Merry Christmas, everyone!

And thank you, Jess Stein, for drawing this card for me. I literally just said ‘draw me riding a Christmas tree through space!‘ and she created this wonderful piece of art.

-gh

Their albums, in chronological order, are:

1. Flyswatter
2. Buddha
3. Cheshire Cat
4. Dude Ranch
5. Enema of the State
6. The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (Live Album)
7. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
8. Self Titled
9. Greatest Hits
10. Neighbourhoods

Here’s where the pattern begins. Notice the alphabetical order of albums 2-5; B, C, D, E. That’s interesting enough, but the pattern seems to end there…until you examine their album covers.

I mean…the entire front cover is a large letter A. This one is easy.

We’ve already covered the next 4, but here are the covers anyway.

Their next release was The Mark, Tom and Travis Show, their live album. The cover is a cartoon of the band performing live, and what’s that on the kick drum?

That’s the F symbol for one of Travis’ company’s, Famous Stars and Straps. It makes sense that it’s there, and also conventently helps with this theory.

Next up is Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.

This is when I started to notice the pattern, as the only letter on the cover aside from the bands name is…yep…a ‘G’ on the jacket.

Why put a ‘G’? Was it just a random letter, or the band continuing their alphabet pattern? Let’s move on to the Self Titled album…

Nothing here…unless you bridge the gap between the green and purple paint lines.

A lower case letter ‘h’.

Here’s the flaw in the theory…but I suppose if you wanted to go for a stretch…

That’s just cheating. But seeing as this album was released after the band went on their ‘indefinite hiatus’, maybe the band didn’t have much say in it or didn’t care enough to continue with the letters at that point. But, after they got back together, and with the release of their new album, maybe they decided to include it as the ‘I’ and move on to the ‘J’. Check out their album cover for Neighbourhoods.

What’s that painted on the wall under the ‘B’ in ‘Blink’?

A ‘J’. Thus continuing Alphabet Theory.

Has anyone else noticed this? I can’t be the only one…

If the next album title begins with letter ‘K’, or the album cover contains a noticeable letter ‘K’ somewhere, maybe we’ll have our answer.

gh

PS. That dang Greatest Hits album…getting in the way…

Misheard lyrics. I can’t listen to that song without smiling at this part, so I finally decided to make this.

If you’re not fimiliar with Thrice, this is from their song So Strange I Remember You. Look it up, it’s a great song.

-gh

This morning Alexisonfire officially announced that they won’t be a band anymore. This news isn’t a huge surprise, and while it’s sad news to take, it’s probably for the best. As George’s goodbye message mentioned, Dallas has decided to focus on City and Colour full time and Wade has joined another band, so to replace both of them and try to keep going as AOF just wouldn’t be the same. For that reason alone, I would agree that this is a good time for them to end things.

I was first made aware of the band during Warped Tour in the summer of 2002. I was in a band called Reasonable Doubt at the time, and while we weren’t playing the tour we did go to the Barrie date with a stack of cd’s to hand out to the crowd in an attempt to spread the word about our band. While handing these cd’s out with my band mate Paul we ran into Jesse and Dallas of Alexisonfire who were also handing out sampler cd’s, except they were actually playing a show that day. We talked briefly about our bands and then went to their van to give each other’s music a listen. Obviously, they were much better than us. While we were playing high school pop-punk, they were onto something completely fresh and exciting, and in that moment sitting in their van listening to a demo version of .44 Caliber Love Letter, I knew this band was about to do something big. That being said, I had no idea just how big they would become.

The following summer I started running a street team for Billy Talent. We were called the BTAA, the Billy Talent Attack Army, which was quickly shortened to BTArmy. Shortly after the street team was formed, the band got signed to Warner Music Canada and instead of telling me to shut down the BTArmy, the label reached out to me and I started helping spread the word about their major label debut. In September of 2003 Billy Talent played the Opera House in Toronto with Alexisonfire, and while I had seen AOF perform a few times before this, this was the first time I spent time with the band since listening to their demo in their van. Since I was working with BT all day in Toronto, I was lucky enough to be let in for sound check and hung out with both bands behind the scenes. The main thing I remember about this day was how normal and humble everyone was. Here were two bands on the brink of becoming massive worldwide success stories, and yet nobody had an ounce of ego. This is something that would remain true with every future run in with either band.

