Q104 Presents Rockin' The Harbour
For Immediate Release
Volunteer Fundraising Group Rocks Halifax for Charity
Halifax, July 20th, 2010 – Presented by Q104, sponsored by Molson Coors and Spark Marketing, produced by Sonic Concerts, The Canadian Progress Club – Halifax is extremely pleased to announce that Trooper, Helix, Saga, and Broken Ohms will be performing at the inaugural charity concert called, “Rockin’ The Harbour” and will be held on Saturday, September 11th, 2010 at The Cunard Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Tickets for “Rockin’ The Harbour” are $52.50 and are on sale now at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office and select Atlantic Superstores. Tickets can also be ordered by phone at 902-451-1221 or purchased on line at www.ticketatlantic.com.
In a statement released by the organizing committee, “Hosting a concert to raise funds is a new and exciting challenge for our club. We are diligent to ensure that our events are successful so that our charities can benefit in the programs and services they provide to our community.” “Our goal is to make this an annual event with different acts each year.” “By purchasing tickets, patrons will not only have a great time at the event, the investment will help to support very worthy causes, so it’s a win-win.”
The Canadian Progress Club – Halifax is part of a national volunteer organization whose mandate is to give back to their corresponding community. This usually takes the form of raising money for several charities including the Kings Meadow Home, The Progress Centre for Early Intervention, Special Olympics Canada through events such as the Sports Celebrity Dinner, Big Spring Auction and Pro/Am Golf Tournament. While these events continue to be very successful, the Canadian Progress Club - Halifax has embarked on a new endeavor by adding an annual rock concert benefit/fundraiser to meet the growing needs of their charities.
Backgrounder
About the Canadian Progress Club – Halifax:
Established in 1965, The Canadian Progress Club - Halifax is a volunteer fundraising group of 50 that raises money for a number of great recipients including "The Progress Centre for Early Intervention", which provides direct assistance for children with early childhood developmental delays or disorders, and “The King’s Meadow Home”, which is home to 10 adults with mental disabilities who are supervised by a professional team of residential counselors near Windsor, Nova Scotia. We also support “Special Olympics Canada” and have a Charitable Trust Fund where we set aside a specific budget each year for charitable requests to assist others in need within our community. Our club members also work hard in the community lending a helping hand on a regular basis to Feeding Others Of Dartmouth, Stuff A Bus, Canstruction, etc. Our fundraising activities currently include three major events: The Canadian Progress Club – Halifax Sports Celebrity Dinner (38 years running), The Canadian Progress Club - Halifax Big Spring Auction (28 years running), Pro/Am Golf Tournament. (14 years and running)
About Trooper:
Singer Ra McGuire and Guitarist Brian Smith have been writing songs and performing together since 1965. During the first formative nine years they fronted only one marginally notable band, the eccentric and eclectic Winters Green.
In 1974, Randy Bachman of BTO signed their band, Applejack, to his Legend Records label. "Trooper", their first Bachman-produced album, was released in 1975 and the newly-named Trooper began touring the U.S., backing up BTO, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, The Doobie Brothers, and many others. In Canada, "Baby Woncha Please Come Home" reached the top ten and "Good Ol' General Hand Grenade" went to number one for a month. Smith and McGuire were nominated for 'Best Composer' at the 1975 Juno Awards.
In 1976, now signed directly to MCA Records, Trooper released "Two For the Show", which became their first gold album. The title song, written by McGuire, went to #1 and "Santa Maria" went top five. The album eventually was certified platinum. McGuire was nominated for Best Composer and Trooper was nominated for Best New Group at the 1976 Juno Awards.
Trooper's third album, "Knock 'Em Dead, Kid" which included the hits "We're Here for a Good Time" and "Pretty Lady" was certified Platinum in March 1978. The group did an extensive tour in Canada and continued to tour in America. They were nominated for Best Group at the Juno Awards that year.
Their fourth album, "Thick as Thieves", contained the hits "Raise a Little Hell" (their first hit in the U.S.), "Round, Round We Go" and "The Moment That it Takes". It shipped gold and eventually was certified Platinum. A critic for The Vancouver Sun, writing about their sold out Pacific Coliseum show said;
"if there was ever any doubt before, there can't be now; Trooper has arrived as a top-drawer concert band that can blow the competition off a stage anywhere, anytime."
