Chad VanGaalen @ The Rio Theatre -- 10/15/09

As much as I love places like the Commodore or the Biltmore, I kind of wish all shows from now on were at The Rio Theatre. It is a movie theatre, so not only does it have fantastic sound, but the seats are incredibly comfortable. Maybe it's not "cool" to be sitting for a show, but I'm sick of dealing with the people and crowds at the front of the stage, or the sometimes poor view from the seated areas/tables. Even at the venues which are normally seated, they either have hard, uncomfortable chairs or no leg room. Or both.
Giant, comfy chairs to recline and relax in. That is what I wish for. In venues and in life, really... But I digress!

First up, going on somewhat early (they had a screening of Where The Wild Things Are that night, so the show had a curfew of 11) was Castlemusic. Jennifer Castle came out alone and lured the crowd in with her fantastic voice and gentle, lilting music. Some of the songs may have been a little same-y, but she was still pretty amazing, and her voice had a softness to it that you couldn't help be drawn in by. One of the songs started with just her singing, with no musical accompaniment, and... wow. Just wow. I would really like to see her live again, especially in a more intimate venue.

Soon after, Chad VanGaalen himself was up, with a band of three others, which included Julie Fader of Great Lake Swimmers on keys. It was kind of an interesting set, in that VanGaalen seemed to be a more talkative than he normally is, and a little more loose between songs. At one point someone shouted something out which he thought was "Fraggle Rock" and he started talking about that, Henson, The Muppets, then somehow got to Videodrome and how Deborah Harry's nude scene was ruined by Cronenberg's weirdness.... And not only that, but he was wearing a black, dreadlocked wig, which he partially explained as being a vestige of a really weird victoria show the night before. Pictures of it can be found over here, on Guttersnipe. It was pretty awesome.
And musically, the show was pretty damn good. The set featured a lot of new songs, which he even apologized for -- "Sorry for playing so many new songs, but the old songs are.... old." -- but as far as I'm concerned, new songs are always welcome. He mostly just stuck to his guitar, not really busting out any of the crazy instruments, so some of the songs sounded a little more stripped down than on the album. Nothing was really lost in the translation to the stage, though; everything still sounded great. Although, this may be why he didn't play some of his more layered songs, which was my one complaint: that he didn't do either Bare Feet on Wet Grip Tape or TMNT Masks, but a lot of the other songs made up for it. ESPECIALLY what ended up being, without a doubt, the highlight of the show. A few songs in, VanGaalen called off stage to his friend, whose birthday it was, and asked for a request. His friend, probably being a smartass, called for Technotronic's Pump Up The Jam. So what happened? VanGaalen sang it. The first couple verses only, and just with a simple drum beat... but even still, it was a pretty epic sight. Cover song of the year right there.

At one point, midway through the set, he kind of apologized for having a weird energy... not really being flat, but having a "medium energy" to the show... but even Chad VanGaalen playing a little off was better than a lot of other artists I've seen. It was a great and fun show, in an awesome venue.

Monsters of Folk @ Commodore -- 10/13/09

The combined forces of Conor Oberst & Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes), M. Ward (of She & Him and, uh, M. Ward) and Yim Yames (aka Jim James of My Morning Jacket), Monsters of Folk start their North American Tour last night at the Commodore. With the help of drummer and all around multi-instrumentalist Will Johnson, they played a sprawling set spotlighting all the bands.

Without an opening band they hit the stage, all suited up, a little after 8pm (the show was originally supposed to be at the Orpheum, so I guess they kept the same times) and played for damn near three hours. Playing not just Monsters of Folk tunes, but also songs from each artists respective band/solo catalogues. Members were on and off stage and they played just about every possible combination they could. Oberst and Ward, Ward and Yames, Yames and Oberst; most of the set, however, was the full five members out. There was no way I could have kept track of the setlist, but some of the highlights were, on the Monsters side, "Man Named Truth", "Slow Down Jo", and pretty much every song with Yames. They were best, however, when they worked in harmony with each other. Not just the MoF songs that had them all singing, but when they backed up each others songs. The three of them have pretty different voices but they manage to blend them together beautifully.
They "ended" with the awesome "Losin' Yo' Head", which came to an epic, climactic finish, but then were back out soon enough for the encore, which was one song from each artist, then ended with the last track of the MoF album, "His Master's Voice".

I have one minor complaint about the show, though, and that would be what seemed to be the lack of My Morning Jacket songs. True, Yames & MMJ are my favourite of the four members of the band, so maybe it just my perception, but what was definitely sad was that almost all the MMJ songs selected were older ones. There was only one song played from their newest album, Evil Urges ("Smokin From Shooting") and none from the one prior to that, Z. I suppose I can understand, as the older MMJ songs fit better into the rest of the show, stylistically. I just can't quite imagine them going from Slow Down Jo to Highly Suspicious. But still...

