Over the Edge + October 20, 2010 11 The One and Only B.A. Johnston Shirtless wonder makes his triumphant return to PG DARCIE SMITH ARTS EDITOR The faithful masses of fans gathered at Third on Tuesday, October 5, to once again welcome Hamilton’s B.A. Johnston to our fair city. This was his first time appearing at Third, and the venue was probably the most suited for him to shoot snot rockets onto the floor. Tagging along with him were Winnipeg locals, The Magnificent 7’s, and judging by the quality of their music, they probably borrowed their name from The Clash. The Concerns of Royalty, as usual, opened for their hero once more. Beards were aplenty at this weekday event. The Concerns of Royalty love B.A. Johnston, and it was quite adorable to watch them all sing along and offer their homes for him to rest his weary chud-self. The gentlemen of The Concerns played an excellent set. | have seen them quite a few times, and this was one of my favourite performances. Bassist Cal Hilde was in his prime, grooving all over the place like some sort of amazing, radical dinosaur. Corey Wintemute was sporting a shirt with a character on the front that | am still uncertain about, but it was awesome. The only thing that could have enhanced the appeal of the shirt was if it had come off his body — just like the old times. They finished off their set with my all time favourite track, “End of the Row.” Hilde and lead guitarist Nathan Kelly complimented one another extremely well during that song. Winnipeg’s outlaw-country band, The Magnificent 7’s, blew my mind. There aren’t seven of them, but they can create just as much noise. This band has no need for drums when they’ve got the whole crowd stomping their feet. Ida Sawabe on stand-up bass was the highlight judging by the DARCIE SMITH Top: B.A. Johnston poses outside of 3rd. Left: The Concerns of Royalty kick off the evening. Right: The Mag- nificent 7’s belting out some outlaw country. comments and cheers from the crowd. Her vocal range was impressive, and she possesses a powerful and haunting quality that most female vocalists should envy. It was amazing to see someone so slight in stature belt out such an amazing voice. She shares a similar vocal styling to the Arbitrary’s, Naomi Kavka. After their delightful set, the audience forced an encore out of them. B.A. Johnston then took the stage, gloriously decked out as usual. He snuck up behind the crowd and went running through with his faithful sparklers going. These are usual shenanigans, but the beauty of B.A. is that he always makes it feel like the first time. His shirt came off, snot turned into rockets, his body massaged the floors, and beer was absorbed by his chest hair. Despite all this, B.A. is still incredibly humble. He may be absolutely repulsive on the stage, but when you chat with him after a show, he is really down to earth. If you look close enough, that quality is evidenced in his song writing as well. He does not write about bleeding hearts and suicidal love, but instead puts it in plain, nostalgic language that most of his listeners can relate to. “You’ve got my heart blinking like an old Nintendo; it's never gonna work again” is far more heartbreaking than some of the irritating lines that Katy Perry comes up with. There is so much more to B.A. Johnston than he lets on in his gritty performances. If you haven’t had a chance to check him out, do so soon. Both B.A. and The Magnificent 7’s still have plenty more stops to make on their tour. If you missed them in Prince George, catch them at another time and another place. Online Options Changing how Canadians Watch TV Cable companies blocking cross-border network sharing FLYNN DAUNT EXCALIBUR TORONTO (CUP) — For the first time ever, Canadians are spending more time online than watching television, and online entertainment options are part of the reason. He explained that although the statistics confirm the number of people watching and downloading television videos on the Internet has increased, so, too, have the statistics for the television audience. McCullough believes that this trend won’t completely overtake the old technology.“New technologies, rather than replacing old ones, tend to be incorporated into old technologies,” said McCullough. “Computers nowadays tend to look a lot like ... television programming. The Internet has channels, but just an unlimited number of them.”While these technologies are growing and improving in the United States, however, Canada is a different story. After all, consumers can watch what they want, when they want to. Television watching can coincide with chatting with friends, and the number of commercials is significantly reduced, if not eliminated all together. An Ipsos-Reid study, released in March 2010, found that people between the ages of 18 and 34 spend an average of 20 hours per week online compared to only 13 hours spent watching television. The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission and their strict rules on how Canadians view “The data indicates that not only are people of all ages spending more and more time online, but it also points to a shift in how online Canadians are consuming media and where they are spending their free time,” study author Mark Laver said in a press release. Companies are beginning to take notice of this trend. Google, who just announced plans to launch Google TV in 2011, is trying to combine the best of both worlds by including a web browser for online viewing with the channel-surfing flexibility of a television, making it a completely customizable experience. But, John McCullough, a film studies professor at Toronto’s York University, doesn’t think cable TV is done just yet.“There’s still an audience for television,” he said. outside media are largely blocking these advancements. McCullough said the CRTC has policies designed to prevent American networks from overtaking the Canadian television industry. These policies also allow Canadian programming to flourish. Sites like ComedyCentral.com or MTV.com will either redirect viewers to the Canadian website or block them from watching a video because the IP address is not located in the United States. Hulu, a popular U.S. website that streams shows previously broadcast on American networks, is also blocked in Canada. McCullough said that cable and satellite companies, like Rogers and Bell, also do whatever they can to ensure these new companies have a hard time getting into Canada. SHELBY PETERSEN Sites like TV Shack provide television shows for free. He explained that cable and satellite companies in Canada are so powerful that they can lobby Canadian regulators by saying how much American television will flood the market.“[Canadian cable and satellite companies] own so much that if they go under, then a lot of folks would be screwed,” said McCullough. McCullough adds that these cable and satellite companies also own Canada’s connection to the Internet.“Rogers charges me for my cable, but they also tell me how much | can download now.”