Peak Performance Project Showcase #5 @ Fortune -- 10/17/13

The Peak Performance Project is a multi-year contest in which The Peak, along with Music BC, picks 20 BC musicians/bands each a year and makes them stars. Past winners are We Are The City, Kyprios, Current Swell, and Dear Rouge with a ton of great bands and artists included as well.

Part one of the project was a "rock & roll boot camp" where the musicians went on a week long retreat to get lectures and advice from industry pros, to help them refine their craft. Phase two is a series of shows at Fortune Sound Club; four artists a night for five weeks, each playing a 45 minute set. The bands are rated by a panel of judges, which will go toward their final score in the project. They've also been tasked to learn a "Classic Canadian Cover" to play during their set. I always love hearing bands play cover songs, and it's always interesting to see who each act chooses, if it's someone obvious to their style, or something way outside the box.

I've said a couple times previously, coming in to this year I had some very strong biases, and Hannah Epperson was one such bias. I've always liked violins in music and been fascinated by looping, so the first time I saw her ethereal violin looping ways, I was enamoured. She's been involved in past years, supporting other bands, but this time she has made the top twenty with her own material. 
She took the stage to start the night alone, building intricate violin loops and adding her soft and gorgeous voice, starting with "Murder of Crows". Her set was much like her songs -- starting with one, quieter part before adding layer upon layer -- as she was joined after a couple songs in by a gentleman first on saxophone, then on a drum pad.
Hannah's cover was also quite unique; she started with Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs", but the chorus twisted into "Shot For Me" by Drake, and there was even a little bit of the melody of Fred Penner's "The Cat Came Back" for good measure. It was probably the neatest of all the covers not only in the night, but the whole year. 

She brought the set to an end with the apocalyptic "We Will Host A Party", and if the crowd's response was any indicator, Hannah had plenty of other fans, old or new, in the crowd.

I'm not entirely sure how a solo female violin looper will do in a contest where the top three is historically predominantly male rock bands, but it will be a travesty if she doesn't at least make the top five.

Next up was Amble Greene, the musical project of Cameron Gray. With a backing band that included some nice co-ed backup vocals and some rock sax, he had a pretty straightforward pop rock sound, with a little bit of a folky twinge.
His cover was "Mistake" by Serial Joe, a bit more mellow than its pop-punk original. The choice to cover a song that most people outside of the 90's have forgotten made sense, as a lot of his set had a bit of a 90's influenced vibe to it. Though there was one song that stood out and I really liked; I didn't catch the name of it, but it was a bit darker and more moody than the rest of the songs.
Aside from a bit of recurring feedback, it was a decent set. Nothing spectacular, but inoffensive. He also had a projection screen to his side for the whole set, with images and video clips played on it, but it wasn't terribly visible for someone half way back in the venue.

BESTiE hit the stage next, with a pair of cheerleaders out for their first song. They had a ridiculously fun and catchy tropical power-pop sound, that immediately got people moving and dancing as they kicked off the set with "Pineapple". The band was full of energy, especially lead singer Tristan Orchard, who barely stood still on stage.
They brought out some friends to help them with their cover, a horn section (in costumes) and members of Humans for a really strong rendition of "Eyes of a Stranger" originally by Payola$. The horn section stayed on stage for their last couple songs, and the stage filled up even more as they invited "everyone that likes hot sauce" up for a big dance party for their final sing, "Sriracha".
I'm not sure if I would go home and listen to a BESTiE album, as there wasn't much variation in their songs, but they are a really fun and high energy live band that I would want to see play again.

The final band of the night, and of the showcase series for this year, was Abbotsford's  Oh No! Yoko. They were another band that I came in to this year's competition with a bias towards, but unfortunately it was not the good kind. I had seen them a couple years ago, and never really bought into the buzz around them, but I was interested to see how they've progressed.
The trio has definitely gotten more cohesive, as the band grew up together through high school, but their songs just fall flat to me; part of it might be the "yelpy" vocal style, which I am not really a fan of, but for whatever reason, I just can't connect with their math-rock sound.
Their set was pretty upbeat and energetic, thought there was a bit of a slowdown in the set when they had to set up and take down the keyboard in the middle of their set for their cover, a nice synthy version of The Guess Who's "These Eyes". After they brought the energy back up, they wrapped up with the only older song they played in their set, "90's Kids" and even got some of the remaining fans crowdsurfing.
They also give off a bit of that "we're too cool to care" vibe, which can sometimes rub me the wrong way. If they give a song a derisive introduction, then why should I care about it?


And with that, the showcase portion of the fifth year of the Peak Performance Project comes to a close. Now, and until the 25th of October, each of the twenty bands needs to solicit their fans for the voting portion of the competition, as well as write some business-type reports, and hope for the best. The top five is announced on November 5th, with the fifth and fourth places named, and on November 21st someone will be walking away with a giant novelty cheque for $102,700 as the top three is unveiled at the Commodore Ballroom.

