ROCK THIS TOWN RETURNS WITH A NEW ERA OF MUSIC HISTORY

Rock This Town: A New Wave premiered Friday, Feb. 26, 2026, to a sold-out crowd at The Princess Original Cinemas in Uptown Waterloo. The documentary is a follow-up of sorts to 2022’s Rock This Town which told the story of the music scene in Kitchener Waterloo during the 1960s and ’70s.   

A New Wave recaps the music of the 80s and goes through the venues, promoters and stories that made up that period in the region’s cultural history.   

At its best, A New Wave feels like cozying up with a couple of Kitchener Waterloo Main stays to reminiscence on a bygone era. The height of the documentary comes from interesting tales on bands like The Psychedelic Furs, Echo and The Bunnymen and Teenage Head. Venues pop up and close, record store parties and late nights at Pop The Gator and The Backdoor paint an engaging picture of a nightlife in a city that has shifted.   

While many things change, many also stay the same. Watching the movie, some similarities became evident. The film recalls a venue that occupied The Huether Hotel, at the time called Upstairs At The Kent. The film recalls that the Adlys family had some extra space, and the young, eager concert promoters made use of this space to host their own rock shows.   

Recently, youngsters have once again found some unused space at The Huether Hotel, hosting DIY concerts in the basement of the hotel. Thirty years and the only thing that has changed is rock music has walked down a couple of flights of stairs at the Huether.   

 Rock This Town: A New Wave suffers from trying to tell the general story of pop music in the 80s from a broader lens. While this material is important to give context to concert going in KW, it felt shallow and beyond the scope of the film. The film shines when the story gets specific. Let’s hear about the time Iggy Pop wouldn’t let any non-female reporters over the age of 22 interview him at Bingemans, and not the general story of the British punk scene beginnings. There are other documentaries that focus on those topics.   

Seeing a film like this in the place that it is focused on is a special kind of experience. Kitchener Waterloo, and generally Canadian film making has been lucky in recent years to receive this kind of treatment. Seeing the film in a packed theatre brought back memories of seeing Blackberry in Waterloo filled with ex-RIM employees. It was clear the film meant something to the people sitting in the audience.   

Audiences would gasp when shots of King Street would reveal the Walper Hotel, and people could be seen leaning over to exclaim to a family member “I was at that show”. A testament to the important work a documentary like this does could certainly be seen in the excited faces of theatre goers as they left the film.   

One such attendee stopped Gary Stewart, the producer of the film, in the lobby.  

“I was at that Clash show—how did you even get them,” they said.  

“Well, I called up their booker, and they agreed to come to Kitchener. No Mick Jones, which was a drag, but it was still great to do The Clash,” Stewart said.   

Stewart sees technology, and the overwhelming level of options available for entertainment today as the primary reason that concert going has suffered as a past time. He also cites the rising cost of living as an additional factor in the lack of concert culture.  

“Going to a concert was sort of a badge of honor. Music was just so big, and the hairstyles and clothing. And in the late 90s early 2000s, tech started driving the culture. We were one of the places in the world that really drove tech with U of W and Blackberry and that whole story. And that really changed things,” he said.   

“There are lots of options, but it’s also a lot more expensive. It’s not unusual to spend 200 bucks to go see a concert…It’s really changed,” Stewart said.  

Overall, Rock This Town: A New Wave does exactly its job. The film is a must-see for anyone that experienced music in this town at that point in history.   

The stories are poignant and fun, and the archival footage of bands and concerts are beautiful. The whole team has done a great job and it’s clearly a labor of love to the town  the scene in which they were involved.    

“Support your local artists. Try new things,” Stewart said.  

REAL GHOST STORIES OF KW

Halloween is over. Or is it? Can it still be Halloween season a couple days after all hallows eve? Our region is full of ghosts that haunt all year round.

We were first compelled to investigate which local haunts are patronized by the no-longer-living when we heard a rumour that the women’s bathroom at our favourite local cinema was haunted.

Unfortunately, we could not substantiate this claim. But worry not, for below you will find three unique stories—with sources—that are equally chilling.

Our first story comes to us by way of Quinn Huluk, a local musician.

“I was on a late-night walk up to pioneer tower. and I it was after pretty much I think seventytwo hours of being awake, I was having a very, very restless week,” Huluk said.