Ultimately, it was an incredibly show, which did the following four things for me:
Made me appreciate the album even more than I already did.
Made me actually like Oberst and Bright Eyes songs, which I was kind of apathetic about before tonight.
Made me realize I need more M. Ward in my collection.
Made me sad that My Morning Jacket has still not been here for a concert in all the time I have been listening to them.

Jets Overhead @ The Chan Centre -- 10/08/09

In my all too humble opinion, one of the marks of truly talented musicians is the ability to take your songs and strip them down to an acoustic form. This is exactly what Jets Overhead did last night at the Chan Centre. They played a set, which was recorded for CBC Radio 2, that was pretty stripped down and raw. Not having heard them do any acoustic material before, I really wasn't sure how it was going to turn out or what to expect...
They came on just after 5, with no opening act, and played for about an hour and a half or so. Starting with a few tracks off their first album, Bridges, they then did something that I had never seen before, and something that was actually really cool. They played the entire new album, No Nations, back to front. Starting with the last song and working their way to the first. At the beginning, they mentioned how difficult it ended up being. Of course, by the second song they proved this to be true when the bass player started in on the second song of the album, but they just joked about it and from there it went off without a hitch. After the album, they played a couple more older songs, but then another brand new one, recorded at the same time as No Nations. I didn't catch the name of it, but I really liked and I hope to be able to find sometime soon. They closed the set, sans encore (which I liked, since my views on the "wander off, then come back on, when you could have just kept playing" practice are well known) with another older song, off their first EP. I also have to mention, they had, just off stage, an upright piano that was only used for a couple songs, but added a great sense of scope to the songs. Maybe it's just cos I'm a sucker for piano.
The whole set, aside from the one flub, was incredibly tight and pretty seamless. They all seemed completely comfortable to be up there, and a lot of the stage banter and stories were loose and natural. As much of a fan I was of the band before the show, I am even more so now, because of this show. I think I even liked some of the songs just as much, if not better than, the album versions, to the point where I was wishing for an acoustic album. I am really glad it was recorded for CBCR2, so I will be able to listen to it again and again and again.

Setlist
All The People, Seems So Far, Tired of the Comfort, It's A Funny Thing, Always a First Time, Fully Shed, Time Will Remember, Sure Sign, No Nations, Weathervanes ((In The Way) Heading For Nowhere, I Should Be Born, George Harrison, Get It Right, [New song], Sun Sun Sun.

Elliott BROOD @ The Biltmore -- 10/07/09

Another night at the

Biltmore

, this time for a sold out Elliott BROOD show. I do have to commend the Biltmore, I suppose, for running a tight ship last night. With three bands on the bill, I feared it would run really late, but they had everything going like clockwork, with bands hitting the stage on the hour, and ended just before 12:30. Though, since it was a sold out show, the room was incredibly stuffy and warm by the end of the night. But, enough about that, on to the show itself.

First up was

Sleepy Sun

, from San Fransisco. They had a kind of psychedelic space rock sound, not unlike

Black Mountain

. The male/female harmonies & dynamics, which were quite excellent, didn't lessen the comparison. They didn't have much by way of banter, preferring the music to speak for itself. They put on a solid set, and I wouldn't mind catching more of them in the future (no pun intended)

The Wooden Sky

was up next, and flannel-clad gentlemen were a bit more on the folksy/rootsy-influenced side. With charm and a pretty damn good stage presence, with what seemed like (and what probably was) complete ease. At one point they were joined onstage by former Mother Mother member, Debra-Jean Creelman. They also broke out a cover tune near the end of the set. I think more bands should play random covers live, because they're almost always interesting. Maybe not always good, but always interesting. In this case, it was American Girl, originally by Tom Petty, and they pretty much owned it.

Finally, it was

Elliott BROOD

's turn. I hadn't seen or heard them live before, and even though I had heard good things, I wasn't really sure that to expect. Well, it's always fun to have no (or low) expectations on things and be absolutely blown away. I have seen few bands with the awesome raw energy and stage presence Elliott BROOD has. Playing almost an hour and a half, and a good mix of old and new material, they kept a high energy for the whole set and tore the place down. One of my favourite songs off the new album is the instrumental Chuckwagon, which was pretty incredible and one of the (many) highlights of the set. Near the end, they did what now seems to be tradition for the band and brought out tin sheets, pot & pan lids and wooden spoons and distributed them throughout the crowd for some extra percussion and some crazy audience involvement. For Write It All Down For You they brought out some members of The Wooden Sky for help with things like drumming, and just went nuts. Between the extra members, the clatter of the crowd and the whole damn sold out place yelling along for the HEYHEYHEY!!!'s, it was chaotically awesome and one of the best song performances of the year so far. You just couldn't help but love it. They ended the main set with Fingers and Tongues, but were back out soon enough for the obvious encore.

