January
Band Swap VI Review
Band Swap is the social event of the season for Saskatoon. Not only does it bring in a sellout crowd every year but it happens during the Christmas season crush, when everyone who pitifully moved away slinks back to their hometown for another piss-up before heading back to whatever big city they decided to go to college at.
Lugo Review
Lugo, the mysteriously-named one-night-only festival at the Mendel Art Gallery, has established itself as a local black tie affair that caters to those who don’t think twice about sneaking in purse vodka and pocket Boh.
Saskatoon’s Vive Announces They Are No More
When Saskatoon’s promotion concern vive announced their disbandment – including the cancellation of the perennially popular vivefest – the Internet went apeshit. And while Ominocity, and pretty much every other person in Saskatoon who cares remotely about indie rock, mourned the lost, we all acknowledge that it was a cool thing while it lasted.
February
Dirt, Powder Blue and Reform Party Show Review
It’s always exciting when new local bands descend on Saskatoon like rabid raccoons on an alleyway grease trap. And with the debut of two new groups, Dirt and Powder Blue, this show at Amigos held a capacity crowd pretty much all night. Check out the videos for each band.
Village Guitar & Amp Co. feat. Massey & the Fergusons Party Review
Everyone likes a party, and Saskatoon’s newest music gear store Village Guitar & Amp Co. know how to throw a banger. Aside from some sweet performances, including locals Massey & the Fergusons, Village thoughtfully stuffed their guests full of free cheese and beer from Paddock Wood. Total banger.
Five rules to making a sexy Valentine’s Day playlist
Ominocity received a couple of complaints about this one – so why didn’t we provide an example of our own sexy Valentine’s Day playlist? Simple. We aren’t giving out any of our top secret moves. Screw that. Go figure out how to get laid on your own.
March
Top Five Songs About Saskatoon
Shortly after publication, this article went viral – kind of hilarious considering some of the songs aren’t necessarily flattering. However lots of audience members chimed in with their own suggestions which inspired Songs About Sasktoon: Reader’s Choice.
OMFEST in Review: Band Photos
Huge thanks to our talented photographer Raisa Pezderic for making the bands at OMFEST look as awesome as they sounded.
Father Figures Now Known As Castle River
Still not sold on the new name but as Matt Voyno said in his blog The New Rockstar Philosophy “are your fans here for your name or your music?” Pretty much nailed it.
April
John K. Samson Video Review
Our video review of John K. Samson’s show at Amigos got a huge boost thanks to the Weakerthans’ posting a link on their website. Even more flattering, Mr. Johnny K’s label Epitaph – who put out some of my favourite records way back when I was 14 – gave us a Tweet shout-out.
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa… No More Mosh Pits?
When Brandon Mack of Envisage wrote this article for us, we had no idea it would pull in Google traffic pretty much every day of people searching the word “mosh”.
Saskatoon’s Top Five Least Google-able Bands
For some reason everyone really seems to like the articles where we crap on good people doing good things. You guys know that we’re joking, right?
May
Mazzfest Returns to Saskatoon
Mazzfest, a hardcore festival now in its third year, busted out the floorpunches, the spinkicks and the wall of death. And everyone had a really, really nice time.
Kay the Aquanaut “Yep… The Sky Is Falling” Exclusive MP3 Download
Hip-hop artist Kay the Aquanaut, along with his rock band the Reform Party, have given Ominocity plenty of gems for our viewers to download, making us eternally grateful for their generosity. And since “generosity” and “Ominocity” kind of rhyme, we would also also like to point out that “Kay” rhymes with “Best of May”. So there you have it.
Festival Review: Sask Music Festivals of the Past
Another trip-down-memory-lane article that everyone seems to love, this article was a precursor to the many, many festivals that are currently happening in Saskatchewan.
June
GrilledCheesaPolooza: Review
My favourite show of the year may have been GrilledCheesaPolooza in Kindersley, SK. because I got drunk in a small town, watched bands and ate grilled cheese sandwiches with local RCMP officers.
Scratch Closes Its Doors
Saskatoon nightclub Scratch quietly closed its doors with no explanation other than a vague farewell from venue owner Neil Malik, who announced the club’s closure on Facebook. As 2012 draws to a close the space remains abandoned.
MoSo: Festival & Conference Photo Essay
This year’s MoSo Festival & Conference blew minds across Saskatoon and Ominocity was lucky to enough to go out and capture a small piece of it via photo and video. Can’t wait until next year’s MoSo!
