Brendan Canning @ Media Club -- 11/29/13

No one can ever accuse Brendan Canning of not being a hard working, busy man. The Broken Social Scene co-founderhas his name to about a half dozen bands, and now that Broken Social Scene is on a hiatus, he has been busy with his new solo album, his second counting Something For All Of Us, under the "Broken Social Scene Presents" line.
But in contrast to Broken Social Scene's bombastic, grandiose sound, his new album You Gots 2 Chill takes a tone fitting exactly with its name; it is laid back and mellow.

I got to the Media Club just as Dinosaur Bones took the stage. With a dark indie rock sound, the band had a great presence on stage. A few times they got the crowd clapping along, and had an effortless energy.
They were supporting their newest album Shaky Dream, and with songs like the moody "Career Criminal" being one of the highlights of the set, and I am definitely going to have to pick up their album.

It wasn't long after that that Brendan Canning was up. Joined by Hark on backup vocals (who opened the show and I unfortunately missed), Canning and his band played in front of a projection screen showing stock footage and old videos (including the old science film Powers of Ten)
After an instrumental intro, he launched into "Plugged In", the first single off the new album, setting the tone for the set with it's very laid back mood. Throughout the set, Canning was occasionally joined by members of Dinosaur Bones, and part way through the set invited a friend up on stage, Torquil Campbell of Stars. Campbell joined backup vocals for "Late Night Stars" -- appropriately enough -- and then a pretty amazing cover of Drake's "Hold On We're Going Home"
The band also took the time to stretch their musical legs, as a few songs ended with extended jams; Canning even mentioned after the swirling ending of "However Long" that they did some on-the-fly improvising. The set ended with the soft and beautiful "Last Song for the Summer Hideaway" and while the rest of the band left, Canning stayed to perform one more song, a solo acoustic instrumental.

It was a great show that was marred a little bit by a shitty crowd. The Media Club has always been bad for noise and conversation, and combine that with a Friday night and Canning's chill set, and the din got to be a bit much at times. But Canning managed to get the crowd to shut up for at least one song, the quietest of the set, and the noise seemed to die off after that. Noise aside, Canning is a hell of a performer, and I would love to see these songs in a more fitting venue.

Library Voices w/ Dinosaur Bones & The Provincial Archive @ Biltmore -- 09/22/11

It was a strangely busy night in Vancouver for a Thursday, and while I was a little sad to have missed the third show in the Peak Performance Project Concert Series Showcase Spectacular, and Royal Wood, it had been too long since I had last seen Library Voices live, and seeing as they put on one hell of a live show, I wasn't really a tough decision. And in addition, they had brought with them two bands I was really interested in seeing; both I have wanted to see for a while, but just never had the chance.

The first of the two was The Provincial Archive, from Edmonton, starting the night on a bit of a mellow vibe. They had a folk sound that reminded me, at times, of The Weakerthans in all the best ways. The four of them had an assortment of instruments, from melodica to stand-up bass to accordion to banjo, great harmonies and really catchy and well written songs. They definitely won over more than their fair share of the crowd as they wove through their set, ending with a newer song, "Drive" and what was probably my favourite of the set, "Weight and Sea".

Second up was Dinosaur Bones, who started to picked things up a bit, energy-wise. With a bit of a dark-and-brooding-pop sound, the band was really tight and put on a solid show. The members had a great chemistry together and played off each other with an effortless ease. With highlights of their set being "N.Y.E" as well as the last song, which I didn't catch the name of, I really dug them and would definitely be intrigued to catch them live again.

And then, hitting the stage seven members large, it was Library Voices. From the beginning of the set -- opening with "If Raymond Carver Was Born in the 90s" -- they had an enthusiasm that is unparalleled. Especially their bass player, who hardly stood still for a minute, singing along even when he wasn't on mic and just generally getting everyone pumped. But the liveliness wasn't limited to him, as each member of the band was just as energetic, a few times coming out to the front of the stage, even on the boxes right in front of the stage at the Biltmore.
Their set focused on the new album, Summer Of Lust -- with the awesomely titled "Reluctant Readers Make Reluctant Lovers" and their current single "Generation Handclap" definitely being highlights -- but they also hit a few older ones, the apocalyptic "Party Like It's 2012" and the insanely infectious "Step Off The Map and Float", which wrapped up the main set. But of course, they came back out for the usual encore, starting with one of my favourites from Denim on Denim, "Bookish", and ending with a pair of covers. The first was (I think) "The Letter" by The Box Tops, which was really fun and upbeat song, but they ended the night on a more quiet note, saying it seemed the proper thing to do on a Thursday. The band crowded the front of the stage to play Lennon's "Oh Yoko", which ended up with a couple members wading out in the middle of the crowd for a massive sing-along.

Any of the three bands playing would have been great on their own, but putting them all together made for one fantastic show, and I can't wait to see any of them again.

setlsit
If Raymond Carver Was Born in the 90s; Write Me A Myth; Generation Handclap; The Travellers Digest; Prime Minister's Daughter; Kundera On The Dance Floor; Reluctant Readers Make Reluctant Lovers; Que Sera Sarah; Party Like It's 2012; Be My Juliette Gréco, Paris 1949; Haunt This House; Step Off The Map And Float.
[encore] Bookish; The Letter [The Box Tops cover], Oh Yoko [John Lennon cover]