Scott Pilgrim vs. HMV 333

What a blast! This was the greatest event we've hosted since Drake in June... Scott Pilgrim vs. The World! We knew it'd be big but we didn't think the fans would start lining up at 6am. We started selling the graphic novels over the summer and they have been very well received. I'm not going to go into detail as to what they are about but the story is based in Toronto and was made into a movie that came out in August that was directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and starred Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad). It didn't perform all that well at the box office but has a certain "cult" following that came out in full force the day of the event. We offered fans a chance to meet Edgar Wright as well as Bryan Lee O'Malley who wrote the popular series and also one of the film's stars Ellen Wong who played Knives. Edgar also wanted to screen the film later on that night, so the first 75 fans in line got tickets to see the film at Bloor Cinema with him. The whole day was really great for me - the Universal PR team was awesome and we all had so much fun. They talent signed for over 2 hours and while the line outside the store kept growing throughout that time. We estimated that over 500 kids showed up, many in costumes and with their hands full of Scott Pilgrim related merchandise. The media took notice of the line outside as passerby's were quite curious as to what was going on. Later on in the day I took some of my staff to the screening and we also got passes for the VIP after-party at Insomnia. I've been to a number of industry parties but this was amazing as the talent totally mingled with everyone and the venue wasn't huge so it felt very intimate. Also there happened to be an open bar as well which is always a score... Definitely a day I'll remember for a very long time.

Angus & Julia Stone

We hosted Australian duo Angus & Julia Stone for a performance and signing. Performances are good for us as it draws in people who wouldn't maybe know who the artist is and if they like what they hear, there's a good chance that they'll buy the record. I was totally blown away by them - Julia's voice is so signature in it's simplicity. They were featured on Perez Hilton that day ironically as he called out their cover of Grease's "You're The One That I Want" as being amazing. Anyway I totally jumped on the bandwagon and bought some stuff off of hmv's digital site. I asked the Sony Music rep for a copy of their last record. Be sure to check them out! Very chill but great melodies and hooks.

Grateful

It's been a few weeks since I've posted but there's been la lot going on so let me share. I'll start off by saying that I think my last post was misinterpreted. Even my mother emailed me with concern that I maybe had given up on love which is not the case at all. I think after the summer I wanted to slow things down a bit and not be out every night. My goal I think was to end up with something by the end of the summer and that didn't exactly work out. It was a test for me to take action and set things up. I didn't feel deflated when I stopped doing so - I just felt like I had enough. The good news I guess is that I am out there again meeting people and seeing what could happen just not as aggressive I was before. Everything just fits right now in my life - I'm grateful for that.

Just this past week I celebrated my 4th anniversary of getting JJ my chihuahua. It's hard for me to remember my bachelor life before him but I am grateful for the experience of having him rule my world. I don't think I had any idea as to what I was signing up for but all the sacrifices have been worth it and the love he has for me far outweighs any burden.

There was a certain buzz among my friends this past week as word got out that I was quoted in Toronto Life magazine's December issue. The publication approached me back in September to talk about hot music that would be coming out in December. Unfortunately nothing comes out musically in December as the labels go into to superdrive and load up the November release schedule. Anyway there was one release that was coming out late enough in November that they were willing to go for which was Mr. Controversy himself Kanye West. It's hard to know a lot about a record nearly 3 months before it comes out and you're lucky even if the 1st single is out. Anyway I had just seen him perform "Runaway" on the MTV awards and it was amazing. It's been a couple years since his last album so the anticipation on "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" I knew would be press worthy. The quote turned out pretty good - i sound like I know what I'm talking about which was my biggest concern as you want to be credible. The album drops this Monday - we'll see if my prediction comes true.

Work has been awesome! We've had in-store events almost every two weeks for the last month or so. Some events were more exciting than others but nonetheless it was a good shake up to the usual. I'll break them up into separate posts so you can see some pictures. We had David Clayton Thomas who is a Canadian music rock icon from the 70's. He was with Blood, Sweat & Tears... anyway he had a book that he wrote to promote and a new record so he came by. Not exactly a huge turnout but it was alright. We followed that by a visit from Greg Graffin who is the lead singer of the band Bad Religion who are punk music pioneers. He also had a book to promote and a new record. We hosted a great Q & A with fans which was very interesting - topics from God to politics to music. The kids were very thrilled to meet him after years of admiration.

We have 2 more events this week that will be awesome too - Kat Von D (tattoo queen) will be signing her new book on Wednesday and ET Canada will be there to do a interview. Then on Thursday Fran Healy who was the lead singer of Travis will be doing a performance and signing. These will be the last events of the year as it's getting quite closer to our peak weeks of the season. My Chemical Romance wanted to come by on Dec. 18th but we had to say no as that is the last Saturday before Christmas... I am really looking forward to seeing what big names we can draw in 2011!