Heroes Reborn 1.01 Awakening, 1.02 Odessa

I'm so happy the Toronto International Film Festival added primetime television as a category to the festival this year! I've been looking forward to Heroes Reborn ever since I found out Tim Kring was doing a reboot of his original series. I've been a fan of the Heroes series since first season, which was back when I was in my final year of high school. Also, knowing the producers aged a few of the original characters for this reboot allows us to easily follow the storyline.

My sister and I went to the world premiere at the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre last night, which was a packed house. I always enjoy the Winter Garden theatre mainly for its ethereal interior =) Now on to my review!

Heroes Reborn 1.01 Awakening, 1.02 Odessa
We get introduced to a lot of new characters, both taking sides as heroes and villains. We quickly see not much has changed in the world from the original series except for the time passed and those with special abilities are in hiding. Since "coming out" to the world they are super human, everybody feared change.

I like this idea so much since it is applicable today. People fear what they don't understand, so naturally this will take the series into another Us VS Them situation (in addition to the heroes and villains).  It's a classic theme, one you can't go wrong with. Tim Kring I have so much faith in you!

Kicking off with this setting, we see a lot of people aren't pleased Evos (the label of choice for these humans) exist at all. They feel threatened and even made it illegal for them to roam free to live in peace. I have no idea how they'll be able to organize against this, but I have a feeling Noah 'HRG' Bennett will help out.

We meet a priest and a select few, in Los Angeles, who have an underground organization helping the Evos escape. Depending on how successful we see their outcome, it may put a huge target on their lives.

We also meet a girl named Miko in Japan who may be the most powerful newcomer. We don't know much about her history, only that she's able to digitally move into a popular video game with her dad's katana sword. I already have a theory on her, but it may be wishful thinking of how I've admired this show for 10 years.

Finally, easily one of my favourite characters is Tommy, played by Robbie Kay (Once Upon a Time). He's the protagonist you grow to sympathize and relate to in the times of living on the run. He's trying to adapt as best as he can without letting his ability to give him away. Since it gets out of control, that's where he leaves a trail of bread crumbs behind.

In the final moments of the premiere, we meet our beloved Molly Walker, played by Francesca Eastwood. She symbolizes all the time that's passed and how bad things have gotten. I was particularly excited to see Peter Mooney (Rookie Blue) make an appearance as one of the bad guys. I have a feeling there's a price for Molly's ability, so this may mean there's an organization of the rogue Evos as well? If that's true, they're certainly ahead of the game.

There's so much I want to say without spoiling the first two episodes, but I am liking the direction Tim Kring has taken this show.

The Script's No Sound Without Silence Tour (with Colton Avery and Mary Lambert) at Massey Hall

I got to see The Script last night and couldn't have been more excited to see them again! There wasn't much promotion for their North American tour, especially since I didn't think Canadian dates were included.

I went with my friend Sami, who also was the same person who introduced me to their music way back when their first album was released. Following that, I've been to all four of their Toronto performances to date =)

The opening acts they had were also a nice surprise, especially since they weren't listed on our tickets. They brought along Colton Avery, a small artist they discovered from Phoenix, and Mary Lambert. Both of them did four songs each and they put on a great show. Mary did a bit of her piece from Macklemore's 'Same Love' and I especially enjoyed her slam poetry style song where she expressed society's perception of a women's beauty/body image today. It was very moving and we definitely gave her a standing ovation.