July
Man dies at Saskatoon’s The Fez
A 27-year-old man died after falling down the stairs at The Fez, located on the 800 block of Saskatoon’s Broadway Ave, on July 26. Still makes me sad whenever I think about this one.
Ominocity’s Guide to Dating Musicians
The next time you get hot for some guitar slinging dreamboat remember to weight your pros and cons before deciding to make “sweet music” with him or her. And by music I mean love.
Touring Musicians Robbed of Gear in Saskatoon
Bright Light Social Hour, a touring psych-soul-blues rock band from Austin, Texas, had thousands of dollars of equipment stolen from them when two males in a grey 2000′s Dodge Caravan popped the vehicle door lock in the parking lot of The Centre Mall.
August
Being in a Band Ruined My Life: Essay
Mentally totaling all the money that I’ve spent on guitar strings over the past decade makes my testes shrivel. I probably could have bought a Ferrari or something instead of being in a band.
Ghost Town, Saskatchewan: Photo Essay
The story that started it all – people went sort of apeshit over our Ghost Town, Saskatchewan series. Some dude even told us that we should do a book on it. Any publishers want in on this?
Exclaim Magazine Somehow Forgets about Saskatchewan in Latest Issue
The best part about calling out Exclaim on leaving out Saskatchewan? Editor James Keast actually took notice and responded in our comments section. Still waiting to hear back on those story ideas I pitched him though.
September
How Much Money Do Bands Make From Streaming Music Services Like Spotify?
Our article on Spotify, a subscription-based music streaming service, blew up like crazy after both nerds and musicians struggled to comprehend if you could actually make money as a small-time indie musician. The juury is still out on that one.
Paddock Wood Suffers Beer Backlash
Paddock Wood, a local beer brewer, faced backlash after opening their own downtown pub, The Woods Alehouse. Several pubs discontinued carrying Paddock Wood products citing that the brewer positioned themselves as competition.
The Sheepdogs Release Fourth Full-Length Album: Review
For their new album, The Sheepdogs worked with the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney and Austin Scaggs, who penned the infamous Rolling Stone magazine article that simultaneously shot the group into super stardom and irked some local loudmouths.
October
McNab Park – a Ghost Town within Saskatoon: Photo Essay
When I was 14-years-old I was introduced to McNab Park, an old military housing area, via a girlfriend, who also introduced me to cigarettes and sneaking into hotel pools. Retrospectively, I was probably as afraid of her as I was her neighbourhood, which was only half slummy back in the ’90s.
Ominocity Asks the Tough Questions to Saskatoon Electorial Candidates
Did you know that the mayor of Saskatoon’s favourite band is Celine Dion? We didn’t either, but we are really glad we asked.
Ominocity’s Farewell Letter to the Traffic Bridge
On October 4, 2012, the City of Saskatoon began dismantling the Traffic Bridge aka Victoria Bridge. It was not an easy goodbye. Even in near death it was the best bridge in Saskatoon.
November
Saskatoon Musician Passes Away After Falling Into Coma
More heartbreak befell the local music scene after Chad Postnikoff, drummer of Saskatoon metal band Wrathed, passed away on Oct. 31 after falling into a coma.
Ominocity’s Guide To Saskatoon’s Cheapest Meals
It’s getting harder to find a decent cheap meal in this city but with a little digging a decent plate of grub can still be found in the princely price range of $5 or so.
Ominocity’s Guide to Concerts at SaskPlace
This is hands down my favourite piece that local radio whiz and pundit Craig Silliphant has ever produced. And a whole bunch of people agreed – call it SaskPlace!
December
Terrible Dating Advice With Matt & Amber
Matt and Amber are two dateless wonders who bestow smarmy dating advice that somehow makes sense and is funnier than an icy wiener. Feel free to email us with any dating questions you may have and we’ll pass it on.
The Best of 2012: Saskatchewan’s Music Scene
Factor toured Japan, Shooting Guns got a nod from the Polaris Music Prize, The Sheepdogs toured with John fucking Fogerty and a whole bunch of new bands started and recorded albums. And everyone is recording new albums for 2013. Whew.
Ominocity’s Twelve Best Photos of 2012
Ominocity has some really amazing friends that help us out with making this site look pretty: huge shout outs to our contributors for this article, including Dana Durell, Jade Bugera, Raisa Pezderic, Joanna Graves and April Nechvatel. Thanks buds.