We Hate COVID (+ Other News)

Welp, it finally happened. :(

Influx had to drop off 11PM Eternal at the last minute due to me & Em both having COVID (shout out to Kleener for subbing in). We're pretty confident we contracted it at the Growing Fins show on the 24th, since a friend of Em's who was also at the show, Ryan from Treehouse of Horror & all of boxcutter got sick after that weekend, which sucks a lot. I've been isolating since last Monday and I'm SO BORED!

Flyer by me!

boxcutter has this show coming up with Massa Nera, This Place is Actually the Worst, Cease & Neck this weekend, but we're not totally sure if we can make it; fingers crossed that we all feel better in time!!!

Even if we can't make that one happen, Spirit Desire has a pair of gigs later this month that'll DEFINITELY happen:

First off, SD will be playing night 2 of the inaugural Houndsfest with Katelyn Molgard (of Bad Waitress), Sofa Queen & Roach! Houndstooth's become something of a not-so-secret clubhouse for a lot of us lately; I've personally spent a lot of the last 2 years practicing, hanging out & appreciating life's gifts within those 4 walls, and I'm really stoked for us to play there for the first time since 2021.

The weekend after that, we'll be heading to Kitchener to play Short Finger Brewing with Deforesters & HHOOUUNNDDSS (no relation to Houndstooth/Houndsfest, lol)! We haven't played a show outside of Toronto since 2017 (!!!) and even that was in Mississauga!!!

Flyer by Ryan Ulc.

Then, a week after that, boxcutter actually has another date that'll also work out for sure: a night at The Arcade with Swimming, Growing Fins & Please Don't Crash! In the interest of not cross-posting too much, I'm gonna try and keep boxxy news to a minimum on here, but go keep up with what we're doing on our blog and pray that we never get COVID ever again. <3

- Kai

Recent Shows + Upcoming Shows + Benefit Show Photos

NOTHING EVER ENDS!!!

Flyer by me!

The very first Dogs with Hobbies show was a rousing success; we went dangerously over cap (whoops), but we raised over $1,000!!! The Gel show was really fun (and was featured in an event listing on CP24 for some reason)!!! And now I'm back in hibernation mode!!!

J-card for MOSTLYTAPE18-B: a bootleg tape made for the benefit show.

Weirdest thing ever.

Now that February is finally over and spring's around the corner, I'm stoked to finally have energy again for the first time in months... Here's a couple of things we've got going on in March:

Flyer by me!

Flyer by me!

Flyer by Unlawful Assembly.

Influx is playing a FREE show at The Baby G with Bozo & Spirale Parfait as part of their ongoing Happy Sundays series! That gig's also doubling as a warm-up for 11PM Eternal at the end of March, which is set to be the biggest & baddest weekend of punk we've seen in ages. On top of that, boxcutter's playing a guaranteed banger with Growing Fins, Treehouse of Horror & Old Ceremonies at Bar Orwell that I'll include a flyer for once I finish it (EDIT: done & done).

Finally: some photos from the Dogs with Hobbies show, taken by our buddy Oskar! <3

Treehouse of Horror:

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Spirit Desire:

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Piper Maru:

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

Photo by Oskar McCarson.

MARCH, BABY!

- Kai

Recent Shows + Upcoming Shows + Spirit Desire Photos

Unsurprisingly, things have been BUSY!

Spirit Desire just played a really sweet gig with Tearing Up & Angel Apricot last month thanks to Dave from Transmit! It was right at the end of my semester, the day after my birthday & the 8th gig I'd played in about 6 weeks, so to say I was exhausted is a bit of an understatement... Still ruled, though!

Flyer by me!

Flyer by me!

Flyer by me!

After getting 2 more with boxcutter out the way earlier this month (which you can read about here), I finally got a long-awaited break from shows that I'm trying to enjoy, especially now that I'm back in school... However, that break comes to an end next weekend: SD & Influx both have Big Gigs coming up soon!

Flyer by me!

Flyer by me!

SD's playing a benefit show at Bar Orwell with our friends in Piper Maru & Treehouse of Horror to raise funds for the Parkdale Community Health Centre! All proceeds will go towards buying supplies for local residents in need of tents, warm clothes & the like. It's my first real time booking a show (with the help of my dear friend Emily), so I'm even more excited than usual!

5 days later, Influx will be opening for Gel, Wild Side & Life in Vacuum at Expo! We've got a new song ready to go & a ton of pent-up energy after 2 months off, so come check out an insanely stacked bill before it sells out completely (EDIT: looks like it already has)!

That's not all, though:

Flyer by Jesse Feinman.

Influx is also set to play night 1 of 11PM Eternal at the end of March!!! We'll be there alongside Concealed Blade, Firewalker, Indre Krig, 80HD, Tempter, Ideation & Payload, which is maybe the beefiest lineup of hardcore bands I've seen around here in years... Very, very excited for this one!

Lastly, here's some photos from SD's set at the Dine Alone showcase from November by M.G. Ommert! <3

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

Photo by M.G. Ommert.

'Til next time!

- Kai