I always have a great time seeing The Script live because they're always fun and passionate about their music. Of course, this time around was better because they finally had new material to perform. In some of their old songs, like 'Nothing', Danny did his usual with calling a fan's ex. This time around, Danny said it was his first time ever calling a female. A fan in the front gave her phone to Danny with Chantel in the caller ID. It was funny to see. Once 'You Won't Feel a Thing' came on, Danny actually came up to centre balcony, where we were seated, and hung out with us for the song! All in all, it was a great concert. The only downfall was this was my first time at Massey Hall. We really wanted our space to dance around but it is an old theatre venue. Can't wait for them to come back to play again!
set list:
Paint the Town Green
Hail Rain or Sunshine (shortened, wish it was longer!)
Breakeven
Before the Worst
Superheroes
We Cry (shortened version)
If You Could See Me Now
Man on a Wire
Nothing
Good Ol' Days
Never Seen Anything "Quite Like You"
The Man Who Can't be Moved (acoustic set)
You Won't Feel a Thing
Six Degrees of Separation (I believe they cut this from their set. I would've remembered this!)
It's Not Right for You

encore:
The Energy Never Dies
For the First Time
No Good in Goodbye
Hall of Fame

OneRepublic's Native Canada Tour (with Lights) at the Air Canada Centre

How do you compare a OneRepublic concert to another? You can't. Quite possibly compare it to every other concert in existence!

I know it's very cliche to say, but OneRepublic has always been a first to create such a genre of this kind. I had this discussion with my friend last night at the concert how OneRepublic is the first big band to incorporate classical strings (the cello and violin) into a pop sound. It's similar to how Coldplay was one of the first to include piano into a rock sound (after the Beatles of course).

A band or artist needs to know how to recreate their performance if they want to keep their fans going. Their setlist was the same since it's the same album haha, but the changes they incorporated were insane! That's what I love about going to every single OneRepublic show played in Toronto! They're always reinventing and inspiring every time.

I saw them last June, but so much has changed from visual effects to the new sound added to their performances. Once again, I cannot explain how exciting they are live. You just have to go.

I'm embarrassed to say I'm unfamiliar with Lights' music other than what's on the radio now and one song from my early university days. She did have an appropriate opening set for OneRepublic. I was also surprised the band came on stage 8:43pm (usually it would be on a half or quarter of the clock) but I'm not complaining since they put on a great show! An all around great evening, I even have a bruise on my quad to prove it! The two seats on my left wound up vacant since those folks never showed. I had floor seats, and throughout the dancing, the row behind pushed forward excitedly at one point during the later half of the concert. The fold over chair caught me on an angle and fell on my leg. On my way out of the ACC into Union, we kept singing, "If I *bruise* myself tonight, it'll be at a OneRepublic concert but by your side!" =)

setlist:
Don't Look Down
Light It Up
Secrets
All the Right Moves
What You Wanted
Stop and Stare
Something I Need
Apologize
Stay With Me (Sam Smith cover)
Budapest (George Ezra cover)
Preacher
Good Life
Counting Stars
Can't Stop
Au Revoir
Feel Again
I Lived

encore:
Love Runs Out
What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong cover)
If I Lose Myself

OneRepublic's Native Tour (with American Authors and The Script) at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

Unbelievable! That’s the one word I can use to describe this weekend’s Native Summer tour. Seeing all my favourite bands (sans Royal Teeth) was a great kick off to the new summer season!

The show opened up with American Authors playing seven tracks from their Oh, What a Life album, and I’m so glad to see their progression as a band since they first performed in Toronto at the Drake. The guys were on point with their set and had a lot of fun with the crowd. Part way through, Zac had one of the crew say in his earpiece that the US just scored a goal against Portugal LOL He kept having to justify to us Canadians that Americans actually do care about the world cup =P It was a good laugh, plus I got an update on the game without using my cellular data.

set list:
Think About It
Luck
Believer
Home
Trouble
Hit It
Best Day of my Life

The Script, who are my favourite mainstream band, came on stage after and it was like reliving their concert two October’s ago for their Science and Faith tour when they released their #3 album. They performed nine of their famous singles and at one point, Danny called a fan’s ex-boyfriend during ‘Nothing’ (that’s what they do at all their shows). He saw the guy’s name on the phone and yelled, “His name is PATRICK?! Oh he’s definitely Irish! What did he do to screw up? LET’S FIND OUT!” Danny also ran all the way to the back to sing ‘You Won’t Feel a Thing’ to the audience in the lawn area.
set list:
Good Ol’ Days
Before the Worst
Breakeven
We Cry
The Man Who Can’t Be Moved
Nothing
For The First Time
You Won’t Feel a Thing
Hall Of Fame

