Francis Baptiste @ Green Auto Pop Up Stage -- May 16, 2026

Last night, Francis Baptiste threw his long awaited album release show in celebration of last year’s Lived Experience in East Vancouver, as he hit the Green Auto popup stage with support from some hand picked local acts.

?NUMB?DAME? was already on stage when I got to Green Auto, swinging from the chaotic “i LOVE LESBiANS (Lesbian Lover)” to the (relatively) calmer emo bop “Goddess of the Moon Tattoo”, as well as an almost spoken word song in support of Palestine. The trio almost never took their collective feet off the gas before somehow cranking it up even more as the set ended with a screaming intensity of “GOOD LUCK (is for suckers)”.

Next up was Cara Bateman, bursting out of the blocks loud and fast with some more punk vibes, even while declaring “Punk is Dead”. She hopped off the stage to dance with the crowd for the first few songs, before talking about how she liked to change genres frequently and going into a couple grungier songs, telling the story of when “Joe Rogan Broke Up My Relationship”. Then she capping off the set with a slower piano balled, “I Wrote This for You” as she sat on the edge of the stage with her R&B-tinged vocals filling the room.

Following her was Vancouver’s self described #1 drag musician, Dust Cwaine, bringing a big energy as they started off with “Brooklyn” and weaved through some songs from their recent album Twin Lakes, from the incredibly catchy “Burn After Reading” to the heart wrenching “Take My Stories”. They also dipped back in their catalogue for the nostalgia-soaked “90’s Darling”, only causing me a little psychic damage when they asked who doesn’t remember that decade, and a good portion of the room cheered.
Part way through the set, Dust lead a singalong to Smash Mouth’s “All Star”, joking that anyone who doesn’t know the words needs to leave until the next set, before wrapping up with the T4T love song “Little Plans”.

And finally it was time for the man of the hour, Francis Baptiste, who took the stage backed by Rob Thomson on bass and Max Ley on drums, and exclaimed he was going to start at the end and launched into the final track of the album, “Mistakes for Two”. From there Francis ran through songs like the hard hitting “Locked in for Life” and ripping guitar on “Whole Wide World”, as he told stories about his past addictions and how they formed songs like “How Long is the Winter” and talking about being a single dad, lighting up every time he mentioned his son was in the room tonight to see him play.

After going back to his debut album Snəqsilxʷ (Family) for “River’s End”, he wrapped up the set by mentioning all the people he couldn’t get on stage who worked on the album, as the orchestral swells played on the backing tracks for the gorgeous “Kid on the Block” fittingly ending the set with the first song of the album.

I’ve been meaning to catch Francis play live since his album came out, so I was happy for a belated album release show, and especially that it was such a fun night with an eclectic selection of Vancouver bands!

Yukon Blonde @ Green Auto -- October 24, 2025

I was surprised to realise that it’s been a few years since the last time I saw Yukon Blonde perform in a proper venue, only managing to catch them at festivals or popup shows. So of course when the band announced a pair of shows at Green Auto to celebrate their new album Friendship & Rock ‘n’ Roll, I wasn’t going to miss it.

I got to the packed venue as opener Janky Bungag was already playing, catching his song “Money I Can’t Spend”. With his country & blues soaked sound I got the sense of, while maybe not full on satire, there was just a little tongue in cheek. The music was played completely seriously, but had offbeat topics such as his love of “Vancouver Ladies” or “Cheap Cocaine”; the absolutely true tale of his ex with “Double D”; or the woes of “Third Wheeling in a Four-Wheel Drive”.
After the crowd joined in on a cover of Green Day’s “When I Come Around”, he finished with the insanely catchy “Denim on Denim” to wrap up a very fun set.

It wasn’t long until “No Matter What” by Badfinger blasted through the speakers, as Yukon Blonde hit the stage. They launched into the first few songs off the new album, starting with “Colours of My Dreams” immediately highlighting the impeccable harmonies of Jeff Innes, Brandon Scott, James Younger, and Graham Jones.

From there the set focused on new songs off the album, from Jones taking vocals on the incredibly smooth “Phaedra”, to Scott’s tribute to his bandmates with “I've Got Yours”, and the infectious “Adore You” lead by Younger, my early fave off the album.

They also delved back to some older favourites, the all-out rocker “Radio” was followed by the dancy vibes of “Saturday Night” with its extended synth breakdown, and they went all the way to their first album with “Rather Be With You”, where Jeff pointed out he could tell the long-time fans in the crowd by the immediate cheers as soon as the song’s distinctive beat hit (my own included).

They finished off the set declaring “I Wanna Be Your Man” but were back out for one more, the anthemic “My Girl” (appropriately enough) which had the sold out room singing & whoa-ing along.

Friendship & Rock ‘n’ Roll has been one of my favourite album of the year — a real return to form for the band — and I was so happy to see them in a venue like Green Auto. With a room full of familiar faces and a great night of tunes, the hometown show really lived up to the album’s promise.

setlist
Colours of My Dreams
Keep On Breaking My Heart
Phaedra
I’ve Got Yours
Confused
Love the Way You Are
Adore You
Let Your Body Move
One Of These Days
Rather Be with You
Here She Comes
Radio
Saturday Night
This Night
I Wanna Be Your Man
(encore)
My Girl

Yawn @ Green Auto -- June 21. 2025

It’s funny how timing works out sometimes. A few months ago, I was randomly thinking about Julia & Her Piano and wondering what Julia McDougall was up to, music-wise. Then mere days later, I came across the latest single from Yawn, her new project! With a new album titled wish i could’ve released last week, Yawn is on a quick jaunt through BC, including the album release party at Green Auto in Vancouver.

