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Music

Mod Club celebrates its tin anniversary

Mod Club turns 10

It seems like most bars and clubs don’t even make it to their first birthday, so it’s impressive that Virgin Mobile Mod Club celebrates 10 years on Saturday (November 17). Founded by Platinum Blonde’s Mark Holmes, the venue grew out of a weekly Wednesday-night mod-themed party he’d started at the now-defunct Lava Lounge. We asked Holmes about the best and worst moments in the history of Mod Club.

Best: “When Muse entered the building for our very first live show, my heart was racing. This was the first big test of the sound and lights. Since the birth of my son Justin I’d never felt so much pride.”

Worst: “Before his show, Ian Brown [of the Stone Roses] and his band decided to try some of Canada’s favourite herb. Halfway into the set, paranoia took hold, and all of a sudden Ian couldn’t hear his monitors. He had the engineer turn them up so loud that they overloaded and had to be replaced mid-show. To kill time Ian played the drums while telling everyone they should ask for their money back.

“I was in a state of hell for at least 20 minutes until the power was restored to the monitors and the show resumed. Thankfully, he played the longest show of his career, and the crowd was more than satisfied. Afterwards we had a great party and he was a complete teddy bear.”

Rodriguez’s Toronto talent

Remember a few weeks ago when Detroit folksinger Rodriguez played Toronto accompanied by local guitarist Tim Bovaconti? They’d only met on the afternoon before the show, introduced by a publicist at lunch, but Bovaconti is a long-time fan and knew all the songs. Plus, as a guitarist in Ron Sexsmith’s and Burton Cummings’s bands, he’s a pro who can sit in with anybody.

Turns out Rodriguez was so impressed that he asked Bovaconti to play the next show in Detroit, too, but alas, it wasn’t possible for him to get a visa on such short notice.

In brief

• Not only was Wikipedia wrong about Hayden being dead, but the Canadian indie folk icon has just signed to Arts & Crafts for his seventh album.

• EDM superstar Deadmau5 is single. He and reality TV tattoo artist Kat Von D announced via Twitter that they’d broken up. Bet they regret the matching face tattoos now.

• Toronto fans of buzz-worthy rapper Angel Haze won’t have to wait much longer to see her in person: the Yes Yes Y’all crew have just confirmed that she’s booked to play their NYE party at the Annex Wreckroom. Get your tickets early, as they sell out quickly even without a name this big attached.

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