Friday, September 07, 2007
once again
The Blow, who consist entirely of Khaela Maricich, started off the show with little fanfare. In fact, she was partway into her first chorus before I realized she was playing. Khaela didn't make any attempt to grab the attention of the chattering crowd (the bulk of whom were queuing up for drinks), and instead geared her performance towards the steadily increasing group of people who gathered up close enough to enjoy her set. From further way, you might find her attitude a bit blase or too-cool-for-school, but up close the nonchalance translated into a performance that seemed extremely intimate, and was underscored by her casual charisma. Khaela took a request for the (I think) rarely played "Come On Petunia," and also busted out "The Sky Opens Wide Like the Tide," for "maybe the last time." It was a bit of a shame that so many people were more focused on the decision between Sleeman's and Pilsner, but for those of us that were paying attention, it was a great start to the evening.
I had no idea that people were so into Thunderheist. The affection is definitely warranted, but it was still a bit surprising to see so many people who recognized the duo's songs. They're not exactly breaking new ground musically (Only characteristically described them as "booty bass with repetitive, meaningless lyrics"), but they can sure rock a party. Isis looked like she downed an entire bottle of Grey Goose as she worked the crowd, eventually stealing a bit of Girl Talk's thunder by inviting people to fill the stage. And when they finished their set, DJ Grahmzilla kept spinning tunes as security cleared the kids away.
By now, you've already heard about Greg Gillis' rather spectacular performances, so I won't go into detail. If you were at his show in May, last nigt was more of the same, with the only notable differences being Greg dropping some fresh tracks, and also the fact that he was sporting a beard. If the crowd was still warming up during the first two acts, they were in full-on party mode by the time Girl Talk's set started, and he noted a couple of times that the audience was a pleasant surprise since College crowds can often "suck balls." Apparently, he was going to head to the home of the Student Society's VP Finance, who offered to host the official-unofficial after-party, but I don't know if actually went down or not.
If you're not at Spoon or Wolf Parade (or a million other cool things going on) tonight, you might want to check out Ghost House, Karen Foster, and Winning at Pub 340.
Oh, and if you are at Wolf Parade, you can stick around at 1/2 Alive for free after the show. Alternately, you can leave and come back, and it's only $4 with your ticket stub and stamp.
now playing: actually, I'm not allowed to play music here. It's a bit depressing.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
warm it up
To quote the infinite wisdom of Sean Orr, when you looked out at the crowd at last night's Girl Talk show it was like "Vancouver woke up from its coma." Honestly, it was nuts. I've seen my fair share of shows in our fair city in the last decade or so, but I've never seen anything like last night. I didn't get to Richard's until Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis) had already been rocking the venue for 2-3 songs, which was all it took for the stage to get packed with people. In fact, when I was getting ID'd the security were having a mini-powwow about just what the hell they were going to do about the situation (which was apparently to threaten to shut the show down). If every Vancouver crowd came ready to party half as hard as this, we'd quickly lose our reputation for being masters of standing stock still.
The performance itself was a bit weird. From a musicianship perspective, it was probably one of the least impressive things I've seen in my life. It was a guy with a laptop and a mouse, who would occasionally talk into a microphone, and was really good at fiddling with Ableton Live (or some similar program). But from a showmanship perspective it was bloody amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a DJ (or anyone, for that matter) rock a crowd so well. And to top it off, while he came across completely comfortable and confident, he was also instantly affable. Since I stole a quote from Sean already, I'll quote Mike from ChalkedUp as well, who put it best when he noted that the performance was like "watching one of your best buddies just kill it."
And dude fucking killed it.
I missed Datarock (3 people have said this was a mistake and 2 said it definitely wasn't) because I was at the Media Club to catch Liz from Land of Talk's solo set. The trio became one last night because of some visa issues with their new drummer, Eric (he's Canadian, but if he came back to Canada right now, he wouldn't be able to get back into the US for the rest of the tour). She told me after that she wasn't all that keen on the prospect of playing by herself, and while I like the band just the way that they are, it was a cool - and rare - treat to see her play some songs (new and old) solo. It was a completely different atmosphere from the Girl Talk show, but I enjoyed the opposite combination of very wonderful musicianship and very understated showmanship just as much.
I spotted FirmDragon with his camera (but didn't get a chance to say hello), so keep any eye on DimeaDozen and his tape might show up some time.
I also managed to catch one Music Waste set. I made it down to Hoko's in time to see the Public or the Press. They were okay at doing what they do, but the new-new-wave thing isn't an original enough thing to set them apart from anyone.
now playing: Spoon - Finer Feelings
once again
I actually got some decent photos of Girl Talk et al last night at the Pit, but I'm at work, so you'll have to let my words guide your imagination until tonight or tomorrow... everyone's waiting with baited breath, I'm sure.