Opening the night was a drag performance from Mikki Wikki, before Yawn took the stage. The room was decorated with big flowers and the band was all clad entirely in white, including flowers in their hair, for real Midsommar vibes (there was even a ‘white & flowers’ dress code for the crowd).

With a full band that included a three piece string section, they started off with the first song off the album, “help myself”, going through dreamy synth-pop like the bouncy and frenetic “coloured light” and the title track “wish i could’ve” a hazy song full of regrets.

Early on Julia mentioned how grateful she was for everyone to be there celebrating the album, but quickly going into some goofy jokes between songs; taking impromptu polls, trying to play matchmaker to all the single people in the crowd, and even blessing songs. Everything gave real intimate vibes for the show, like a group of friends just hanging out.

They played the first half of the album mostly in order, but after jumping ahead to the chaotic “world is burning”, there was a quick break before the band come back out with the absolutely heartbreaking, “i deserve better”, my favourite off the album.

As the set was coming to a close, they were re-joined by a harpist for the ethereal “take your time” to end the main set, but not before Julia gave a sly wink that they’d be back. And of course they were, giving a tease of a brand new song, “twenty minutes in heaven”, an upbeat bop to finish off the night.

It’s been a long time since I saw Julia play live. The main things I remembered was her sense of humour combined with catchy tunes, and both were well on display with Yawn for the album release last night.

setlist
help myself
broken baby
coloured light
wish i could’ve
let it all go
world is burning
(intermission)
i deserve better
back in my head
wasting time
take your time
(encore)
twenty minues in heaven

Francy Pants and Alexandria Maillot @ Green Auto -- August 15, 2024

Last night at the Green Auto outdoor stage, Francy Pants and Alexandria Maillot put on a very special show for the Sarcoma Cancer Foundation of Canada, both raising money and sharing their experiences. And if you missed the show or still want to support, you can do that at this link right here!

First up was Alexandria Maillot, playing their first show in quite some time. Their lovely voice joined by Daniel Baxter’s smooth guitar tones, Alexandria started with a couple familiar songs, “Make It Out” and “Pale” from their latest album Benevolence. From there, Maillot tested out some new songs, many written about their journey, which they also chatted about between songs, including dedications to their support group in the audience, and re-working old songs ideas that took on new meaning in “Back to Me”. Maillot finished off the set with another new one, “What is in a Mile”, excited to get the crowd singing along to wrap up the set.
It had (obviously) been quite a while since I’ve seen Alexandria play live, and it was great to see them back on stage.

Not long after that, it was time for Francey Pants, the moniker of Francis Hooper (currently one half of doohickey cubicle). First joined by Daniel Ruiz on percussion, he laid down some looped beats, and with soft vocals, launched into a very fun, animated performance that gave lounge singer vibes (in all the best ways).

Much like Alexandria, many of his songs were about his journey with sarcoma, including “Count On You” which was dedicated to his parents who were in the crowd, and “I Hate Change”, a song co-written with Maillot years ago, who also joined him to sing. Throughout the set Francis invited up a slew of friends, musicians, and co-writers for some groovy songs, including other half of doohickey cubicle, partner Alli Deleo with a synchronized dance number(!). The set grew to a close as the last few songs were more on the funky side, like “Wet My Plants”, and finished with what seemed like an actual encore, an impromptu final song.

The show was also my first time at the Green Auto outdoor stage (I had been inside, of course) and that was a really neat space. And on this night, it was very obviously filled not just with people there to see a show, but with a community; people who have supported both Alexandria and Francis not only as musicians, but through their journeys over the last few years.

Skye Wallace @ Green Auto -- June 12, 2024

Last night, Toronto’s Skye Wallace returned to her one-time home, kicking off a quick jaunt of shows through the west coast, starting at Green Auto here in Vancouver.
And, just as a side note: I’ve only been to Green Auto a couple times now, but the sound there is great — a lot better than you would expect from looking at it — and they consistently put on shows with fun (and inclusive) lineups. It’s a really cool space, and Vancouver definitely needs more venues like it.

I got to the venue a little late, missing opener Leo D.E Johnson and catching the last few songs of CJ Wiley. They had a fun, breezy rockin’ sound, and was joined by Skye Wallace for a couple songs, their latest single “Cheap Therapy” and the 90s-alt-rock vibe of “No One Like U”. They finished with a haunting song I didn’t catch the name of, but I made a note that I’ll have to check them out again when I can.

After a quick turnaround, Skye Wallace hit the stage backed by usual bassist J Strautman, as well as some familiar Vancouver faces, Jasper Sloan Yip on guitar and Dicky Neptune on drums.

Skye kicked off with the raucous “There Is A Wall” and the dark & moody “Truth Be Told”, before shifting into some new songs. The recently released “Momentum”, my favourite of the new batch of songs, worked on with the legendary Hawksley Workman; “Tough Kid” was dedicated to a friend in the audience; and they even teased a few unreleased songs, possibly releasing later this year.
Between songs, Skye chatted and joked with the crowd, and other highlights included the raw “Tear A Piece (Bite Me)” and the frenetic banger “Coal in Your Window”.

Wallace wrapped up the set with a cover of the Against Me! song “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” — after gushing about recently opening for Laura Jane Grace(!)
And the band was barely offstage before the crowd chanted for more, which possibly elicited the rare legit encore, with a quip that they hadn't planned on anything, before finishing with the existential questions of “The Doubt” and Skye’s incredible voice filling the room once more.

I feel like every time I see Skye Wallace play, I like them more & more, and this night was no exception. Especially having a killer backing band behind them, as well as a really cool venue.

setlist
There Is A Wall
Truth Be Told
Momentum
Tough Kid
[new song]
Mean Song 2
Tear A Piece (Bite Me)
[new song]
Coal In Your Window
I Was a Teenage Anarchist [Against Me! cover]
(encore)
The Doubt