OneRepublic definitely know how to put a show together. This is why I get excited when they come to Toronto!  Back in June 2008, they first came to the city and that happened to be my first time saving up for my first concert ever. I remember the tickets being $30 and going with a group of good friends. This time, I went with a smaller group of friends and met up with my friend Michelle, who I ALWAYS see at all the big concerts I attend. We decided we need better communication and just attend together from now on. OneRepublic really changed their sound through the years but always remained consistent. I love that about them (just like Coldplay) and they experiment well with different sounds/instruments. Their set was a combination of all their albums (of course) but the mixture was excellent since they knew when to slow down their songs, mix up their instruments and make songs acoustic. Their final song during the encore couldn’t be more perfect.

My favourite single off their Native album was always ‘If I Lose Myself’ but I remember it never got enough radio play when it was released (not like ‘Counting Stars’ does). At the time, I caught it twice on the Toronto radio stations and never heard it again. I remember Aloe Black and Avicii released ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’ and Swedish House Mafia announced their One Last Tour around the same timeframe that summer.

OneRepublic’s track was overshadowed by this tour and I think nobody knew about their new album as well as I did in the city. The familiarity between the genre would overlap well, but I guess SHM knew what they were doing with advertising themselves as best they could to sell out their tour. Anyway, their final song ‘If I Lose Myself’ was insane! I can’t explain properly how well they did it, but they changed it up by adding dance beats from the Alesso mix and added percussions to it! This was a fantastic blend, especially since American Authors always use their snare drum up front in their shows. Again, it was remarkable and I can’t even explain how wonderful this experience was. I can’t wait until the next time they come back to Toronto. Hopefully I’m not waiting another eight years to see them in Toronto once again!
setlist:
Light It Up
Secrets
All The Right Moves
What You Wanted
Stop And Stare
Something I Need
Apologize
Rude (Magic cover)
Preacher
Come Home
Counting Stars
Can’t Stop
Au Revoir
Feel Again
Good Life
I Lived

encore:
Love Runs Out
What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong Cover)
If I Lose Myself

MisterWives, American Authors and The Royal Concept at Virgin MobileMOD Club

What a nice surprise! Shows like these are the reason why I enjoy diving into new music without a preconceived idea of their sound. It's a big chance of whether or not I enjoy the music, but it was definitely a nice discovery last night.

I knew about the American Authors from back when they opened for Royal Teeth at the beginning of June. That was the only band I was familiar with and my reason for purchasing a ticket to last night's Three of Clubs Fall Tour. They've gotten so much exposure ever since (i.e.: they made an appearance on Jay Leno's Late Show last month and radio show appearances on non-show dates).

The band brought Queens, New York based MisterWives and Swedish band The Royal Concept to my attention. I didn't know I've heard The Royal Concept's music before in passing (they have their popular song "On Our Way" out at the moment) but now I know who they are! Both bands have upbeat music with an eclectic and alternative twist, kind of like American Authors (who are more alternative and upbeat). I would describe MisterWives as bubbly and refreshing. The lead singer Mandy has fantastic vocals with a gorgeous rasp and wide range.

I bought all their EP's with the exception of MisterWives (who releases theirs in January) and now have new music to enjoy!

 

MisterWives; William, Murph, Mandy, Etienne, Dr. Blum and Marc

 

American Authors; James, Zac, Dave and Matt in the back.

 

The Royal Concept; Filip, David, Povel and Magnus.

David was awesome and wrote "Grattis på födelsedagen" [Happy Birthday in Swedish] for me across the top haha

Reached my Quarter of the Century Crisis

My birthday weekend has turned into a birthday week. I've got to say, I can't complain! I didn't want to celebrate with the recent losses in my personal life, but I've been reminded by my family and friends to be grateful and thankful for what I have. I am young (somewhat), healthy and blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people.

