Thursday, November 13, 2008
there's no light underneath you
On Tuesday, I was down at the Biltmore, despite the fact that I don't really like Gang Gang Dance very much. I do, however, like Marnie Stern, who opened. She didn't have Zack from Hella drumming for her this time around, but the guy who was behind the kit was almost up to the task of filling his shoes and the extra guitarist helped fill out the arrangements a little better than the iPod that the extra parts were playing off of last time she was in town. In case you were curious, she still rules at playing guitar.
Tomorrow, n213, Syrup, Nu Sensae, and Stamina Mantis are at the Peanut Gallery.
n213 also takes to the airwaves with Reflektionss and Fine Mist for a special edition (it's part of the station's fundraising drive) of Thunderbird Radio Hell on CiTR at 9pm on November 20th.
A.H. Kraken is at theER Sweatshop with Love Tan, Sex Church, and Sex Negatives on November 28th.
Love is All is at Richard's on November 24th. Vivian Girls and Nodzzz are listed as openers for the rest of the tour... but not in Vancouver, apparently. (thanks to Konrad for the last two)
Mint is having an all-ages edition of their "Ridiculously Early Xmas Party" on December 5th at the Ukrainian Hall on Pender. The Evaporators, the Pack AD, Lois, Kellarissa, and thee Goblins all play. Plus, they'll be showing some videos of Nardwuar's various exploits.
The same night, Jon-Rae Fletcher (minus the River, I presume), the Albertans, Red Cedar are at the Biltmore.
Also at the Biltmore, Monotonix return to Vancouver on December 29th. Twin Crystals support.
And finally, Boyz Noize is canceled. (thanks to Mike from ChalkedUp for the heads up)
now playing: Sonic Youth - Mildred Pierce
Thursday, November 15, 2007
our hearts don't change
Last night I ended up seeing Said the Whale, Land of Talk, Celebration, and Cuff the Duke, across two different venues (Richard's and the Plaza) due to a combination of pretty wonderful timing and my friend Mark hooking me up with free tix to Celebration.
When Mark gave me the tickets he told me that the freebies were given away because the show was selling so poorly. I figured that with MIA, Ween, and Cuff the Duke all headlining shows that it would be a little undersold, but I was still a surprised to walk into the Plaza partway into the band's set to find about two dozen people watching. Ouch.
It had to have dampened the spirits of the band, but they certainly didn't let it show. In fact, of the four acts I saw last night, their performance was the best. It's shame that it'll probably be their last visit for awhile - headlining, anyhow.
To compound the entire band's gear getting lifted about a month ago, Liz from Land of Talk's distortion pedal also decided to kick the bucket, so she was using a borrowed Blues Driver - affectionately referred to as the "Blues Traveler" during their set - and seemed a bit uneasy about the sound coming out of her amp. The breakdown of "All My Friends" sounded a bit weird, which seemed to amuse Liz and Chris, but other than that their set was pretty great, just as I've now come to expect. They played some new tunes that have me even more excited for their debut full-length, out sometime next year.
Cuff the Duke, and especially Wayne Petti, certainly have chops when it comes to playing live, but I wasn't really feeling their songs. That put me in the minority, of course, seeing as it was their show. The band had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands for the duration, and you could see about 75% of the audience mouthing the words.
It was the first time that I've caught Said the Whale. I wasn't floored, but I wasn't bored either. I'd see them again before making up my mind, anyhow.
If you read this in the next hour or so, Japandroids are on CiTR for Thunderbird Radio Hell. If you don't read this in the next hour or so, you can find their in studio set, along with a bunch from the last year, right here (probably about a week or so from now). David told me they're doing a bunch of Wire covers. Maybe he was messing with me, but either way, it should be awesome. Edit: totally not messing with me. We clearly agree that Wire is not a thing to joke about. And they're going to do a show where they play Pink Flag in its entirety soon. Goddamn. "Reuters" is totally my favourite Wire track.
They're playing Shindig on Tuesday with Only faves Petroleum By-Products and Treacherous Machete. I think this is the first time in recent memory that I've known going in that I'm going to like all three bands on the bill. A shame that they had to meet up before the finals.
Hayden is at the Norm Theatre on February 12th for a stop on his first tour in a long, long time. Stereogum has a new mp3.
Stars play the first MySpace Canada Secret Show that Vancouver is playing host to. The all-ager at the Media Club opens up at 6:30pm on Sunday. Although, if you plan on getting in, you're going to have to show up way before that.
If you're not keen on hanging out in the rain on Cambie all Sunday afternoon, the Buttless Chaps, Herald Nix, the Pack AD, the Furies, Swank, Great Aunt Ida, the Fits, the Bughouse 5, and Pawnshop Diamond are packing into the Railway for a marathon show (1pm-8pm) for Insite.
