Poppy @ Vogue Theatre -- 09/14/18

The Westward Festival returned for its second year this weekend, and one of the acts I was most looking forward to this year was internet sensation Poppy. Co-created by Titus Sinclair, the series of strange videos with the character Poppy (like her interviewing a plant) swept the internet before it turned into a full fledged music project, with Poppy.Computer released last year, and the upcoming Am I A Girl? coming out at the end of October.

It was an early show at the Vogue Theatre, and with a bare, all-black stage, Poppy came out with an ornate dress and two backup dancers, starting with a newer single “In A Minute”, before going into “My Style”. On the surface, it seems like your run-of-the-mill pop music, but when she sings “Bath salts, start a cult, I'm so adult / That's my style” and a chorus that includes the line “Poppy will break your neck” you know maybe there’s something a bit more sinister behind it. “Bleach Blonde Baby”, which is about being born absolutely “perfect”, and her upcoming single “Fashion After All” both seem as subversive as they are catchy.

Or, maybe I’m just looking too deep into a well-crafted YouTube character which consists of weird videos and fun & earworm-y (if strange) pop music, with songs like the frantic “My Microphone” which had both Poppy and her backup dancers searching the stage and the audience for her microphone (a few people in the front even had fake mics they passed up front). Throughout the whole set, Poppy and both of the dancers were going back and forth on stage, hardly stopping or pausing even for a moment.

Every few songs (during costume changes) they played some of her bizarre non-music videos, like the “advertisement” for Doritos and Monster Energy, or Poppy conversing with her bunny ring about happiness. Not to mention all her crowd banter was ‘in character’, with her voice being a little more unnerving than I expected when hearing it live.

After one last video, she returned to the stage for the final song, the synth-driven “I’m Poppy”, with the 45 minute set going by in a flash, and the crowd cheering for an encore (which, as the house music came up and the stage techs started clearing the stage, was clearly not in the cards).

I did think maybe there would be more of a ‘stage show’ aside from the two dancers and large screen, but it’s also possibly that it just wasn’t feasible due to the time constraints of being an early show with a curfew, with another show playing later that night for the Westward Festival. But aside from that, it was just about exactly what I wanted it to be; ridiculously catchy pop music with a weird and even somewhat unsettling undertone.

setlist
In A Minute
My Style
Money
Time Is Up
Fashion After All
Bleach Blonde Baby
Interweb
My Microphone
I'm Poppy

Portugal. The Man & Broken Social Scene @ Deer Lake Park -- 09/01/18

It was a little over a week ago that I sat with about 75 other people in The China Cloud, watching Kevin Drew play an intimate acoustic show. And this past weekend it was almost the exact opposite, with Broken Social Scene co-headlining Deer Lake Park alongside Portugal. The Man. Despite not being super familiar with Portugal. The Man, I had heard they're a fun band to see live, plus I was also excited for the band starting off the whole evening.  
 
That opening act being Vancouver's own Youngblood -- who I had coincidentally also seen play a bit of an intimate show, just days after Drew, at Blue Light Studio. They played a short set, but definitely got the crowd excited, as a growing group gathered at the front of the stage to dance. They played a handful of songs, like the title track to their last EP Feel Alright, and ones from their upcoming release, including the dark and sexy "Better When You're Close", Alexis Young's voice sailing through the park. 
I said last week that Young has a captivating stage presence and that absolutely translated to the large scale, and I would not be at all surprised to see them playing Deer Lake again in the future. 
As an aside, this was the band’s last show as Youngblood… but don’t worry, it’s only because they have recently changed their name to Blonde Diamond (no doubt to make it much easier to find them). 
 
Shortly after, the stage filled with Broken Social Scene, seven members large with a few others rotating on & off throughout the set. They kicked off with the older "Cause = Time", before going into crowd favourite "7/4 (Shoreline)" and the newer "Protest Song", which featured the stellar vocals of Ariel Engle. Engle, Kevin Drew, and Brendan Canning switched off on main vocals during the set, with just about everyone else contributing as well, as members rotated around and switched instruments; drummer Justin Peroff may have been the only one to be in the same spot all night.
Highlights included the soaring "World Sick", "Hug of Thunder" with its simmering intensity, and "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl", where they invited out Katrina & Andrea from Belle Game to help out on vocals, for a song that gave me chills (unrelated to the setting sun). It’s one of my personal favourite songs, and clearly I’m not alone with the amount of people singing along. 
They were about to end off with the boisterous "Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)", but when they figured there was time for one more, burst into "KC Accidental" to cap off their set. 
I've seen BSS at least half a dozen times now, and they never fail to put on an emotional and impactful show, and Deer Lake Park is a near-perfect setting for them. 