Once again, Trooper was nominated for Best Group at the 1979 Juno Awards.
"Hot Shots", a greatest hits album, was released in 1979 and sold 450,000 copies that year alone. Trooper was the first Canadian artist to ever achieve this sales status. The song: "The Boys in the Bright White Sportscar" was included on the album although it had not previously been released as a single. It soon earned its 'greatest hit' status.
Six months later, after severing their artist-producer relationship with Randy Bachman, Trooper released the Howard Steele-produced "Flying Colors" album. It contained the hits "Three Dressed Up As a Nine", "Janine" and "Drive Away". The album was certified Platinum. At the 1980 Juno Awards, Smith and McGuire were nominated again in the Best Composer category; both "Hot Shots" and "Flying Colors" were nominated for Best Album and Trooper finally won the Juno Award for Best Group.
In 1980, Trooper released their last MCA album. Their single "The Real Canadians" received some airplay but sales were disappointing. MCA did not renew their contract. After finishing another extensive tour of Canada, the group did not tour or record for two years.
Mike Flicker, producer and engineer for the band Heart, approached McGuire and Smith in 1981 with a proposal to record what became the "Money Talks" album. The album was released in April 1982 on the Flicker/RCA label and featuring a video for the single "Only a Fool" directed by Doug Bennett of Doug and the Slugs fame.
Smith and McGuire took Trooper on the road again, and in 1986 played more shows than in any other year of their ten-year career, breaking attendance records from coast to coast.
In 1987, McGuire and Smith were encouraged by former MCA vice-president Scott Richards to start their own label and release a new album. With the help of their former manager, Sam Feldman, studio owner (and Powder Blues leader) Tom Lavin, and FACTOR they began recording the batch of 40 songs they had accumulated.
In 1988 MCA Records released the "Hot Shots" album on CD and sales rose to over six times platinum. Errol Ranville's recording of the Smith-McGuire song "Janine" was a hit on the Canadian country charts for 16 weeks and Trooper's other hits began, once again, receiving regular airplay with the advent of the classic rock radio format.
In 1989, Smith and McGuire's newly formed Great Pacific Records struck a distribution deal with Warner Music Canada. "The Last of the Gypsies" became the group's first release in nearly a decade, selling well over gold status, and re-establishing them as one of Canada's most successful and best loved rock bands.
Trooper's "Gypsies Tour" was the most successful Canadian tour of the summer. In all they performed 187 shows across Canada in 1990. The "Boy With A Beat" video received extensive airplay and a previously lost 1979 concert video was also aired frequently on Canada's 'Much Music'. "Thin White Line" was the second hit from the "Gypsies" album.
Trooper finished and released the "TEN" album (their tenth) and played 140 shows across the country in 1991. "The American Dream", the single from the album, went top ten.
In 1992 a personal tragedy struck the family of Trooper co-founder and guitarist Brian Smith. Brian left the road and was replaced temporarily by friend and former Sweeney Todd guitarist Skip Prest. Brian soon returned to the road, maintaining, through the early nineties, the same intense touring schedule.
In the late nineties Trooper' music began turning up on TV ads for everything from Tim Horton's Coffee to Molson's beer. The band itself became more visible on TV, playing the Grey Cup half-time show, the West Coast Music Awards and guest-starring on 'This Hour Has 22 Minutes' New Year's Special. Their songs were featured in numerous episodes of '22 Minutes' throughout the 8th season (2000-01), including a moving Christmas tribute to Canadian forces in Bosnia that featured "We're Here for a Good Time" as its central theme.
In 2000, Trooper celebrated their 25th anniversary with a reunion concert at Vancouver's legendary Commodore Ballroom. Tommy Stewart, Doni Underhill, Frank Ludwig and Harry Kalensky re-united with McGuire and Smith for a sold out and memorable Vancouver performance.