Small Fame, the Wind Whistles, Greenbelt Collective, and Language Arts play a benefit for DERA at the Wise Hall on December 7th.
Canaries are at Hoko's on Friday with Dustin & Garret, Suspiria, and Hawaiian Bibles.
now playing: Bon Iver - Skinny Love
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
Thursday, May 31, 2007
wolf party
Pride Tiger is at Richard's on July 12th. By that time you'll have had over a month to memorize all the lyrics to their major label debut, the Lucky Ones, so you can sing along to every word, while you pump your fist to every riff.
Subtle is at Richard's on August 8th.
Bert Jansch is at Richard's on August 30th.
Deftones are at the Commodore on July 11th. Didn't they sell out the Commodore in a couple of hours (or maybe it was minutes) last time they were here? I wonder why they aren't moving to a larger venue.
Brooklyn Vegan has the details on Land of Talk's drummer situation. When they were here in April I found out that it was Bucky's last show with the band, but they've got someone in to replace him now. Show the new guy (and Liz and Chris) some love when they hit town on the 9th. Girl Talk is sold out, and you can probably swing both anyhow, since LoT is opening for the Rosebuds.
now playing: Amerie - Gotta Work
Friday, April 13, 2007
that great gospel jest called rock n roll
I spent (almost) all day in the presence of rock and/or roll yesterday, capping off my evening with a set from the Constantines. As usual, the band came ready to bring it, so other than noting that Bry Webb sounded a little hoarse, there's not much more to report... except for the encore. After ripping through a set that contained all of my Cons faves (On to You, Arizona, and Young Offenders, among others), the band invited Jon Rae and the River and Ryan from Ladyhawk (don't know where the rest of the 'Hawk dudes were) to join them on a cover of "Thunderstruck." It was as awesome/ridiculous as it sounded.
I missed Ladyhawk (shocking, I know), and got to the Plaza just in time for Jon Rae and the River. Honestly, for whatever reason, I've never paid much attention to the BC ex-pat since he headed back East to set up shop in TO. My mistake. Jon and his band totally delivered with a set of no nonsense rock that was infused with equal parts roots and gospel. I was ready to fall asleep once I made it to the venue, but by song number two of the River's set, I was wide awake and ready for more. Oh, and they finished their set with a balls to the wall cover of "Bastard's of Young" (by the Replacements - but you probably knew that) with Bry on vocals (which is actually when I took that photo of him)
Earlier in the day, I made it out to the 16th rendition of Arts County Fair. I pledged that last year would be my last drunken all-day party ACF experience, but I was pretty excited to catch Land of Talk. Despite their early set time, they didn't disappoint, at least considering that ACF involves playing to a crowd that's not really there to see you, as much as they're in attendance to see each other.
I managed to catch up with (lead singer) Elizabeth Powell before the band's set, and she let me know that thy have an full-length recorded and also that they'll be in town opening the Rosebud's show on June 9th. Now I just have to find a way to swing that and Girl Talk/Datarock.
Pride Tiger opened the show. Again, the early slot meant a sparse crowd, but the guys did their best to do their thing anyhow, which as you probably know means more riffage than you can shake an ass at.
I picked up a sampler for their new album, and I'll get one of the two tracks up soon. Josh at EMI also dropped me a note last night to let me know that he's sent a copy of the new album my way, so expect some full thoughts on that soon as well. I'm pretty pumped for the record.
Honestly, after the first two acts, I was more content to visit with some people I haven't seen in awhile than watch the remaining bands all that intently (Aaron Prichett, Maseo from De La Soul, and Sam Roberts), but I've got to mention that I was amazed when the self proclaimed "Prince de la Rave Rap," My! Gay! Husband! and his Half Alive compadres proved that they can rock any crowd, when they got a couple of thousand non-hipster University kids to dance between sets.
Jill Barber is at the Media Club with Jim Bryson on May 9th.
Electrelane's show is canceled because they're opening for the Arcade Fire. edit: but not here. (thanks Matt and thanks to the anonymous tipster for the correction)
And finally, the Cave Singers and Lightning Dust is also off. Refunds at point of purchase.
I rattled this off in a hurry, so apologies for any glaring spelling/grammar/typing errors.
Game two tonight! Go Canucks go!
now playing: Contantines - Arizona
there's no light underneath you
I was down at the Media Club last night to interview (for Discorder) and watch Land of Talk. The band's gone through some line-up changes since they last came through town, but the two new faces surrounding Liz Powell were in fine enough form to keep up with the engaging frontwoman. The songs from their new one, Some Are Lakes, sounded great (even better than the old songs, which often isn't the case). If you read this with any regularity, I don't need to tell you how much I love this band, so I'll just leave it at that.
