Happy Holidays & 2013 In Review

High Heels Lo Fi - what the bleep happened in 2013?

*** GIGS ***

Jan 18 - toronto - Cameron House
March 28 - toronto - Lee's Palace, Bella's Burlesque Birthday
May 24 - toronto - bovine
May 25 - london - richmond tavern
May 26 - hamilton - the casbah lounge
June 20 - hamilton - club absinthe
June 25 - toronto - rancho - theatre event
July 6 - toronto - the rivoli
July 13 - oshawa - The Atria
August 7 - toronto - Cherry Cola
August 24 - Fergus - Kelly & Noah’s wedding
Sept 13 - toronto - cherry cola
Sept 15 - toronto - the black swan
Oct 16 - toronto - bovine - nerd night
Nov 1 - toronto - cherry cola - Day of the Dead
Nov 2 - brantford - therapy - Day of the Dead
Dec 14 - toronto - magpie taproom

Did you notice the Fergus show? We played at a wedding. This actually happened.

Wow - SEVENTEEN - the most shows we’ve played in one year since this band started. And there will be even more in 2014, as there will likely be some tour weekends. Look out!

Photos from Show #17 in convenient action movie form: Click here

Also coming up in 2014, another episode of We Play With Boobies - a night of Female-Fronted Rock Bands.


*** FUN STUFF ***

D: All the fun, All the time. This year made me realize just how much fun playing with these girls is. I’ve never seen such growth and determination. It makes me both proud and lucky to be part of this threesome. Look out 2014...here we come!

C: Fun... we have been discovering how amazing it is to bully people with fun. It sounds sort of mean and pushy to force people to sing and dance, but every single time they look SO full of absolute GLEE when they’re done, I think a little pushiness is worth it. You can say we drag ladies to dance on stage because we’re pervs who like to amuse ourselves, or you could say we are pushing female empowerment, helping women claim their sexy power, and showing them it’s okay to take the spotlight sometimes. Nah, it’s likely just the perv thing.

M: We did all those gigs? No wonder I’m tired and blurry. So many good gigs, and the fact that we get so many cool people up on stage with us is epic--not just the random people we hijack into having fun with us, but our regular pranksters and prancers, like the Nerd Girls, our awesome High Lo Go Gos, and totally Noah and J, who take some really fantastic pictures of us. Thanks to alla you for making it so much fun for us!


*** PROMO ***

We were picked as a “Wild Card” for the CBC Music Hockey Night in Canada Songquest Contest! We’re very honoured to have dirtied up the ears of the lovely CBC folks. Although we didn’t make the Top 50, we shall unwrap our fingers from our martini glasses long enough to cross them for Washboard Hank!

We were featured on the internet radio program “Everything And The Kitchen Sink”, and on CIUT.fm’s “Ruby Slippers”.

We also need YOU for promo in 2014, and hope you’ll wear your HHLF shirts and buttons as often as possible. Spread the word, tell your friends, tell the gal in line for poutine - we are Toronto’s wackiest party band!


*** IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES ***

Recipe - The Mexican Revolutionary
I was making French 75s for a party, but Cynthia doesn’t drink gin, so we substituted tequila instead. It was kinda a lot of awesome.
2 ounces tequila
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup
well-chilled dry sparkling wine, like cava or prosecco

Pour everything but the sparkling wine into a tall glass, and stir well, top with sparkling wine, and stir gently.


Recipe - The Suntanned Clit
Rocks Glass, 2 ice cubes, shot of Malibu Coconut Rum, shot of Peach Schnapps, squeeze 3 lime wedges into it, stir with butcher knife (if possible).
Why the name? Coconut smells like suntan lotion, and, to quote Nick Cage, "I could eat a peach all day".

Hiccup Cure
Okay drinkers, this has been working like a charm for me for the past several weeks, please let me know if it works for you. If you hiccup, raise your arms up in the air for about a minute. Since I’ve done this, I have never hiccuped twice. Pulls your diaphragm to a non-hiccupy angle or something.

