Bend Sinister @ Tyrant Studios -- December 08, 2023

Just a few weeks ago, Bend Sinister announced a last minute, intimate show at Tyrant Studios, the current name for the historic music space above Vancouver’s Penthouse (yes, that one). And seeing as it had been a minute since seeing the group, I jumped at the chance for what was promised to be a “nice, snug, sweaty Rock N Roll show”.

With no opening act, Dan Moxon, Joseph Blood, Matt Rhode, and Dicky Neptune hit the stage to play two sets of high energy rock. Starting off with “Move A Little Slower”, the first set consisted of some old favourites, like the jaunty groove of “Fancy Pants” and the joyous “Show Me How To Love”. Dan’s voice belted out through the room on the dark and moody “Black Magic Woman”, and the whole band shone on the climax of the set, the sprawling, 8-minute epic “Best of You”. They finished the first half of the evening off with the anthemic “Rock ‘n’ Roll” (pausing mid-song for an action shot) and took a quick break before the second half of the show.

After mentioning the rest of the show was going to be filmed for later use, they started off with one of the recent singles they've dropped, “Price You Pay”, and from there mostly focused on new songs from their upcoming album. Highlights included the summer-jam “Hot City” and the infectious “Can I Get Your Name?”, as well as the unreleased “Big Star”, a hugely chaotic tune that instantly shot to my favourite of the new crop.
They did also slip in a few older songs, like “Walk the Other Way”, which was the most intense of the set, and the flat-out rager “Teacher”, before capping off the set with another new one, “What It Takes”.

But the intimate venue and small stage didn’t really offer anywhere to go. So after Joseph quickly ducked off to grab a makeshift Christmas tree, the band went ahead with a holiday song they released last year, “If Christmas Comes This Year”, before letting the crowd sing along to a pair of covers; first “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night and then Van Halen's “Jump”.

I've said before on this blog, one of the first bands I heard when getting deeper into the “Local Vancouver Scene” was Bend Sinister, and I am so happy to be able to see them consistently rock out. But as much as I’ve typed here, I think my favourite ‘review’ of the show came from a lone guy in the crowd (who I don’t think had even heard of Bend Sinister before that evening), when he shouted in awe during a quiet moment between songs “That was pretty good! Those guys have PRACTICED!”

setlist
(set 1)
Move A Little Slower
Got You On My Mind
Fancy Pants
Show Me How To Love
Don't You Know
Man Of Faith
Black Magic Woman
1997
Best Of You
Rock N Roll

(set 2)
Price You Pay
Heard It All Before
Renegade
Shannon
Can I Get Your Name?
Walk The Other Way
Leave The Lights On
Hot City
Big Star
Teacher
What It Takes

(encore)
If Christmas Comes This Year
Joy To World
Jump

Hannah Georgas @ Hollywood Theatre -- December 07, 2023

It has been a long time since I’ve seen Hannah Georgas perform live, a little over five years, and even longer still since her last proper headlining show in Vancouver. So I was very happy that she was ending her current tour, in support of her new album, I’d Be Lying If I Said I Didn’t Care here at the Hollywood Theatre.

I was also glad to see Vancouver’s Sam Lynch opening the show. She took stage alone with just her guitar and lovely voice filling the room, teasing a selection of songs from an album she just finished. The short set built in intensity as it went, and also included a couple songs from her debut album, Little Disappearance, from a few years ago. On “Good Year”, she had the audience softly singing along, and ended off with “Keeping Time”.
I’ve seen Sam Lynch a couple times before, opening for or performing with others, and the new songs definitely made me want to keep an ear out for when the new album is out.

After a quick turnover, Hannah’s band hit the stage, consisting of some familiar faces -- Feurd Moore, Robbie Driscoll, and Andrew Braun. They started with the instrumental “Drew’s A Beast”, before Hannah Georgas herself came out to launch into “Scratch”, the first song on I’d Be Lying If I Said I Didn’t Care.

From there, Hannah played a selection from the new album, including the punchy “What I Don’t Want”; “Fake Happy”, written about a friend she lost to a cult(!); and the soft “Beautiful View”, bringing Sam Lynch back out to sing with her.
She also delved into her catalogue, from the ethereal “Enemies” to the more upbeat “Robotic”, and showing off her gorgeous voice on “Don’t Go”.

