Spencer Krug with Carey Mercer @ Fox Cabaret -- October 18, 2023

Hot off the release of a new album, I Just Drew This Knife, Spencer Krug returned to Vancouver alongside the album’s contributors, Eli Browning and Jordan Koop, for a rainy Wednesday evening show at the Fox Cabaret.

Opening the night was Krug's long-time friend, collaborator, and sometimes-bandmate, Carey Mercer, doing a solo set. Mercer started with a land acknowledgement -- and also acknowledging just everything going on in the world right now -- before delving into “Sound Travels From the Snow to the Dark”. From there he went through a selection of Frog Eyes songs, from the chaotic “Rainbow Stew” off the latest album The Bees, to “Bushels” from Tears of the Valedictorian, his distinctive voice filling the room.
Mercer also teased a few new songs, one which didn’t even have a name yet, as the growing crowd was rapt. One of the more attentive groups I've seen for an opener in some time.

Shortly after, Spencer Krug hit the stage alongside Browning & Koop, and kicked off with “God Knows Why This Is Where I Love You” from I Just Drew This Knife. They played just about the entire new album throughout the show, including the opener “Cry All Day”, their self-proclaimed weirdest, “Taxi After Taxi”, and “Nostalgia Is The Rose”, one of my highlights from the new release. Krug also slipped in a couple other songs from his recent solo albums, like “Slipping In and Out of Thee Pool” and “How We Have to Live”.

Throughout the show, Krug chatted with the crowd, sincerely thanking everyone for coming, but also self-deprecatingly joking he wasn’t a ‘guitar guy’ and admitting that, since the tour had just kicked off, this was only the second time the trio had played together onstage. And you would barely have noticed the fact... had it not been for a bit of a technical malfunction. Partway through the set, there was a catastrophic failure with the drum loops on the laptop, causing the set to come to a halt. But Krug eventually proclaimed “We’ll just fuckin’ figure it out” as they went into “Fading Graffiti” to continue on. There were a couple more hiccups with the laptop as the set went on, but the trio didn’t let it phase them too much, going through a few more from the new album, capping off my other favourite from the release, the soaring “Something About The Real World”.

I’ve seen plenty of shows before where things go wrong, and there are usually two things that will stop things from spiralling into disaster: the band keeping their cool, and the audience being patient. Luckily, this show had both of those in spades, so it only ended up a hiccup in the show. Krug didn’t let his frustrations affect the rest of the set, and everyone in that room was just happy to hear him play.

setlist
God Knows Why This Is Where I Love You
Cry All Day
Orcas
Taxi After Taxi
For Fear That Songs Come True
Slipping In and Out of Thee Pool
My Muscles Are Fine
Fading Graffiti
River River
How We Have to Live
Nostalgia Is The Rose
Love Song
Something About The Real World

Elliott BROOD with Shred Kelly @ Biltmore Cabaret -- October 06, 2023

Sometimes, two bands touring together just makes sense. And that was definitely the case with Elliott BROOD and Shred Kelly on their “Across the Great Divide” tour. While the two bands have played on the odd show before, I don’t believe they’ve been through Vancouver together, so I was very happy to see them come to town. And especially because they were hitting up the Biltmore Cabaret, since (somehow) I hadn't caught a show there in about three and a half years(!).

The early show started with Shred Kelly hitting the stage as the crowd gathered, the Fernie band kicking off with a cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”, before launching into the explosive “New Black”.

From there the band hardly slowed down, Tim Newton’s blurry hands over the banjo and Sage McBride’s finger flying over keys on songs, while their voiced intertwined, on songs like “The Bear” and “Archipelago”.

With a new album, Blurry Vision, on the horizon, the band teased a couple songs from it; a heartbreaking tune called “Days We Have Left” and “Nothing For A While”, which was a nearly seven minute tour de force that somehow managed to ramp up the already-high energy. And that energy carried through to the last couple songs, the frenzied “Cabin Fever” and a raucous “Sing to the Night” to cap off their set.

After a pretty quick turnaround, Elliott BROOD hit the stage, the trio of Mark Sasso, Casey Laforet, and Stephen Pitkin starting strong with a couple big singalongs and perennial faves, “Without You” and their cross-country hit, “Oh, Alberta”.

With a set that spanned their 20 year career, the band went back to their early days for songs like “Only at Home” and the gritty “Wolfgang”, to newer “Bird Dog” and “Out Walkin’”. Other highlights included the soaring “Northern Air”, another raucous singalong to “The Valley Town”, and a deceptively jaunty song about murder, “Dig a Little Hole”.

