When U2 went on tour in support of their Pop album, the PopMart show featured some pretty wild stage props to accompany a giant arch that housed the sound system. One of those props was a giant 40-foot-tall metal lemon adorned with mirrors to make it look like a huge disco ball.

At one point in the show, the lemon would lower from the stage and then crack open to reveal the band inside for the next part of the set. When it worked, it was impressive. When it didn’t—well, it got rather embarrassing. On two occasions, once in Oslo and Norway, the lemon’s hydraulics jammed, and the band was trapped inside.

The result each time was many minutes of roadies frantically trying to crack the lemon with crowbars so the show could continue.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

In early 2017, I did a three-part series called “The Rise and Fall and Rise of Blink-182.” The goal was to chronicle the band from their very beginning through all the troubles with Tom DeLonge and their return with Matt Skiba in Tom’s place.

It was an interesting narrative arc and, at the time, looked as if this lineup would be the future of the band. Well, no—that’s not what happened.

Matt replaced Tom in March 2015. There was an album called “California” that became the group’s second number one album on the Billboard 200 and their first in the UK. There was a single called “Bored to Death,” and it was the biggest thing they’d done in years.

The album and the single both went gold. The album was nominated for a Grammy. And there was a massive world tour that drew in millions. Fantastic comeback story, right? Smooth sailing after that. New lineup, no more problems, continued superstardom.

Well, no. It looked like it when those episodes were released, but that’s not how things proceeded. Oh, Blink-182 is still doing fine, but there were some twists to the story. In fact, things have changed so much that we’ve got to look at the situation again. It’s time to catch up with Blink-182.

Songs heard on this show:

• • Blink-182, Bored to Death
  • Blink-182, Home is Such a Lonely Place
  • Angels & Airwaves, Timebomb
  • Simple Creatures, Drug
  • Blink-182, Blame It On My Youth
  • Blink-182, Edging
  • Blink-182, I Miss You (Live at Coachella)
  • Blink-182, One More Time
  • Blink-182, You Don’t Know What You’ve Got

Eric  The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on these stations.

• • 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
  • Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
  • Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
  • 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
  • FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
  • Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
  • 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
  • Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
  • The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 9am and 9pm
  • The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10anm and 10pm
  • The Goat Network/Interior BC
  • Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
  • WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

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© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A hundred years ago, radios were still rare and valuable things. In 1926, the Woodhaven area of New York was plagued by the “radio burglar,” a criminal who broke into people’s homes just to steal their expensive radios. There was something of a panic among the population.

One night in March, a cop named Arthur Kennedy was on patrol when he encountered the thief carrying something bulky under a blanket. When asked about it, the man fired a gun through the pocket of his overcoat, striking Officer Kennedy. He survived, but this intensified the search for the culprit.

When the thief was encountered again, he shot and killed a detective. A chase followed, and another cop was shot and killed.

Finally, in April, using tips found through a pawn shop, Paul Emmanuel Hilton was arrested, charged, convicted, and executed in the electric chair.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

When speaking of 7-inch singles, we say that the big song is on the A-side (side one). The other side of the record—the B-side—is often just a placeholder or throwaway track. But not always. Sometimes the B-side turns out to be the bigger of the two songs.

• For example, The Smiths’ most famous song is probably “How Soon is Now.” That started life of a B-side.
• “Dear God,” a massive hit for XTC, began as a B-side.
• Same thing with Pearl Jam’s “Yellow Ledbetter,” “Acquiesce” from Oasis, and “Landslide” from The Smashing Pumpkins.
• My favourite, though, is Green Day’s “Good Riddance” (Time of Your Life).” Its first appearance was as a B-side to the song “Brain Stew.”

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

There are many stories associated with Nirvana’s music, including one that enraged a US president.

The group’s 1993 album, In Utero, featured the song “Rape Me.” Since Nevermind, Kurt Cobain was getting increasingly agitated and enraged by all the salacious stories being published about himself, Courtney Love, and the band in general. He poured all that resentment into “Rape Me,” which he also characterized over and over again as an anti-rape song.