Anything else we’ve learned / discovered?
Never, ever take Spadina to get anywhere in the city.
Smoke’s stays open late late late on extra long licence nights.
Olive oil is brilliant for cleaning off super-goop clown white makeup.


*** COOL LOCAL BANDS WE LIKE & THINK YOU SHOULD PUNCH INTO GOOGLE ***

Goodnight, Sunrise
The Anti-Queens
Nanochrist
Kraken Not Stirred
Thinly Veiled Double Entendres
The Alcohollys
Truth Panel
The Cheap Speakers
Brave Little Toaster
Witchever
Halfway 2 Sanity
Slave to the Squarewave
Rulers of the Moon
The Howling Bullets
Suitcase Sam & The Suits

There are MANY more - Toronto is just seething with amazing music right now.
Thank you to everyone who gets out there and supports live music. YOU are the people who make this city magical!


*****

We wish you a very merry holiday season, full of great food and wonderful friends.

Hugs,
High Heels Lo Fi
Cynthia * Mandy * Doug


Please join our sites & stay in touch!
- - - - - <<<--- click!

We're a "Wild Card"!

... and we colour outside the blue lines!

CLICK HERE for the Songquest Hockey Song Contest Wild Card page and check us out!
Please visit Our CBC Music Page to vote for us (blue button halfway down, don't have to sign up!) and listen to Rhymes With Puck, our wildly inappropriate hockey song.

Hope to see you at our next show on Sat. Dec. 14 - highheelslofi.com for details!

last night at Cherry Cola

wow. what a night!

Show Report - Tuesday June 25th, Rancho Relaxo

Theatre Trailers Live!

C - Movie trailers are usually the best part of the movie, so we were excited to see Theatre Trailers!

C -It was a fun night - HHLF played a short set, then 2 trailers, then another short set, 2 more trailers, then a slightly longer set to close the night. It was somehow less stressful playing 3 short sets. Interesting.

C -Our super cute High Lo Go Gos danced for some of the night, and we had a great crowd of ladies jump up for the last few songs. Theatre people really dig yelling and waving pompoms. I guess they’re used to being a bit wacky.

C -Since it was a theatre event, I thought this would be a good chance to dress up as one of my favourite characters from the theatre - Miss Hannigan from Annie. (Carol Burnett really knocked that one out of the park, right?) It didn’t strike me until later that her most iconic outfit was the little nightie. Dammit. Oh well. (Ever try to dry sweaty hands so you can play guitar, but you’re wearing thin polyester? I had to wipe my hands on GoGoKelly’s cotton skirt. Nice ass. Heehee!)

D - The only thing hotter than our GoGos was the temperature on stage!

C -Luckily, Mandy & Doug seemed happy to step up, but with Doug immediately refusing to be Annie. Fair enough. He was a great Daddy Warbucks, but suits are HOT so the last set was shirtless. (You’re welcome, ladies.) Mandy was the cutest Sandy puppy of all time, although she must have fried wearing fur in that heat & humidity. Oh well, that’s Rock & Roll!

C -Any night that ends with the sound princess wearing your band’s tshirt is a great freakin night!

D - I believe we all agreed on “sound goddess” instead of princess?

C - whoops - you're right! goddess!

D - So hot...so freakin’ hot! Hope nobody minded that I packed up my drums in just my undergitch. At least I left them on for a change! :-p

Be sure to check out “Offers of Home” this July - http://www.panfishproductions.ca

Show Report - Hamilton, June 20th

(feeling poetic today)

lack of traffic

hamilton waits

sun up mandy's nose

early for once

a christmas miracle

smells like lemon cleaner

pink glitter tiara

doug must wear tonight

saved by little girl’s claim

mexican restaurant

fuel for the fires of rock

tequila, it's time

plastic is offered

server buys us a round

damn good sign

this mad desire

both rock and roll

first set groovy

our turn on stage

kicking ass taking names

bouncy drunk rock

big energy created

screaming laughing rocking

fuckin awesome set

goodnight sunrise

amazingly brilliant

glow stick cherry on top

Album Review!

