Rise Against Cancer II

The Rise Against Cancer II show April 24th in Woodstock was a huge success. With over approx. 700 tickets sold, the Oxford Auditorium was packed with music fans ready to have a great time supporting the cause.


MC'd by my good friend Larrie Blancher (13 Aces) the night was kicked off with a great young local band called Flawed Design who cranked out some very cool cover tunes much to the crowds delight. They did a wicked job considering their young age and they showed no fear on the relatively large stage.

Next up was crowd favs Sweet & Innocent who (in keeping with the event theme) dawned their 80's rock apparel (wigs and all) and shredded through some classic 80's cover tunes. The throngs of 80's music fan ate up every minute of it! and the boys were in fine form.

We (Syre) were headlining the show and by the time the opening acts were done the crowd was well oiled (wink...wink) and ready to rock! We were hyped for the show and ready to tear it up like we always do...after a short delay getting on stage due to some last minute monitor issues, we were ready to go once our intro tune Poison's "Nothin' But A Good Time" ended and the lights came on. We turned up the heat rockin' though all of the old fav Syre tunes and few classic cover songs for good measure. Rob Maceachern was on the drums and did a wicked job considering the short notice (1 week) and he added an energy to the Syre's sound only Rob can create.

By the end of the night the beer was running low (both back stage and out front..lol)....the music fans were thrilled and a lot of money was raised to fight Cancer. A big thanks to the organizers of the event as it went off without a hitch and I am looking forward to next years event being even bigger and better (if that is possible...).

Bret Michaels

Image via Wikipedia

I am devastated to hear the sad news of Poison singer Bret Michaels massive brain hemorrhage. Although never a personal friend of Bret I did have the honor of meeting him and jamming with him when he and Rikki Rocket were on the promotional tour for Look What The Cat Dragged In. I was playing with my band Syre at the infamous Gasworks in Toronto when in walked Bret and Rikki with some Capitol Records exec's. We jammed "Talk Dirty To Me" with Bret and Rikki and I remember Bret leaning over to me and saying "you guys play that song better than we do" and laughing.


After the show we were introduced to Bret who immediately took the time to speak with us even when he was surrounded by Toronto finest (if you know what I mean). What really impressed me with Bret was how down to earth he was and how focused he was on our conversation even with all of the distraction around him. The real cool outcome of our conversation was when Bret commented on the cover of Login and Massina's "Your Mama Don't Dance" Syre played regularly in our set. He told me that was such a "cool song to cover". I told him we had been playing that song for years. Little did I know it would end up on their next CD as a single...and I laughed when I read an article and Bret mentioned that Poison had "been jammin' that tune for a long time in sound checks".

We crossed paths again  in Winnipeg where Syre was giggin' and we went to the Poison show at the local arena before our set. I remember Bret looking up into the crowd and yelling "Hi to those Syre guys" after seeing several of us dawning Syre T-shirts in the audience. That's the kind of guys he is and has proven to be over the years. Despite his enormous success he appears to have never swayed from his humble personality and his ability to stay grounded in an industry that is far from it.

To think of that same guy in the position he is in now is surreal. He has struggled all his life to make it (against the grain of the industry) and has fought his way to the top. I have seen it written recently that Bret is a fighter and I believe that to be true in this instance. I believe his love for his daughter's, friends, family and music will give him the strength to fight back and recover from what most people would succumb to.

I send my prayers and thoughts of hope to Bret and his family and friends and take comfort in knowing he is a strong individual with a heart of gold.

Stay Strong Brutha!
Chip Gall