My eldest sister Jamie took me out for the whole day! We ate lunch together and she had a wonderful idea to spend our afternoon. She took me downtown to Paintlounge on 784 College St. to paint on canvases for the day! It was a wonderful use of the afternoon and we had a blast using our creative energy. My sister is very artistically talented so it made me happy she wanted to do something we could both appreciate.

I was still working on my picture in this shot (bottom left), but as you can see on the right, my sister is a freaking rockstar at this! She also works with airplants in her free time, so I'll probably show you all her designs in future posts. This was such a fun time, and the employees played mellow, relaxing music in the studio for us to enjoy as we painted for the day.

Later on, we had all you can eat sushi where I expanded my stomach to a totally new level haha! I know later on this week, I am going to visit my cousins in Brooklyn and Tribeca. Great start to the birthday week!

Josh Groban at the Air Canada Centre!

Since I was 13, I've been a fan of this man for so long. I purchased tickets with my friend Linda back in early May and we knew this was a concert to look forward to together.

I remember when one time I was at Sherway Gardens one weekend and Josh Groban did a mall tour. I recall him being surrounded by a MASSIVE pool of women outside the Bay entrance wing. I remember liking his music when my dad would play Andrea Bocelli's CD in the car and then switched it over to Josh Groban. Afterwards, David Foster found Josh Groban and helped him on is way.

I've been a fan ever since, and last night was also my first time seeing him in concert. It was magnificent, to say the least. Josh's voice is so powerful and his music touches so many people's lives.

Judith Hill was also opening up for Josh Groban on tour! I knew back in August when she was announced and was looking forward to hearing her sing live. I've also been a fan of Judith ever since she sang at Michael Jackson's funeral. I knew her afterwards as one of Josh Groban's back up singers when I saw her in his music video "Brave" and a few of his live TV appearances.

During the concert, she also did a meet and greet following her opening, just before Josh took the stage. She was very sweet and humble when she met with fans. I got her autograph and I can feel that she was happy to meet so many fans during her first visit to Toronto.

People who buy the VIP ticket packages and sit on the floor seat, they get the opportunity to have a meet and greet with Josh and his band. Josh also asks them to write questions down with a their seat number for the chance to have him randomly read it during the concert. He picked three questions and the first one was from a young girl who said she has seen him three times in concert (lucky girl!) Her next question was whether or not there is an artist or band he admires that he too sees on more than one occasion. I totally forgot what his answer was HAHA but his third question completely stole the show. It was from a guy named Todd attending the concert with his girlfriend. He said that his girlfriend really loves his music and if there was a possibility Josh could come over and help him ask her a question. Josh ran over with the mic to his seat and Todd proposed to his girlfriend in front of everybody in the stadium! It was amazing to watch and I even told my friend Linda I just became a believer that chivalry is not dead.

Nearing the end of the concert, Judith came back on stage to sing "The Prayer" with Josh. It put my friend Linda to tears, and she told me once her mom got very ill a long time ago. This song was the one that that made her feel better and have hope to getting better. Josh Groban really does touch lives with his music in so many ways =')

Here is the Toronto setlist he played:
1. Brave
2. False Alarms
3. February Song
4. Un Alma Mas
5. Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)
6. Alla Luce
7. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
8. Sincera
9. Remember When It Rained (featuring Judith)
10. The whole band jam for a bit, Christian Hebel starts with Aerosmith's "Dream On" on his violin
11. Voce Existe Em Mim
12. To Where You Are
13. She Moved Through the Fair
14. The Prayer (featuring Judith again)
15. I Believe (When I Fall in Love it Will Be Forever) by Stevie Wonder
ENCORE
16. You Raise Me Up
17. Smile by Charlie Chaplin

Sea/Land; a photography exhibit =)

In addition to the many TV shows I tune into, it just so happens that one of the actors from Suits decided to showcase his photography for the next week and a half. I decided with my Sunday afternoon free, I went on opening day. I walk in casually and Patrick J. Adams was there doing a casual interview with somebody along the side. His photography was interesting. Half were using a digital slr and the others in black and white were done on a film negatives. I made new friends and even got his autograph.

