Bellone's Music
446 York Street N6B 1R2 London, ON, Canada

THE HISTORY OF THE EMBASSY HOTEL (Originally The Sunnyside Hotel) Alex Hassan, an early member of the London, Ontario Muslim community, arrived in Canada circa... WWI. He and his brother worked in a leather tannery on Hyman street in London. They later opened a grocery store, and in 1947 they bought a steel fabricating business, naming it Hassan Steel. The business is still in the family to this day. Originally built in the early 1900's, Hassan opened the 44-room 'Sunnyside Hotel' in 1936. He later sold the hotel business to his brother, and it was renamed 'The Embassy Hotel' in 1957. During the 1960s, there was a popular 'greasy spoon' type restaurant on the immediate left/West side of The Embassy. It was attached to the hotel and was called "Lucky's Open Kitchen." Helen Haller and her husband Egon bought the hotel in 1977, and it remained solely a hotel until 1981, at which time live music was introduced as the Embassy's main entertainment. Although the clubs original focus was on country music, local London punk bands like '63 Monroe' made some appearances. International alternative acts were also attracted to the venue, such as the legendary band 'Black Flag'. The club was even mentioned in Henry Rollins' book "Get In The Van". In 1983, artist Jamelie Hassan, along with her partner/artist Ron Benner and Jazz musician Eric Stach, founded the Embassy Cultural House (ECH) in the restaurant portion of the hotel. The ECH was an artist run space, and was in operation from 1983 to 1990. Over 10 artists and curators associated with the project later went on to receive Governor General Awards for Visual and Media Arts. In 1990, The Embassy Hotel switched music formats and began showcasing various bands from different genres like indie, hip hop, rock, folk, jazz, punk, hardcore, blues, etc. In 2001, The Embassy was sold to Gary and Brandon Walters. To help the transition be as smooth as possible, they decided to keep the format the same in both rooms. After noticing the sound quality was lacking, they promptly upgraded the audio systems and made many other changes to better help the clientele, and to promote a more comfortable atmosphere. Every show at The Embassy was licensed 'all ages' so no fans would be unable to attend due to age restrictions. The clubs stage was located close to the front door and only had one step up, which was very accessible compared to other venues. Also, 100% of the merchandise sales would go to the bands. Aside from quality live music, The Embassy also now featured two fully serviced bars: the "Main Room", which had a capacity of 300 (400 with the patio open) and the "Whippet Lounge", which had a capacity of 100. There were band rehearsal rooms available for rent on the second floor, an on site restaurant, a pool table, a pinball machine, easy access to a main LTC bus line, free parking out back, and the London U-Need-A Cab cab company located right across the street. Many legendary international punk/alt rock acts played The Embassy stage during the 90's and early/mid 2000's, as well as wildly popular Canadian bands. Groups such as: NOFX, The Misfits, The Melvins, The Queers, Guided By Voices, GOB, Social Distortion, Hot Water Music, Sick Of It All, Type O Negative, Fishbone, Dio, Goldfinger, Hatebreed, Everclear, No Use For A Name, Cannibal Corpse, Reel Big Fish, System Of A Down, Superchunk, Sum 41, Bif Naked, Stereophonics, 3 Doors Down, Finger Eleven, Silverstien, Less Than Jake, Bane, Daughters, Circle Takes The Square, Propagandhi, Alexisonfire, Everytime I Die, As I Lay Dying, Motion City Soundtrack, MeWithoutYou, and Protest the Hero. On February 28, 2009 the hotel shut down to convert into a 150 unit condo project, but two months after closing a suspicious fire gutted the hotel, and it was demolished. The condo project also faced a financial collapse, and for ten years the site was an eyesore abandoned lot in London's Old East Village. In 2022, Indwell, a Hamilton-based faith-based agency devoted to affordable housing, will open "Embassy Commons". The name is a tribute to the Embassy Hotel's landmark status and local history. FOLLOW www.instagram.com/LondonOntarioHistory for more. PHOTOS: 1. Front of hotel, 1980s 2. Front of hotel, 1980s 3. Beaver Room, 1980s 4. Cultural House Gallery & Restaurant, 1980s 5. Sunnyside Lounge (Main Room), 1980s 6. Front of hotel, 1980s 7. Main floor-plan 8. Front of hotel, date unknown 9. Front of hotel, 1990 10. Top floor-plan 11.Front of hotel, 1980s 12. Black Flag poster, 1984 13. Enemy Soil, 1996 14. Ronnie James Dio w/ owner Helen, 1997 15. Marquee, 1997 16. Hotel fire, 2009 17. London Free Press article, 2009 18. Condo redevelopment, 2022 19. Condo redevelopment, 2022

