticed in the past couple of weeks. I intend to add more here as they occur to me.
The Washroom at the Food Court in the Billings Bridge Mall
This is a relatively clean washroom, but it has an odd smell. The urinals do not flush properly, and as such often have other people's pee in them. In addition, the paper towels dispenser for drying hands is very stingy with the paper.
Wyman Publishing Wall Calendar 2006 - Canada
This is a very nice calendar. It is a promotional calendar, so it has a company name hanging down at the bottom. This blatant commercialism is offset by the beautiful pictures featured each month. It also has all the days on it, which is good on a calendar.
This is just two mundane reviews. I plan to add more every week or so.
This has been Trevor's One Minute Reviews.
2005 Recap
December 19th, 2005
Here's a quick list in no particular order of some mighty tasty albums that hardly left the stereo this year. Some of these weren't released in 2004, but I picked them up this year.
Tricky Woo - First Blush (Last Gang)
Le Nombre - Scenario Catasrophe (Blow the Fuse)
Gorilla - Gimme Some... (Beard of Stars)
Whitey Houston - S/T (Rectangle)
The Deadly Snakes - Porcella (Paper Bag)
Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose (Interscope)
Double Pumpers - II (Indie)
The Greenhornes - East Grand Blues (V2)
The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
The Black Halos - Alive Without Control (Liquor and Poker)
C'Mon - In the Heat of the Moment (MapleMusic)
The Tangiers - The Family Myth (Baudelaire)
Brendan Benson - Alternative to Love (V2)
Joel Plaskett - La De Da (MapleMusic)
Feist - Let it Die (EMI)
The Bellrays - A Bellrays Christmas
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm Remixed (Vice)
The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Origin Vol. 1 (Republic)
The Hellacopters - Rock and Roll Is Dead (Gearhead)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl (Echo)
The Illuminati - On Borrowed Time (INDIESTRUCKTABLE)
Louis XIV - The Best Little Secrets are Kept (Atlantic)
The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico - Soundtrack (Darius Films)
Buff Medways - Medway Wheelers (Damaged Goods)
Black Mountain - S/T (Scratch)
Good Shows
----------
Tricky Woo @ The Dom
Tricky Woo @ CMW
Motorhead @ Capital Music Hall
Illuminati @ Zaphods
Le Nombre @ Barrymores
Ted Leo @ Babylon
Nashville Pussy @ Zaphods
Bellrays @ Babylon
Awesome Discoveries
-------------------
Dave Chapelle
(I got into this show after it went off the air... thank god for DVDs)
Marriage
(if it's awesome enough for all the other Setbacks then I'm in too!)
WOXY
Pandora
Del.icio.us
Flickr
Happy holidays and happy new year to everybody.
sp
Mustaches For Kids
November 11th, 2005
The Setbacks have decided to give back to the community through a unique program. We are going to grow mustaches. This may sound crazy, but Mustaches For Kids is a program that runs in several cities across North America that raises money for the Make A Wish Foundation.
You may have a lot of questions about this. I know I did. Check out www.m4kottawa.org for more information. Then, when you see us, you will understand why we look like Howard Hessman when he was teaching on Head of the Class.
You can also participate if you’d like. All the details are on the website. Today is Clean Shave Day, so shave now and let the upper lip grow.
For the kids.
tk
The Setbacks' Summer Summary (and Fall too)
A Diary Entry by Trevor Kealey
October 17th, 2005
Hola Amigos, I know it's been a long time since we rapped at ya, but The Setbacks have been maximum busy over the summer and fall. So let me take you back for a long recount of recent events.
First stop: the marriage of Paul Townsend to his girlfriend Ingrid in July. All the Setbacks rented tuxes and headed down to the ceremony early for pictures. A cooler with beer was also brought along. It was very hot and I suspect the tuxes Chet picked out were Gortex. Anyway, long story short I ended up 'asleep' in the front seat of a Ford Focus station wagon by about 10pm. I took a lot of ribbing for it, and there are some confused looking pictures of it, but it was all in the name of love. The miracle of love.
Next stop: Zaphod's at the start of August. We were playing with the Bella Bombs and I gotta tell you, it was one hell of a show. They started the night right with their nearly all girl rock assault, and we finished it nicely with our normal shtick of bad jokes and good music. (I'll leave it at that for the sake of brevity, but you'd probably be right in guessing Chris dodged hauling gear).