Before Portugal. The Man hit the stage, Zach Carothers came out and talked a bit about how they were from Alaska and wanted to respect the first people here, and not content with merely acknowledging they were playing on unceded territory, they brought out some members of the Squamish Nation, for a nice little ceremony before getting started.

From there, the giant screen behind them blinked to life, and up popped the following message:

It was that point which I decided to stick around for the whole thing, because at the very least I knew I was going to like their sense of humour, and stage show. And, true to their words, they were pretty silent for the first hour of the show -- and even then, didn't talk too much, just the usual 'Thanks For Coming' and all that.  
They started off their set with a video clip of Bevis and Butthead ripping into their video for "Feel It Still" before launching into some riffs from "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and a bit of "Another Brick In The Wall", then transitioning into their own song, "Purple, Yellow, Red and Blue".
 
From there, their songs flowed into each other, a lot more raw than I was expecting from mostly knowing the single. Standouts included the anthemic "Live In The Moment", the bombastic "Holy Roller (Hallelujah)", and "Atomic Man", which featured a little bit of "Gimme Shelter" slipped in (a few songs featured bits and pieces of covers throughout the night). 
 
As with the first graphic on screen, the band had a great sense of humour and self-awareness throughout the set, with the screen displaying messages like (Real Bands Don't Need Singers) right before an instrumental song, the courteous notice (We are Portugal. The Man. Just making sure you’re at the right concert) and, near the end of the set, (Don’t Worry, we are playing that song right after this) before the insanely catchy single "Feel It Still". Even during that song, the words (Your mom loves this song) flashed on screen as an entire lawn full of fans sang and danced along.

They didn’t bother with the encore fake-out, saying they were just going to stay and play right up until the curfew, ending off the set with "Sleep Forever" which wrapped up with a medley of Beatles songs, "Live & Let Die" and "Hey Jude", leaving the crowd singing along one last time. 

All in all, it was an incredibly fun show from a solid lineup of local, Canadian, and international musicians, and the perfect way to kick off the beginning of the end of summer. 

Youngblood @ Blue Light Studio -- 08/25/18

One of the most anticipated releases for the rest of the year is the upcoming EP from Youngblood, Fantasy Love. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to see the Vancouver quintet of Malcolm Holt, Bruce Ledingham, Louis Wu, Pascal LeVasseur, and, of course, Alexis Young playing the new album from front-to-back at a session at Vancouver’s Blue Light Studio. 

With the cozy studio packed with fans (and cameras filming for the Blue Light Sessions), they started off with the first single from the album, "Better When You’re Close", a sultry song that has been intermittently stuck in my head since they released it. Living up to their tagline of "what the 60's thought the future would sound like", the new album was full of dark, dreamy pop songs like the fittingly titled "Dark Place", and few other bands could transition as seamlessly from a song about falling in love with a stripper to one about getting high at the Harry Potter theme park. To round out the first half of the evening, Alexis -- inspired by the Kevin Drew Side Door show earlier in the week -- went over to the piano in the room for a nice cover of an old Stars song, "Tonight". 

After a brief intermission, they were back for a second set of songs from their previous album, Feel Alright. Starting with "Broken English" they included my favourite from that release, the steamy "Alone With You", and their fantastic cover of Bloc Party’s "Positive Tension". Even on a smaller stage (the "stage" being just a portion of the room, the band on the same level as the audience) Young had an undeniable and captivating stage presence, and connection to the audience. Sometimes literally, as with the last song of the night, "Easy Nothing" which saw her going into the crowd before the explosive finale.

Before the set ended, they promised Fantasy Love would be out real soon, that there would be some more news on the horizon, and they’ll be opening for Portugal. The Man and Broken Social Scene at Deer Lake Park this weekend(!). And especially after the preview of the new EP, I'm looking forward to finding out what's next. 

Kevin Drew & Belle Game @ The China Cloud -- 08/23/18

In 2015, Dan Mangan began a house concert network for artists on his label, Madic Records. In the three years since, that has evolved into Side Door, co-founded by Laura Simpson, meant to connect artists & show hosts for a "direct-to-audience gigging economy". 
They’ve put on hundreds of shows across the country and into the States, with the latest being an intimate, acoustic night with one of the founders of Broken Social Scene, Kevin Drew. And joining Kevin was Andrea Lo, Katrina Jones, and Adam Nanji from Belle Game as his backing band. This all came together for about 75 people at The China Cloud in Vancouver.

