live streaming

Epic All-Canadian Live Stream featuring Mr. Books

History was made Friday night!

Please welcome Mr. Books himself, Aaron from the KMA.  The subject this week:  Top 11 Canadian albums of all time.  An absolutely epic discussion unfolded with so many different genres being touched upon.  As remarkable as the lists were (five in total), it’s also quite astounding when we talked about all the albums we left out!

Lists submitted by:

  • Derek from Thunder Bay
  • Mr. Books
  • LeBrain
  • Darr
  • Dr. Kathryn Ladano

With Deke coming in from Lake Superior, Aaron from Georgian Bay, and myself on the shore of Lake Huron, we had three massive bodies of water covered.  What should we call ourselves?  The Great Lakes Consortium?

For a look at the shape of streams to come, check out the end of the video.  We brought in Uncle Meat, Rob Daniels from Visions in Sound, and Kevin/Buried On Mars.  While six at a time is a lot, it sure was fun to see everybody together for the first time!

I can’t help but take a little bit of pride in all this.  My very first live stream was March 20, the week lockdown began. Eager to make connections with others in isolation, I hit that “live” button on my Facebook app just to see what would happen. It ended up being a lot of fun and it so happened that others liked it too. A few weeks later, we figured out how to get Uncle Meat to co-host and he came up with the now infamous “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” format.

But there were limitations, because we had to use a Facebook phone app if I wanted to have a co-host.  This reduced the scope of awesome people available to share the screen with me.  Finally Kevin directed me to Streamyard which solved numerous problems.  After months of trying to figure out how to stream to Facebook (where my audience is) without having to use Facebook, Streamyard worked.  For the first time after many months of trying, Aaron has finally co-hosted a show.  A milestone!  So yeah, I’m proud of myself and proud of the awesome friends who have co-hosted along the way.  We made something here that is catching on with people.  I owe Meat a huge debt for being the first co-host and coming up with the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten concept.

Look at the first stream below, and look where we are now.  We’ve come a long way.

O Canada! Friday Live Streamin’ returns with “Maple” flavoured lists!

The list format returns!  It’s another “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten”, and this time it’s a doozy.  How do you narrow down the top albums from an entire country, and arrange them on a list?  I dunno, but there are some of us that are going to try.  Wish us luck.

How you get in on the mayhem?  It’s easy.  Just go to Facebook: MikeLeBrain on Friday August 14 at 7:00 pm E.S.T.  There you can participate in the fun with your commentary, as we count down…

THE TOP 11 CANADIAN ALBUMS OF ALL TIME

No greatest hits; all genres permitted.  A monster of a task indeed.  Four lists have been submitted.  Co–hosts have been booked.  If all goes according to plan (which it should due to an hour-long test stream last week) we will have two of the most knowledgeable Canadian music fans on board for what promises to be an epic discussion.

Join me tonight at 7:00 pm E.S.T., eh?

Casual Saturday Bonus Test Guest Stream starring Mr. Books and Sarca Sim!

Gratitude to Kevin / Buried On Mars for helping me get started with Streamyard.  Thanks to the insightful Mr. Mars, and thanks to the perseverance of Mr. Books, today we accomplished a few goals:

  1. Successfully test streamed with the one and only Aaron of the KMA on board, full video and audio, for the first time ever.
  2. Added a third participant.  The test volunteer today was the awesome Sarca from Caught Me Gaming!
  3. Cleared up some other issues when streaming with a co-host, such as mirrored images and working from a PC.

This test stream went on for an hour as our impromptu chat developed.  We talked music, guitars, the Community, Covid, school, Paul Rudd, and Skip the Dishes.  This little unofficial bonus episode is now available for you to watch below.  But the significance is huge to me.  Now I can have up to five additional co-hosts on future shows.  The game has changed.  The sky is the limit!

 

VOTE:

Does Aaron look like Paul Rudd?

The Music of 1980: In Depth Stream and Analysis

Thanks to Rob Daniels for this episode’s title!  This week, I took a trip back to 1980 to discuss some 40 year old albums, in a little more depth than usual.  We each chose three to reminisce on.  There are dozens of critical albums we could have picked from that year, so we each chose three that we important to us on a personal level.

The stories flow like beer, and the laughter can be heard from one side of Ontario to the other.  Join us as Mike mocks the Leafs and talks music.

Points of interest:

To start with some unboxings, go to 0:02:55 of the stream

The 1980 retrospective starts at 0:09:45 in the stream.