http://alteredfrequencies.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/high-heels-lo-fi-aperitif-for-destruction-cd/

Show Report - Fear And Loathing In The Golden Horseshoe

Show Report - The Dolls With Balls mini-tour

   “We can’t stop here...this is beaver country”

                       May 24th, The Bovine (Toronto) w/ The Alcohollys, Anti-Queens

                       May 25th, The Richmond (London) w/ The Alcohollys, Anti-Queens

                       May 26th, The Casbah (Hamilton) w/ The Alcohollys, Anti-Queens,

                                                                                    The Creepshow

This mini-tour was long-awaited and had us excited beyond our wildest dreams. (Well, maybe Doug’s wildest dreams!) Three cities in three nights, Mandy’s birthday, and three bands stacked full of chicks who rock like there’s no tomorrow!

It all started on Friday...

May 24th at the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto...

How better to celebrate Mandy’s birthday than with 120+ of our closest friends? The evening’s goal was to keep Miss Mandy reasonably “sober” enough to play a set, while making sure there was still enough “sheMandigans” throughout the night!

The Anti-Queens were first to take the stage and played a set of pure power/pop/punk that would put Greenday to shame on any given day. Three girls in matching striped two-tone pants rocking it hard--singer/guitarist Emily Bones definitely has an awesome growl; Mary Deth is cute as a button thrashing on bass; and Lindsay Bird rocked it with solid drumming all the way. Watch out for these girls, they’re poised to take over. As much fun to watch as they are listen to.

We were up next. Loretta Jean of Nerd Girl Burlesque graced us with her amazing assel skills once again. Devilishly divine and as sweet as tequila itself, ahe is always a crowd pleaser! (And an “us” pleaser as well). Our own High Lo Go-Gos took the stage in matching pink and black striped tank tops for the next number. Every single one of them, a hot distraction and busting out all of the sexiest dance moves!Poor Doug is forever obscured by ass, but he hasn’t complained yet. How could he? Really!

Finally, it was time for the grand finale. Unbeknownst to Mandy, at the end of “Big Dumb Rock Song”, Doug was to “debass” (not debase) her of the Harlot, the High Lo Go-Gos were to hold her still while special guest, the dapper and debonair (not deboner) Romeo Satin, jumped up on stage to serenade her with her favourite *namesake ballad*! Which was abruptly cut short and replaced with a Mandy birthday rap with such lines as “All the boys lining up outside the Smart to get some” and “Let me be your Theo so I can bury my bone”! Once the song was finished, it was time to do what we do best--resume the sheMandigans!

The Alcohollys took the stage and rocked it hard for a solid 45 minutes, with fun originals, like Lock Stock Lola, and an excellent cover of the Cars “Let’s Go”. Kittie drummer Mercedes Lander (Ruby Pubey) plays louder than most drummers, male or female. (Not that that’s a bad thing) Definitely twice the volume that Doug plays at. Kittie bassist Tanya Candler (Scarlet Fever) is solid on the G string. Bree (Maiden China) was lost in a swirl of power chords and leads underneath her flowing locks, a la Slash and Johnny Ramone. And Dana Hartman (Kimber Hart) is a superb vocalist and keyboardist. These girls rock--sexy and smart!

By the end of the night Mandy had the birthday shots:blood ratio working, so we were treated to intellectual musings like “shhhhhhh... be quiet, I’m emailing my mom”, and “POUTINE... fuck yeah!!!”. As for the rest of night...Well, we’ll let Mandy decide what she wants to disclose...or not!

M--I ate poutine; I went to bed; life was good...and not too hung over in the morning. Best birthday ever!