Kevin Drew started off chatting and joking with the crowd, setting a loose tone for the night as he started with "Broke Me Up" off his first solo album, then went back to a Broken Social gem, "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)", as he deftly wove through his musical history, captivating every single person in the room. Definitely a pleasant surprise, as I wasn’t sure if he would just be playing from his solo albums or not. 

After a few more songs, including b-side "All My Friends Are Magazines", Drew let Belle Game take centre stage. They recounted their first meeting before going into "Spirit", a song Kevin provided backup vocals for. I've still never seen belle Game perform where I haven't been absolutely blown away by the power of Andrea's voice, and that was especially true in this smaller setting, as they played a couple more songs while Drew took a brief break from the stage. 
Kevin then returned, giving Andrea, Adam, and Katrina a short break, as he did an incredible acoustic rendition of one of my favourite songs, "It’s All Gonna Break" which was not only the highlight of the night, but the year so far. 

As the set wound to an end, he jumped on the piano side-stage to play "Good Sex", joking about how it was pretty much a re-write of "Lover’s Spit", which of course followed. At that point he poked a bit of fun at friend, sometimes-BSS member, and Stars singer Torquil Campbell... who hollered back from the crowd. Drew called him up and they bantered for a few minutes before launching into an impromptu song Torquil wrote (but never recorded) after the passing of his father. 
 
They ended the night with Drew talking about Gord Downie, and his experience co-writing songs off the Secret Path project, before he and Campbell sang "Here, Here and Here" for the perfect ending to a beautiful night.
 
Some of these songs I had only ever seen in venues ten times the size with three times as many people on stage, so seeing them in this setting was almost unreal. It wasn’t a "show" or a "concert" or a "gig", it was a group of friends gathering to share their love of music. 

setlist
Broke Me Up [KD]
Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day) [BSS]
All My Friends Are Magazines [BSS]
Safety Bricks [KD]
Spirit [BG]
I Want Nothing [BG]
Oh I [BG]
It’s All Gonna Break [BSS]
Good Sex [KD]
Lover’s Spit [BSS]
A Song for Torquil’s Father [TC]
Here, Here and Here [Gord Downie cover]

Vancouver Folk Music Festival @ Jericho Beach Park -- 07/13-15/18

The 41st Annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival returned to the shores of Jericho Beach this weekend, with dozens of bands from all around the world, playing three days of workshops and concerts.

Instead of breaking it down by day like I've done previous years, I think I'll split the workshops and sets I only caught bits & pieces of, from the "full concerts" or solo sets.

---

First, the workshops, which are some of my favourite parts of the weekend. Seeing bands share the stage & occasionally collaborating on the fly is always fun, and more than a few times I've discovered someone new because I was at a workshop to see a different band.

Saturday I arrived just in time for Dirty Windshields, which as you may be able to guess by the name, was Grant Lawrence and friends. Grant introduced the show, which was less "workshop" and more "variety show", and then was out between each of the acts to read stories from his books. Musicians included Dustin Bentall & Kendel Carson, Dawn Pemberton, Little Miss Higgins, and Donovan Woods, and they each played a couple songs, with a focus on the road or travelling. I would have liked to see a little bit of collaboration, or interaction, from the artists, even just everyone out for a song at the end (a Smugglers song, perhaps?) but I also understand that would have been tough to coordinate for a one-off workshop like this, and with so much talent on stage, it was still very enjoyable. Especially when Little Miss Higgins got the crowd to sing along to "Bargain Shop Panties" which was... equal parts awkward and hilarious.

From there, I caught a little bit of Gord Grdina's Haram next, the large band playing kind of a world fusion jazz vibe. Gord went from playing guitar to kneeling at the front of the stage, facing the band, basically conducting everyone. After that I watched some of Small Glories, the duo of Cara Luft and JD Edwards. They were fun storytellers -- in song and with their banter -- with a bit of a country-twang.

After that was a whiskey-soaked workshop featuring Petunia & The Vipers and Little Miss Higgins. Both had an upbeat and rocking vibe, which complimented each other perfectly. They frequently jammed with each other, especially the rhythm section and trumpet, joining in on most of the songs.

The first workshop for me on Sunday was Carole Pope, Skye Wallace, and Wallis Bird. Or, it was supposed to be, but Pope was unable to make it to the festival in the morning. Because of this, Wallace and Wallis ended up trade off a few songs each, going back and forth. Skye played some of her folkier material, armed with her acoustic guitar, but with no less ferocity than normal, as seen in her new song "Swing Batter" about a woman who murdered her abusive husband with an axe.
Wallis confirmed the ‘rumour’ Skye heard about her ripping the strings off her guitar the previous day, and ended up doing the same after her first song before jumping on the piano, and later playing one of my favourites from the workshop, an amazing one called "Deep Reveal", looping just her voice and thumps on the microphone for percussion.
 There wasn’t too much musical interaction between the two (just some banter back and forth) until about with 10 minutes left, when they decided to do an impromptu song together, getting some requests from the crowd before settling on "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". I was already a big fan of Skye, and after the workshop I was sure to keep an eye (ear?) out for Wallis Bird in the future.

