Ah February ... smallest month, smallest rock? Hellz no. Why, look at little ol' February's first day alone:

THUR, Feb 1
-"Get It To Go Green" benefit w/ OHBIJOU, KNOCK KNOCK (WHO'S THERE?), THE RUMOLI BROS., THE WILLIAMSON PLAYBOYS, RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE @ the Gladstone, 8 pm, $10
- HOLY FIELDS, LULLABYE ARKESTRA, JEWISH LEGEND @ El Mocambo
- BIRDS OF WALES, SIMON WILCOX => Rivoli, $8
- DESTRUCTION, SADUS, MUNICIPAL WASTE, BURN TO BLACK => Opera House (all ages), $26.50
- PONY UP!, SHITTHOTT, INFIGHTER, THE COAST @ Horseshoe, $7
- ROYAL WOOD (CD release), HARMONY TROWBRIDGE @ the Music Gallery, $10
- THE D'URBERVILLES, KNOCK KNOCK GINGER, more @ the Drake, $7
- "Inside the Musician's Studio" roundtable discussion w/ STEVE KADO, OWEN PALLETT, and CARL WILSON (Zoilus) @ Harbourfront Centre's Brigantine Room, 7 pm, $5 (note, this is not a concert, but due to it's content is so very worthy of a mention here).

But wait - act now and you get 27 more days! ---->

The concept of a mash-up (be it songs or bands) is certainly nothing new, but bringing together 2 Toronto bands that are stylistically polar opposites and sticking them together on the altar of a church in their undies ... well...ohhhh yeaahhh. Enter Kids On TV + Ohbijou.

Dan (Woodhands) Werb brought a reverent hush to the Music Gallery on Saturday with a dramatic stride up the center aisle to the grand piano, but after his second number all piety was banished. "This is supposed to be a dance orgy!", Werb teased. "I see no dancing and no orgy, so come on!" No need to ask twice - the pews were pushed aside and dance we did. Blasphemously and shamelessly. The mash-up tagged "Kids On Ohbijou" followed, playing mostly KoTV songs with trademark Ohbijou strings & harmonies backing fiendish beats. (Not so) "mystery guests" Holy F@ck finished things off with the pounding trance of their magic peddle tables. Getting to see them in such an intimate venue was pretty cool, and the sweet irony of yelling Holy F@ck in a church was not lost on many.

Take away: I hope local band mash-ups really take off and we get to hear more. Imagine the possibilities! - Broken Social Sloan. Think About Lunchmeat. The Tragically Final Fantasy (ok, that's bad). But seriously, local bands, if you're listening - I want more of this.

(Additional photos HERE, or view as slideshow HERE).

Exciting things are afoot at the Pitter Patter camp. Having recently celebrated entering "the terrible two's" and throwing their 200th show bash, Pitter Patter Nights has announced the huuuuuggge line-up for it's Pitter Patter Music Festival 2007. Bands for the 5-day event (March 7-11) include:

Action Makes, Adverteyes, Another Blue Door, Andyland, As The Poets Affirm, Barn Owl, Barons & Lengthy, Basement Arms, Bellevue, Boo Hoo, Bruce Peninsula, Dandi Wind, Danielle Duval, Debaser, Deep Dark United, Department of Foreign Affairs, Paul Devro, The Diableros, The Diamond Sea, Julie Doiron, The Easy Targets, Entire Cities, Fine Motor Control, Fire Hydrant, Five Blank Pages, Fjord Rowboat, Friday Morning's Regret, Ghost Hands, Evan Gordon & The Sad Clowns, Gravity Wave, Hexes & Ohs, I Can Put My Arm Back On You Can't, Jetplanes of Abraham, The Kent Boys, Knock Knock Ginger, Mardeen, Mariposa, The Mark Inside, Jon McKiel, Nassau, Noah's Arkweld, Now Yr Taken, The Outfit, Pants & Tie, The Patients, Pink Dead Whale, The Postage Stamps, The Primordials, Proof of Ghosts, Put The Rifle Down, The Rest, Rick Of The Skins, Amanda Rogers, The Royal School Series, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Sailboats Are White, Santa Dog, Shotgun & Jaybird, The Sleepless Nights, The Sourkeys, Spy Machine 16, Terror Lake, The Thurstons, Timber Timbre, Ultra Magnus, Varge, Wax Mannequin, Woodhands, Your Volunteer, 100% Wool, 68 Porno Mags .... and that's just gettin' started (complete schedule to come)!