Not to be outdone, they also teased a few songs from their own upcoming album, Town, with “Stars Align”, “Dried Up” and “Rose City”, an ode their home town of Windsor, Ontario — Casey introducing it with a wry smile, claiming it was about the best city in Canada, which predictably got a… mixed reaction from the crowd.

As the set drew to an end, the band invited Shred Kelly back on stage for a fun cover of Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls”, before unveiling a surprise for the audience. In a move they haven't done in quite some time, they passed out their iconic wooden spoons & tin pans throughout the crowd, so folks could join in on the percussion (and of course, yelling along) to “Write It All Down For You”.

That ended the main set, but both bands were quickly back before the curfew for one last singalong, “Miss You Now”, a heart filled song to cap off the night.

Both bands on their own have a fun and vibrant live show, but putting them together brought out the best in each. Hopefully this tour won’t be the last time they all share the stage together.

---

Shred Kelly setlist
For What It's Worth [Buffalo Springfield cover]
New Black
Jupiter (Any Other Way)
The Bear
Long Way from Your Heart
Take Me Home
Days We Have Left
Archipelago
Nothing For A While
Didn't Know
Cabin Fever
Sing to the Night

Elliott BROOD setlist
Without Again
Oh, Alberta
Out Walkin’
Dog a Little Hole
Better Times
Stars Align
Wolfgang
Bird Dog
Northern Air
Only at Home
Nothing Left
Rose City
Dried Up
The Valley Town
The Bridge
Fat Bottom Girls [Queen cover w/ Shred Kelly]
Write It All Down For You
(encore)
Miss You Now

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Louise Burns @ Fox Cabaret -- July 13, 2023

Hot of the release of the new album Element, Louise Burns celebrated with a hometown show in Vancouver at the Fox Cabaret. And not only was she commemorating the new album, but it was also her first venue-show in four years (second show, counting the past weekend's free outdoor Khatsahlano show)!

I missed the first opener of the night, Matías Roden, arriving to catch the last bit of Devours. Clad in his signature look (head-spikes, glimmering beard, and leather skirt with suspenders) he played “Mutant DIY homo pop”, as he describes it.
Alone on stage with just his equipment, he exuded a fun energy in songs that ranged from the relatively darker “10 Things I Crave About You” to the incredibly dancey “Jacuzzi My Stonewall”, which saw him wading into the crowd to cap off the set.

Not long after, Louise Burns hit the stage with her backing band in tow; regular guitarist Darcy Hancock, as well as Mike Noble and Cole George (on loan from Hotel Mira for the evening, on bass and drums respectively).

Louise started off with “Like A Dream”, as the screen behind her projected a loop of clips from recent music videos, scenery, and animals throughout the show. There was also a CRT TV perched at the front of the stage, with a live feed filmed from the back of the room, but that was probably hidden to all except the first few rows of people standing.

Burns’ warm voice rang through the cabaret as she hit songs off her new album, including the atmospheric “I Don’t Feel Like I Used To”, the upbeat “Bloom” and “Play Pretend”, which samples humpback whales(!)
She also delved into her back catalogue for favourites like “Ruby” and “Emeralds Shatter” off her album The Midnight Mass — which released ten years ago this week — as well as other highlights, “Just Walk Away” with its tropical-tinge, and the sinister “Who’s the Madman?”

After about an hour, the main set came to a close with the tempestuous “Storms”, before Burns returned for my two favourites off their respective albums. First “Let It Die” from the new album, and finally “Cry” from 2019’s, Portraits, which brought the set to a raucous end.

I think the last time I saw Louise Burns play was her previous album’s release show four years ago, so it was not only great to see her perform again, but celebrating a brand new album as well. Burns has long been a pinnacle of the Vancouver music scene — both in front of the mic and behind the scenes — and last night at the Fox Cabaret was an excellent showcase of that.

setlist
Like a Dream
I Don't Feel It Like I Used To
Who's the Madman?
Ruby
Kids
Just Walk Away
Element
Play Pretend
Hot Girls
Emeralds Shatter
Bloom
Storms
(encore)
Let It Die
Cry

Hotel Mira @ Hollywood Theatre -- June 24, 2023

On the tail end of their ‘Dancing With The Moonlight’ Tour, Hotel Mira returned home for a sold out evening at the Hollywood Theatre. It was an early show (even for usual ‘early show’ standards) and I missed opener Dust Cwaine, but luckily arrived just before the night’s host, the established Shanda Leer, introduced the band with a quick drag number to Celine Dion’s “That’s the Way It Is”.

