Friday, February 25, 2000 If Toronto's Danko Jones has any character flaws, false humility isn't one of them. "I'm the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be!" he says. No, wait. That's Bret Hart. What Jones says is close: "I really want to let everyone in Edmonton know exactly who's coming to their town. When you see us live, you're going to know that humble is not my middle name on stage. I'm doing this thing for real. I'm here to let everyone know that if you think you know what you're doing when it comes to music, well, I'm sorry, there's someone else who's been doing it a little bit longer and knows a little bit more than you do when it comes to every aspect of rock 'n' roll - and that's me!" Who the hell is this arrogant upstart who thinks - no, knows he's better than everyone else? Backing up Sloan in the Golden Garter Saloon tomorrow night, Danko Jones appears to have the chops to back up his boasts. They aren't even boasts, he says, it's the simple truth. Storming out of Toronto's Queen Street scene with a load of glowing press (similar to that which accompanies every new British band that pops over the pond), Danko Jones has been hailed as the saviour of rock 'n' roll, the real deal, or "the baddest, cruellest, meanest soul man ever to pick up a guitar," as VICE magazine gushes. Seriously, there are pages and pages of these sorts of testimonials. Jones, a voracious music fan who cites Bad Brains as one of his favourite bands and listens to as much hip-hop as he does hard rock, says he purposely spent nearly three years playing live shows before ever putting out a record. "I really wanted to build a reputation as a live act and I felt that anything recorded would diminish that," he says. "I wanted the word to spread so people would come to see us live, because that's what we've been concentrating on for the past three and a half years." As with most idealist notions, the plan to become the world's biggest "non-recording artist" was eventually abandoned. The result, a six-song EP called My Love Is Bold, is but a taste of this band, but it's a spicy one. Danko Jones's music is simple, sexy, visceral, powerful and genuine. The songs are largely about women, direct and sometimes quite explicit. It's a refreshing change from some of the Can-Con rock bands heard lately. Jones, too, seems a bit fed up with it. "Without putting any other bands down, it's definitely being this kind of lukewarm, spoon-fed, generic, safe, asexual kind of rock music that we're been subjected to, I feel. That's good, though, because it lays the groundwork for something new to spark up." Take a wild guess what that something new might be. That's right: Danko Jones. As for the future - and "this is just the beginning," he says - his goals are pretty simple: "I want to be a rock star. I want to get out of limos, I want to have red carpets rolled out when I get out of limos, I want to have paparazzi flashing, I want to pick up Grammy awards, I want to go present MTV music awards, I want to do guest spots on people's records, I want to be on soundtracks, I want to have my own private jet, I want to make videos with Puff Daddy, I want to work with Ozzy Osbourne, I want to do it all, man." One thing for sure: This guy had better be the best thing since Nirvana or he's going to look really foolish. Tickets to Sloan with Danko Jones are $20 and available at Ticketmaster (451-8000). v |