Late August: the wedding of Chris Saracino to his girlfriend Olivia. This was a "non-traditional wedding" in that we were all invited to Chris' parent's house for cocktails at 5pm. We stood around their backyard, mingling and drinking, until about 9pm when someone said "hey look, a wedding" and suddenly, without any of the usual pomp and circumstance normally associated with weddings, they exchanged their vows in a gazebo. I was actually hired to play a song at the start of the wedding and another in the middle. Picture this: an irish guy and a japanese guy playing guitar while an italian guy sings and italian song that I assume is about love. It was a multicultural miracle.
Early September: Another frigging wedding. This time Steve seals the deal with his long long long long time girlfriend Maritia. Again the Setbacks rent tuxes and drink beer all afternoon. The ceremony goes off without a hitch (except for the wedding hitch) and craziness ensues at the reception. Picture this: bride and groom crowd surfing while cheesy wedding DJ plays yet another Bon Jovi song. It was another miracle.
Mid September: We snagged a sweet opening slot for the C'MON show at Mavericks. Unfortunately we were on so early that only a select few people saw us. Towards the end of our set the club was filling up. But the real bonus was sharing the stage with C'MON. They are amazing. By the end of the night the club was packed and everyone was absolutely blown away. Whitey Houston also played on the bill and dang if they aren't also terrific.
Late September: We were asked to play a private party for a secret organization of Carleton Alumni. Let me set the stage for you. We arrive at the camp site to the smell of cooking pork. Three big meat baskets are cooking on the spit. We set up on the stage, which is more elaborately set up than most permanent stages around town, and then settle in to enjoy some meat and a lot of beer. Chris and Chet are driving for the evening, so it's up to Steve and I to take advantage of the bottomless beer supply. We hit the stage and play for nearly two hours, pulling out all sorts of cover songs and old Setbacks songs that we dropped a long time ago. The crowd eats it up and many drunkenly agree to show up at our next show.
October: We were set for a cross city tour, playing Zaphod's on Friday night and Greenfields on Saturday. Who would have enough balls to show up for both shows? All bets were on Chris Dziwinski, and he did not disappoint, showing up for both shows. The friday night show was a fund raiser for some sort of government office United Way campaign. Chris organized the show, so the rest of us had no idea what was going on. The Red Arrows played too, putting them in the lead for the title of Band We've Played With The Most. The crowd was really into it all night, and we got a sound board tape of the show. We might post some mp3's someday if there are any songs worthwhile.
The second show of the weekend was at Greenfields. We were playing with The Creeps and A Dying Breed. If you haven't seen either of these bands, you really need to. They were tough acts to follow, and the Creeps even called us out during their set. A little friendly ribbing is always appreciated in camp Setbacks. Anyway, we played a couple of old songs for a few diehards in attendance and headed home exhausted from two shows in two nights. I don't know how touring bands do it. Maximum respect for them.
So that's the update. It is by no means a complete account of our wacky adventures, but we've been hassled a lot lately because of the lack of entries and the lameness of the last diary entry. I hereby promise to keep our website up to date (at least in the diary section).
tk
How to Attract Ants
June 27th, 2005
I got taken to ant hunting school last night by my girlfriend. We share an apartment and over the last couple days we noticed we were getting a few more ant visitors than usual. Our place has lots of trees practically growing out of the building foundation so we're used to seeing ants every once in a while, but this was worse.
While I admire and respect ants as being one of the more industrious and intelligent forms of insect life, I find them utterly disgusting. Especially when they're crawling on my pillow or across my plate.
After a day or two of this, my girlfriend decided she would nip this problem in the bud and build a couple of homemade ant traps. According to her, the only thing in ant traps is peanut butter... no poison, no toxins, no ant-eating bacteria... just peanut butter. Since she was so confident I didn't argue with her and allowed her to build two of these traps. Later that evening we decided to see how many ants we'd killed so I went into the bathroom to check on the Labatt 50 can trap. I turned on the lights and was equally disgusted and pleased by the number of ants around the trap. It appeared as though we had caught a lot of them. I moved in quickly to scoop up the piles of lifeless ant carcasses and was shocked to find that they weren't in fact dead but they were just sleeping (because their bellies were full of peanut butter, no doubt). As all 70 or more ants bolted awake and ran for cover, I was freaked out beyond belief... and slightly smarter. At this point I realized that peanut butter is not good for catching and killing ants but it is good if you want to herd all the neighbourhood ants into your house and feed them.
What an epiphany! Ok, snap back to reality... I got out the vacuum and took care of all the fat and slow ants that weren't quick enough to run away when I first went at them... now I know what you're thinking, "Steve you've just trimmed the herd of all the slower and stupider ants, thus creating a super race of quick and intelligent ants!" Don't worry, I went to Quickie and got some truly toxic ant killing traps. Funnily enough, they contained no peanut butter.
