The FYI Bulletin: Jan.26, 2023

By David Farrell

Dandyish rail fan Rod Stewart hits the boards at Niagara Falls’ newest music venue: the 5,000-seat OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino on Sept. 2. Tickets start at $125.

From the blurb: “This is a must-see performance in Niagara this year. It will be an on-your-feet singalong experience that only Stewart can deliver. The Faces lad has, over the years, sold 250M records worldwide, earning 10 No. 1 albums and 31 top-10 singles in the UK, six of which reached No. 1. He has blah, blah, blah, et cetera.

– Halluci Nation (( Tim Hill and Ehreh Thomas), the two bear-sized guys formerly known as A Tribe Called Red, officially open Massey Hall's new 500-capacity music hall on Feb 10. Limited tickets are available at TDMusicHall.com.

– Adam Gonshor, 15 years with WMC, has gone solo with his own firm, Collabo PR. Prior to joining the American entertainment conglomerate, Gonshor created the entertainment website POP, interviewing notable riff-raff such as Taylor Swift, The Beastie Boys, John Legend, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Jennifer Lopez and Matt Damon. Contact: adam@collabopr.com

– The SOCAN Foundation has announced its 3rd annual SiriusXM Black Canadian Music award winners, as follows: Adria Kain, AHI, Desarae Dee, Nonso Amadihttps and Zach Zoya.

Forbes reports US$24 million, while the more brazen UK tabloid Daily Mail suggests $35M as the fee Beyoncé asked and received for her one-hour performance at Atlantis Royal Dubai’s glitzy Jan 21. launch party. Davos can be seen as a kind of Walmart compared to this extravaganza where guests slap down $285K for a night’s kip that reportedly comes with complimentary gold-platted toothbrushes and combs. Other silliness includes multiple celebrity chefs – and a gift shop flogging Picassos. We won't comment on the bell-shaped gowns.

– Heretofore unknown NYC singer-songwriter Clyde Lawrence upstaged Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and a gumbo of other fat-fisted American superstars and marquee barkers at this week’s highly publicized U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on ticket price gouging with his gal Gracie's gracious.

As per usual at these kinds of whitewashings, it was a weather vane of rooster cocks pointing every other which way, which in turn made opening act Lawrence’s cameo come across as an unintentionally explosive  21^st remake of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

– And speaking of fat fingers, a newly minted edition of reinvented half-century-old coloured vinyl 16-LP Abko Rolling Stones hits–and misses– lands in the market for $660.

Here's what studio engineer Glynn Johnshas says about the brilliance of Mono recordings.

Separately, for the truly committed spendthrift, there’s an engorged 50th-anniversary edition of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon that can be had for $432. Unbelievably,, it does come with a “replica pamphlet” and “invitation” to a preview of the album... that expired 50 years ago.

Here’s a large old geezer explaining why this is a must-have deal that launched the careers of Roger Waters and engineer Alan Parsons.

– Michael Bublé is nothing if not a savvy marketer. His latest e-blitz to fans asks what they next want to see from the man who made a side fortune from a SodaStream drink franchise.  Among the choices was an album of Disney covers (yawn!), a Broadway-inspired album (narcolepsy for lovers), and an album of duets (awfully inevitable).

– Among the many travails that former Under the Eaves editor and Attic co-founder Tom Williams has borne witness to, none more absurd surely than a request from Expedia “to review your stay at Motel 6 Whitby, ON - Toronto East.” In Mr. Williams’ short, smart and snappy response (at least as e-mailed to this columnist): “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”