Elias (w/ Henry & The Nightcrawlers) @ The Shark Club -- 07/17/10

I know what you're thinking. I was thinking it too. The Shark Club? What the hell? But even though it is an unlikely place for live music, I am all for more venues in Vancouver. And it turned out to be not that bad. The layout was kind of... strange, as it was very much like they just had a stage in the middle of a "sports bar & grill", but the sound was pretty damn good, and that's the most important thing, isn't it? I don't know if I will be clamouring to see any more shows there, but I've been to worse.

First of the night was Henry & The Nightcrawlers. They had a slightly different lineup for the night, as filling in for Zach Gray on the bass was Peter Carruthers (who you may know from Said The Whale). They started the set as the place was still filling up, and at first it was a little... chatty, but as they went through their set, the funk-infused indie rock grabbed peoples attention. Both "On A Week Night" and "100 Blows" had cool extended endings (based on the versions of the songs on the self-titled EP, anyway) and, as I'm sure I mentioned before, "The Fucking" is always a great live song.
Come to think of it, every time seem them it's been opening for someone else, so I can't wait to see their own headlining show.

setlist
The Fight (La Lucha), Daytime Friend, The New Guy, The Fucking, On A Week Night, Amberly, Fan The Flames, 100 Blows.

Next was Run The Red Light, whose LED light towers back-lit them amongst the smoke, creating an interesting atmosphere, as much of the time you could just see then band in silhouette. They had a good stage presence, but not much banter or talk between songs, and while they were certainly not bad, they perhaps lacked variety. Their songs had a kind of ambient, alt-rock sound to them, but a lot of them sounded a little similar, even the cover of Sarah McLachlan's Possession (which, okay, was actually quite awesome). I wouldn't be averse to checking the out again, but wouldn't be in any rush to.

Finally was Elias, who I hadn't actually seen live in quite some time, and I'm not sure why. They didn't have too much stage banter either, but it was easy to tell the band has been doing this for a while. Everything seemed effortless; they had a pretty commanding stage presence and you could feel the emotion dropping from each song. A few times they changed the pace of the set, with lead singer Brian Healy switching from the keys to the guitar, which gave that much more depth to their sound.
They also threw in a cover near the end, Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill, which was pretty darn good. After one other song, they came back for the prerequisite encore -- even though lead singer Healy mentioned he wasn't a fan of them -- and left everyone satisfied. And me wondering why I hadn't taken more chances to see them live.

Brasstronaut & We Are The City @ Surrey Fusion Fest -- 07/17/10

I am not sure how many years the Surrey Fusion Fest has been going on for, but this was my second year checking it out, for the music. Last year saw Said The Whale and Joel Plaskett Emergency there, and while it seems like an odd choice to hold it on the same weekend as the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, it is a nice alternative for people unable to attend, afforded an opportunity to see some great live music (for free!). This year they had a couple excellent BC bands playing, not the main stage, but a smaller one that I am pretty sure was not there last year. Which caused some... problems.

But first, We Are The City was up! Supposed to go on at 6:30, they got their set bumped back a little because some genius decided to put this stage too close to the main stage. It was good, though, that they planned to stagger the acts. At least, in theory. The set was a short one, only half an hour, so they only managed to play a half dozen songs. But as usual, they owned the stage, and I wouldn't be surprised if more than a few people there were now fans. They played a couple new songs, which seem to be a staple of their live set now, "The Birds" and "This Is A Bad Mistake". The latter I had misidentified as "Take It From Me" a couple times, based on the lyrics, which now makes me feel silly since I had actually heard them name the song before.
They wrapped up the set with "Astronomers", which got the "recognition whoo" when they said the name before playing it, and "April", as they seem to have been doing lately, which is fine by me, as it's a great pair to end off a show.
There was also an amusing moment where, just as a lull happened in one of the songs, a loud piano note came from the sound check on the other stage. It just happened to be perfect timing, and pretty funny... but also an omen of things to come.

setlist
There Are Very Tiny Beasts In The Ground; There Are Very, Very Big Lights In The Sky; This Was A Big Mistake; The Birds; Astronomers; April

