Ticket Giveaway: No Shame 100 @ The Horseshoe, 18 Sep.

People I meet occasionally ask me how I got into music and going to local shows. An important part of the answer is Lauren Schreiber's No Shame music series. Next Friday, 18 September, No Shame celebrates 100 shows with a blow-out at the Horseshoe Tavern. Keep reading for details on the show and how you can win tickets!

I first started going to No Shame semi-regularly in the fall of 2007, when it was a weekly happening at Tiger Bar. Now largely-defunct, this basement venue holds a maximum of 70 people and one has to walk through a nearly-empty bar to get to it. It was hardly an obvious place for me to hang out. I didn't go every week, but everytime I did I was greeted by Lauren's (or her partner's) smiling face. And good thing, too, since I was there all by my lonesome. In 2008 Lauren moved to the Drake Underground, and I followed. After a few months, she started booking regular nights at Rancho Relaxo, and then took No Shame to other venues, putting on special shows here and there. It never mattered much to me which specific bands were playing; Lauren's got a knack for pulling in great touring acts and picking out the top local bands. She's got a good ear for music ranging from folk to pop-rock to electro, which, as it happens, is what I like too.

The 100th show features some of No Shame's favourite bands. Headlining are Green Go, one of my favourite live bands, featuring some of the nicest people around the local(ish) scene. Before them we'll be treated to Ruby Coast, a band I first saw back at Tiger Bar when I'm pretty sure they weren't yet old enough to be allowed to play there. Although "saw" isn't quite the right word, since my view was blocked by their exuberant young fans. Since then Ruby Coast---at one time managed by Lauren---have toured with the likes of Ra Ra Riot and Tokyo Police Club. I'm looking forward to hearing what they've been up to lately. In the second spot are one of Lauren's more recent finds, the percussion-heavy Pick A Piper. Opening the night are The Skeletones Four, a band I don't think have graced a No Shame stage before, and one that really impressed me when I saw them a few months back. It would be difficult to think of a more fitting lineup for this celebration. (How about a folk-pop evening at a beautiful, big church for the 200th, Lauren?)

Thanks to the Muse Box I've got a prizepack consisting of a pair of tickets to the show on Friday the 18th and a copy of Green Go's full-length album, Borders, to giveaway to one lucky person. Email your full name to me by 11:59 on Wednesday, 16 September to enter the giveaway. If you don't win, all the bands will have merch for sale at the show, which is only $10 at the door. I predict you'll have a brilliant time. The show's +19, of course.

Download: Green Go, "Brains for Breakfast" (Borders, 2009).
Download: Ruby Coast, "Neighbourhood" (Projectable Collections, 2008).
Download: Pick A Piper, "Yellowknife" (Pick A Piper, 2009).

Now I'm feeling all nostalgic. And in a dancing mood.