August 20th, 2008 - Late update...

The Afterbeat will release their new EP named Transitions by the end of September. The EP will be available online to buy and download so as the related artwork. The band will be touring the west coast starting on August 27th with the band Beat Union. While we are talking about the west, Winnipeg's Ska and Reggae festival will start this Thursday until Saturday. For more details, check out their MySpace profile. John Moore founding member of the popular band The Skatalites has passed away last Saturday. Moore had been recently released from the hospital where he was receiving colon cancer treatment. Stomp sent me a new CD (Thank you Stomp!) from their newest signed band, The Creepshow. I got a glimspe of them at the Van's and I am very curious to hear their first album. I should have a review of the album next weekend. I have added the following websites to our links section: Massawippi Skank, The Cheap Suits, Pressure Drop and Music Is Our Occupation. The two last ones contains blogs, articles, reviews and podcasts. Also, I have shows info for Take The Boys, One Night Band and Massawippi Skank. Go check those out! One last thing, I have given our forum a new background and banner, it looks much better. Don't hesitate to join in and post your comments.

August 10th, 2008 - Rancid Show!

I have added today the videos of Rancid's show in the media section. However, there is no gallery since the few pictures I was able to take didn't turn so good. I do have a few that I posted on our MySpace profile with the review of the show. If you took some pictures yourself you can share them with us by posting them on our forum. Less Than Jake released their first music video from their new album GNV FLA. The video of the song Does the Lion City Still Roar is featured on Buzznet.com. The Know How will be reuniting to play the Real Big Deal festival in Gainsville, Florida this September. No confirmation about if they will stay together after the festival has been announced.

August 4th, 2008 - Various News...

Well it's gonna be a small update this week but an update nonetheless. The Hub City Stompers will be releasing their new album this week. The album is entitled "Ska SKa Black Sheep" and will be available starting this Saturday, August 9th. The Ska Is Dead Tour will be sponsoring Skanksgiving in the U.S. this Fall. The event will be 2 nights only in Massachussett and New Jersey. It will include bands such as The Pietasters, The Toasters, Big D And The Kids Table, Mustard Plug, Westbound Train and many more. The Aquabats are planning a Holiday Tour starting this November. Although no dates has been officially announced, they said it would be a East Cost tour and mentionned some cities like Boston and New York.

July 26th, 2008 - Contest winner and Shows

We would like to congratulate Michaël Bricteux from Rosemère, for winning our contest. Our slogan is now : SkaMontréal, until we fall. In the next few weeks you will probably see it appear here and there. We would like to thank everyone who participated. Our first contest went pretty well so we will surely have more in the future. I have added plenty of upcoming shows for the following bands: Take The Boys, The Fabulous Lolo sings Rocksteady, Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, The Slackers and The Aggrolites. I also added the websites for The Fabulous Lolo sings Rocksteady and the Kingpins.

July 22th, 2008 - Van's Warped Tour

As promised, I have added all the videos and pictures I took at the Van's Warped Tour this includes Subb, Planet Smashers, The Aggrolites and Reel Big Fish. For more details about how was the Warped Tour, check out our MySpace profile. By the way, the contest to win Rancid tickets is ending this Friday. It is not too late for you to submit your ideas.

July 11th, 2008 - Early update

Since this weekend will be rather busy for me, I decided to update the site today since I won't have time on Sunday. RX Bandits is currently recording a new album. Title and release date have not been announced yet. If you aren't doing anything this Saturday, you can tune in on WoozyFly and watch Less Than Jake's live performance from New York. The show starts at 8pm and includes backstage footage, interviews and the entire band's performance. Talking about Less Than Jake, I have the review of their newest album set up in the reviews section. I added two websites in the links section: first Skarlatine.com a ska website in French that contains a vast variety of articles, interviews and biographies, and the MySpace page of Vancouver's Rude City Riot. Next Sunday is the Van's Warped Tour and since me and Nat are going, I will not be able to update the site that afternoon like usually do. Expect an update around the following Wednesday with tons of pictures and videos from the Warped Tour.

