Toronto Roller Derby Championship

So last weekend, the inaugural season of the Toronto Roller Derby league came to a conclusion, with the first Championship match. The Gore-Gore Rollergirls and The Chicks Ahoy! - the two undefeated teams from the summer season - went at it on November 17 up at Rinx in North York. It had been a long time coming - the last public game had been in August - and part of the issue was that most rinks in the city went back to ice hockey use in September. The league was fortunate to get their hands on Rinx, a venue not designed for spectators so much; Rinx features ice rinks, bumper cars, bowling, and a roller rink. But the sweet bonus for all concerned was - provided you signed a waiver - we got to sit on the track, right in the thick of things.

The evening got off to an in auspicious start when the sound system kept crashing during the introductions. It appeared that the DJ's music board kept overwhelming the system, which was a shame seeing as the tunes are part of the whole experience. But they sorted it out, and by sitting on the track and not behind the glass, as it George Bell Arena in the summer, you could hear the announcements and play by play quite clearly. So for those of us who went through the whole summer with ToRD, we were well able to follow the action. I think the newbies who came - and there were plenty, which was very encouraging given the long lay-off - may have still had a hard time, especially when sitting on the rink surface, which of course makes it a bit harder to see things happening on the opposite side of the rink. But overall, I'd say that the crowd went home satisfied.

The match opened appearing to be a massive mis-match. While both squads went undefeated during the summer, the effects of a long lay-off seemed apparent when both sides skated a little slow off the top. This quickly changed as the Gore-Gores kept throwing numbers on the board, and the Chicks kept hitting the penalty box. By the end of the first period, the Gore-Gores had built up a seemingly insurmountable lead, in the neighborhood of 50 to 6. (I'm afraid I didn't write this down.) But the Chicks started to come back in the second, actually outscoring the Gore-Gores in the frame, and closing the gap - a bit. After 2, it was still about a 30 to 40 point lead for the Gore-Gores.

Sure enough, in the third, the hits started coming a bit harder, and while the Chicks made it respectable, they still couldn't get there, and the Gore-Gores wound up winning the first Toronto Championship Boot by a final score of 89 to 53. Led by their amazing jammers, including Bambi and Desmon Deck-Her who both fly through the pack like a hot knife through a baby's bottom, there was no way that the Gore-Gores were going be denied. The Chicks had nothing to be ashamed of, though, and both sides joined, along with the league referees, for a number of victory laps around the rink. Looking forward to next season - I'll keep you posted!

Blue Peter

Back on October 5, our friend Paul and the rest of Blue Peter played their first public show in something like 2 decades at The Mod Club in Toronto. Everyone had a blast and went home with huge smiles on their faces, especially the band, who showed that while they may have moved on with their careers they can still bring it, and bring it they did. The crowd was largely composed of friends and fans from the era - Blue Peter's last album came out in 1983 - but this wasn't some Police-style money grab: the boys just wanted to see if they could still do it, and exceeded expectations in the process.

The night opened with The Spoons, who led their own hit parade as part of the Canadian New Wave scene in the early 80s. They brought out classics like Those Old Emotions, Romantic Traffic and, of course, Nova Heart.
You got the feeling that The Spoons have been doing this a bit longer, and by that I mean the reunion thing - he was a tad slick, with the shout-outs and sing-a-longs, but they were still quite entertaining, and I think we were all shocked by how many of their songs we still knew. The only disappointment was that Sandy doesn't crimp her hair anymore.

But then Blue Peter took the stage, opening with Falling, the title track from their last album. The crowd was hyped, and just about everyone knew all the words - the band didn't forget a one, but we would have forgiven them if they had - and, I don't know if this happened back in the day or not, but the devil horns came out, too.

Here's a somewhat incomplete set list that I swiped from the facebook page for the show:
Falling, Chinese Graffiti, All Your Time, Unchained Heart, Don't Walk Past, Water On The Moon, Equalizer, Video Verite, Radio Silence, Take Me To War, Same Old Place


The order may be a bit off, but no biggee. They ended their main set, of course, with Don;t Walk Past - i am including the video I shot of that below. Forgive the audio quality, it's not the greatest. I understand that that the show was recorded that night, but have yet to hear what exactly will be done with the recording. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything.



In the short term, enjoy, the video and check out the band's site for updates about future shows, as I suspect there be some.



Oh, and check this out, a new Blue Peter compilation is on its way!