The Setbacks Destroy Zaphods in Broad Daylight
May 17th, 2005
A post show report by Trevor Kealey
This past Friday the Setbacks played at Zaphod’s in Ottawa as part of the Creeps cd release murder party. What an event it was! There were 3 bands on the bill (Sexhead from Montreal were the middle band) and as the opener, the Setbacks would be on early. Initial reports had us going on around 8pm. It would still be light outside.
We arranged to meet to load up the gear. Needless to say, Chris arranged to meet us at the club. I will forego the usual belittling of him for weasling out of gear hauling, because it is getting tiresome.
We arrived at the club only slightly late. The Creeps and Sexhead had already finished their soundcheck, and were leaving for food. We used soundcheck to iron out some last minute bugs in our new song Bless My Soul, which we hoped to play later in the evening.
Chris’ future in-laws arrived during our sound check and must have been concerned about being the only people in the club while we played. Chris quickly comforted them by turning on the charm and buying them a round of drinks. They then discussed blogs and how awesome they are.
Steve and Chet hit up subway for some nosh, Chris schmoozed his future family, and I caught up on old times with the Creeps. It seems many years ago the Creeps shared the stage with two bands that later became the Setbacks. We reminisced about playing at Rooster’s at Carleton University and at the now defunct Zaphod’s 2. Oh the memories.
Soon the club started to fill, we got our beer tickets, and found out we could postpone our set until 8:30. It would still be light out, but at least there would be people in the club.
We hit the stage at precisely 8:36 and blasted through 8 songs: our whole EP plus two new tracks. The aforementioned Bless My Soul and Music is the Medicine, which we have played a few times already.
Chris added a new piece to his wardrobe for the show: a head band from the Running Room, which was designed to draw sweat away from the brow and convert it into pure energy. Works well in theory. But so does Communism. Half way through the first song it was down around his neck. Apparently it was not designed with Italian sweat glands in mind and got too heavy. I believe Chris is going to write a strongly worded letter to the manufacturer, demanding not only his money back, but also an apology.
We finished our set to thunderous applause, and settled in for a good night of music. Sexhead hit the stage next and burned it down with their tight language bending punk, complete with scorching solos. The Creeps closed the place down with their brand of old school punk, playing tales of espionage and El Caminos. A great combination. A great night. Suffice to say, the 3 bands teamed up to completely obliterate Zaphods.
We also sold a few of our new t-shirts and cds, we celebrated two birthdays (chad and kara), and I managed to offend Steve and Chris when their special ladies each made me look at their jigglers. I tried not to look, but they made me.
My Trip To Calgary: Chris' Coming of Age
March 29th, 2005
Steve's coming of age stories are always good fodder for the mix, so I decided to write my own, describing my recent trip to the PST free province everyone loves. I went to Calgary, Alberta this weekend, for the holiest of holidays, Easter.
We flew in on Thursday night, and from the airplane, I could see the amazing lights coming from the cityscape. I knew I was in for a wicked trip. Calgary had lights and hydro, as well as buildings, houses, and many people. Based on what I had seen on the television, I was under the assumption that everyone was a cowboy in this western province, but I was mistaken. We were greeted by my fiancee's father and his wife, who picked us up and drove us into the heart of the city, where we visited, rested, and got ready for a weekend of discovery.
I explored the city on Friday morning. I was pleasanty surprised to find that Calgary is significantly friendlier than any other city I have ever been to. I got a coffee, and decided to discover it more. The time difference made me very spry and awake at 7:30 a.m., which I have no doubt was annoying, especially since I would emerge from my slumber, and yell at the top of my lungs how "GLORIOUS" this and that was. The main street that we were near had all of the regular things that Ottawa had, including a Starbucks. I assumed that everyone would be wearing cowboy hats and boots, and I'll admit that I was hellbent on buying some of the customary wear to mix in with the locals, but surprisingly, I realized that this majestic land's peoples didn't in fact dress like it was Nashville all the time, or for that matter, at all really. When I entered the Starbucks, I requested a "Tall Latte M'am", and tipped my hat like any gentleman on horseback would. She just looked at me like I had lost my mind.
I cursed myself quietly, and counted a notch against me in my effort to endear Calgarians to the Chris Saracino experience. This wasn't going as well as I planned so far. I politley proceeded to ask if there was anywhere where I could "purchase a steed", and the Starbucks employee called me a "weirdo", and asked me to leave the premises. Calgary 1. Chris 0.