Afterwards, I went to go eat at Chococrêpe along Queen St. W. and had a buckwheat chipotle chicken crêpe. This picture doesn't even explain how huge this thing actually was. It was very filling and delicious. I for one am definitely going back to try everything else on the menu. I've only been to Chococrêpe once for a hot chocolate when I was going on a supply run for my knitting materials. If you're ever in town, do swing by this lovely place on 620 Queen St. W.

While everybody is at it, do swing by Oz Studios at 134 Ossington Avenue to check out Sea/Land from October 20th to 30th. Thank you for the picture, Patrick!

Ivan & Alyosha at The Garrison

I'm so happy that I went to this show on a whim. My friend Stacey had a house warming party at her new place with Dana, so I made sure to swing by before heading to the show downtown. I was recommended to this band by my friend Chloe. Their sound is very mellow and calming. I guess you can say they are an indie band but their music is catchy and easy to sing a long to.

I couldn't resist, I had to buy their CD. The band was nice enough to sign it for me and I appreciated it so much. They've been through a lot, having their band equipment stolen back in Atlanta. I'm glad to see the previous band they've toured with lent them all their gear to complete the remainder of the tour. I can't believe people car-jack an entire van full of band equipment, it's awful!

The spirit of Ivan & Alyosha is comforting to witness. When a band sticks together to play their music, it shows their fans to never give up and to keep on going on. More artists and bands should be like them =).

American Authors and Royal Teeth at The Drake

I last saw Royal Teeth when they opened for The Rocket Summer at the end of March at the MOD Club. When I heard they were coming back to Toronto, I couldn't pass this up.

They brought Brooklyn based band American Authors along to open up for them. Too bad they did not have their EP recorded and ready for this show (they told us they are still producing it). It was a lot of fun with drums and guitar embedded in their music. Their sound is different than Royal Teeth though.

Royal Teeth has a more upbeat melodic tempo to their sound with Nora's voice (one of the lead singers). When I first heard them sing at the MOD Club, I was moved by her and Gary's singing voice. I can't explain it, you need to see them life or her their music when they release their CD. This show was a lot of fun, and both bands put on such a great show!

As you can very well tell form my pictures, I was in the front the whole time.

The Wizard of Oz at The Ed Mirvish Theatre

I am so happy my sister and I were able to get tickets to see The Wizard of Oz! We went earlier this afternoon, and it was fantastic. It's awesome, especially since the last time my sister and I went to a live musical, it was five years ago to Wicked on Broadway at the Gershwin theatre.

The special effects and the use of the stage itself has been transformed to something more. Andrew Lloyd Webber made an outstanding choice with Danielle Wade as Dorothy.

Our seats in the orchestra were second from the front, so we were able to see how well trained the dogs were when they interacted with the rest of the cast. It was the typical happy musical which is great to take the whole family to. There's nothing bad I can say about this musical, there has been so much brought to the table by all the actors. It brings me back to when I was in my high school musical theater class. If you have the opportunity, do go see this with your parents, siblings, cousins, girlfriend, grandparents, anybody!

Muse at the Air Canada Centre

Seeing Muse last night at the Air Canada Centre brought back high school memories of when I would listen to their music. Their new stuff has changed from what I remember, but reliving all their albums in one night was a lot of fun!

Milosz is a big fan and has been to their concerts before, so I was happy he asked me to go with him once his friend was unable to attend.

I made sure to text message my friend Tina before the show, who is also a big fan. She said the same thing as me, their new stuff isn't quite what it used to be, but it is still good.