In 2001 Visionary Records released "Shot Spots", a Punk tribute to Trooper that contained 30 Trooper songs performed by 30 Canadian punk bands (D.O.A., SNFU, The Dayglo Abortions and others).
To ensure a balance of time between the road and home, and with demand for the band showing no signs of slowing down, Trooper began limiting their touring to 100 shows a year. Some of the challenges of trying to do this, and the rewards of succeeding, were documented in a four page 2004 photo essay by Todd Korol in Macleans magazine and a two page 2005 Globe and Mail story by Peter Cheney.
In April 2006, Trooper singer and songwriter, Ra McGuire released his first book: Here For a Good Time - On the Road With Trooper, Canada's Legendary Rock Band. The book was published by Insomniac Press and received rave reviews from fans, media, and fellow writers.
2010 will be the band's 35th anniversary as top performers in the Canadian music industry. As Trooper continues to sell out shows across the country, they often encounter fans from three different generations in the audience, proving that the band remains ageless.
Trooper has become a Canadian legend. They continue to perform their huge collection of hits with the vitality and sense of humor that has served them well on their steady march through the hills and valleys of Rock and Roll.
Saga:
For months, thousands of Saga fans have been asking themselves anxiously: how will the band sound after vocalist Michael Sadler’s departure? Before going into any more detail, let’s answer the big question: on their latest album, The Human Condition, Saga still sound unmistakably like Saga but with a big dash freshness. The essential elements of the sound which the band has continuously developed over decades, their rocking attitude, haunting melodies, virtuoso solo passages and intelligent arrangements, haven’t changed one bit in 2009. And what is more: the band members, Ian Crichton (guitar), Jim Crichton (bass, keyboards) and Jim Gilmour (keyboards) have used the recent line-up change for an artistic evolution of their expressive means. To cut a long story short: The Human Condition is 100% Saga, and much more. Or, as Ian Crichton comments: “It’s still us, of course with a different twist, some of the ideas on the CD are more prog than before.”
Let’s travel back in time: autumn 2007 saw founder member Michael Sadler leave the band to set off to pastures new. No farewell in anger, no personal or musical differences – as we have frequently seen in other bands –, but an extremely amicable separation from a musician who is looking for new challenges, privately as well as artistically. For the remaining musicians, Sadler’s departure never called into question the group’s existence. Saga immediately started a global search for a new frontman and struck lucky in January 2008 when they came across Rob Moratti, until that time vocalist with the Canadian act, Final Frontier. Crichton explains: “We found Rob after searching for a singer for a year. As it ended up, Rob is from Toronto. There were international singers, too, but Rob was it. Rob’s voice is different than Michael’s, but he cuts the older tunes really great. On the new CD you must check him out in full Saga stereo!! He’s awesome!”
With Moratti as their new band member, Saga got together on December 8th 2008 in Orillia, Ontario, Canada, and arranged the material they had been individually writing for six months. The Human Condition was produced by Saga and mixed by Pat Regan at the Sound Image studios in Van Nuys, California, in February 2009. The result is a spirited recording with nine versatile numbers which – as Crichton already stressed – redefine the borderline between rock music and progressive attitudes. The Human Condition features vocal melodies consisting of several voices, Crichton’s unmistakable staccato guitars and sweeping solo passages which extend into the spheres of fusion and jazz. Ian Crichton: “We’re proud of all of them, we like all the tracks on this record; it sounds really refreshing and new.”
Naturally Saga have come up with another exciting subject to give their songs a central theme. However, this time Ian Crichton’s aim was to direct the listeners’ fantasy and attention to the lyrics, which is why he won’t dissect the story behind The Human Condition. Asked whether Saga’s latest offering is a concept album, he answers succinctly: “Yes it is. We always pick a topic when forming a record, before anything is written. The Human Condition explains itself.”
So The Human Condition substantiates the good news about Saga’s unaltered sound: they are continuing their great career and are set to present many more examples of their great creative power. “Our hope is that people like the new Saga album as much as we do,” comments Ian Crichton, “there’s so much music still to create, world touring, more records.”