Quinn walked for hours before finally reaching a bridge close to pioneer tower.

“Because it was winter and the bridge was really old, there was a loud bang as soon as I reached the center. I think it was just metal buckling, but it put me on alert,” they said.

The bridge crossed the Grand River, and he followed the path deeper into the trail. Eventually, he heard a bump in the night.

“I start to hear like rustling in the bushes and I’m like, ‘oh, great, I’m going to have to run it for like a skunk or something’. And it just keeps like pacing back and forth beside me like just brushing, and eventually, maybe 10, 15 feet in front of me I see what looks like a strangely tall, strangely shaped, naked man run in front of me ,” they said.

They describe the figure as “bent in a way that didn’t make sense—its back arched, knees kind of tucked close.”

Later, Huluk would try to rationalize what they saw.

“I think it was the front of a deer. That would explain the shape, the knees, the speed. But at the time, it looked so unbelievably human,” they said.

“If I was more of a conspiracy theorist, I’d say it was 100 per cent a Skinwalker. But I don’t think it was. I just don’t know what else it could’ve been,” Huluk said.

Ryan Leandres—the owner of the adventurer’s guild encountered a strange phenomenon by way of an artist studio.

“I was leaning against the wall [at a party], trying to look cool, and found this little hole,” he said. “Inside was a small wooden bowl of salt. So, I dug around in and found this carving of a wooden eye.”

The studio’s owner noticed immediately.

“He walked over and said, ‘Oh, you found my eye,’” Leandres recalls. “And I said, ‘yeah, what’s the deal?’,”

The owner of the studio explained that in coming years, guests would stay in a small crawlspace in the studio and would always complain about having bad nights.

“They would always feel really, terrible in the morning. They would have bad dreams; they would toss and turn all night,” he said.

“Everyone who stays there seems to be really upset about it afterwards.”

In addition to this, whenever the space was cleaned, they would end up finding strange objects. On one such night, this wooden eye was found. Eventually, the owner of the studio decided to have his clairvoyant friend stay in the room to see what this was all about.

“She said she dreamt about men in black robes performing a ritual and assaulting what seemed to be a homeless woman,” Leandres said. “When she saw the eye, she said, ‘That’s a Masonic icon. This place was probably a Masonic temple.’”

A trip to city archives proved her right.

“She told him to stick the eye in salt and leave it,” Leandres said.

And that’s what he did.

Leandres recounted another ghost story, told to him by a friend. “I worked at this big department store downtown—what’s now AOK but used to be Budds,” says one former employee. “On my second day, the manager said, ‘Have you taken her to see the Mennonite yet?’ I thought he was joking.”

They led her down into the tunnels.

“We walked for a long time through these dark hallways and ended up in this big chamber. The manager pointed his fl ashlight up at the corner and said, ‘What do you see over there?’.”

“She saw a Mennonite, man with a big brim hat it was kind of clearly ‘oh, that that looks like Mennonite’. But there was nothing casting it. No light, no projection, nothing. Just a shadow that shouldn’t have been there,” Leandres said.

When asked about whether ghosts are real Ryan laughs.

“I believe that stories are real. In a very real way. and that, uh, you know, a story is a way to change somebody’s consciousness, and at that point it’s real,” Leandres said.

“I feel like ghosts and thinking about ghosts and believing in them or not is such an intrinsic part of all human culture and all human history. So definitely yeah. In that case, how can they not be real?,” he said.

#AydenElworthy #Ghost #GhostStories #Halloween #KristySerpa #localHistory #Paranormal #QuinnHuluk #RyanLeandres #Supernatural

RIBFEST RETURNS TO THE REGION

Friday, July 18 marked the beginning of Kitchener-Waterloo’s Ribfest and Craft Beer Show by Nedlaw Roofs (henceforth known as ‘Ribfest’). The event was hosted in Willow River Park and spanned three days. Stands touting anything from fountain drinks to beer, to live music were all dwarfed by the main attraction: the ribs.  

Churning out 100 racks per hour, rib experts flanked the field, each blaring music, cranking grills, ringing bells, shouting orders, and slinging sides of pork so surprisingly unique, that we took it upon ourselves to write an entire article about the experience of sampling each one.  