Following that was a workshop featuring Iskwé, Art Bergmann, Guy Davis, and Just Duets, but unfortunately I wasn’t close enough to the stage, so the quieter/stripped down/acoustic show was drowned out by some a nearby stage’s more bombastic sound. But while I didn’t catch much, but I did manage to hear a great rendition of "Soldier" by Iskwé, where many of the musicians on stage joined in, including some strings, for a beautiful version of the song.

Luckily, Iskwé was playing a workshop later that afternoon, with Quantum Tangle, which I made sure to see as my last thing on Sunday. Iskwé and the duo of Tiffany Ayalik and Grey Gritt mentioned being friends, but rarely having the chance to play or jam together, so both bands were quick to join in with the other, from the very first song where Ayalik provided some throat-singing for Iswke’s "Healers".
The name of the workshop was "Love is Love" which was fitting when Quantum Tangle played their song of the same name (after a brief demonstration on throat singing). Iskwé lead the crowd in a singalong for her song "The Unforgotten", and Quantum Tangle finished everything off with their single "Freeze, Melt, Boil".
It was probably the best and most "workshop-y" of the weekend, with nearly everyone on stage playing for all of the songs throughout, and the perfect way to end off Sunday, and the entire weekend.  

---

But of course, the weekend wasn’t all workshops. When it came to full concert sets, there were three people I most wanted to see: Neko Case, Iskwé, and Skye Wallace. I was fortunate enough that the timing worked out and was able to see all three, each on a different day.

Neko Case headlined the main stage on Friday night, hitting the stage on a windy night with the sun just dipping behind the mountains (at one point Case joked she forgot to start singing because of the view from the stage).
She focused mostly on the new album, Hell-On, starting with the soft opening to "Pitch and Honey" before it burst forth with energy, as she went through songs like the fierce "Bad Luck", the anthemic "Winnie", and perhaps my favourite from the new album, the heartbreaking "Halls of Sarah". Her incredible voice carried through the park, but I also wouldn't be surprised if it drifted across the Burrard Inlet as well.
Case also dipped back into her back catalogue, with "Hold On, Hold On" and the tempestuous "This Tornado Loves You", finally ending off the show with "Man", going out with a bang on the first night of the festival.

From the shade beside Stage 3 on Saturday, I caught the full set from Iskwé, who I hadn't seen perform live before so was looking forward to it.
The first thing I noticed was not only how animated and confident she was on stage, but how she played to the entire crowd; not just everyone sitting out front, but the people gathering at the sides as well.
Iskwé went through songs from her album The Fight Within, influenced by her Cree and Métis background, many of serious nature -- the powerful "Nobody Knows" about missing and murdered Indigenous women and "Safe" about the #MeToo movement, featuring just her & her guitarist. But even with the subject matter, the set never felt dour, thanks to the electro-pop vibe of the songs, and also her lighter demeanor while chatting between each.
After a fun cover of "You Oughta Know", she ended the set with "The Unforgotten", which featured a call-and-response in Ojibwe (I think) that she taught the crowd, meant to call in the spirits to come sing with us, and was given a well-deserved standing ovation at the end of the set.
I knew nothing else happening Saturday was going to top that, so that’s where I left for the day.

And finally, in the middle of the day on Sunday, in the least shady stage beneath the death sun, Skye Wallace played her own solo set. Joined by a full band this time, her set was more high energy than the workshop a couple hours earlier, playing some favourites, but also spotlighting some new songs from her upcoming album, which I am very much looking forward to if the songs were any indication; she seems to have turned the ‘rock’ and maybe even ‘punk’ dials up a little for the new stuff.
Familiar favourites included dark and haunting songs like "Rumbling Soul" and "Dead Things Part 2", her voice soaring for "Klondike", and the more raucous "Scarlet Fever" and "Blood Moon", an excellent one-two punch to finish off the set.
Skye told the story of her and her mother coming to the folk fest years earlier, leaving her very first EP around under trees -- "planting seeds" as her mom said -- so was very grateful to be finally playing the festival herself (with her mother in the audience, no less!).

All in all, it was another fun folk fest weekend (even if I did get a little crispy in the sun) and already looking forward to see who they bring in next year.