But that’s not how some people interpreted things. That included President George W. Bush. One day, he found his daughter, Jenna, playing the album just as “Rape Me” came on. He was so freaked out that he took the CD out of her Sony DiscMan and broke it over his leg.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Most musicians are happy playing a show in a club, theatre, or arena from a stage. Others are not.

• For example, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto performed on piano in the exclusion zone around the area created by the giant earthquake in Japan in 2011. His performance took place the following year.
• In 2016, a pianist named Ludovico Einaudi had a grand piano set up on a floating iceberg in the Arctic Ocean in a melding of music and climate change. ‘
• In 2025, a French cello player played an event while suspended from a zip line hundreds of feet in the air in the French Alps.
• My favourite is Metallica’s gig for scientists at the Carlini Research Station in Antarctica. That made them the first artist to perform on all seven continents.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

After years of planning and preparation, Toronto’s opening FIFA World Cup match is now just 100 days away.

On June 12 at 3 p.m., tens of thousands will descend on Exhibition Place to watch Canada play their first game of the international soccer tournament.

Their opponent, however, is still to be decided. Matches in late March will determine if Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Northern Ireland will compete in that game.

Through the rest of June and the first week of July, Toronto will also host matches featuring countries such as Ghana, Germany, Croatia and Senegal.

The city’s final match will be a Round of 32 game on July 2.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose government is putting $97 million toward hosting the competition, said provincial funds would help with the cost of health care and security.

“We committed almost $100 million to make sure that we attract everyone from around the world for FIFA. It’s going to be incredible. A  big chunk of that is going to be security, another chunk of it — when you have hundreds of thousands of visitors — is health care. The hospitals are going to need support,” Ford said at an unrelated event on Monday.

“Toronto, Ontario, is on the map. People from around the world are coming here.”

Roughly $100 million will also come from the federal government, while the City of Toronto is paying the remaining $170 million-plus for the games.

The city will lead work with FIFA to prepare Toronto for the World Cup.

Staff expect to see traffic get at least 10 per cent worse on downtown corridors during the competition, particularly around the final game, and are considering limiting parking options as well as imposing road closures or construction bans to ensure people can get around.

Toronto will also lean heavily on its streetcar network to get people to and from the games, with the TTC currently in a race to get Bathurst Street ready to handle thousands of soccer fans.

The streetcar on Bathurst feeds into the area beside BMO Field Stadium and is at the centre of Toronto’s plan to move thousands around. To do so, officials are looking to massively ramp up service along the line.

The route was designated as a RapidTO project, along with the Dufferin Street bus, last year to create red-painted priority lanes where transit can run without being interrupted by cars. Headways will also be increased so streetcars run roughly every five minutes during the FIFA celebrations.

In order to accommodate that, the city is testing the power grid to ensure overhead systems will be able to handle the increased service.

The city is set to announce its full traffic plan sometime in March and will hold a free celebration Tuesday evening to mark 100 days until the games kick off.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs put a positive spin on their fourth straight loss since the Olympics.

The Maple Leafs gained a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, but they will enter their final 21 regular-season games seven points out of a playoff position.

But the Boston Bruins, the team that holds down the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, have played two fewer games than the Maple Leafs.

“We’re just trying to stay positive,” Toronto forward Dakota Joshua said. “It’s a tough time for our group.”

Last season, the Montreal Canadiens snatched the eighth and final playoff spot in the East with 91 points. That means the Maple Leafs need a minimum of 27 points in their final 21 games to have hope of securing a post-season berth.

Joshua revealed that different Toronto players have stepped up with words of wisdom in the hopes of shaking the Maple Leafs out of a funk that has seen them lose 10 of their last 13 outings.

“It’s about sticking together,” Joshua said. “It’s about finding a way.”