About Helix:
Helix has been rocking the world since 1974. They have played with over 200 recording acts, sold over 2 million albums, and played in North America, all across Europe (17 different countries: Spain, Portugal, England, France, Scotland, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Holland, Finland, and Denmark). They have even played the tiny island of Trinidad (1986). Their last release (A HEAVY MENTAL CHRISTMAS: NOV./2009) was released in Wal-mart stores across Canada. The CD before that (THE POWER OF ROCK AND ROLL) was licensed to Sanctuary/Universal in Europe, Perris Records in the U.S., and E.M.I. in Canada.
In February/2009 of this year, the band recorded a track for an AC/DC tribute CD being put out by Perris Records of Houston, Texas which featured the original Helix line-up from 1983’s No Rest for the Wicked. A week later they signed a licensing deal with AOR Records of Germany for the territory of Europe and Russia for the next Helix CD. The band begins recording for this disc in May and hopes to have the final product ready by the fall.
The new 2009 Helix line-up actually sees the return of an old familiar face-Brent Doerner. Brent played for the band from about 1975 until 1988 and was instrumental in the band’s early success. On rhythm guitar is Jim Lawson, who has been in the band for several years. Jim was formally of the band Cherry Smash, which for many years was under the same management company as Helix. It was because of this connection that he became a natural fit. Sean Kelly is the new bassist for the band. Sean is a star in his own right, having released two classical guitar CDs on Universal and licensed several of his solo project CDs (Crash Kelly) to Spiritual Beast in Japan. He is sponsored by both Yamaha & B.C. Rich Guitars. On drums is Rob MacEachern, formally of Svengali, a Canadian gold act. Rob has his own drum company, and is the inventor of “drum claws” which are used by Bobby Blotzer and Tommy Lee, among many others. Lastly, the band is led by longest serving member Brian Vollmer, who has guided the band through the last 35 years.
“…As I tell everyone” Vollmer chuckles, “…There have been many crews on the good ship Helix over the years, but only ONE Captain…and a Captain is only as good as his crew…That’s why I always have first rate people in the band...”
Vollmer has been in the band from the very start and has guided the band through it’s highs and lows. As well as singing for Helix, he also released a solo project in 2000 called When Pigs Fly and appeared on the Cherry Street CD Buster Cherry. This year he can be seen in his first ever movie role in the new Trailor Park Boy’s movie to be released fall/2009.
About Broken Ohms:
Too metal for the indie scene and too indie for the metal scene, Broken Ohms have been busy over the past four years creating a sound that is truly their own. A unique blend of stoner/prog/metal/pop/heavy rock can be heard rumbling out of venues across the East Coast that welcome the Ohms onto their stage. Their reputation as a great live act has landed them spots in the Halifax Pop Explosion, Maritime Tattoo Festival and Nova Scotia Music Week. With the 2008 release of their album "Nocturnal Emissions", Halifax’s heavy rock ambassadors have spent some weeks in the Canadian college radio charts and have had rave reviews from all over the world. The album was also nominated for Music Nova Scotia’s “Loud Artist Recording of the Year”. 2010 has already been huge for the band. Ohms recently won the Q104 Molson Rock Showdown and opened up the Canada Day Concert at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth, NS. Armed with a tight set of new songs, the band will head into the studio soon to record the follow-up to "Nocturnal Emissions". "If you like Black Sabbath, Kyuss and the sound of rolling thunder you’ll love Broken Ohms. They serve it bloody and rare, just the way I like my rock & roll music." - Noisography.com (Halifax, NS) "Stoner-rock heroes..." -The Coast (Halifax,NS) "A cursory listen to Halifax, Nova Scotia quartet Broken Ohms, whose name has to be one of the cleverest to emerge from indie rock in a long time, reveals a band that is much too confident in their own ideas to even consider conforming to a preset formula." - HARDTIMES.CA (Montreal) "...this is incredibly fun, raw-energy rock." - Altsounds.com (UK) "Broken Ohms are here to rock without regret and sound as good as they possibly can while doing it." - ABORT MAGAZINE (Vancouver) "...solid constructions with monstrous grooving riffs and catchy choruses." - Chronicles Of Chaos (South Africa)