Throughout the show, Hannah was both vocally & visibly excited to be back in Vancouver, where she started her music career. When not playing guitar or keys, she bounced around the stage dancing, and seemed as bummed as the crowd when the main set drew to a close with “Not The Name You Say”, and everyone in the band letting loose for a swirling finish.

But of course, Hannah was back after a moment, on her own for one of the first songs she wrote (and still one of my faves) “The Beat Stuff”. Then the rest of the band returned to cap the night off with the always heart wrenching “Ode to Mom”, written about her late father.

Even though she no longer resides here, I would still count Hannah Georgas among my favourite ‘Vancouver acts’, and it’s always a joy to see her perform, especially in a good venue. In the couple years since it opened, Hollywood Theatre has been creeping up the list of favourite spots in the city (particularly if they keep booking shows like this one).

setlist
Drew’s A Beast
Scratch
What I Don’t Want
Better Somehow
Enemies
Don’t Go
Lost Cause
Robotic
Beautiful View
Someone I Don’t Know
That Emotion
Easy
Same Mistakes
Fake Happy
Home
Not The Name You Say
(encore)
The Beat Stuff
Ode to Mom

Wide Mouth Mason @ The Roxy -- November 30, 2023

A couple months ago, iconic Canadian blues rockers Wide Mouth Mason released their latest album, Late Night Walking. They then hit the road, with a run of Canadian dates that including a show in Vancouver at... the Roxy.

With no opening band for the evening, Shaun Verreault and Safwan Javed hit the stage, joined by bassist Reed Shimozawa, to start off with “Habitual” and from there ran through their deep catalogue. From my favourites off the new album, like “Unshoot a Gun” and gritted-teeth bitterness of “You Pushed Me” to classics like “Smile” and “Why”, which had the bar singing along.

Throughout the set, Shaun switched back and forth between guitars and pedal steel, showing off his “Tri-Slide” technique (joking that when playing, one hand looked like Edward Scissorhands, and the other like C3PO), and often songs burst into solos and jams, where Shaun could prove himself as one of the best guitarist in the country, hands down.

Other highlights included “Sugarcane”, which features a little bit of the Stones’ “You Can't Always Get What You Want” slipped in, and “This Mourning”, which surprisingly had a little bit of Blackstreet's “No Diggity”; as well as the softer “Long Distance Love”, an older song that Verreault wrote while going cross country on a train, and re-recorded for the new album.

The trio brought the main set to an “end” with the gloomy “Midnight Rain” and a huge blues jam “Mary Mary”, but (thankfully) didn't bother with performative encore. Shaun just asked the crowd to pretend they went away for a moment and came back, before finishing off with another old favourite, the raucous “My Old Self”.

Even though I've seen Shaun play some solo shows over the past few years, it had been nearly ten years(!) since I last saw Wide Mouth Mason live. And in that time, they hadn’t lost a step, having as much energy as ever, refining their sound.
Before the show I was thinking that they are one of the longest running bands I’ve consistently been a fan of (as opposed to other bands from the 90s, which I’ve kind of fallen off & stopped following) and this show was a great example of why.

setlist
Habitual
You Pushed Me
Bodies in Motion
Every Red Light
Only Child
Unshoot a Gun
Smile
Long Distance Love
Why
Get a Hold Of You
This Mourning
Companion (Lay Me Down)
Obvious
Minus Two Minutes
Sugarcane
Midnight Rain
Mary Mary
("encore")
My Old Self

Tim Baker @ St. James Community Square -- Nov 24, 2023

With the release of his recent EP Along the Mountain Road, a companion to last year’s The Festival, Tim Baker announced a string of solo shows across the country, including a pair of Vancouver shows at St. James Community Square. Both sold out almost instantly, surprising no one, and I was incredibly excited to see the former Hey Rosetta! frontman in the former church, a gorgeous venue that I hadn’t seen a show at in something like ten years.

Opening the show was Matt Holubowski, the singer from Hudson, Quebec alone on stage with just an acoustic guitar, strumming while his captivating voice filled the room.

Highlights of his set included the gentle “Around Here” and “Dawn”, a song inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. He mentioned part way through the set that some of the acoustic songs sounded a bit different than on the album, punctuating that by telling a story about getting the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra to perform on his latest album, Like Flowers on a Molten Lawn, then launching into “Sandy Cove”.

He finished off his set with an ethereal song, “Exhale/Inhale”, and I doubt I was the only person in the room to think I needed to listen to that latest album as soon as I could.