The Blow, who consist entirely of Khaela Maricich, started off the show with little fanfare. In fact, she was partway into her first chorus before I realized she was playing. Khaela didn't make any attempt to grab the attention of the chattering crowd (the bulk of whom were queuing up for drinks), and instead geared her performance towards the steadily increasing group of people who gathered up close enough to enjoy her set. From further way, you might find her attitude a bit blase or too-cool-for-school, but up close the nonchalance translated into a performance that seemed extremely intimate, and was underscored by her casual charisma. Khaela took a request for the (I think) rarely played "Come On Petunia," and also busted out "The Sky Opens Wide Like the Tide," for "maybe the last time." It was a bit of a shame that so many people were more focused on the decision between Sleeman's and Pilsner, but for those of us that were paying attention, it was a great start to the evening.
I had no idea that people were so into Thunderheist. The affection is definitely warranted, but it was still a bit surprising to see so many people who recognized the duo's songs. They're not exactly breaking new ground musically (Only characteristically described them as "booty bass with repetitive, meaningless lyrics"), but they can sure rock a party. Isis looked like she downed an entire bottle of Grey Goose as she worked the crowd, eventually stealing a bit of Girl Talk's thunder by inviting people to fill the stage. And when they finished their set, DJ Grahmzilla kept spinning tunes as security cleared the kids away.
By now, you've already heard about Greg Gillis' rather spectacular performances, so I won't go into detail. If you were at his show in May, last nigt was more of the same, with the only notable differences being Greg dropping some fresh tracks, and also the fact that he was sporting a beard. If the crowd was still warming up during the first two acts, they were in full-on party mode by the time Girl Talk's set started, and he noted a couple of times that the audience was a pleasant surprise since College crowds can often "suck balls." Apparently, he was going to head to the home of the Student Society's VP Finance, who offered to host the official-unofficial after-party, but I don't know if actually went down or not.
If you're not at Spoon or Wolf Parade (or a million other cool things going on) tonight, you might want to check out Ghost House, Karen Foster, and Winning at Pub 340.
Oh, and if you are at Wolf Parade, you can stick around at 1/2 Alive for free after the show. Alternately, you can leave and come back, and it's only $4 with your ticket stub and stamp.
now playing: actually, I'm not allowed to play music here. It's a bit depressing.
Labels: girl talk, show announcements, show recaps, the blow, thunderheist
Sunday, June 10, 2007
warm it up
To quote the infinite wisdom of Sean Orr, when you looked out at the crowd at last night's Girl Talk show it was like "Vancouver woke up from its coma." Honestly, it was nuts. I've seen my fair share of shows in our fair city in the last decade or so, but I've never seen anything like last night. I didn't get to Richard's until Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis) had already been rocking the venue for 2-3 songs, which was all it took for the stage to get packed with people. In fact, when I was getting ID'd the security were having a mini-powwow about just what the hell they were going to do about the situation (which was apparently to threaten to shut the show down). If every Vancouver crowd came ready to party half as hard as this, we'd quickly lose our reputation for being masters of standing stock still.
The performance itself was a bit weird. From a musicianship perspective, it was probably one of the least impressive things I've seen in my life. It was a guy with a laptop and a mouse, who would occasionally talk into a microphone, and was really good at fiddling with Ableton Live (or some similar program). But from a showmanship perspective it was bloody amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a DJ (or anyone, for that matter) rock a crowd so well. And to top it off, while he came across completely comfortable and confident, he was also instantly affable. Since I stole a quote from Sean already, I'll quote Mike from ChalkedUp as well, who put it best when he noted that the performance was like "watching one of your best buddies just kill it."
And dude fucking killed it.
I missed Datarock (3 people have said this was a mistake and 2 said it definitely wasn't) because I was at the Media Club to catch Liz from Land of Talk's solo set. The trio became one last night because of some visa issues with their new drummer, Eric (he's Canadian, but if he came back to Canada right now, he wouldn't be able to get back into the US for the rest of the tour). She told me after that she wasn't all that keen on the prospect of playing by herself, and while I like the band just the way that they are, it was a cool - and rare - treat to see her play some songs (new and old) solo. It was a completely different atmosphere from the Girl Talk show, but I enjoyed the opposite combination of very wonderful musicianship and very understated showmanship just as much.
I spotted FirmDragon with his camera (but didn't get a chance to say hello), so keep any eye on DimeaDozen and his tape might show up some time.
I also managed to catch one Music Waste set. I made it down to Hoko's in time to see the Public or the Press. They were okay at doing what they do, but the new-new-wave thing isn't an original enough thing to set them apart from anyone.
now playing: Spoon - Finer Feelings
Labels: girl talk, land of talk, music waste, show recaps