I returned to the house, to be greeted by my lady. We visited with our hosts, and relaxed, and enjoyed the day. I did however, dwell on my compulsion to find out why Calgary had abandoned their cowboy way. I had seen the movies, and had heard that Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven was filmed in Alberta. Coupled with the Calgary Stampede, and some cowboy boots that I found in Montreal once, that read "Albertan Cowboy Brand", I knew that Calgary was hiding it's true colors from me. I would not go quietly.
The next day I explored again in the morning. This time I went into a Second Cup, and took some photos. I asked the employee, as she handed me my coffee, if there was a "varmint" that had a bounty on his head. I was looking for some money so that I could pass this here town, and perhaps find a saloon. She looked at me weird again, and pointed me to this place called Sal's on 17th. Perfect I thought to myself. Sal's on 17th sounded like a great place to get some real western liquor and maybe take part in a game of Texas Hold'em, or perhaps get a ticket for a gambling boat or train game. I walked a few blocks to Sal's on 17th, and quickly entered the establishment. To my dissapointment, I discovered that this bar was in fact a Sports Bar, which no one was in at that time in the morning, and my expectation to hear that awesome jangly guitar music like in Pale Rider, was instead met by the new 50 cent tune. A giant buff guy with a huge tribal tattoo on his arm, who was wearing a Sal's on 17th shirt approached and indicated that the bar was closed, but that I could come back later for the 10 cent chicken wing special. I attempted to garner some insight, and maybe even persuade the man to point me in the direction of the cowboys, but he instead began to twitch his head in a steroid rage when I asked him about where I could get a handy six shooter.
I went home discouraged, discussing my dissapointment with Olivia, who shook her head, and told me that we were going up to Banff that day. Excellent I thought. I entered the shower, and accidentally began to wash my already precious hair with Purell, the alcoholic based hand sanitizer. I didn't realize until the next morning when she asked me if I had enjoyed my hair washing experience. I pondered the question, and remembered the absolute burning sensation, as well as the brief accelerated hair loss, and she broke the news to me. Calgary 2. Chris 0.
Banff was glorious and majestic. I have never seen mountains. I thought that mountains were like the Gatineau Hills, but until you've been up to see Banff, you really haven't seen "mountains", unless of course you've been stranded at the top of the Andes eating your friends post serious plane crash, but anyways, you get my drift. We hung out in Banff for the afternoon. It was glorious and royal. The village was incredible, but my quest to find a Fruit Of The Loom sweatshirt with "Banff, Canada" on the front was surprisngly difficult. We went to this incredible fudge factory. I went through my awesome zingers about packing fudge here and there, and we had a great time. At this point, it is important to say that I was snapping pictures like Ansel Adams, using the SLR camera that Olivia got me for Christmas. I must have taken about 100 pictures, coaxing my subjects into acting "natural", and playing with the lens. At the end of our excursion, I realized that there was no film in the camera. We discussed how it was virtually impossible not being able to tell that a camera had no film, especially after all of those pictures being taken, and I clenched my fists in frustration and self doubt about my gallery showing the following week in Ottawa, and the load of film that I had dropped off at the Loblaw's having any pictures on the reels at all. I secretly prayed. Besides that, I have never seen such an incredibly breath taking place like this, and we did manage to get some photos in that I might sneak into my next upcoming exhibit.
Easter was great. My soon to be father in law made a delicious dinner that we all enjoyed. Another couple friend came over and took part in the dinner with us, and I discovered that they had a son who played in a band that I'm certain I saw at C'est What in Toronto a while back. I read the liner notes of the record, and realized that they had in fact mastered the record with Phil Demetro at Lacquer Channel. The band is called "Recipe From A Small Planet", and I checked out the music. Cool.
Calgary has some cool shopping. I managed to buy an awesome New York Dolls t-shirt that I intend on wearing around, and I bought some nice dudes at a few various shops. We looked at a lot of cowboy hats and such, but when it came down to it, I lost the testicles to purchase the stuff.
We flew in early this morning. Calgary was really fun, and I missed the city as we flew off, having my usual emotional mini-tearfest as we departed from the airport. We enjoyed Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason on the flight back. I am tired, as is my lady, but one thing is for certain, Calgary will see me again, and when that time comes, I will force the city to engage me in the cowboy fashion I know that they all reverted to once I left.