It wasn’t long before Tim Baker took the stage, starting off with a new (I think), Christmas-y song on the grand piano, before switching to keyboard for “Pilgrims” and then “Songbirds” on guitar. He jumped between instruments for the rest of the show, while chatting with the rapt audience, telling the stories behind the songs, or just joking around.
And the audience was so attentive, that even when joining in on songs — a low rumble of feet hitting the floor, or softly singing along with the chorus of “Someday” — it may have seemed quiet or timid, but I think it was more that everyone was just in reverence of the St. John’s singer.

Baker played mostly from his solo albums, from the upbeat “The Shield”, to the incredibly crushing “Eighteenth Hole” performed beautifully on the piano, and even the looped beats of “Jungle Suite”, which allowed Baker to dance a little, showing off his best lounge singer and soft-shoe moves on stage. But he also broke out a few Hey Rosetta! tunes, quipping he’d play “old songs in ways no one ever asked to hear them”; the banjo came out for one of my favourite deep cuts, “Red Song” as well as “Kintsukuroi”, and a jaunty version of “Red Heart” saw him playing the keyboard with one hand, and grand piano with the other(!)

After a rousing “All Hands”, the crowd gave a standing ovation, and he returned, appropriately enough, with “Don’t Let Me Go Yet”. Finally, he capped off the evening with literal bells on, for the holiday song, “Carry Me Home”.

Tim Baker has an effortless charisma and charm, which often comes through in his shows with a full band, but that was never more apparent than during this solo show. Alone on stage, in an intimate venue, with an enchanted audience, made for an incredible night.

setlist
[new song]
Pilgrims
Songbirds
Someday
The Shield
New Key
Eighteenth Hole
[new song]
Red Song
Kintsukuroi
Red Heart
Dance
Jungle Suite
Pools
All Hands
encore
Don't Let Me Go Yet
Carry Me Home

The New Pornographers @ Commodore Ballroom -- November 14, 2023

Earlier this year, The New Pornographers released their ninth(!) studio album, Continue As A Guest, and have hit the road to celebrate, with a stop at their old stomping grounds, the legendary Commodore Ballroom.

The band hit the stage with Carl Newman simply declaring “We're from here!” before going into “Marie and the Undersea” from the new album. Kathryn Calder’s incredible vocals drove the song, harmonizing with Newman and Nora O’Connor (substituting for the missing Neko Case).

From there they continued into a hour-and-a-half set that spanned their entire oeuvre. From the smooth groove of “Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies” and self proclaimed ‘weirdo psyche country number’ title track “Continue As A Guest”, to the explosive energy of “Dancehall Domine” and the dizzying “The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism”.

A few times throughout the set we were treated with an appearance from Dan Bejar (a benefit of the group’s Vancouver shows: even when Dan isn’t touring with them, he often drops in). First for “Ballad of a Comeback Kid” and then later for “Testament to Youth in Verse”, building to the grandiose finish with the crowd joining in on the chorus of “No No No”.

They were also joined by Macie Stewart from the opening band Finom, accompanying on violin for a few songs. Including an absolutely gorgeous version of the already-heartbreaking “Adventures in Solitude”, starting gentle with Calder’s fragile vocals before swelling to a swirling climax.

After a pair of raucous, crowd-favourites — “Use It” and “Mass Romantic” — the main set came to a close… though before they even left, Carl joked “You know how these things work.” And so of course, mere moments later they were back for more. The encore included a couple of my favourites, starting with Bejar out one last time for “Myriad Harbour” and then capping the night off with both members of Finom joining on “The Bleeding Heart Show”. From the soaring vocals to the phenomenal drums, it’s not just one of my favourite New Pornos songs, but among my top songs of all time.

The New Pornographers were one of my “entry” bands into the world of Canadian indie rock, nearly 20 years ago now. I’ve seen them play more than a dozen times, and even with the various personnel changes, they always put on an incredibly fun show, and last night was no different.

setlist
Marie and the Undersea
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism
The Laws Have Changed
Really Really Light
Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile
Ballad of a Comeback Kid
Cat and Mouse With the Light
All the Old Showstoppers
Continue as a Guest
Adventures in Solitude
The Jessica Numbers
Last and Beautiful
Champions of Red Wine
Pontius Pilate's Home Movies
Angelcover
Dancehall Domine
Testament to Youth in Verse
Use It
Mass Romantic
(encore)
Myriad Harbour
Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
The Bleeding Heart Show