After I stopped doing the BTArmy (they really didn’t need me) I started working for ThePunkSite.com doing album reviews and interviewing bands. I interviewed AOF during this time, and spent more time backstage with them during future concerts, mostly Warped Tour. I kept in touch with Alexisonfire’s management and at some point in 2006 I was asked to help out with an Alexisonfire street team in the same way I had done the BTArmy. The AOFArmy was born, but sadly I didn’t continue with it. I don’t remember exactly why, but I’m pretty sure it came down to me becoming too busy starting a new job at MTV Canada to handle just how massive AOF was becoming.

Over the years the band became one of the most respected and admired bands in hardcore, inspiring countless kids to pick up an instrument and start a band. They toured the world and represented Canada with pride. They put so much energy into their lives shows and continued to put out really great music, regardless of your thoughts on the progression of the band. Obviously fans are upset about the announcement of their demise, but as Dr. Seuss said, ‘Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.’

Alexisonfire gave us ten years and I have nothing but respect and appreciation for them and everything they’ve given to their fans, and to music in general. They’ve left a legacy that will continue to be discussed for years to come.

Thanks for the good times, boys, and good luck to all of you in the future.

-gh

You’ve been a great father to me and I love you very much. Thanks for everything you’ve ever done for me!

-gh

What a week!

For the past nine days I’ve felt like a new person. Well, I’ve felt like the old me, which has been lost for so long it feels new.

Last weekend I spent some time reconnecting with old friends. I hung out with Rory and Garth in Garth’s back yard as they planned out their new patio, visited my sister’s for some much needed family time, then went to the beach with Rory, Adam and Perla. After heading back to Toronto for a couple of days I was off to New York with my old roommate/current coworker Ethan. Sony had flown us out for their Holiday Preview Event to get a first look at some of the new games and hardware coming out later this year/early next year. I had to stay an extra night due to my British Citizenship and the Canadian Consulate not being open on Wednesday afternoons, but with some help from Alicia I was able to get a spot in an amazing hostel and spent that extra night meeting people from all over the world and making new friends. My flight home was delayed multiple times, but eventually I got home and went back to the office yesterday in time to shoot an interview with Taking Back Sunday.

One of my most read posts on this site was the one I made when I found out the original Taking Back Sunday line-up was reforming, and to a part of that interview was really special for me. John Nolan is one of my heroes when it comes to song writing and to see how incredible humble he is, as if he either doesn’t know or won’t accept how good he is, was great. The interview went really well, and I’m so happy to share it with Brian. Interviewing bands is almost always enjoyable, but when it’s a true and genuine fan talking to an honestly happy band it makes it so much better. Later on that night (last night) was the show, and I met up with a bunch of Stroud kids to spend the night with. Almost the exact same group was at the TBS show about 8 years ago, so it was a cool throw back to old times. Adam and I made our way right up to the front, almost against the barricade.

There’s no way I can explain how much fun that show was. Not only did the band play so well, you could tell they were genuinely enjoying themselves again. I spent the night singing along and flailing my limbs with good people. There were many highlights, including their version of Straylight Run’s ‘Existentialism on Prom Night’, but my absolute favorite moment was Adam Lazzara sitting on the stage directly in front of me as they played ‘Ghost Man on Third’. I never thought I would get to see that song live and it was beyond incredible. Such a moment for me.

Overall, an incredible show and a great way to end the week.

This week has been absolutely incredible, and not just because of the great things that have happened. I barely remember what it’s like to feel this happy, this confident and assured. I’ve spent the past week trying to drop some bad habits and reconnect with old friends, the people who actually care about me and want to see me happy and see me succeed. I’m glad they’re still around, and hope this time I won’t take that for granted.

-gh

-gh

-gh

I want to live in a cabin in the woods.

I want to sleep when I’m tired and wake up when I’m rested.

I want to play drums whenever I feel the urge.

I want to publish books for kids.

I want to show appreciation to the people I love.

I want to write a song which pushes someone to be a better person.

I’m afraid that once I get these things, they won’t mean as much.

I want to appreciate the things I have, the things I once wanted.

-gh

EDIT: Last night I signed in to my old Xanga blog and have been reading through old posts. Here’s one posted January 09, 2006:

 I wish I was on tour. I wish I was playing music every night. I wish I had random people talk to me, start up conversations with me and actually want to hear what I have to say. I wish I was living out of a van. 
    I wish I was appreciated…

Strange how some things never change…5 years later and instead of going on tour, I settled down in Toronto. Hopefully I can find a way to do both in the near future…

-gh

-gh