Shortly after, “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS blasted over the speakers as Hotel Mira hit the stage; Mike Noble on bass & synth, Clark Grieve on guitar, drummer Cole George, and singer Charlie Kerr. They launched immediately into one of their new singles “Everything Once” and then crowd favourite “Fever Pitch”, which was also a fitting description for the audience that night, as the sold out room sang, yelled, and screamed along, hanging on Kerr's every word (and thrust).

Always a frenetic ball of energy on stage, Charlie Kerr was no different this night as he danced, writhed, lost his shirt, and interacted with the crowd. He perched on the edge of the stage & reached his hand out for whoever wanted to hold it during “Speaking Off the Record”, and asking who had recently been dumped so everyone could give a cathartic “Fuck James!” before “Better On Your Own”. And the rest of the band matched his energy for the show, as Kerr introduced each throughout the night when they had their own solos.

Other highlights included my favourite from their Perfectionism album “Jungle”, showcasing the band’s harmonies; the manic and infectious newer song “Dancing With the Moonlight”; and “The Eyes On You”, which was fittingly introduced by a quick cover of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.

The main set ended off with the another older favourite “Southern Comforting”, before Charlie & Clark were quickly back for “A Song for Daisy”, lighters held aloft for the softer tune. They were then re-joined by Mike & Cole, to cap off the night with an old favourite, the chaotic “Oh My God”, Charlie wading into the audience to cap off the evening.

As the band took a bow there were chants for a genuine encore. But while the foursome seemed to consider it, the looming curfew probably put a stop to it. I’m not sure if it was the vibes in the room, the hometown show, or the end of their tour — or all of the above — but the band was on top of their game last night, possibly the best I’ve seen them perform.

setlist
Everything Once
Fever Pitch
Eventually
Circulation
Silver Lake
Better On Your Own
Ginger Ale
Jungle
The Eyes On You
Dancing With the Moonlight
This Could Be It For Me
Speaking Off the Record
Southern Comforting
(encore)
A Song for Daisy
Son-in-Law
Oh My God

Trans Musicales 2016 - Photos & Recap

The 38th annual Trans Musicales festival took place again this year in Rennes, France, and was spectacular as ever.

I was there during the three main days of the festival (December 1-3, 2017), checking out bands 'til the wee hours of the morning (my latest night went until about 5am!). Artists came from all over the world to be part of a festival that showcases new comers in the field of music, from an array of genres and styles.

Day One had me on the move, traveling directly from Vancouver from the previous day. Two plane rides, a train, and a shuttle bus to the festival site got me there just in time for my first act, Trad.Attack from Estonia!

The rest of the evening saw Il Est Vilaine from Paris, British musician Anna Meredith, HMLTD from London, and Yuksek from France.

After catching up on sleep, I was ready for Day Two. (Side note: I was also taking portraits for Noisey - which you can see by clicking here.)

The second evening at the Parc Expo started off with Fai Baba of Zürich, followed by my first venture into Hall 9 (the HUGE electronic hall) for Con Brio (also from the West Coast, San Francisco), followed by the tag-team DJ duo of DJ Fly/DJ Netik.
Next up was The Barberettes, a doo-wop trio from South Korea (I know, right?!), and continuing the female-led band trend (which Trans is VERY good at representing), the punk rock duo Nova Twins, from East London, PACKED their hall full of people.

The only Canadian in the show, Das Mörtal, was playing the large, sweaty, dance-party hall, and I finished off my night with one of my favourite discoveries of the weekend, New York band PWR BTTM.

The final day was short and sweet for shows (I did a TON of portraits that days), but I managed to catch Helsinki's, Talmud Beach, and then got my brass band fix by the incredibly energetic band Lucky Chops (out of New York). Seriously, check out the full video of the show by clicking here (makes me want to go pick up my saxophone).
I ended my evening with one of my most anticipated acts of the festival - Reykjavíkurdætur. The name literally translates to Daughters of Reykjavík, and they're an all female rap collective from Iceland - and were exactly as spicy and entertaining as I hoped they'd be, even with the language barrier.

I took WAY more photos than the few in the slideshow above - so check them out on our Facebook page by clicking HERE.

Thanks again to Trans Musicales for having me and introducing me to so many more new, and especially international, artists.