For the uninitiated, Pitter Patter Nights is the brainchild of everyone's favourite booking machine Keith Hamilton, created in 2004 to welcome musical diversity and showcase the areas brightest young indie upstarts. O'Grady's became Pitter Patter central. In 2005, Hamilton launched the new website (which provides up-to-date show listings) and found new homes at the Boat and the Supermarket (so many venue-name puns could be made here, yet I will refrain). Recently dance parties have been added, rocking the Boat (ouch, there's that pun I tried not to make) most Fridays and Saturdays.

Bands looking to take part in future Pitter Patter Nights can email Keith (see contact info on their site).

At the strike of midnight at the Horseshoe's NYE festivities on Sunday, Dallas Good (of the Sadies) promised that 2007 would be "the best year ever .. hell, 'ever' doesn't even come close!" That's a mighty tall promise, sir. If he was speaking musically and inclusive of January, well - but for a few shining stars - I'm not really feelin "ever" (yet):

MON, JAN 1 - Nada. But seriously, who is perky or even awake enough to go anywhere on New Year's Day anyway.

So I'll be patient, but does it get better?....

With a signing to V2 Records, multiple Chart reader's poll nominations (including Jay Nunes as "sexiest Canadian male"), a hugely-successful national tour under their belts, and their latest release "Planets Conspire" reaching high on many a' music critic's "Best Of 2006" list - it's a pretty damn good time to be the Meligrove Band.

On Saturday the Meligroves were welcomed back home from their tour to the Mod Club stage, where they were joined by cuddly local band and friends The Bicycles, plus Halifax pop quintet Their Majesties (SuperSloanHermitFriendz anyone? You betchya). With the stage appropriately strung with holiday lights, the band concentrated mainly on songs from Planets Conspire, with an occasional nod to their back catalog. It's pretty common for a Meligrove show to quickly evolve into a dance party on stage, and this one was no exception, packing in various members of the Bicycles, Henri & the Adorables, and By Divine Right for mind-blowing encores.

If you'd like to hear what all the hubbub's about, stream some music from the band's Myspace page. Or better yet, watch the video for "Everyone's A Winner" here. Or BEST yet - go pick up any of their 3 albums.

Additional photos from the show (all bands) are HERE, or view as slideshow HERE!

12/12/06, UPDATE!: Wikipedia mods have given Zanta a proper trial, and in their wisdom have concluded that he is worthy of wiki. And so he shall remain, Zanta. YES YES YES!!!

Zanta (geez, 46 comments?!?) may be a big part of Toronto counter-culture, but it seems that the Wiki-police are doubting his significance. As of today the former (and well-written) Wikipedia entry on Zanta has been removed and is in Wikipedia's "Deletion Review Queue", citing Zanta as not notable outside of the GTA and therefore not wiki-worthy.

The Wiki-Admin that chose to delete Zanta was Alkivar, a local DJ from a small town in Maine. Among Alkivar's arguments against Zanta's published notariety (The Toronto Star has published articles on him) - "It doesnt really count if its only the local/regional paper. The local newspaper in my town of residence (circulation around 35,000 copies) has had 12 stories in the past 10 years with my name in them, and 1 of those 12 was entirely about my business as a DJ... does that make me notable? I think you'll find just about everyone would agree thats a no." First - comparing a small town newspaper with 35,000 circulation to The Toronto Star (Canada's largest national newspaper) is ludicrous, and second - - bitter much?!

The debate is raging as other users are voicing counter-opinions on the Zanta deletion review log (a fun read, promise), where it has been countered that "the scope of Wikipedia is large enough to allow, for instance, notable statues, notable landmarks, and other such features of any city their own pages. Any tourist or torontonian encountering this loud, santa-hatted downtown fixture, clad in shorts in the dead of winter, would find him puzzling enough that an explanation from an encyclopedia would be of great value. People years from now encountering photographic evidence of this man would also appreciate it".

People with Wikipedia user profiles can voice their opinions on the deletion via the site's deletion review guidelines. It's a little bit comical that the wiki-bulldogs have sunk their teeth so deeply into this "controversy", but frankly I dig Zanta and hope the poor guy gets to stay.

(Photo above by Wordfreak. Think Zanta's not famous? 267 flickr photos disagree.)