You've read my articles. I'm sometimes known to talk a lot of trash... but also noted for giving mighty praise to those bands I hold near and dear to my heart. Every once in a while I'll catch a local band that just gets my heart beating, lifts my soul to epic proportions and inspires me to patch together some positive words. This Saturday July 22nd you can finally see what all the hype has been about. I'll be hosting a melodic-aggressive rock show at Reilly's featuring four of my favourite bands, many of them once reviewed or discussed here on BlogTO!

The bands were hand-picked because they all ROCK. They're not part of that lousy cashgrab emo scene. They're not dry-humping the 80s metal dream. They're not trying to get on The Edge. These are bands who understand the concept of writing a HIT without selling out. They've crafted infectious melodies that are both compelling and memorable, with guitars and drums structured to get your adrenaline pumping.

I intended to arrive in Tweed Ontario and find a legitimate journalism story. I packed pen and paper to make copious notes about local Metal talent. I packed my camera to take an extensive photo montage of events. I expected to chat with hundreds of musiclovers and hear their opinions of the event. But this is not a legitimate journalism story. This is an entree about camping, the excesses of alcohol, a group of song-singing hooligans and fun... with a side-dish of music. The first Metal Queen Music Fest may not have been what I expected or what the Metal Queen had expected but it was a fun little excursion to country bumpkin Tweed that I would have never made otherwise.

We sat with our $3 beers on a tall scuzzy red bench, looking at a giant plaster porpoise and crusty bigwheel, bathed in a cloud of filth back when smoking was legal in The Bovine Sex Club's back room. The conversation rested on punk rock in Toronto, a sort of who's who, if you will. This happened fairly frequently but always with a different bunch of music geeks and rockers. We agreed there were certain things we needed in our punk rock -- loud filler-less guitars crunched with metal distortion and lacking any sort of 70s wahwah / reverb / flanger cheese. We wanted lyrics we could sing to and leather jackets in the mosh pits at all times. It had to be fast, full of attitude and the vocals with the edge of broken glass. Sometimes we talked about Bunchofuckingoofs who have been rip-roaring through the Toronto scene for over 15 years now, and other times we discussed The Cancer Bats and Damn 13.

So when I heard Damn 13 was retiring after eight solid years of contributing to the scene, it was kind of like a small child had died. "No big drama about it all," the members assure us in their press release. "But after a good number of years, broken equipment, noise violations, bleeding eardrums, line-up changes and one-too-many shows suffering through the latest 'emporer's new clothes', we've all decided to move on to something new."

"He's definitely missing his balls," my friend casually remarked of ex-Saosin/Circa Survive vocalist Anthony Green. "But he's so incredible... how he hits those highnotes and holds them out," he added with admiration (and a Coors Light). Intricate vocals are what often separates the genre-trash from the highly evolved leaders of the revolution. Talent rears its head when a band can adequately reproduce the seemingly impossible soundscape their album evokes. After seeing Circa Survive perform live Tuesday at The Opera House, colour me impressed.

The music is largely based around creating atmospheric texture. "It sounds like wet with little bits of sharp," they describe themselves. On a label with Alexisonfire, Chiodos, Coheed & Cambria and The Sound of Animals Fighting, versatility and loud-meets-soft seems to be a prerequisite more than a technicality. The guitarists danced bathed in lush, signature Opera House lighting and never missed a syncopated beat. Green made some seriously weird faces while singing, drifting off into his own emotions, lacking perceptive inhibition. Completely free, his melodies soared from pretty to exasperated and we stared on like overlooking an ocean sunset.

It's no secret that Southern Ontario has a LOT of music festivals. From North By Northeast and Canadian Music Week to the World Electronic Music Festival and recently added MQM Metal Fest, there are tons of options for hearing quality indie bands. However, the mighty KING of these festivals is undoubtedly the 11th annual S.C.E.N.E. Festival (St Catharine's Event for New music Entertainment) happening this Sunday, July 9th.

My heart races just thinking about it. Almost all the best acts I've watched in 2005-2006 are on this year's all-star roster. Catch local favourites like ALEXISONFIRE, THE SALADS, THE FLATLINERS, THE CREEPSHOW, THE REASON and 116 more bands at 16 stages and 13 venues! Last year's attendance drew 6,000 music lovers so you won't want to miss out.

This is not your typical festival with its overhyped, overpriced events aimed at industry heads. SCENE is a celebration of local talent and independent music put on by Stumble Records and Bedlam Society. Past performers include Alexisonfire, Bedouin Soundclash, Billy Talent, The Waking Eyes, Silverstein and Marble Index -- all before they gained international recognition -- so don't be afraid to take a gamble on the newest emerging artists!

Everyone needs at least one barbaric weekend each summer. You know what I'm talking about. Shaving and showering happen only by accident. You're oozing alcohol out of your pores. You forgot to wear sunblock but the layers of mud and sweat seem to be working just fine. Mysterious wounds appear that will probably hurt later. Your ears are bleeding from deafening music as you stuff your face with party mix that may or may not have come from beneath your best friend's truck seats.

You've lost at least half the people you came with and are surrounded by friendly strangers who are all-too-eager to share their life stories. Soon a hut of beer cans shelters you in your own introspective nightmare. But the next cycle finds you kissing one of those friendly strangers... or maybe even a friend who's suddenly very attractive and you're over any episodic self-loathing. Beer flows like honey and the only kind of sleep you get over three days' time involves unconsciousness. You've survived another 3 day music festival.

If this sounds fun... or at least entertaining... take that $25 that's been rotting in your wallet, kidnap your friends who are funniest when drunk, stock up on booze and begin the road trip to Trudeau Park in Tweed. This year marks the kickoff of Metal Fest, three days of rock that hopes to rival American counterparts Ozzfest and Lollapalooza... but with the camping element of Woodstock.