As soon as they ended, the other stage played, but then as soon as the other stage ended... Brasstronaut was still sound checking and setting up. I don't know if they just took longer than expected or what, but then when they were about a song or so into their set... an act on the other stage started playing. As Edo put it, "it looks like we're part of an old fashioned ghetto blaster battle". And while they took it in stride and continued their set like pros, it was incredibly annoying and frustrating, having the sounds from the other stage bleed over. Major planning/scheduling/organizational failure on the part of the organizers, there. Why would you put two stages practically right next to each other?? Then schedule bands to play them at the same time??? But aside from that, the set was quite awesome. No lazers or video projection like they had last time I saw them, but that didn't detract from their rich and grandiose sound at all. They too only had about a half dozen songs, mostly from their new album, Mt. Chimaera, but also the older "Requiem for a Scene". They capped off the set with one of my favourites from it, "Slow Knots", which was fantastic live. The only disappointment was that they didn't play "Hearts Trompet", but given they had a short set, it didn't bother me that much. That, and it probably would have been overpowered anyway.

setlist
Six Toes, Requiem for a Scene, Hands Behind, Lo-Hi Hopes, Slow Knots.

Aside from the one small bit of shoddy planning, it turned out pretty damn good, and so long as the Fusion Fest keep getting top quality bands like they have for these last two years, I will keep checking it out.

We Are The City @ CBC Vancouver -- 07/16/10

I am really starting to like this Musical Nooners free concert series that the CBC is putting on. Last week there was a surprise kick-off of the Malahat Revue tour, and today was a spontaneous We Are The City performance! The shows take place at the outdoor plaza at the CBC Vancouver building, and it looks like it will be running every weekday this summer.

They started playing to somewhat of a small crowd, but as the hour went on, more and more people came over to form a decent sized crowd, for a weekday noon show. Especially one that kind of sprang up at the last minute. As well as their usual assortment of songs from In A Quiet World, they threw in some new songs; "The Birds" (which I got a decent video of) and a couple others, which I have seen before but still have never managed to get the name of. I call them, based on the lyrics, "Take It From Me" and "Morning Song".

They also had some tales of adventure to share. Near the end of the set, Cayne & Andy told a story about going home in Kelowna, just a few weeks back. They were playing with airsoft guns when some hooligans (one of which they later learned was nicknamed "Stabby Steve") came and assaulted them for the guns, giving Cayne a black eye and pummelling Andy. To quote VIAindie: "Who would beat up the nicest people ever!? Grr."

They ended the set after the story with a my two favourite songs of theirs; "Astronomers", which is always explosive live, and the more mellow "April", which was a great way to end a sunny afternoon show.

And if you missed them today, fear not! They will be playing tomorrow with another stellar band Brasstronaut at the Surrey Fusion Festival, at 6:30pm. For free!

setlist
Intro; Feel Is A Word; There Are Very Tiny Beasts In The Ground; The Birds; [Take It From Me]; There Are Very, Very Big Lights In The Sky; [Morning Song]; Peso Loving Squid; Time, Wasted; Astronomers; April

The New Pornographers @ The Vogue -- 07/15/10

I feel as if the Indie Rock Gods were rewarding the hardcore New Pornographer fans. Last nights sold out show was the first one announced, then they added a second show, for the night before. Well, for the first (but really the second) show, something went wrong and Neko Case couldn't make it. But she was out in full force last night!

First up, though, was Imaad Wasif, from Vancouver. He had an intriguing sound, kind of a psychedelic, stoner rock that had an ebb and flow to it; sometimes being soft and slow, something going crazy rocking out. At times it was impressive that such a bombastic sound came from only four people -- guitar, bass, drums and violin -- but the set seemed to drag on a little much, as I think he was on for over 45 minutes. He also seemed very enamoured with love, stating how every song was about love (and possibly longing) and at one point saying how love was the most important thing in the universe. Nothing wrong with love, of course, but he just seemed very up on it. And aside from that, there wasn't much by way of stage banter. All four of them had a pretty good presence and energy while playing, but Wasif didn't have much to say between songs other than the usual "thanks for coming/the [opening band] for having us"

The Dodos were next up, and immediately I say wow! They were just three members strong, but an interesting setup. One on guitar, one on drums (with no bass drum, but a tambourine taped to his shoe), and one who played the vibraphone and a floor tom (Sometimes simultaneously). And on top of that, he was occasionally playing the vibraphone with a bow.
They had a more indie pop sound to them, and a nice variety of more slower, folky numbers and faster, rocking out ones. All of which were highly infectious and catchy, and any other night they may have stole the show. For their final song they played "Fables", which I immediately recognized, but for the life of me I am not sure where from.