That’s right—we subjected ourselves to ribs from all six stands at Ribfest. It was a symphony of taste and an assault to the arteries. Here are our thoughts:  

Zack’s winning pick was unequivocally Fat Boys BBQ. Zack’s all about nuanced flavour, and Fat Boys delivered: Hickory smoke, chili, balanced acidity and sweetness. With just the right amount of delicious sauce and tender, shred-able meat, Fat Boys Barbecue can’t be beatbeaten! Fat Boys was Ayden’s second pick – close but no cigar.   

Second up for Zack was Dinosaur BBQ. Dino’s used a smokey sauce with notes of apple (actually!). The real drawdraw, however, was the char. These ribs were flame-kissed. Never mind carcinogens! That bitter bite had us drooling. This was Ayden’s pick for the best rack of ribs. He loves burnt food.   

Zack’s third place was Uncle Sam’s BBQ. Ignoring the blatant American patriotism, Uncle Sam provided the quintessential rib. Ol’ Faithful. Some could accuse them of playing it safe, but we say, “Why re-invent the wheel?” For these very reasons, Ayden had Uncle Sam in fourth place. Good, not great.   

Fourth up for Zack was Silver Bullet BBQ. We don’t know what these suppliers were feeding their hogs, but Silver Bullet hit a bull’s-eye when it came to size. Where S.B really missed the mark was in sauciness. These bones were bone dry! For Ayden, Silver Bullet came in third place. Sometimes a dry rub and porky taste hits the spot.   

While a crowd favourite, Boss Hogs ultimately didn’t measure up. Zack and Ayden agree these ribs were too sweet, and not that saucy. The cook wasn’t closing any deals, and the ribs were a bit skinny too. Unfortunately, Boss Hogs didn’t leave us squealing with delight.  

Zack and Ayden’s last place pick was Camp 31. Simply underwhelming. Not enough sauce, no char, and an overly oily texture could have been forgivable. As soon as Ayden noticed some broken bones in his portion, all bets were off. He tapped out and gave his leftovers to Zack (“Hey, a rib’s a rib!”)  

Celebrating the summer by eating as much barbequed meat as possible is a time-honoured tradition. It’s tough to say whether this experience will negatively impact our health, but the sun burns, barbeque sauce and good friends will stay with us forever. In the end, this was an amazing article to…research. 

#AydenElworthy #beer #bossHogs #craftBeerShow #dinosaurBbq #fatBoysBbq #fountainDrinks #grills #JessiWood #nedlawRoofs #ribfest #silverBulletBbq #uncleSamsBbq #ZackMason

DIY SPACES ARE THE BACKBONE OF THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE

As the summer continues and live music is back in full force on patios and in bars and concert halls, a quieter, smaller revolution takes place in the homes of a couple of dedicated community members across Waterloo Region.  

Traditional venue spaces have become harder to come by—as the cost of living rises, so too does the cost of operating and renting out venues for live cultural events.  

The Golden Apple is an unassuming house venue on the east end of Kitchener. Erica Rippon, Nate Fernandez, Kyle White and Jordan Forte spoke about how opening a house venue came naturally to them.  

“I think it was mostly us being in bands and having a space already where we practice and for the most part it all set up with a PA,” Forte said. 

Carving a venue out from under their home became a natural next step. They had the equipment, and it was a logical decision for them.  

“We all go to lots of shows, so we learn really quickly what we like and don’t like about other venues,” Rippon said.  

The team revealed that transforming their house into a venue has become an overwhelmingly positive experience. Of the over 40 shows that they put on in 2024, only two of them proved to be less than savory experiences. They remarked that most shows ended up being a net positive. 

“[Our friend’s] birthday party here [was a favourite],” Forte said.  

“He’s not in a band, so on the poster, it just said his name as ‘Spencer,’[…]and when he got up on stage and people saw who he was, everyone just started chanting for him.” 

As they have refined their process, they have also had to cut back on the frequency of programming.  

“Trying to do it the way we want it done is running it at a loss. We’re pretty much always at a net zero,” Forte said. “Any sort of money [we make] goes back into the venue immediately. But we just do it for fun, so we don’t expect to make anything off the shows.” 

Dave Lacalamita is one of the owners and operators of The Screaming Fox, another unassuming house venue in Kitchener. 

“I feel like house shows emerged as a necessity in a way. If I didn’t have to put on a house show, I’d put on fewer house shows. The fact that there aren’t that many venues in town makes it feel necessary,” he said. 