On Tuesday, I was down at the Biltmore, despite the fact that I don't really like Gang Gang Dance very much. I do, however, like Marnie Stern, who opened. She didn't have Zack from Hella drumming for her this time around, but the guy who was behind the kit was almost up to the task of filling his shoes and the extra guitarist helped fill out the arrangements a little better than the iPod that the extra parts were playing off of last time she was in town. In case you were curious, she still rules at playing guitar.
Tomorrow, n213, Syrup, Nu Sensae, and Stamina Mantis are at the Peanut Gallery.
n213 also takes to the airwaves with Reflektionss and Fine Mist for a special edition (it's part of the station's fundraising drive) of Thunderbird Radio Hell on CiTR at 9pm on November 20th.
A.H. Kraken is at the
Love is All is at Richard's on November 24th. Vivian Girls and Nodzzz are listed as openers for the rest of the tour... but not in Vancouver, apparently. (thanks to Konrad for the last two)
Mint is having an all-ages edition of their "Ridiculously Early Xmas Party" on December 5th at the Ukrainian Hall on Pender. The Evaporators, the Pack AD, Lois, Kellarissa, and thee Goblins all play. Plus, they'll be showing some videos of Nardwuar's various exploits.
The same night, Jon-Rae Fletcher (minus the River, I presume), the Albertans, Red Cedar are at the Biltmore.
Also at the Biltmore, Monotonix return to Vancouver on December 29th. Twin Crystals support.
And finally, Boyz Noize is canceled. (thanks to Mike from ChalkedUp for the heads up)
now playing: Sonic Youth - Mildred Pierce
Labels: land of talk, marnie stern, show announcements, show recaps
Thursday, November 15, 2007
our hearts don't change
Last night I ended up seeing Said the Whale, Land of Talk, Celebration, and Cuff the Duke, across two different venues (Richard's and the Plaza) due to a combination of pretty wonderful timing and my friend Mark hooking me up with free tix to Celebration.
When Mark gave me the tickets he told me that the freebies were given away because the show was selling so poorly. I figured that with MIA, Ween, and Cuff the Duke all headlining shows that it would be a little undersold, but I was still a surprised to walk into the Plaza partway into the band's set to find about two dozen people watching. Ouch.
It had to have dampened the spirits of the band, but they certainly didn't let it show. In fact, of the four acts I saw last night, their performance was the best. It's shame that it'll probably be their last visit for awhile - headlining, anyhow.
To compound the entire band's gear getting lifted about a month ago, Liz from Land of Talk's distortion pedal also decided to kick the bucket, so she was using a borrowed Blues Driver - affectionately referred to as the "Blues Traveler" during their set - and seemed a bit uneasy about the sound coming out of her amp. The breakdown of "All My Friends" sounded a bit weird, which seemed to amuse Liz and Chris, but other than that their set was pretty great, just as I've now come to expect. They played some new tunes that have me even more excited for their debut full-length, out sometime next year.
Cuff the Duke, and especially Wayne Petti, certainly have chops when it comes to playing live, but I wasn't really feeling their songs. That put me in the minority, of course, seeing as it was their show. The band had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands for the duration, and you could see about 75% of the audience mouthing the words.
It was the first time that I've caught Said the Whale. I wasn't floored, but I wasn't bored either. I'd see them again before making up my mind, anyhow.
If you read this in the next hour or so, Japandroids are on CiTR for Thunderbird Radio Hell. If you don't read this in the next hour or so, you can find their in studio set, along with a bunch from the last year, right here (probably about a week or so from now). David told me they're doing a bunch of Wire covers. Maybe he was messing with me, but either way, it should be awesome. Edit: totally not messing with me. We clearly agree that Wire is not a thing to joke about. And they're going to do a show where they play Pink Flag in its entirety soon. Goddamn. "Reuters" is totally my favourite Wire track.
They're playing Shindig on Tuesday with Only faves Petroleum By-Products and Treacherous Machete. I think this is the first time in recent memory that I've known going in that I'm going to like all three bands on the bill. A shame that they had to meet up before the finals.
Hayden is at the Norm Theatre on February 12th for a stop on his first tour in a long, long time. Stereogum has a new mp3.
Stars play the first MySpace Canada Secret Show that Vancouver is playing host to. The all-ager at the Media Club opens up at 6:30pm on Sunday. Although, if you plan on getting in, you're going to have to show up way before that.
If you're not keen on hanging out in the rain on Cambie all Sunday afternoon, the Buttless Chaps, Herald Nix, the Pack AD, the Furies, Swank, Great Aunt Ida, the Fits, the Bughouse 5, and Pawnshop Diamond are packing into the Railway for a marathon show (1pm-8pm) for Insite.