FOREST CITY LONDON MUSIC AWARDS GALA PART 1 Hosted by CBC Radio’s The Debaters Steve Patterson LIVESTREAM EVENT FOREST CITY LONDON MUSIC AWARDS FACEBOOK PAGE... Awards Presented night ONE Tribute Cover Producer of the Year Contributor Live Venue Budweiser Gardens Unifor Canada Turner Drug Store Ltd London Tourism, Ontario, Canada London Arts Council London Heritage Council London Music Hall City of London, Ontario - Municipal Government London Music Hall of Fame Museum London Framing & Art Centre M&T Printing Group Classic Rock 98.1 MusicOntario CANADA IS ALIVE WITH MUSIC Ontario Creates Ontario Independent Music Archive Music Association of Canada James Reaney London Musicians Association MNP Music Industry Arts - Fanshawe College OIART Don Wright Faculty of Music - Western University FULL PETTY FEVER Hunger City David Bowie Music Dave's NOT HERE The Def Bombs The Groove Station Kevin's Bacon Train @letters from hawthorne Darin J. Addison @Ryan Labreche Bob Klein @Corinne Marshal @marion smith @tyler Stewart Saidat Kyle Thomas Ashbourne King Crash - Mesa Deni Gauthier You Don’t Get My Love Sarah Smith @Matt Grady Will and A Way @The Pairs Alex Macey Don’t Like Me - Casper Marcus Michael Marucci - Producer/Mixer/Engineer The Trees - Brett Kingswell Robert Nation Sarina Haggartyy - Want you So Bad The Aeolian @Eastside Bar & Grill Fitzray's Restaurant & Lounge London Music Hall Old East 765 Bar and Grill Palasad Socialbowl The Rec Room London Masonville The Richmond Tavern Rum Runners Union Ten Distilling Co. https://www.facebook.com/ForestCityLondonMusicAwards/

FOREST CITY LONDON MUSIC AWARDS GALA PART 1 Hosted by CBC Radio’s The Debaters Steve Patterson LIVESTREAM EVENT FOREST CITY LONDON MUSIC AWARDS FACEBOOK PAGE... Awards Presented night ONE Tribute Cover Producer of the Year Contributor Live Venue Budweiser Gardens Unifor Canada Turner Drug Store Ltd London Tourism, Ontario, Canada London Arts Council London Heritage Council London Music Hall City of London, Ontario - Municipal Government London Music Hall of Fame Museum London Framing & Art Centre M&T Printing Group Classic Rock 98.1 MusicOntario CANADA IS ALIVE WITH MUSIC Ontario Creates Ontario Independent Music Archive Music Association of Canada James Reaney London Musicians Association MNP Music Industry Arts - Fanshawe College OIART Don Wright Faculty of Music - Western University FULL PETTY FEVER Hunger City David Bowie Music Dave's NOT HERE The Def Bombs The Groove Station Kevin's Bacon Train @letters from hawthorne Darin J. Addison @Ryan Labreche Bob Klein @Corinne Marshal @marion smith @tyler Stewart Saidat Kyle Thomas Ashbourne King Crash - Mesa Deni Gauthier You Don’t Get My Love Sarah Smith @Matt Grady Will and A Way @The Pairs Alex Macey Don’t Like Me - Casper Marcus Michael Marucci - Producer/Mixer/Engineer The Trees - Brett Kingswell Robert Nation Sarina Haggartyy - Want you So Bad The Aeolian @Eastside Bar & Grill Fitzray's Restaurant & Lounge London Music Hall Old East 765 Bar and Grill Palasad Socialbowl The Rec Room London Masonville The Richmond Tavern Rum Runners Union Ten Distilling Co. https://www.facebook.com/ForestCityLondonMusicAwards/

So, despite the zoning standing up to multiple appeals, and with the written support of both neighborhood schools in support of Carepoint, the scumbags at Farhi Holdings and Drewlow continue to try to influence through the back door. See below

This Saturday August 29th , grab your axe and head to the porch

This Saturday August 29th , grab your axe and head to the porch

To Dr. Anthony Fauci Dear Dr. Fauci, I’ve painted your portrait to honor you and all you are doing for us and for the world. It will be a part of my second art ...exhibit of Mischief Makers, paintings of people who have made meaningful social change without the use of violence. I don’t imagine you’ve ever thought of it this way, but you are engaging in nonviolent resistance every time you stand in front of the cameras and attempt to educate the public on how to survive the Covid-19 pandemic. You cheerfully continue your task, surrounded by people who are dreaming up every way possible to discredit you and what you bring to us: common sense, scientific facts, some warmth, a bit of humor, and towering moral fortitude. Telling the truth is out of favor with the rich and powerful, particularly these days. You speak truth to their dominion. You take a big risk in doing so. Corragio, Dr. Anthony Fauci! If my friends and I can ever be of help to you, you need only let us know. We’ve got your back. Sincerely, Joan Baez

Hannes Coetzee, an aloe tapper from South Africa, playing his song "Mahalla" using a teaspoon slide in his mouth.

EDIT: He passed today just after 3pm local time, with Brian Wilson playing (random shuffle, a great and powerful coincidence we will hold close to our hearts fo...rever.) Today is the day we say goodbye to our father Greg Simpson . Please keep us in your thoughts and know we see your well wishes; he took a turn for the worse overnight and his wish was to go peacefully when the time came. We will reach out to everyone we can in time, but we're processing a mountain of grief right now.

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