PARTNER with SHOTGUN JIMMIE, RICHARD LAVIOLETTE, DANIEL ROMANO and MISHA BOWER as part of You’ve Changed Records 8th Anniversary at Longboat Hall (1087 Queen West), Saturday (April 22), 7 pm. $15. cmw.net.
Armed with hooks pulled straight from 90s indie rock and a vicious guitar onslaught best described as Weezer filtered through AC/DC-esque six-string fireworks, Partner have melted every face they’ve played to over the past couple of years.
At CMW, they’ll shred Longboat Hall as part of You’ve Changed Records 8th-anniversary show the same night celebrated rock dykon Melissa Etheridge hits the Danforth Music Hall. Etheridge, who’s also giving a keynote speech this weekend at weed conference O’Cannabiz, is such an inspiration to Partner’s Josée Caron and Lucy Niles that there’s a skit on their upcoming record, In Search Of Lost Time (You’ve Changed), of Caron calling up You’ve Changed Records’ Steve Lambke to say the illustration on the album cover is going to be of her.
We caught up with the Windsor-Ontario-via-Sackville-New Brunswick band in bass player Kevin Brasier’s Kensington Market apartment to find out what they’d get up to with Etheridge (a powerful, strong-willed Ash in Druid horoscopes, the band notes) if they ever got the chance.
Get a lil’ high touring the dispensaries of Toronto.
If there’s one thing Partner love, it’s the Devil’s lettuce. “I would like to sample, like, Hubba Bubba or forest weed green or whatever,” Caron says. “A bunch of different kinds of weed with Melissa. Like a wine-tasting, but with weed. And everyone gets super-fucked up. Boutique weed. Duke Nukem. Green Crack.”
Write a song about their shared interests.
It’d probably be a day wasted (and not in the fun sense) if they didn’t sit down to hash out a tune together. “We would really love to jam with Melissa,” Niles says. “That would be even better than trying new types of weed.” Of course, the jazz grass would be a necessary accessory. What would the song be about? “Getting high, and women,” Caron says. “Bein’ lesbians.”
Watch Some Kind Of Monster.
The Metallica documentary, which follows the band through their volatile St. Anger sessions, is Partner’s favourite movie. They aren’t totally sure if Etheridge would also love it, but they’re certainly confident in the doc’s quality. “It’s our one-year anniversary of watching it,” Caron says. “We listened to St. Anger today in the car, actually,” Niles points out.
An intimate sharing of favourite YouTube videos.
“We could see if she even knows all the videos of her that are on YouTube,” Niles says. “Maybe she doesn’t watch. Like the one of her coming out at Bill Clinton’s inauguration.” You can find that one, which also features the incomparable k.d. lang, under the title “melissa etheridge coming out!!!!!!! :)”
Hit up Kensington Market for some show pants.
What’s the difference between regular pants and show pants? “It’s just a feeling,” Caron says, clad in the leather pants she’s been rocking since Brooklyn. “It’s like getting dressed for work. Like, “Here I go.’” Caron mentions it’s time to invest in some serious show pants. “The show pants that’ll end up at the Hard Rock Café,” says bassist Brasier.
Grab some ’za at Mare.
Obviously, a day so packed with fun is gonna build up some kinda appetite, and Mare Pizzeria in Kensington Market is where they’d cap things off. “I’m half made of Mare,” Brasier says. Niles, still mulling over the idea of this fun-filled day, turns to Caron and, using her nickname, says, “Chode, I would die if we met Melissa Etheridge.”
music@nowtoronto.com | @mattgeewilliams