KILLED WITH ROCK 2: The Band That Went Too Far
The Setbacks rock with Harshey and Four 'n' Givr
March 23rd, 2005
We played with two great bands on Saturday March 19th, 2005. Harshey and Four'n'Givr. We conducted the destruction of the masses at Irene's Pub on the indicated day of judgement, and had a good time. Not a good time, correction, a great time. I'll tell you why!
7:10: I arrive. Band is already there. I hold a guitar case, and proceed to act like I am busy as things are getting shuffled and moved and set up. I am in actuality simply lifting up my snare cases, and repositioning it on the stage at what looks to be a more strategic placement for setup. I am very successful at pulling this off where it seems I am actually the busiest guy up there. Really, I am doing nothing.
7:50: Subway time. Pre-show ritual. I had already eaten some delectable ribs at the home of my wonderful mother in law to be, who prepared a great meal for a family gathering. These babies were so good, that I actually went back for seconds. I never do that. My subway requirement was nil, and I watched Steve and Paul eat some subs be buds. Cool.
8:40: We are sitting around drinking 50 in jugs, talking to the guys in both bands. John Westhaver tells us a hilarious story about becoming an Alexander Keith's rep, and how much of it he may have drank over the years.
9:30: People begin filing in to some degree. Trevor tells me to "fuck right off" when I ask him to conduct a testicular cough test on me.
9:45: People are at the venue now. We begin talking and joking, and we prepare for drunken few hours that will follow this moment.
10:30: Four'N'Givr hit the deck, and churn out some cool tunes. Very rockin.
Steve begins his hilarious tradition of resting his arm on my shoulder during the performance. I agree to let him do it, and it enhances the mood and sets the tone.
11:00: We start setting up. A good chunk of people are here now. We are excited. Trevor and Steve begin tuning. Official band friend Brett Tackaberry waits patiently by the stage as he has no idea what he is in for.
11:15: We begin our set. We start with a song, I don't remember what, but the 12 people at the front of the stage begin to writhe around in pain. Heads begin exploding, and a maniacal frenzy starts. All is not lost however, because Brett Tackaberry is pounding his foot on the floor, and has his had fully extended in mid air, waving his homage to Lord Satan.
11:50: Everyone is practically dead in the bar. Our rock has killed everyone, with the exception of a drunkard sitting at the bar stool, all of our fiancees and wives, and Brett Tackaberry. Brett still doesn't realize the bloodshed.
Police arrive, we are arrested, and currently awaiting our bail hearing for what they call a "establishment massacre".
FIN
A NEW ERA: Trevor accepts my heritage
March 3rd, 2005
For Immediate Release
March 3rd, 2005- Ottawa, Ontario
Setbacks guitarist Trevor Kealey recently hosted a high profile press conference at the Day's Inn in downtown Ottawa this morning, using the media to report to all fans that he has in fact, accepted the Italian heritage of Setbacks drummer Chris Saracino. A long standing issue between the two members, their relationship has been compared to that of Joel and Anton from BJM, as well as Izzy and Axl. A relationship of mistrust, suspicion, and creative differences. Dating back to the first recording by the band, Trevor was generous with his explanations as to what may have contributed to the rocky roads that the two were to begin together. Amid accusations that Chris' father wears FILA track suits, and talks with his pinky up in the air all the time, the two butted heads on a regular basis.
"I realize that my constant bombardment of ridicule to Chris' Italian heritage was not constructive to the relationship that we both hold dear. Chris' father, in actuality, owns no FILA track suits, and his mother does not make meatballs and marinara sauce as a full time job."
End release.
Canada News Wire
Death Before Hip
February 22nd, 2005
Thanks to everybody who came out to Greenfield's to see us peel the steel sheets off the Barrhaven Mall roof with our no-holds-barred brand of rawk'n'rawk. Mad props to openers the Stand and the Red Arrows who played stellar sets as usual.
I would however like to un-thank one attendee. This would be the woman who accosted us before, during, and after our set to play "anything by the Tragically Hip". Ok, I know Greenfield's isn't exactly the Fillmore North, but we're not a karaoke machine lady - I don't care how many members of the band you try to seduce. We signed a pact with Satan that clearly states how we will bring deliverance unto the ignorant masses in the form of rawk so pure that it could put hair back on Gord Downie's head. That's our mission in this life and the next... and we can't stray from that path - ever - not even for one song. Not anywhere in the agreement does it mention "New Orleans is Sinking" or "Courage" so please understand us when we tell you we can't play that stuff. We're not just brushing you off... we REALLY can't play it.
Contact the band at band[at]thesetbacks.com