Small Fame, the Wind Whistles, Greenbelt Collective, and Language Arts play a benefit for DERA at the Wise Hall on December 7th.
Canaries are at Hoko's on Friday with Dustin & Garret, Suspiria, and Hawaiian Bibles.
now playing: Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Labels: celebration, cuff the duke, land of talk, said the whale, show announcements, show recaps
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
Thursday, May 31, 2007
wolf party
The Blood Brothers are playing an all-ager at the Plaza on August 19th with Winning and Baby Control. I am so psyched about this, I had to blog it twice. I'm always up for seeing the Blood Brothers (in fact, I went to their last three shows here by myself), but the prospect of an all-ager in the Plaza has me intrigued/happy.
Pride Tiger is at Richard's on July 12th. By that time you'll have had over a month to memorize all the lyrics to their major label debut, the Lucky Ones, so you can sing along to every word, while you pump your fist to every riff.
Subtle is at Richard's on August 8th.
Bert Jansch is at Richard's on August 30th.
Deftones are at the Commodore on July 11th. Didn't they sell out the Commodore in a couple of hours (or maybe it was minutes) last time they were here? I wonder why they aren't moving to a larger venue.
Brooklyn Vegan has the details on Land of Talk's drummer situation. When they were here in April I found out that it was Bucky's last show with the band, but they've got someone in to replace him now. Show the new guy (and Liz and Chris) some love when they hit town on the 9th. Girl Talk is sold out, and you can probably swing both anyhow, since LoT is opening for the Rosebuds.
now playing: Amerie - Gotta Work
Labels: land of talk, show announcements
Friday, April 13, 2007
that great gospel jest called rock n roll
I spent (almost) all day in the presence of rock and/or roll yesterday, capping off my evening with a set from the Constantines. As usual, the band came ready to bring it, so other than noting that Bry Webb sounded a little hoarse, there's not much more to report... except for the encore. After ripping through a set that contained all of my Cons faves (On to You, Arizona, and Young Offenders, among others), the band invited Jon Rae and the River and Ryan from Ladyhawk (don't know where the rest of the 'Hawk dudes were) to join them on a cover of "Thunderstruck." It was as awesome/ridiculous as it sounded.
I missed Ladyhawk (shocking, I know), and got to the Plaza just in time for Jon Rae and the River. Honestly, for whatever reason, I've never paid much attention to the BC ex-pat since he headed back East to set up shop in TO. My mistake. Jon and his band totally delivered with a set of no nonsense rock that was infused with equal parts roots and gospel. I was ready to fall asleep once I made it to the venue, but by song number two of the River's set, I was wide awake and ready for more. Oh, and they finished their set with a balls to the wall cover of "Bastard's of Young" (by the Replacements - but you probably knew that) with Bry on vocals (which is actually when I took that photo of him)
Earlier in the day, I made it out to the 16th rendition of Arts County Fair. I pledged that last year would be my last drunken all-day party ACF experience, but I was pretty excited to catch Land of Talk. Despite their early set time, they didn't disappoint, at least considering that ACF involves playing to a crowd that's not really there to see you, as much as they're in attendance to see each other.
I managed to catch up with (lead singer) Elizabeth Powell before the band's set, and she let me know that thy have an full-length recorded and also that they'll be in town opening the Rosebud's show on June 9th. Now I just have to find a way to swing that and Girl Talk/Datarock.
Pride Tiger opened the show. Again, the early slot meant a sparse crowd, but the guys did their best to do their thing anyhow, which as you probably know means more riffage than you can shake an ass at.
I picked up a sampler for their new album, and I'll get one of the two tracks up soon. Josh at EMI also dropped me a note last night to let me know that he's sent a copy of the new album my way, so expect some full thoughts on that soon as well. I'm pretty pumped for the record.
Honestly, after the first two acts, I was more content to visit with some people I haven't seen in awhile than watch the remaining bands all that intently (Aaron Prichett, Maseo from De La Soul, and Sam Roberts), but I've got to mention that I was amazed when the self proclaimed "Prince de la Rave Rap," My! Gay! Husband! and his Half Alive compadres proved that they can rock any crowd, when they got a couple of thousand non-hipster University kids to dance between sets.
Jill Barber is at the Media Club with Jim Bryson on May 9th.
Electrelane's show is canceled because they're opening for the Arcade Fire. edit: but not here. (thanks Matt and thanks to the anonymous tipster for the correction)
And finally, the Cave Singers and Lightning Dust is also off. Refunds at point of purchase.
I rattled this off in a hurry, so apologies for any glaring spelling/grammar/typing errors.
Game two tonight! Go Canucks go!
now playing: Contantines - Arizona
Labels: constantines, jon rae and the river, land of talk, pride tiger, show announcements, show recaps
