Whilst my beloved Buffalo Bills head north this weekend, I’m in the City of Angels, smilin’ while I’m filein’. If you’re heading west soon, here’s an update of what’s going on in these parts.

JINGLE BELL 'ROQ
While our Edge Electric Xmas Concerts will roll out shows through out the month, KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas packs 16 bands playing their pre approved hits over two days (Dec. 13-14) at the Gibson Amphitheatre. Day one provides the ROQ with The Offspring, Rise Against and our own Three Days Grace on the bill. Day two adds the K with sets from The Cure, Death Cab For Cutie, Vampire Weekend and Franz Ferdinand. The Edge Electric Xmas Concerts series hits its stride on Dec. 9 in Hamilton with Rise Against, Thursday and Sage Francis. Partial proceeds from all Edge Electric shows go to the Daily Bread Food Bank.

Watch: Modest Mouse at last year's KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas:


SIMON SEEN
If you want to go where the stars go to be seen, hit the Ivy Restaurant on Robertson Blvd. On one drive by I spotted playwright Neil Simon and filmmaker Kevin Smith. Smith — whose latest flick, Zack And Miri Make a Porno, features an outstanding soundtrack — brings his one-man bull sessions back to town Feb. 7 at Roy Thompson Hall. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, Dec. 6. Simon was honoured with the 2006 Kennedy Centre Mark Twain Award For American Humour, commemorating an impressive oeuvre that includes The Odd Couple, The Goodbye Girl and The Heartbreak Kid. These and other works are presented annually at the Neil Simon Festival held from July 13-Aug. 15 in Cedar Valley, Utah.



 
CANTER’S SONG
The legendary Canter’s Deli on Fairfax Avenue is home to more than just great matzoh ball soup. Restaurant manager Marc Canter spent the better part of the 1980s documenting the exploits of his best friend and aspiring guitarist Saul Hudson. Little did Canter know that Hudson, known to the world as Slash, would go on to define a generation of hard-rock guitar playing. It’s all captured in the book Reckless Road, which covers the first 50 gigs of Guns N Roses on the Sunset Strip and contains nearly 1,000 never-before-seen photos and interviews with 20 people who were involved with the band through the creation of 1988’s Appetite For Destruction. An online version of the book contains audio and video of the shows and shenanigans of the times. Autographed copies of the book are available at the deli counter.

Email us at: LETTERS@EYEWEEKLY.COM or send your questions to EYEWEEKLY.COM
625 Church St, 6th Floor, Toronto M4Y 2G1