INSIDE COMMUNITY EVENTS B2 By DAVE TAYLOR THEY'RE A little dirty. “We wear these stuffed speedos on stage...”° ; _ Some might even say vulgar. "The singer comes out riding this six- foot penis, wearing chaps with the bult cut out..,’” But they sure know how to have a good time. They’re The Blokes, a pop foursome made up of two guys from the northwest, one from Quebec and one from Chile. And they’re taking Quebec by storm. "We're booked all the way through November,’’ says Terrace-raised lead guitarist Byron Mikaloff over the phone from Quebec City. ‘The calls are com- ing in. Things are starling to happen.” Mikaloff sounds hyper, and for good reason. The band formed less than a year ago but already they’re headlining packed clubs in Quebec and getting the attention of Australian distributors and record executives at BMG Canada, Their sound is fun, funky and original. But it’s their live performance that really makes The Blokes memorable. ‘'I’s quite a show,’’ Mikalolf says of the perfarmance that involves wigs, speedos and sumo wrestling outfits. ‘It’s special.” It was that flair for theatrics that originally caught the attention of Quebecers. ; ; Mikoloff left Terrace three years ago to study classical guitar in Quebec, But last summer, he and Kilimat-born lead singer Kyle Girgan found themselves out of work and out of money. So they bought some goofy glasses, wrote Les Blokes ou a couple cardboard boxes and hit the streets with their acoustic guitars and a wicked sense: of humour, . “Everyone really got a kick out of it,”’ Girgan says. ‘‘We had crowds dancing and chanting. It was quile something.”” - Their name was also popular, since “blokes’” is the slang term Quebecers use for anglophones. “Tt’s like if French guys were singing THEY CAN’T KEEP the Prin- cess Diana tribute CD, Candle in the Wind, in stock. Sight and Sound ordered about 200 of the CDs, and the first batch of 150 was gone within a day, says Carmen Viveiros, of the Terrace siore. The (Ds first came in Sept. 10, she suid. About 100 had already been put on hold at that point. On Friday last week a third or- der of a 100 CDs came in, and quickly disappeared. “We get people coming in bere every single day looking for it,” says Viveiros. She says this much demand for a CD is very unusual, The only thing that comes close is another tribute CD, this one by Puff Daddy, dedicated. to © rapper Notorious B.L.G, About 60 copies of that CD were ordered. © The demand for the CD in Ter- race is reflected across the coun- try and the world, Some speculate on the streets of Toronto calling them- selves The Frogs,” says Girgan. The guys made good money, in spite of hefty fines from the police for playing wherever and whenever they saw a chance to draw a crowd. Hitching up with drummer Cristobal De Veer and bassist Billy Martin, The Blokes quickly, developed a fast, funky sound, with catchy melodies and goofy lyrics. “Inspiration can come from any- where,”’ says Girgan, who writes most of the lyrics. “Like the song James Bond. ‘One weekend they had this James Bond marathon on TV and J must have sat there for like eight hours watching James - TERRACE STANDARD: un, funky & original NW musicians storm Quebec Bond movies.” The result is a dreamy, soft ballad, lamenting about how great it would be to drive those cool cars and shoot neat guns. Wigs, speedos and sumo wres- tling. outfits make The Blokes stand out on stage. Not exactly thougbt-provoking stuff, but the words are honest and fun. And Girgan says their songs are gelling funkier all the time. They hope to break The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 1, 1997 - B1 out into western Canada soon. “We have to get out of here,” he says. “Quebec is probably the worst place in Canada to be a band, especially an anglophone band.”” Quebec laws require that 65 per cent of music played on the radio is French — making it especially hard for English bands to get on the air. But that hasn't stopped. these guys from making a name for themselves, and Mikaloff hopes it’s just the béginning. “This is my drug in life,’ he says. “Is what I love. We'll just keep play- ing and see where it goes.”” The Blokes’ CD Greatest Hits is avail- able at Sight and Sound. CARMEN VIVEIROS didn't think the latest order of the’ tribute CD would stay on store shelves long at Sight and Sound. Sales of Diana tribute CD go wild the Elton John single on the CD, Candle in the Wind, could be the best-selling single of all time, sur- passing White Christmas, by Bing Crosby. The Diana tribute CD features two other tracks — Something About ihe Way You Look Tonight, and You Can Make History. “The title song was originally a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. Elton John added special lyrics in memory of Princess Diana, who recently died in a car accident in Paris. John sang the rendition at her funeral at Westminister Ab- bey in London. Now he’s donat- ing proceeds from sales of the CD to charity. Terrace Sight and Sound is fol- lowing his example, donating $2 from the sale of each CD to the local AIDS society. The B.C. goverament is also donating the seven per cenit sales tax on the CD to chariiles which reDect Diana’s work. , No peace for parents JUST AFTER THEY packed their youngest son off to college George and Helen thought they might have some time to themselves. Travel, romance and time for hobbies topped their wish list. But the kids bad other plans. That’s how Alone Together opens, the first play of the season from Terrace Little Theatre. Director David Liscumb first read the