Lacalamita also noted the largely monetary reason for opening his house for shows. It’s the only way in this economy to put on small-scale shows without support from grants or city funding.  

“They’re always a little stressful because we don’t charge. We’re not trying to make money[…]People are generous if you ask them to be, and you are also generous,” he said.  

“Like, if only the artists are making money and everyone can see that, it kind of releases everyone from feeling obligated or coerced into paying, but people still pay,” Lacalamita said. 

Like the folks from The Golden Apple, he also has noted that his experience running a venue as a house has in the vast majority been positive.  

“I mean, it’s a lot of work. It isn’t nothing to displace people and clean the place up and have people in your space. I don’t know there’s not a lot of negatives, to be honest. It’s one of those things that you dread doing in a sense,” he said. 

On the other end of the spectrum, house shows cannot always be accessible for all involved. They are sometimes difficult to find, and because of the venue’s function as a house and not an open business, they can sometimes not be accessible.  

“I think most house venue people are doing it out of necessity, and maybe we’d like to do it less often,” he said. 

“You have to know where the place is, and how to find out about them, and it’s better, in my opinion, for them to be just open[…]it’d be nice for there to be a venue that’s just a venue,” Lacalamita said.  

These houses-turned-venues are a valuable function in any music scene. They encourage community and miraculously work out to make the most fiscal sense for all involved.   

#AydenElworthy #community #daveLacalamita #displace #goldenApple #houseShow #Houses #JoElDeek #kitchener #LiveMusic #venues #waterloo #waterlooRegion

FILM REVIEW: K.C.I.: BEYOND THE THREE R’S

Available for free on the National Film Board of Canada’s website: K.C.I: Beyond The Three R’s is a fascinating portrait of one of Canada’s oldest high schools during the early 80s. The film serves as not only a trip down memory lane, but concurrently a look into the problems that faced teenagers and secondary schools during the 80s. What’s uncanny is the timely chord that many of these problems strike: as times have changed and moved forward, many of the same problems and attitudes plague teenagers just the same way in the 80s, as they do today. Kids these days.

The film opens on a familiar scene: a student is late to school, mumbling something about mistaking 8 a.m. for 7 p.m. because their bedroom is too dark. 

“You should get a light next to your bed or something,” comes the dry suggestion from the secretary. 

From here, the film leads the viewer through an all-encompassing portrait of K.C.I and the students and teachers that make the school what it is. The documentary captures a rich inner life inside of K.C.I. Students make goofy faces during choir practice and dive into spirited debates in philosophy class. A girl matter-of-factly recounts seeing a drug deal in the hallway. 

“I see two guys by a locker and one guy gives him some money, the other gives him a bag of weed and I say hey—it does happen in the high schools, it’s not just in movies,” she said.

Much of the film is also concerned with the different ways education is expected to train our youth. The film tries to highlight the ways in which external circumstances, as well as the students’ own desires influence their wants and needs from secondary school. Many students fear that their studies will not prepare them for life outside of high school.

“I know how to add, and I know how to read and I know how to write. And what I need to learn now is how to deal with problems. And getting a trigonometry problem is not gonna be much use [in the outside world]. [But getting a problem] like my wife had an illegitimate child, I’d like to know how to deal with that,” one candid student said.

K.C.I Beyond The Three R’s also tracks early experiments in connecting education with a broader community and work placements. The film frames the high school Co-Op program as a program still in its early trial periods, with varying successes. Now a standard for most high schools, seeing these programs from their early days helps give context to the current education system. 

Seeing the ways in which formal education has shifted since 1982 towards higher university enrollment is telling. As outlined in the documentary, in 1982 only 17 per cent of Canadian high school students moved on to university. According to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario that number has now moved to 52 per cent. 

By the end of the documentary, a complete portrait of K.C.I during the 80s has been painted. The documentary ends from a voice over quote. 

“It is harder than ever to respond to all the demands being made on them. Some are failing. KCI has problems, but it provides a good example of how secondary education is adapting to a rapidly changing world,” the narrator states. 

#AydenElworthy #candidStudent #coOpStudents #educationSystem #highSchool #higherEducationQualityCouncilOfOntario #kCIBeyondTheThreeRs #nationalFilmBoardOfCanada #outsideWorld #problems #Students