Gig Review: Hunter Valentine

Okay, so I saw Hunter Valentine 2 weeks ago and I should have probably reviewed this gig before now... But they still have a lot of touring to do so I figured I'd do it anyway!

If you don't watch The Real L Word, haven't watched Girl/Girl Scene or you're not a fan of Sick of Sarah, Tegan & Sara or An Horse, you probably haven't heard of this quartet.

Okay, I crossed Somer's face out because she's actually not in the band anymore - she was replaced by the incredibly down to earth Amy. (The band really need to do some new photoshoots).

I saw Hunter Valentine in a pretty small venue where I live in Ontario, Canada. There was barely anyone there - I'm not sure whether this was because no one knew about it or because not enough gays were willing to party on a Tuesday - but the band were great nonetheless.

Playing tracks from both old albums and the soon to be released Collide and Conquer, this quartet put on an unforgettable show.

Frontwoman Kiyomi rocks the mic.

My personal favourites were played (Liar Liar and Scarface) so that was a bonus - for me at least!

Both before and after the gig, drummer Laura was my favourite out of the four girls. Not only was she hilarious, but she played the whole gig with a broken ankle. What a trooper.

Laura soldiers on.

Of course it was a little awkward - lack of turn out even made the band feel kind of awkward. I spent a lot of the concert wishing there were more people to show these ladies some support... they really are an awesome band!

Nevertheless, they played on. Kiyomi sort of crowd surfed at one point. Bassist Vero asked which lesbians the two men in the front row belonged to - of course none of us knew who the fuck they were...

Vero - cool as a freakin' cucumber.

What's more is... I got to meet them! Eek!

They were all so lovely: Kiyomi told me she liked my name (duh) and Amy told me I smelled good. Mhmm, I got a compliment from the hot new girl. Jealous?

Fan-girling. *swoon*

I met the other three girls and had pictures with them too but quite frankly, you're not really all that interested, are you? Hah!

Honestly, I wouldn't say I'd choose Hunter Valentine over Uh Huh Her just yet (click HERE to read my review of an UHH gig) but I will say that I think big things are coming for HV.

Not only are they are ridiculously sexy, but they're so down to earth and their music is pretty awesome too.

For more information on Hunter Valentine's US/Canadian tour, click HERE to go to the list of upcoming concerts on the band's website.

p.s. It only cost me $5 to see them. BARGAIN!

Small City Pride: Peterborough, ON

Why have I been absent from my blog for a month, you ask? Well, I have moved to CANADA!

Yep, I've only been here for two weeks and already it feels like home. Take a look:

That's right, I've got myself a little Canadian family already. (When I say Canadian, I mean international. Some of the people in that photograph are from places like South Africa, Australia, Trinidad, Norway, The Netherlands... I could go on.) 

Alas, I am only here for one year, but I can say that this crazy shit has already happened:

I am forever embarrassing myself to make people laugh, don't judge.

But why am I telling you all this, you ask?

Well, I also have myself a little GAY Canadian family forming too!

This weekend it was Peterborough Pride day in Ontario, so I thought I'd give you the low down.

Although its probably the smallest pride I've ever been to (the English prides in Manchester, London, Birmingham and Nottingham that I've been to are always on the large side), there was a great sense of community and, uh... pride.

My friends and I ended up in the parade by accident, but it ended up being the highlight of the day.

Although we have absolutely no affiliation with Peterborough Youth Services, we thought that marching amongst their people was most appropriate - I'm actually classed as an adult, but as a student I feel that 'youth' applies to me too.

So yeah, we partied down the streets and ended up in a field with a few gay stalls and a beer tent. Canadian alcohol regulations are pretty weird though, so we had to stay in the tent to drink. (This would never happen in England - pride = drinking in the streets).

For me, that was a downfall, but I still got to spend some time with some awesome people, including my main man, Dale, who I soberly danced with for the entire duration of the day.

Was it the best pride I've ever been to? No. But would I go again? For sure.

...as long as I have these people with me:

Do you have any small town pride experiences? What about tales of city prides? Tell me about them below!