July 6th, 2008 - Few news and links...

How would you feel if you could see your favorite band playing a longer set at the Van's Warped tour? Well it's now possible if you go on their website to vote for the listed bands that you would like to see perform 10 minutes more. I checked what was available for Montreal's show but unfortunately for us, none of the bands from the Union Stage are listed, same thing for the Aggrolites. However, Reel Big Fish is there and a few other interesting bands also. I was looking for new links about ska this week and stubbled on 3 sites that might interest you. The first one is Ska Blah Blah which is mostly a ska blog with some related articles to the genre. The second one is SkaSource.com which is a simple site containing infos on bands and interviews. There is actually an article about SkaMontréal if you scroll down enough. The last one but not the least, is Skapunkphotos.com. Skapunkphotos is probably the most vast gallery of ska and punk bands pictures. It has pictures of plenty of ska bands such as Planet Smashers, Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, Streetlight Manifesto and many many more. All these websites have been added to our links section. Two nifty things that I added related to the website: our MySpace now have the same design as the site for those who hasn't seen it yet, and a bookmark icon which you can see in your address bar and bookmark list.

June 29th, 2008 - Contest and wallpapers

The ska scene in general is rather quiet these days but I was able to add 2 shows in July to our calendar. By the way, the contest is still on but there are about only 3 weeks left to submit your ideas. We had a few submissions already but your chances to win are still great. Don't hesitate and submit today! We have something new in our media section. Like we intended back in April, we now have a wallpapers section. There is currently only one available for both PC and Mac. Check it out, there will be more to come.

June 22nd, 2008 - One Night Band, Less Than Jake and more shows

One Night Band is currently working on a new album that should come out this Fall. Producing the album is Brian Dixon from the Aggrolites. Don't forget that Less than Jake's new album is coming out this week. SkaMontréal will definately get a copy and review it in a few weeks! I have installed an anti-spam program on our forum last week so now our forum is officially spam free! Don't hesitate to sign in and start new topics. I have added a few more shows to our calendar for June, July and August and the websites of the following bands: Take The Boys, Staylefish and Stop, Drop N Skank in our link section .

June 8th, 2008 - Reel Big Fish and the Johnstones...

Reel Big Fish is presently in studio working on some new project. They didn't specify what it was altough we could suspect it's a new album, I guess we will have to wait and see. I went to the Johnstones show last Thursday and brought back a few videos (including songs from their new EP Sex) and pictures. Some of the videos are a bit bumpy though. Check out Julian and Rene dance on What My Name Is, it's hilarious. Also, there's a small review of the show on our MySpace where I speak of the opening bands. For those who missed our interview on Roots Rock Rebel last Wednesday, I added a copy in the media section. It is only our interview. If you want the whole show you can check their myspace in our links section.

June 1rst, 2008 - Many good news!

I'm happy to annouce that me and Nat have been invited for a radio interview next Wednesday on Roots Rock Rebels. Be sur to tune in, it's from 10pm to midnight on CKUT 90.3 FM. I would like to thank the person at Stomp Records that sent me the new EP "Sex" from the Johnstones. It's really appreciated. I will definately listen to it and review it in a few weeks. For those interested, The Johnstones will be at the National this Thursday. I was able to find a song from the upcoming Less Than Jake album GNV FLA. You can listen to it here. The new album will be coming out on June 24. They will be touring this summer but no date for Montreal has been announced yet. They now have a new website, you can click their link in our links section. Nat wrote a review for the album Self Medication from the Slackers. Check it out in our reviews section. I added a show in June and I have discovered a new radio show where they might play ska. All the details arein the calendar section.

May 18, 2008 - The Johnstones, The Skatalites and more...

