Best Music of 2014 Staff Picks – Katrina Wong Shue

Name: Katrina Wong Shue

City: Toronto

Title: Social Media & Content Editor

How long have you been with Live in Limbo?
4 years as of this Dec! 😀

Three favourite albums of 2014 :

1. White Noise, PVRIS – these guys remind me of a better version of Paramore

2. Crosses, ††† – I’m not entirely sure how to describe it apart from one of Chino Moreno’s awesome side projects.

3. Lost In Cyco City, Sumo Cyco – This was an album that felt like I was waiting forever to be released after seeing them play a few local shows!

Three favourite songs of 2014:

1. “Shut Up + Dance”- Walk The Moon. This song is so catchy, and it really does make you want to get up and dance!

2. “Exterminate”- XTRMST. Davey Havock & Jade Puget really out did themselves with this, it’s like the gritty punk stuff I grew up listening to

3. “Night Changes” – One Direction. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, this song has been my jam since their new album ‘Four’ dropped.. Also, how can you not love the music video for this song?! 

Which artist or band won 2014?

Ariana Grande, I feel like she managed to get herself stuck in everyone’s head this year. Her songs were always playing on the radio, she was all over the internet with rumors flying around that she will only let you photograph her left side, and people kept coming into my work place asking if we had Ariana merchandise.. Needless to say, I think she deserves a mention because I went from not known who she was to having her show up in some way, shape or form, every where I turned in 2014 haha.

Your favourite new/breakout artist of the year:

Nick Jonas! He has really matured as an artist since his Jonas Brother days, and it was really interesting to see where he decided to take his music. 

How many shows did you go to this year?
40 + last time I checked

Three best concerts of 2014:

1. The Carnivores Tour (AFI, Thirty Seconds To Mars & Linkin Park), Darien Lake, August 21st – AFI & 30STM?! this was the tour of my 9th grade dreams! It also made me realize, I’ve missed out on loving Linkin Park. Good thing LP is hitting Hamilton early next year!

2. R5, Sony Centre, Sept 23rd – I have to admit, I never really heard much of R5 – all I knew them as at the time was Ross Lynch’s band. But boy, was I pleasantly surprised when I saw them live! They had so much energy and their songs were so upbeat, I instantly became obsessed with them after that show. Shout out to Martha for dragging me to see them 😉

3. The Used & Taking Back Sunday, Kool Haus, April 8th – This was the first time I was able to see The Used after my 8+ years of being a fan (I don’t count the time I caught a couple songs at Warped Tour). Their performance was well worth the wait, and to top it off, they were co-headlining with Taking Back Sunday!

Favourite festival of 2014:

Mayhem Festival! Avenged Sevenfold was one of the very first bands I started listening to outside of the pop world. Zacky Vengeance & Synyster Gates always melt my face off with their sweet guitar solos, so it was the perfect way to close out a day full of metal. Also, I also had the chance to check out Mushroomhead’s set that day. They were pretty cool!

Favourite venue this year:

Kool Haus! I haven’t been there in a while, but it was great to finally go back and catch some shows there this year. I don’t want it to turn into a bunch of condos D’:

What was the biggest music news story you remember from 2014?

Hilary Duff announcing that she will be releasing a new album some time soon, and then releasing a new music video shortly after the announcement!

Is there anything else you want to say about music this year?

A lot of great albums came out this year, but I have a good feeling about 2015’s releases! 

What artist should/will we all be paying attention to for 2015?

This one is kind of tough for me.. blessthefall & R5 both have new albums coming out in 2015, and I’m so excited to see where they both take their music next. I also think PVRIS will have a good year in 2015, hopefully they will finally come back to Toronto and I won’t mess it up this time by accidentally missing their set!