And speaking of covers, they kicked off the encore with a cover of Crazy Horse's Dance Dance Dance, before bidding us all adieu with the closing song from Mountain Meadows, Miss You Now, an absolute perfect closing song.

The more I think back on the show, the more I am loving it, and only a day removed, I can't wait to see Elliott BROOD live again.

Rain Machine @ Biltmore -- 10/02/09

Having seen TV On The Radio at both the Commodore and Malkin Bowl, it was kinda weird, yet really cool, to see Kyp Malone and his solo project, Rain Machine at a small place like the Biltmore. I also realized, part way through the show, that not only was this my sixth show in a ten day span, but it was the first of those that wasn't a Canadian band! Gasp!

Around 8:30, despite there being only a couple dozen people scattered about, the curtains opened and a lone, slightly nervous looking fellow introduced himself as Steven Donald Robert Nelson and started playing. He had the whole acoustic-singer-songwriter going for him, and had some pretty decent stuff. The set was short, about 25 minutes, and as it went on he seemed to grow more comfortable and confident as people started filtering up from the tables to the stage. It was a solid set; nothing too mind blowing, but he definitely has potential. I wouldn't mind checking him out again in the future and kinda wish I had picked up an album. He's a local, though, so I'm sure I will be able to catch him around at some point.

When the curtain was opened again, at 9, I was surprised to see not Rain Machine, but Diane Cluck. Surprised because I had heard she had to cancel. Turns out, as she told us during the set, she forgot her passport in New York, but they were able to ship it to her in Seattle with just enough time for her to get here.
The only problem with her set had nothing to do with her, it was that the people at the Biltmore wouldn't shut the fuck up. It sounded more like a food court, with everyone trying to have their own conversations over her music, which is soft enough as it is. After only two songs, she basically told us she wasn't going to bother trying to play over people, and for anyone who was interested to come to the front of the stage. Luckily, a fair amount of people did -- including Kyp Malone out from back stage -- and she kept going, though the noise didn't really die down all that much. Only once have I felt more embarrassed and ashamed to be part of a crowd. If you fucking hipsters are "too cool" to listen to the live music being played, that you paid for, and would rather yell about what cause is most trendy this week, then get the fuck out of my venue and go to, i dunno, the art gallery or the microbrewery or under a falling piano where you won't ruin anyone else's night.
Ahem, but I digress...
As I mentioned, her music was very soft and folky, with just her and an acoustic guitar on stage, and rather beautiful. Her powerful voice carried her songs, and one gets the feeling she could create an intense emotion behind any song. By the end of the set, she had thanked those who were actually listening and capped it off with a little more of a poppy and upbeat song. It was quite a good set, and I hope she wasn't put off Vancouver by the few assholes in the crowd.

And finally, Rain Machine was out just before 10. They started the set off with a few slower songs, but before long they were bringing the house down. Malone's incredibly powerful voice cut a swath through the crowd on more than one occasion, and the other 4 members of the band were able to keep up no problem. At the start of the show, Kyp was a little shy, mumbling hello's, but as the show went on, he got looser and more vocal between songs, and also chastising the crowd for talking during Cluck's set, telling us an amusing tale of how he once talked through a US Maple and regretted it when he saw them again and they blew him away. It was actually quite an interesting contrast, seeing how shy he was between songs, then while singing, watching him attack some of the songs with such ferocity.
Part way through the set, the band left the stage for Malone to perform a song of his own. And at one point during this, even he had to yell at people for talking (see above rant) and went as far as to ask for our attention, which, again, makes me ashamed of the Vancouver crowd. I know it was a Friday night, but come on people.
Anyway, the band came back on and they had time for a couple more songs, before the 11:00 curfew (the Biltmore double booked, for some strange reason) and so they didn't bother leaving for the inevitable encore, which I was glad of, since that's always just a waste of time. They instead, at the very end, asked if they had time to do one more song. Which they did... had it not been an absolutely EPIC 15 minute song, Winter Song.
Ending at about quarter after 11, the Biltmore staff then rushed everyone out for their next show. And while I'm yelling at people in this review: Really, Biltmore? Last couple Saturday shows I've seen there, they have had an 11 curfew so they could have their club nights, which is okay and understandable, and they even let the people at the shows stay without having to pay cover again. That, I am fine with. But booking another band to play that night?? Not cool, Biltmore. Not cool.

ANYWAY, ranting aside, despite the double booking and the shitty crowd, it was a great night. Rain Machine was really damn good, and I hope this isn't just a one-off project and that Kyp Malone is able to keep doing it.