Their opening band was this heavy rock band called Band of Skulls, who are from Ireland. Milosz and I came in the middle of their set, which isn't the kind of music I'd normally listen to. It was more of the thrash, rock genre; not my kind of music. They did well though for the ticket holders on the main floor. From my seat, I could tell they were having a lot of fun and enjoying the rock experience.

Since I am a sucker for classics, my favourite song was played during the encore part of their set. Before Muse returned to the stage, the audience knew what song they wanted to play. Everybody in the stadium turned their flashlights on their smart phones to make the whole stadium look like stars in the night sky. Yes, my favourite Muse song is, 'Starlight'. Definitely had a lot of fun last night =)

Mika at The Opera House

I actually scored tickets to Mika's sold out show! There were people selling tickets on stubhub.com and my guess was they suddenly couldn't make it to the show. I found $10 tickets! Stacey was happy to join me last night and we had a great time!

Max and Curtis (his band mates) DJayed beats to open up the show. They did that for about 15-20 minutes to get the crowd excited. Mika just put on a great show and he played straight!I absolutely love him, he is my favourite artist of all time him and Josh Groban are tied for number one). I call him my male icon... that's why I call him my guycon =P I feel like he needs to play bigger venues whenhe comes to Canada, but I understand he has a bigger fan base in Europe. It`s too bad he only did one date and is in Montreal today. If he did two Toronto shows back-to-back, I would've searched for another pair of tickets on Stub Hub!

This is the part where I tell you all that this Tuesday, I am going to *drum roll* see Muse! I only found out yesterday. My friend Milosz has tickets and his friend couldn't make it (I know what that's like haha) so he saw me and asked if I'd be interested. That's this Tuesday and I am so pumped for it! I'm doing a concert every week like a crazy person lol I can get used to this and make my life revolve around this.

New sweet spot downtown!

I met Maria last week while attending the Liverpool vs Toronto FC exhibition game (oh what a dream weekend that was!) We decided since we both want to try some new things in Toronto, why not do them together? After all, company is always fun to have!

We met downtown Saturday afternoon and decided to go to this place, NADÈGE Patisserie. I've heard of it through my sister earlier this summer, and once Maria told me she has been for their macarons, I HAD to go try them out! We had a lovely lunch there together where we ordered sandwiches. I forgot the name of what I had only that it was smoked salmon, cucumbers, dill and cheese all jammed into a croissant for a magnificent taste! If you know me, you know I love smoked salmon. Having this explosive flavour (as Remy from Ratatouille would explain it) on a Saturday afternoon was amazing. The ingredients defintiely complimented each other in the croissant and I have nothing else to say except I'm definitely returning soon. I'm so glad Maria brought me here! As for their macarons, what an amazing price for such delightful treats!

I am a big macaron fan and usually go up to Bay Street for them at MoRoCo. Now I have another place to go to! If you haven't been to this place, I highly recommend it. Prices seem reasonable to me and if you are a foodie like Maria and I, you won't have a problem making a trip here (we tried it at 780 Queen St. West, in the Trinity Bellwoods area).

We also went to David's Tea (the location is also on Queen St. West) to replenish our tea cabinets and find her sister a birthday gift. Her sister's birthday is tomorrow, and we ended up getting her a teapot, tea cups and saucer set with intricate coral flower designs on it. I think she'll like it, since we are all tea drinking enthusiasts. I've also purchased three tea flavours (Bamboozled, Organic Kanpe tea and Coffee Pu'erh *for the sister, I am not a coffee drinker*). I had trouble shutting my full tea cabinet, but I am excited to try these new flavours. I'm going to try them this week and will let you know how my energy level is after them!

We ended our lovely day with frozen yogurt at Menchie's =D

Need I say more with the picture?! It took all our upper arm strength in us to get the flavours we wanted (I think all the goodness in the machine was running low?). We had our red velvet, mocha, chocolate hazelnut, chocolate and a chocolate vanilla swirl thrown in both of our tubs =) Frozen yogurt isn't just for kids!