Hey Guys, I’ma get a little sentimental on y’all.

Ever since I’ve been about 16 years old, an easy winner in the favorite band category for me has always been Toronto’s Broken Social Scene. It was easily one of the first bands i ever heard that weren’t in the mainstream of music and/or death metal that i listened to at the time. In the time that I’ve discovered them, i’ve gone to a few shows, have bought every record and even had people make me fan art for my room as presents. it’s safe to say at this point, I’m a fairly big fan.

So you can see how I nearly backflipped at the chance to open for BSS’s Brendan Canning dj set when the Rifflandia festival rolled through town this weekend. It took some hounding and some desperate e-mails, but early last week I was given the go ahead to play the opening slot for him at element. I honestly couldn’t believe that I would be sharing a stage with this dude.

Flash forward to saturday, the night before our show, and I’m working on of the Rifflandia shows at Lucky, And i’m relaxing after my set watching Longshanks, When my best friend Lauren comes up to me and casualy says “guess who just came to the front door”. and then, as if on cue, Brendan Canning comes up on stage and starts putting away his bag. I’d like to tell you i stayed calm and collected, i would love to tell you it didn’t even phase me, but i seriously froze right there. After a quick introduction and a beer for the both of us, i took him to the green room to chat about djing and BSS and their new record. And you know what?  HE WAS THE NICEST FUCKING DUDE I’VE EVER MET. It is so refreshing to actually meet someone who i consider a musical hero and actually have them turn out so insanely nice and down to earth. We chatted for two hours and then I had the pleasure of watching him get on stage at lucky, to a packed crowd at 1 am…..and throw on “atoms for peace” by Thom Yorke. i was laughing and amazed all at once.

The actual show on sunday was a blast. I ended up having a really fun set, and people who i really respect came out and got down. on top of it all, i got to hang with Brendan for another few hours and HE REMEMBERED MY NAME…..COME ON! Big thanks to Nick Blasko, Kris Barnes (who has the patience of a saint, you seriously have no idea) everyone else at Atomique and all the Rifflandia volunteers, along with all venue staff for each of the shows. Victoria needs so much more of this. And if everyone could get the same kind of awesome stories i got from this festival, then I’m sure you would have already bought your tickets for next year.