And the, finally, The New Pornographers. They hit the stage nine large, as the the gang was all there. Opening with the awesome "Myriad Harbour", they immediately got everyone out of their seats and singing along. From there they spanned a good variety of their catalogue, spanning all five albums. Among the highlights was the highly energetic "Your Hands (Together)", Bejar's stunning "Execution Day" and "My Shepherd", which made me fall even more in love with Case's voice (if possible). And let's not forget Kathryn Calder, who had "Sweet Talk Sweet Talk" to spotlight her amazing pipes. Though the one song that I was disappointed they didn't play was "Adventures In Solitude", which is one of my favourites and would have been another showcase for Calder. And as for Newman, he makes it all just seem so effortless.
They also had, as usual, some hilarious banter which included, but was not limited to: a battle of wits with the bro show at the front (which was pretty one-sided). Neko Case spotting a shirtless man with "bigger boobs than [her]", which led to a rant about how HE could bare his chest in public, yet SHE could not. And then, when the prerequisite odour and smoke wafting on stage, the band mocking those responsible for not even trying to hide it -- Case likening it to survival of the fittest and taunting a T-Rex.
The set ended with what may be my favourite New Pornos song, "The Bleeding Heart Show", which was just amazing live. Then they came out for an encore which consisted of two more of my favourites; first the beautiful "Challengers", then Bejar coming back out for "A Testament To Youth In Verse", which saw them look to the crowd for a few of the "No no no..." verses, and even though the crowd was slow to pick up on, we were belting it out by the end, before they exploded into the finale. A superb ending for the show.

My only complaint would be that the sound in the place seemed a little loud, especially the vocals. But it was only enough to be noticeable, and not enough to be annoying. What was annoying though was the dickbag who, between every song, would yell "Where's Bejar?" (sometimes "amusingly" pronouncing it bay-jar) at the top of his lungs. At first he was ignored, then yelled at by the crowd, then mocked by the band, especially when he yelled it when Bejar was on stage. But aside from that, it was a brilliant show from Vancouver's own The New Pornographers.

Setlist:
Myriad Harbour, What Turns Up In The Dark, Sing me Spanish Techno, Crash Years, Jackie Dressed in Cobras, The Laws Have Changed, My Rights Versus Yours, Twin Cinema, Jackie, Sweet Talk Sweet Talk, All The Old Showstoppers, Go Places, The Moves, Your Hands (Together), Execution Day, My Shepherd, Use It, Silver Jenny Dollar, Letter From An Occupant, The Bleeding Heart Show.
[encore] Challengers, Testament to Youth In Verse.

Tariq & Jody Glenham @ Little Mountain Gallery -- 07/13/10

I've mentioned it before, but one thing that is really cool about the Vancouver music scene is how close and friendly everyone is. Last night's show at the Little Mountain Gallery was filled with other musicians and CBC Radio 3 people, not just there to support friends, but also enjoy some good music.

The first act up was The Old Familiar, and unfortunately we missed his set, getting in just in time for Jody Glenham. I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow I hadn't seen her live before (not counting a night at Guilt & Co. or a Jon Bon Jovi Jody song at Biltmore karaoke night). The first thing that struck me was her voice; she had a great range, soft and smoky when needed, but a few times during the set she stepped back from the mic and just let loose, which was impressive. It was just her & keyboard on stage, and maybe the small venue helped, but she seemed to have a knack to make things intimate, and kind of felt like each song should have been shared in a smoky bar over a glass of whiskey.

Next up was Tariq, who I also hadn't seen, on his own at least (only with Brasstronaut). He was joined by some familiar faces on stage; Colin Cowan (from Analog Bell Service), Jody Glenham and Shane Nelkin (from The Awkward Stage). He has a bit more of a folky, acoustic sound to him; a bit softer, but not without an edge. One song that really struck me was "Front Row Seat", a love song via concert seating. There was also some great banter and joking around, as all the members are pretty funny in their own right. Finally, for the "encore", they came into the crowd for one last song (even Cowan's stand up bass), which was a really cool thing to see, as they were all (obviously) unamplified.

Corny as it may sound, it's shows like this that make me so glad to be witnessing what Vancouver (and even the rest of BC) has to offer, music-wise, right now. Seeing people supporting each other on and off stage, it creates a real sense of community, as opposed to just a bunch of bands who happen to be in the same city.