As he promised in his NOW cover story this summer, Drake finally graduated high school last week. The hip-hop superstar tweeted that he scored a 97 on his final exam and 88 for the course.
Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens responded on Twitter by offering to introduce him to some people at Oklahoma State University if he wants to tackle college next. Not quite as funny as the last time the oil magnate teased the rapper back in May, but it’s still entertaining to see the pair continuing to fraternize publicly on social media.
Cold Specks sighting at Swans
While her sound is often described as “doom soul,” it’s the latter word that’s most evident in the music of Cold Specks. However, after spotting the Toronto singer in the audience at the terrifyingly loud Swans show Thursday, October 25, at Lee’s Palace, we’re wondering if we should be preparing for some evil walls of noise on her next batch of songs.
Sum 41 vs Chavril
Avril Lavigne’s ex-husband, Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, and his girlfriend dressed up as Lavigne and her new squeeze, Chad Kroeger, for Halloween. (Whibley was Lavigne.) While the Chavril costume undoubtedly got laughs at the party they attended, Kroeger’s mean-spirited response made it clear that the Nickelback frontman didn’t find it so funny.
“Hey Deryck loved the costumes! We were going to dress up as you guys this year but all the parties had celebrity themes haha!” tweeted Kroeger, in what he likely thought was a flash of comedic genius.
Okay, maybe we chuckled a little bit.
Khabouth’s new mega-club
Even though mega-clubs are increasingly a thing of the past in most parts of the world, Guvernment Nightclub owner Charles Khabouth still seems to know how to make money from sprawling dance complexes. The “lifestyle king” (yes, that’s what he calls himself) announced plans this week to turn the former Devil’s Martini into a new state-of-the-art venue called Uniun.
While it’s not so promising for music lovers that the press release barely mentions the sound system and focuses mainly on the post-industrial design and LED lighting system, it sounds more interesting than the notorious meat market vibe the space was formerly known for.
Billy Talent’s secret
Canadian pop punkers Billy Talent played a surprise free show at the Horseshoe Tuesday, October 30. However, since they sent a press release to every media outlet in town, it wasn’t exactly a big secret.
