this is kind of silly, but i should say a little bit about it.

if i'm going to post a list of shows i went to, many in ottawa, i should address the large amount of shows i didn't go to. it seems a little weird that i started going to so many more shows when i turned 30, doesn't it?

i've actually addressed this a lot: it goes back to being very dissatisfied with the generation i was born into. i could say something about most of the bands i enjoyed listening to skipping ottawa, and be right. but, it isn't even the actual crux of it.

the truth is that there were lots of contemporary rock bands playing in ottawa over the 00s, and the truth is that i was aware of a lot of these shows, too. but, the reality is that i wasn't interested in very much of it.

i mean, i'm not going to be the first person to point out that the middleground punk scene in the 00s - from screamo to metalcore to garage to indie rock - was really the absolute low point of the cultural movement. it was all absolutely terrible. and, history will uphold that point of view.

so, i found myself in the scenario where the medium sized venues were booking bands i had no interest in and the only things i'd really have any interest in were in very large venues. yet, i dislike the experience of arena rock. the underground movement i was most attached to - post-rock - had also largely fizzled out by 2003. i never really found a replacement for that; i've been auditing ever since.

what happened around 2010 was that the culture started to shift a little, and the city started to grow a little. i went to more shows because there were more shows that i'd go to.

that said, am i sure i didn't miss anything? how can i be?

well, as a sort of pathetically vain attempt to validate myself, i've been sorting through this message board all night:
http://punkottawa.com/board/viewforum.php?f=2&topicdays=0&start=5550

and i've concluded that the reality really is that i didn't "miss" anything, and if you think there are are holes then you just need to acknowledge that that's not something i actually like.

for example, you might think the lack of dfa shows is a glaring omission, given that i was living in ottawa. and, dfa is all over the board. but the truth is that i actually recall checking out samples from dfa and deducing that they suck. sorry. i also remember looking up fucked up, and deducing it was aimless - although i came around to them a little, later on.

so, yes: all of the semi-popular rock bands of the period came through town. yes: i knew they were here. yes: i knew about the local scene. no: i wasn't interested.