#the garys

[spirituallyquinner]

the garys are back together 😩😭🥹😔🤩😌😘

[forthegothicheroine]

Bandcamp: This band was influenced by spaghetti western soundtracks.

Me:

[thirtytwoelvismovies]

It’s well known that Joy Division was slated to embark on a North American tour the day before Ian Curtis committed suicide on May 19, 1980. The tour would have included a May 25 stop in Toronto at The Edge, a venue booked by the legendary Garys. My friend Gary Topp posted the ticket on FB a few days ago. I can’t stop thinking about it.

We’re inundated with celebrity deaths these days and it’s weird to think of a time when this information wouldn’t have been immediately disseminated. As soon as the news got out, I’m sure indie and college radio stations would have talked about it, but it’s not like there was a constant feed of info cycling into people’s homes. I wonder if this news would have hit the wires, and which of the local papers covered it. Per an archivist friend, no mention of Joy Division on CBC-TV until 1988.

Incidentally, Gary called me this morning about a film he’s promoting, and I couldn’t help but ask about that night. Obviously the tour was cancelled (the surviving members wouldn’t reform until late July, later becoming New Order) and with such little notice, The Garys did not replace the bill that night.

Instead, Gary and his staff stood at the door and gave everyone the bad news. Many people already knew but lots of people didn’t. “It was a really sombre scene,” he told me. What a way to find out.

The Ramones were also playing in town that night, another Garys show.

My first major music death was Kurt Cobain in 1994. I passed my paper route that morning, went to the comic store, then got to my cousin’s place and Much Music was wall-to-wall Nirvana/Kurt coverage.

[digitalrailartist]

Baltimore & Ohio EMD GP38 3841 by Craig Garver Via Flickr: Baltimore & Ohio EMD GP38 3841 at New Castle, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1969. Photographer: The Garys. Scanned from a 2 1/4 x 4 1/4 negative owned by Digital Rail Artist.

[digitalrailartist]

Baltimore & Ohio EMD NW2 9529 by Craig Garver Via Flickr: Baltimore & Ohio EMD NW2 9529 at Cleveland, Ohio, December 8, 1960. Photographer: The Garys. Scanned from a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 negative owned by Digital Rail Aritst.

[digitalrailartist]

St Louis San Francisco EMD GP7 572 by Craig Garver Via Flickr: St Louis San Francisco EMD GP7 572 at St. Louis, Missouri, January 25, 1965. Photographer: The Garys. Scanned from a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 negative owned by Digital Rail Artist.

[digitalrailartist]

Denver & Rio Grande Western EMD GP7 5105 by Craig Garver Via Flickr: Denver & Rio Grande Western EMD GP7 5105 at Denver, Colorado, May 20, 1966. Photographer: The Garys. Scanned from a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 negative owned by Digital Rail Artist.