Rheostatics' Announce Their Final Concert

Seminal Canadian rockers the Rheostatics have decided to call it quits after their March 30, 2007 show at Toronto's Massey Hall.

Though they've suggested that the band may continue in some new form, mainstay members Dave Bidini, Martin Tielli, Tim Vesely and Michael Phillip Wojewoda have announced that the Massey performance will be the last time that The Rheostatics will appear as they have for the last few decades.

The band have released 11 full-length albums since their first incarnation in the early '80s, including their latest disc, 2004's 2067. In Chart's most recent poll of the top 50 Canadian albums of all time, 1992's Whale Music placed at #4 and 1991's Melville ranked right behind it at #5.

The members have music and non-music-related projects outside of the group. Bidini is a respected author and documentarian and Tielli has received praise for his artwork, some of which has graced Rheostatics album covers.

Aside from some minor mainstream success, The Rheostatics have built their following through mostly alternative means. They've enjoyed the consistent support of CBC Radio, which provided them with an early springboard via such shows as Nightlines and Brave New Waves.

The Nightlines Sessions album was released in 1997 and longtime program host David Wisdom has said, "The Rheostatics are the best band in Canada. They should be pictured on the $10 bill."

Among the patriotic band's other eclectic releases are the 1999 children's album, The Story Of Harmelodia, and 1995's Music Inspired By The Group Of 7, a 40-minute piece commissioned by the National Gallery Of Canada to honour the group of seven's 75th anniversary.