First of all, The Johnsones are coming out with a new album this Tuesday entitled "Sex". They will go on tour starting this Wednesday with the band The New Cities. They will be stoping in Montreal on June 5, all the details are in the calendar section. The Skatalites are also going on tour but unfortunately will not be stopping in Montreal this summer. There are only 3 dates for Canada and it's in British-Columbia. They will be heading for Europe in early August and Japan in September. The singer Jesse Micheals from Operation Ivy and Common Rider will be touring solo starting this summer, more precisely starting in August. No dates has been announced yet. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (yes you read right) will also be touring in the US this summer with Dropkick Murphys. It's only about 10 days in July, but hell if you have a car and can make it to one of their show you are one lucky person. More details about the tour can be found on their MySpace. I reviewed the album Hello Destiny by Goldfinger. Check it out in the reviews section.

May 13, 2008 - SkaMontréal's first contest!

That's right and we are totally psyched! To make a long story short, we want to add a slogan to our website. And we thought: "Why not get people involved!" so we are by having this contest just for you guys. Here's what we are looking for: the slogan should be short and original. It doesn't have to include the word "ska" in it but we are definately looking for something somewhat ska related. Avoid clichés like "Rude Boy Power" or "Hurray for checkboards!" (these examples are lame but I'm sure you guys get what I mean.) Don't hesitate to submit ideas even if you think they are not that great, you never know. Both me and Nat have unusual tastes and if it's catchy, it might just work! And this is no joke, we will be giving away Rancid tickets for the show in August. As a matter of fact, I ordered them online last night! :D All the information about the contest is linked to the image on your lower right. There is also a thread on our forum in case you have questions. Good luck!

May 9, 2008 - French version available

La version française est maintenant disponible! I might not be able to update the site on Sunday because of Mother's Day. If not, it will be during the week or the following weekend.

May 4th, 2008 - A lot of news!

Well as you can see, the design of the site has been changed. I know only after one month online, but this one is here to stay. I was kinda annoyed to have extra links in the media section now it is easier to access our forum and myspace profile. Let us know what you think of it on the forum. La version française n'est pas accessible pour le moment. Donnez-moi une semaine et ça devrait être arrangé. Goldfinger came out with a new album Hello Destiny this week. In an interview, they said they were going back to their roots. Now I remember a certain album called Hang-Ups with an obvious ska influence... I will try to get my hand on it, you can expect a review in a few weeks. The new album of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Have Another Ball should come out on July 8,2008. The album should be a continuation of their previous album Love Their Country that came out in 2006. We could expect covers of mostly 70's hits. Thought ska would never play on the radio again? Guess again! Roots Rock Rebel is a radio show that plays on CKUT 90.3 FM every Wednesday from 10 to midnight. They play mostly trad and 2Tone ska. If you have the chance, tune in next Wednesday and check them out. They are presently collecting money for the station and running several contests involving great gifts. If you want to support the local scene, donate! I went to see Subb last night and collected great videos of the show including 2 unreleased songs. Those 2 songs should be on their next album which should come out in 7-8 months they said. It sounds great! One of the opening band caught my attention: RDC. If you like illScarlet and Sublime you should definately check them out. I added links from the following: RDC, Crookedhook, The Expos, Roots Rock Rebel and Punkmeup.com.

April 27, 2008 - New videos and a FORUM!

I have uploaded the videos of the Aggrolites show last Monday. A show that was fantastic! I do not have a gallery for this show since the lighting was rather dark and the few pics I took came out blurry. However, I've got 4 videos! Check out Work It particularly as the singer of the band take my camera to film the other members on stage and the crowd. (How awesome is that!) You can even see me and Nat in the front row. I might as well tell you right now, I will not have any videos for the Streetlight Manifesto show since they sold out and I didn't have a ticket. You can't even imagine my disapointment. Next time they come, you bet I won't make the same mistake twice and I will get a ticket in advance. I installed the forum of the site yesterday. You can check it out in the media section. Please read the rules in the General section before posting. I already started a topic about the new Slackers album, we would like to have your impressions if you bought it.