Best parts of the night? So much prancing; poutine; finally sharing the stage with the one-and-only (thank goodness) Romeo Satin.

*NOTE* Mandy despises the Manilow classic in any form!

*NOTE* M--seriously, I will shiv

I always look forward to the road trips...

Saturday, May 25th at the Richmond in London, ON

Night 2

London has to be one of our favourite places to play, and The Richmond Hotel is just one of those bars that looks like your typical local dive, and it pretty much is, according to the locals. But the crusty boozehounds that frequent the joint love us and get us.

With the mom-mobile packed, Red Rain in abundance, and Mandy channelling her best Hunter S. Thompson it was time to hit the road...Somewhere along the 403 just past Hamilton, we vined Mandy. https://vine.co/v/bVgUdD2PL1W She seemed in good spirits considering the night before, and having to negotiate with her mom for the mom-mobile at 9:30 a.m.  

Pulled into London and met up with our official band photographer-turned-video producer, Jason and Stephanie, our official stunt ass (check our album photos!) then off to the hotel to “whore up” for the show. The hotel parking only had one space left, between a wall and some douchenozzle who decided to take up a space and a half, leaving one tight spot for Mandy to maneuver the mom-mobile into with a little guidance from the rest of us. It was so tight she had to wiggle out of the van, thus causing injury to her “nature’s pocket” as Stephanie put it!

M--A bruised box ~is~ kinda rock n’ roll.

Once we got to The Richmond, there was “theraquila” and warm up drinks, small talk with the cutest bartender around, and the start of another Rock and Roll extravaganza! Same order as the previous night, no time restrictions, and a bar full of super cool fans. It went off without a hitch and everyone rocked as hard as the night before.

We tried two new shots--The Liquid Chicken, that tasted like hot wings, and the Shitty Mike, that as Mike described it, “it’s nasty and leaves a horrible taste in your mouth.”  Doug missed out on the Shitty Mikes but made up for it with double Irish Car Bombs. Once again we managed to run the bar out of tequila. Seems to be our curse! Or maybe it’s a blessing. No...curse!

Best parts of the night? Mercedes brought us a round of shots to the stage; a bartab under a C-note (usually a challenge); post-gig shawarma at Baracat!

M--seriously, that shwarma is ridiculously good, and I’m so glad I got two, ‘cause I was eating that second one for about three more days.

We’re playing the Casbah upstairs and we’ve been added to The Creepshow gig? Oh yeah!

Sunday, May 26th at the Casbah in Hamilton, ON

Night 3

At the beginning of the mini-tour, we weren’t even sure we were going to play the end, owing to a scheduling cockup in Hamilton, but the gods of rock came through for us, and we got a way better gig than we could have hoped for--opening for The Creepshow, a real band!

This is Doug’s hometown, and yay for Doug’s dad! He’s a huge fan now that we’re holding Doug hostage, and he came out to support. And he’s now a fan of the Anti-Queens and Alcohollys as well.

We went first, rocking a set as short as Cyn’s skirt, and despite some technical difficulty with an uncooperative microphone cable, we pulled it off, and got the hell of the stage--there was minimal drinking time that night; we had to be efficient.

The Anti-Queens and Alcohollys continued to rock the night, and the Creepshow brought their brand of surfy-psycho-billity that they’re known for. These cats throw down! And of course they have to be fronted by what can be called “Doug’s kryptonite”!

Best parts of the night? The bar didn’t run out of tequila; there were multiple shots of tequila bought for us; TEQUILA!

And thus ended the Dolls With Balls mini-tour. It was a great 3 days, with great girls (and Doug) and we can’t wait to do it again. Next stops? Ottawa? Montreal? Kingston? Shawinigan???

Thanks to Mercedes, Dana, Tanya, Bree, Emily, Mary and Lindsay!  You dolls rock!

(This show report brought to you by Doug, since Cyn & Mandy were in Brooklyn, drinking themselves into a vacation coma. )