THE CADRE e 10

Fepruary 22, 2005 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT iota ECMA Update Razzy’s Road House vs. Angels my McKie agree : Contributor

Usually the PEI music scene lies under the radar for the average Islander. This month, however, the local music scene is benefiting from extensive media coverage and recognition. It’s that time of year again, ECMA season. And this

year ECMA 2006 is being hosted in

little old Prince Edward Island, in our capital city of Charlottetown. Local

bands are getting the chance to be.

heard playing at ECMA showcases, no-cases (of which there is one, the ECUA East Coast Unofficial Authorized No-Cases at Hunter’s Ale House), and the o-cases (other showcases organized at various venues) as well as on the ECMA Partnered Stages, the concert series, and the 72 Hour Jam.

No matter what your taste in music there is sure to be a concert for you. From local acts to big names, rap to folk, country to Acadian, jazz to rock, and everything in between, it’s all covered. Many local musicians have been nominated for awards, as well as many bands we’ve all rocked out to at The Wave including: Two Hours Traffic, Matt Mays, Joel Plaskett, The Novaks, The Trews, Sloan, and Wintersleep, to name a few. There are all ages shows as well as 19+, and while some charge admission there are

BREAK THEICE EAST

PR

AWARDS 2006 CHARLOTTETOWN

also many free shows. Whether a concert series, a showcase, a no-case, an O-case, of a songwriters circle, I encourage everyone to make it out to something!

The excitement starts Wednesday night, February 22" with Sound Off —a battle of the bands high school style. Six regional winners will battle it off on the main stage at the Delta hotel starting at 8pm. Thursday, February 23", at 5pm is the Opening Ceremonies at Myron’s, and then straight through to Monday night, February 27", there are hundreds of concerts to experience. The whole affair ends with the Gala Awards Show at the Charlottetown Civic Center at 5:45pm which is being hosted by the Trailer Park Boys.

If you can’t make it out but want to keep up on the news and the action tune in to 90.1 fm around Charlottetown, or the online stream found at both http://radio.upei.ca and the ECMA website. There will be lots of volunteers making sure that many of the concerts will be on air as well getting great live interviews with the artists. For more information on what's

going on check out http:// radio.upei.ca, http://ecma.ca, or The

Buzz.

Pete Grandy Reporter

For those students looking to take a break from the delectable food Chartwells has to offer, look no further. Local restaurants, Razzy’s Road House and Angels, are screaming your name. I will be discussing the pros and cons of both establishments in full detail. So sit back, sharpen your steal, and prepare for a mouthful of delicious reviews. Razzy’s Road House is located on St. Peters Road next to the Ellis Brothers Mall. It’s an extremely popular spot amongst engineering students, so I decided to join a few colleagues one evening. As we entered, I was startled by the lack of drunken gamblers surrounding craps tables. A characteristic one might expect from

cacophonic

a road house. Instead, Razzy’s

resembled a typical clean pub. Slightly disappointed, I observed the menu. Prices ranged from $6-$15 for entrees. I ordered the Greek wrap with a garden salad, which was on special for $6.99. The service was very good and the radio station was pumping out rocking good tunes.

When my meal arrived, I was shocked by the amount of shredded cheddar cheese on my garden salad. Upon further inspection, I realized that this was done in order to hide lack of substance underneath. The salad consisted of iceberg lettuce, a few sheds of purple cabbage, bunched cucumber, and tasteless tomatoes. Three helpings of calorie wise zesty Italian dressing were provided. It wasn’t the most delicious salad I’ve ever eaten, but I had to hand it to the chef for his ‘If it looks shitty, put cheese on it.’ mentality. My Greek wrap, on the other hand, looked delicious. It had a thick and fluffy pita and was packed with the stereotypical Greek ingredients. I took a big bite of my wrap that was oozing with a mysterious To my astonishment, I find that my wrap is completely laced with cheddar cheese.

red oil.

This not only makes me question the authenticity of the Greek wrap but it leads me to believe that cheese must have been on sale this week. Despite its cheese-ridden innards, the wrap was scrumptious. The bill arrived and I just about choked when Razzys’ charged me $1 extra for ordering the garden salad instead of fries... a garden that was likely fertilized by old corpses. I rate Razzy’s Road House 6 out of 9 thumbs up.

Angel’s is located on Belvedere across from the Superstore. As a friend and I entered the restaurant, we waited behind a line that resembled a lineup for BINGO cards at the Lions Club. We were seated at a booth. If you have been to Angel’s you may have noticed that the seats are covered in plastic. I suppose they want their main customer demographic to feel right at home. One of the daily specials was a roast beef wrap with vegetable soup for $5. To remain consistent, I ordered it without hesitation, not to mention I’m a cheap bastard. The food came

‘in no more than 3 minutes. It came so.

fast that I pictured the waitress taking

our order, walking out back to an

assembly line belt bearing different

dishes, waiting for the right dishes to

pass by and then grabbing them. To

my dismay, the soup was only

lukewarm and mostly composed of

potatoes. It was, however, quite tasty.

My humble roast beef wrap was

primarily composed of, incredibly,

shredded cheddar cheese. This gave

me reason to believe that the Atlantic

Dairy Corporation has conspired to

brainwash The Culinary Institute

students into adding an absurd amount a cheese to every dish. The wrap was fair at best but the service was good. You get what you pay for. I also rate

Angel’s 6 out of 9 thumbs up.

To wrap things up, I would recommend either of these restaurants to students. As long as you have a healthy supply of Metamucil readily available.