Joshua scored the Maple Leafs’ first goal before 18,255 at Scotiabank Arena in his third game back after missing two months with a lacerated kidney. The 29-year-old left-winger from Dearborn, Mich., admitted that it has been difficult to get his wind back.

“I’m feeling better every game,” he said.

The goal was Joshua’s first since he scored the game-winner at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 16.

Toronto head coach Craig Berube shuffled his lines in an attempt to get his team a much-needed win. Nicolas Roy, between Joshua and Matias Maccelli, was an effective trio, providing the home team with some physicality.

“Since (Joshua has) come back, he’s been pretty good,” Berube said. “I thought he did a lot of good things again tonight. Other than the goal, even though it was a great shot, good play. For me, he’s being that heavy, physical player that we need a good job for us.”

Berube also put his two best offensive players, captain Auston Matthews and William Nylander, together on a line with Bobby McMann. While Nylander scored the tying goal with 2:30 remaining in regulation on the power play, Matthews extended his season-high goalless streak to eight games.

“I thought they were good,” Berube said. “Auston had eight shots. Willie had (four). They created. They just didn’t finish.”

The Maple Leafs’ busy post-Olympic schedule continues on Wednesday and Thursday for their fifth and sixth outings in nine days against the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, respectively.

“That’s kind of like our blueprint,” Berube said in his analysis of the shootout loss to the Flyers. “We did a lot of good things tonight. We’ve got to go out to Jersey and do the same thing.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras scored in a shootout and the visiting Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2, extending the hosts’ losing streak to four games on Monday.

William Nylander scored on the Maple Leafs’ first shootout attempt, but Auston Matthews and Max Domi failed to convert.

Noah Cates converted a pass from Bobby Brink with 5:18 remaining in regulation time to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead, only to see Nylander slam in a John Tavares’ feed on the power play with 2:30 left before 18,255 at Scotiabank Arena.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube adjusted his lines, with the most notable move the pairing of captain Matthews alongside Nylander.

Toronto’s Dakota Joshua scored the game’s opening goal at 15:22 of the first period, knocking in a pass from Matias Maccelli. It was Joshua’s first goal since returning last week after missing two months with a lacerated kidney.

Flyers centre Christian Dvorak scored the equalizer three minutes later on the power play, sweeping home a loose puck in front.

Toronto outshot the Flyers 31-25, with Anthony Stolarz making 23 saves and Philadelphia’s Dan Vladar countering with 29 stops.

The Flyers have won three in a row.

TAKEAWAYS

Leafs: Nicolas Roy between Joshua and Maccelli was the most effective line for the home side.

Flyers: Leading scorer Travis Konecny missed the game with a lower-body injury. He was a game-time decision.

KEY MOMENT

Flyers defenceman Jamie Drysdale had a chance to end the game in overtime, but his shot off the rush hit the outside of the near post with 30 seconds remaining.

KEY STAT

Matthews extended his season-high scoring slump to eight games without a goal. The United States Olympian went to Italy without a goal in four games and has gone four more since his return from the gold-medal celebrations.

UP NEXT

Flyers: Host the Utah Mammoth on Thursday.

Maple Leafs: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

The Vincent Massey Trojans saved their best for last.

The Trojans scored three third-period goals to come back and win Game 1 of the Winnipeg High School Hockey League’s division one championship series 3-2 over the Oak Park Raiders on Monday at the Sevens Oaks Sportsplex.

The Trojans take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.

The regular season champion Raiders had a two-goal lead in the final frame, but the Trojans struck for three goals in a span of less than nine minutes to win the series opener.

Carter Kaczmarz, Garnett Vande Graaf, and Adam Blair scored the goals for the Trojans, while Nixon Donkersley and Tyler Thouas replied for Oak Park in the loss.

The Trojans outshot them 40-30 as goalie Nathan Dyck made 28 stops for Vincent Massey in the win.

Oak Park won the regular season crown by just a single point over second place Vincent Massey.

The defending champion Trojans can pull off the repeat with another win in Game 2 on Wednesday.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.