Attention:  Geoff Stephen!!  0:14:00.

For the Back In Black shenanigans skip to 1:28:20.

There’s some audio lag on the latter part of the video; sorry about that.  I hope you enjoy this chat as much as we did!

Nostalgia Stream – Full Video

That was intense!  What follows is two hours of stories, friendship, music, hardship, music, childhood, Record Store Tales, music, and emotion.  I don’t think I’ll be able to do a show like this one again.  But I’m glad I did it and thank you for watching.

This episode may not be for everyone and I will warn you right from the start that there are some serious heavy, raw emotions about to outpour.  This is your trigger warning.  There is very little in this live stream that I have not written about in the past so if you have been reading Record Store Tales and Getting More Tale, then you’re all caught up anyway.

Nostalgia Stream Friday

It has been a heck of a week here at LeBrain HQ and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.  This week’s theme was suggested by Superdekes (I hope he doesn’t start sending me bills for all his ideas).  I’m calling this one the Nostalgia Stream because, once again, we’re talking about the 80s.  Music will be heavily involved, but what does that have to do with events of this week?  You’ll find out tonight at 7:00 PM E.S.T.

There will be no lists, no notes.  I’ll be freestyling it like I did the first couple shows, but all within the framework of this week’s theme.  I’m really excited about this one.  Expect the usual fun and frivolity, and hopefully lots of interaction.  It’s the usual time and place at Facebook:  Michael Ladano.

Complete 80s KISS live stream! From Unmasked to H.I.T.S., unboxings and surprises!

You gotta give Aaron from the KMA credit for several things.  One, for bringing the Community together.  Two, for his thoughtful and generous nature.  And three, apparently, for clairvoyance.

Long before I decided on this week’s KISS theme, Aaron sent me a birthday gift.  You won’t believe it.  Clairvoyance?  Obviously!

This was an action-packed show and to help you navigate, here are the highlights:

I included the pre-show portion of the stream in this video.  To hear two awesome Max the Axe tunes, “My Daddy Was a Murderin’ Man” and “Magnum P.I.“, go to 0:01:20 of the stream.

For the epic Aaron Unboxing, check out 0:12:20 of the stream.

To begin 80s KISStory, go to 0:18:20 and rock!

For a sneak preview of a comedy bit that I recorded for Sausagefest 2020 (spoiler free), skip to 0:25:00.

To check out a host of cool ReAction figures, go to 1:26:00.  They Live, Ghost’s Papa Emeritus, Aliens, and the Transformers.

Or just enjoy the whole dang thing.

Friday Solo Stream – 80s KISS!

The rest of the gang has the weekend off, giving me the opportunity to go solo, just like Peter Criss did in 1980!  Join me Friday July 24 at 7:00 PM E.S.T. for this week’s live show.

We will be discussing 80s !  From Unmasked to H.I.T.S. and everything in between.  Am I still wrong on Unmasked?  Has my opinion changed further since my 2017 re-review?  80s Kiss is such a rich subject, with multiple lineup changes and a steady stream of polarizing music.  I hope you will enjoy and participate in the topics I have lined up.

As an added BONUS there will also be a birthday unboxing!  Who is this parcel from?  You know him and love him too.  Suffice to say he always sends something interesting….

Join me at 7:00 PM E.S.T. for your thrills in the night.  Facebook: Michael Ladano

 

Lead Singer’s Disease: Live Stream on the LeBrain Train

A great time was had by all, as I tackled the fallout of the 1990s in Lead Singer’s Disease: a live stream about all the singers and bands that parted ways in that decade.  Motley Crue, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Anthrax and Skid Row are the focus.

Some minor technical issues could not hamper a great discussion.  Enjoy the show!

Live Streamin’ Weekend: Lead Singer’s Disease

Tune in tonight for another Live Streamin’ Weekend!

Forgoing the list format, it’s open discussion with your feedback.  This week’s subject is called “Lead Singer’s Disease” and we will be discussing the tumultuous 1990s and the lead singers that found themselves replaced in major rock bands.  From Motley to Maiden, some of these singers were fired, replaced, then those replacements were fired, and on and on!  The 1990s were utter chaos.  One minute your favourite band were releasing a new album, next minute the singer is gone.  I will be revisiting this era with bands you knew about and a few you forgot.

There will also be, with any luck, improved audio due to a new microphone that tested out well in a test stream.  There might even be visual effects!

Join us tonight.  Facebook:  Michael Ladano

 

Last week’s show: