This one is about the worst musical heart break I've ever experienced... I still get a little emotional just thinking about it. :'(
"Come on everybody get loose tonight, throw a hand in the air if ya feelin alright" most of you know this song or are at least familiar with it. This, "Get Loose" along with "Roth Kung Fu" were The Salads first big hits. I didn't take anytime for me to love them, it was instant and easy. I loved ska anyway and these guys were a toned down version of it with all the fun but not as many instruments. Fold A to B never left my stereo.
They made their way out east a few times and I made it a point to attend the show everytime. The first time was at the now defunct Chestnut Club on their Jagermiester tour a show at which my fiances band had the pleasure of playing, back when they were still called El Diablo. The whole show was great, everyone was so full of energy and alcohol. I bought a shirt and I managed to get some pretty great pictures. It was this night that my huge love for The Salads expanded.
Remember how the Chestnut was three floors? Well this night the top floor was for the bands complete with a big screen TV, pool table and a huge spread of alcohol, like buckets of it! I found my way upstairs eventually and somehow lost Breagh on the way. So there we are (by "we" I mean bands, band members girlfriends and random people) hanging out with The Salads, chatting and drinking copious amounts of Jag (which The Salads were sick of by now). A great night for sure.
The next time they came through town I made sure I freed that night on my calendar, there was no way I was going to miss this show. One downfall to the show was that it was being held at Sweetwaters, for whatever reason. But I was still willing to brave hanging out in the worst bar in Fredericton for the Salads. I'm pretty sure the bar and/or the promoters for this show randomly picked where the "stage" would be set up. The band was to play on a lower level of the bar while fans/patrons looked down at them while sitting down. THIS BAR IS NOT CONDUCIVE FOR A ROCK SHOW!! It seemed as though my friends and I were the only ones enjoying the show and letting the music move us. Despite not feeling as though I could really let loose at this show or the next show they played there, I still enjoyed myself because it was The mutha fuckin' Salads!! Oh I almost forgot to mention that shows at Sweetwaters fail miserably in the promotion department.
So after two horrible shows at Sweetwaters I said "fuck it" and decided to get a hold of The Salads and put them in contact with the many promoters I knew in Fredericton. Chuck got back to me and was stoked about getting better shows in the Maritimes. That was in 2005 and they haven't been back since.
In 2006 they released The Big Picture. As soon as it came in the music store I was working at at the time I opened it and played it. As soon as the first track started to play I knew that the Salads I knew and loved were no more, yet I continued to listen thinking that maybe there was a chance that Growing Up was the only track that sounded like Simple Plan. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and let the album play through. I wanted to like this album, I really did 'cause I loved The Salads. They sold out long before this album by selling their songs to Zellers commercials and Dawson's Creek but I was ok with that. Was I was not ok with was they're decision to make a radio-friendly pop-rock shit album. Not only was the music shit, the vocals sounded like some shitty Theory of a Nickel Creed wanna be. It's like they completly forgot about their reggae sound and influences and started only listening to Nickelback (shitty rock) and shitty metal. I could not bring myself to like this album, not even one song or one part/riff of one song. I'm just glad that I didn't go ahead and buy the album before hearing it.
I'm sure they wrote this album to break into the Top 40 and gain themselves a ton of mainstream fans but that didn't even work. Do you hear anything from them now? I don't even think they got medium rotation on the two singles they released. I guess that kind of backfired.
I am obviously getting a little angry writing this so I will leave it at that. Now you know the story of my biggest musical heart break.
Good night.
Banana