play as his daughter was moving away from struggling with insecurities. Adam Kirkwood is the middle son. He works in Texas —- no one’s really sure what he does, confesses Liscumb — and retums home after being placed on stress leave. Jessie Bloomfield plays the youngest son, who never really gets packed off to college. He's new io the stage and took over the role midway through rehearsals. Coincidentally, . Bloomfield had just moved to Terrace two weeks before signing up for the part, and had just said goodbye to his parents, Plus there’s also a mystery visitor — much oggled by the sons — played by Stephanie Jacobs. -.,, home. ? ‘I could just sce every scene in this play i happenitig in my mind,’’ he said. No, be hasn’t been in that same predicament, yet, but he had a fot of sympathy for the parents in the play. “The play is all about how relationships This is Liscumb’s first time directing a develap,’’ says Liscumb. play. The play could be adopted to a drama, but playwright Lawrence Roman keeps the comedy active with plenty of door slam- ming and the occasional mysterious explo- sion. ; “The sct has to be incredibly sturdy. It holds up to an unbelievable amount of abuse,”’ says Liscumb. That figures, with three boys. “We actually have to straighten the walls between scenes,” ; Alone Together opens October 9. Tickets are on sale at Uniglobe Courtesy Travel. He was still waffling over whether or not he should tackle directing when he was talked into reading through a stack of 30 plays, to see if anything caught his interest. Alone Together was the first play he read. ““T still read the other scripts but went back and said, ‘I want this one.’ ”' Alan Weston plays George, and Terry Gordon his wife Helen. Steve McHugh is the oldest son, and the first to come back. He’s a professor of math at MIT and retums home because he's THREE SONS and ‘a mystery guest come home after George and Helen think they finally have the house to thamselves. That's the premise behind Terrace Little Theatre's season-opener, Alone Together. SECTION B CRIS LEYKAUF 638-7283 Around Town Award given to author NASS AUTHOR Ravi Gill will be honoured next month with a ‘“Man of Peace”’ award for his writings. The award is being presented by the Adeeb International Sabir Cultural Academy — an international associa- tion of writers. Fifty writers, artists and journalists are being honoured across the world on the 50th anniversary of India’s inde- pendence. The awards are to recognize outstanding contribution in the respec- tive fields. Gill’s has written approximately three dozen books, including poctry, drama, short stories and literary criti- cism. His books have been translated ’ into many languages. Gill will. accept the award in a ceremony in Vancouver. There’s only one other person being honoured in B.C. That’s Dara Sing- hayer, editor of the Indo-Canadian Times. As for the ‘‘Man of Peace’? designa- tion, Gill says it refers to the Indian in- dependence movement, which suc- ceeded through peaceful means. Get a plan IT’S 2 A.M. You wake from a deep sleep, your house full of smoke. You and your family escape the Gre, but everything you own has been destroyed. What do you do? Next week, Oct. 6-10 is Fire Pre-. ‘vention Week. If you don’t already have a fire escape plan, this is the time to make one with your family, and think about ways to fireproof your - home. _ However, even with a prevention plan, house fires still happen. That’s when the Red Cross’s personal disaster assistance volunteers can help. The program provides accommodation, food, clothing and other essentials for up to three days to individuals and families who have lost their home due to fire, flood or small scale disaster. In Terrace there are six personal dis- aster assistance volunteers, on standby 24 hours a day. Volunteers don’t get called out often, but they’re invaluable when needed, I€ you'd like to find out more about the program or get involved, call Heather at 1-800-278-7177. Famous artist . at gallery ABORIGINAL CULTURE and people, as seen through the eyes of David Neel, will be on display at the Tempce Art Gallery, Oct. 3-25, Nécl is a famous photographer, artist and writer, Although he works in a number of mediums, it is his photog- raphs and selected prints which will be on display. The exhibition is organized by the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, an affiliate with the Na- tional Gallery of Canada. Neel creates powerful, personal portraits which challenge the old stercolypes of aboriginal people. Through a collaboration of his phatog- raphs and elders’ words, Neel says, ‘‘it is my hope that you will be able to see beyond the stereotype to the person be- hind, and gain a better understanding of what aboriginal culture and people are all about.” Neel photographs the eldets both in ceremonial made, meaning in tmdi- tional regalia, and in a more personal mode, against a simple studio back-° drop. ‘This is the Terrace Art Gallery's first time hosting a national exhibition. Opening night is Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. No house lottery THE TERRACE 747 Air Cadet Squadron won't be holding a house lot- tery this year, as it did in 1996. Society sponsor president Charles Brunette said the group didn’t think the economic situation in Terrace was stable enough to conduct a house lot- tery. Instead the group js holding a spa and gazebo raffle. On Dec. 20 a luxury spa and gazebo, worth $10,830 will be auctioned off. Tickets are $10 each from any Alr Cadet members. Only 2560 tickets will be sold.