A pet peeve

I love going to concerts. It's a stress reliever for me. Also, I tend to judge bands by their live show, meaning if the singer can't sing, chances are I won't like them. This love of live music lends itself to disappointment: many an American artist doesn't seem to understand the concept of "cross-Canada" tour. I'd like to put all the U.S.-based tour managers in a room with a map of my great country, and show them, "Here's Vancouver. Here's Montreal. Here's all the cities in between, and beyond." I've compiled this list of American acts that (to my knowledge) have never ever been to Winnipeg in the hopes that they'll find this blog and reach a level of enlightenment AKA come visit me--er...us!

1) The Academy Is... - "Santi" is one of my favourite albums of all time! Come visit me dangit!



2) Something Corporate - OK, so technically these guys are on hiatus while the individual members pursue other projects, so that segues into...

3) Jack's Mannequin - Andrew McMahon's other band that I love just as much as SomeCorp. Come with TAI...! It'll be magical!

4) Ben Folds - You are awesome. The college kids love you. You'll sell out the West End Cultural Centre with the greatest of ease.

5) Linkin Park - You guys are one of the biggest bands in the world, so you can't use "poor record sales" as an excuse. What are you waiting for?

6) Rob Thomas - Yes, Matchbox Twenty was here in...let me check my ticket stub...May 2001, but Rob totally skipped us, even though his website listed a Winnipeg date on his "Something to Be" tour in '06. Well, the new disc just came out, Rob. Please don't skip us again!

7) The Killers - This is the first band that actually HAS played here before, but it was before "Hot Fuss" came out and no one knew who they were. Now that they're ridiculously popular, there's no excuse for avoiding a cross-Canada tour.

8) Jason Mraz - I won't forgive you for making me buy "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things" twice until you play me a show. So there.

9) Incubus - Brandon Boyd crush aside...ummm...tour please?

10) 3 Doors Down - The closest they came to Winnipeg was X Fest in Brandon last year. Why these guys have never done a full cross-Canada tour is beyond me. Like Linkin Park, 3DD are one of the biggest bands in the world, and its mind-boggling to me that we've been overlooked.

So there it is. That's my list, anyway. I'm sure you, dear reader, can think of more artists off the top of your head. Feel free to add to this list in the comments section.