April 20, 2008 - SkaMontréal on MySpace!
That's right, we managed to get ourselves on MySpace. Surprisingly it was less easy than we thought. If you wanna visit our MySPace page, a link has
been added to the media section. Go ahead and check it out, I've already wrote a blog there (in french though, Nat will take care of the english blogs) and uploaded some songs for your to listen from the album All Skanadian Club Vol.4. Updates for the MySpace page will happen every now and then depending on what we have to say. We'll talk about our weekly ska discoveries, show reviews, all kind of things ska related. The MySpace page will be much more opinionated than informal. So enjoy, check back often and add us as your friend and we will surely add you. In the media section I also added an official contact page. If you have any question about the site don't hesitate to contact us. I check the email inbox everyday so you will definately get an answer. Lucky we are there are two shows this week: The Aggrolites tomorow and Streetlight Manifesto on Friday. Nat and I will be there tomorow and give away stickers outside at the end of the show. Come grab one they are free but we only have 100 of them and we won't be giving those away on Friday's show!

April 13th, 2008 - The Slackers show and a few updates
I hope all of you enjoyed the Slackers last Friday, Nat and I sure did. I have new material (images and videos) and the show in the media section. I don't know the title of the first video, I think it's off the new album that will be coming out this week. Anyway, if you happen to know, le me know at info@skamontreal.com.
I added some dates in the calendar section, some for the French band P.O. Box and also for Rancid. Also, new websites added in the links section: P.O. Box, La Ruda Salska and The Afterbeat. Check them out. Me and Nat are meeting on Wednesday to create a MySpace page for SkaMontréal.com. There should be a link available in the media section next week. We're actually not certain of what you will be able to find there yet. Its purpose will be mostly to bring more people to the website but we'll try to have something special there for you guys. Nat is quite the blogger, maybe she will be interested to write stuff on there.

April 9th, 2008 - The Slackers, Subb, Less Than Jake and more...

Just a friendly reminder: it's the Slackers' show this Friday and me and Nat will be there for sure. You might even see us give away stickers to promote the site if I get them in time. I will also be getting lots of material for the media section. It's the first time I will see them so I am quite eager. Subb will be playing in Montreal during May for 2 nights, first at L'Hémisphère Gauche and the following week at the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal. Check out the calendar section for more info. Two years after In With The Out Crowd, Less Than Jake will be releasing a new full lenght album on June 24th, 2008 on their brand new record label, Sleep It Off Records. They also will be touring in the U.S. with Goldfinger starting in June but no date for Montreal or Canada yet. Check out Nat's review of the latest Voodoo Glow Skulls CD. From now on, she will be the one taking care of the reviews.

April 6th, 2008 - Van's Warped Tour in Montreal

Alright I know it is a bit early to be talking about the Van's Warped tour since it is only in July but, for those interested, The Aggrolites and Reel Big Fish will be touring the whole tour and therefore will be coming to Montreal. Other interesting bands that will be in Montreal are : Pennywise, Bouncing Souls, Fabulous Rudies and of course many more. For the complete list you can go on the official website. Also, although it has not been confirmed, I am pretty sure we can expect The Planet Smashers on the Stomp Stage this year again. We added the date to the calendar. La version française du site est maintenant disponible.

April 3rd, 2008 - The Specials reunion
	The rumors are true. Seems like the Specials are getting back together for a reunion tour that should happen this Fall.

April 2nd, 2008 - Welcome on SkaMontréal!
	Welcome all on SkaMontréal.com, your ultimate source of information about the ska scene of Montreal and ska in general. So what are you gonna find here? News, reviews, show dates, videos, basically we want to make this site the only site you will need to check out for ska infos and such.
What can you expect here in the future? Well our ultimate goal would be a online radio and have shows (we're thinking big here) which is not impossible but cannot be done quite yet. Maybe merch, I'm thinking small things like pins, stickers, patches...We would like to create events, something more like gatherings. We are thinking contests or perhaps auctions via Ebay. That could be easily possible actually. We still a long time before all that becomes a reality. In the mean time, enjoy the site! La version francophone du site n'est pas encore prête. Elle va probablement être ajoutée la semaine prochaine.