And if you're curious, I'm pulling for a top five of Rykka, Hannah Epperson, Willhorse, The Lion The Bear The Fox, and Towers and Trees.

Peak Performance Project Showcase #4 @ Fortune -- 10/10/13

The Peak Performance Project is a multi-year contest in which The Peak, along with Music BC, picks 20 BC musicians/bands each a year and makes them stars. Past winners are We Are The City, Kyprios, Current Swell, and Dear Rouge with a ton of great bands and artists included as well.

Part one of the project was a "rock & roll boot camp" where the musicians went on a week long retreat to get lectures and advice from industry pros, to help them refine their craft. Phase two is a series of shows at Fortune Sound Club; four artists a night for five weeks, each playing a 45 minute set. The bands are rated by a panel of judges, which will go toward their final score in the project. They've also been tasked to learn a "Classic Canadian Cover" to play during their set. I always love hearing bands play cover songs, and it's always interesting to see who each act chooses, if it's someone obvious to their style, or something way outside the box.

Starting off the penultimate showcase was Victoria's Dougal Bain McLean. Occasionally a solo performer, Dougal came out with a full band to fill out his pop-rock sound. His songs were catchy, but what drew me in most was his voice; that kind of gruff-yet-smooth voice that sounds like he drank a bottle of whiskey before the show.
After a few tunes, including the jaunty "Camino", he traded his guitar for a violin for a couple songs. The first of which was actually my favourite song of the set; it had a greater intensity than the rest of the set, and made me wish he was on the violin more often. It definitely set him apart from some of the other singer/songwriters in the competition.
Staying on violin, Dougal went for more of a "modern classic" with his cover, a nice version of Patrick Watson's "Adventures in Your Own Back Yard", and he ended the set with the most high energy song of the night.

Coldwater Road took the stage next. The five-piece from Vancouver have kind of a pop-folk group, with split male/female vocals. They also had a cello to round out their sound, and a drummer that would occasionally swap out for guitar.
The band gave off kind of a fun, goofy vibe for a lot of their set, without being too silly or cheesy. Songs like "Seven Letters" were playful and perhaps a little tongue in cheek, though but they had a couple other, slower or more serious songs.
I thought for sure their cover was going to be something by Barenaked Ladies, but I was wrong and they went with a version of "5 Days In May" by Blue Rodeo.
They were a perfectly fun band to see live, but I don't know if I'd be going out of my way to hear more.

Next up was Bodhi Jones, for an unprecedented third time going through the project. He took part in the first and second years, and -- after a brief retirement from making music -- is now back this year. I said before I had a few biases going in to the shows this year, and Jones was one of them. I have never been much of a fan, but I tried to go into his set with an open mind.
He is by no means a bad musician, and he surrounded himself with great local musicians for his backing band, but his songs fall a little flat. None of them really seemed to "pop" to me, and some of the lyrics were a bit cliché. But he's definitely comfortable on stage and has a good presence, and seems to have a loyal fan-base.
Bodhi also chose to go more modern with his cover, "Weighty Ghost" originally by Wintersleep. He had people singing and clapping along at the end, which lead into his last song of the night, giving his set a big, grandiose finish.
Oh, and a couple songs in he had someone, whose name I didn't catch, come out and do a short rap/slam poetry. Which seemed a little out of place.

And finally, Lions In The Street wrapped up the night. They took the stage backlit, and stayed in silhouette for most of their set, with everything cranked up for the loudest of the showcases thus far. The four-piece had loads of energy with a swampy rock sound, though there wasn't much variation to their songs. I wasn't surprised to find they were a previously in Fox Seeds, as well, since they sounded like they would have fit in perfectly to that annual competition.
They kept up the same intensity and loudness throughout their entire set, including their cover as they added to the Neil Young count, going with a deep cut "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere"
The band is ten year vets of the business, and that certainly showed on stage, but for whatever reason their set just didn't click with me.

And that almost does it for this year's Peak Performance Project showcases. Next week will be the final one featuring Hannah Epperson, Amble Greene, BESTiE, and Oh No! Yoko.

Elliott BROOD @ Media Club -- 09/29/13

Ten years ago, Mark Sasso, Casey Laforet, Stephen Pitkin got together and released Tin Type, the very first Elliott BROOD album. To celebrate that anniversary, they embarked on a tour of smaller clubs and venues. In Vancouver, that meant the very first place they played here, The Media Club. And considering the last time they were here they sold out the Commodore, a place with five times the capacity, it was sure to be one hell of a show.

As an added bonus, opening the night was John Sponarski of Portage & Main. He took the stage armed only with an acoustic guitar, the occasional harmonica, and his secret weapon, Savannah Wellman of Redbird helping on vocals. John played a set of his own solo songs, which were a little more countrified than the roots-rock of Portage & Main, and his voice a little more gruff, contrasting nicely with Savannah's lovely voice.

The songs were personal and full of emotion, as John told the stories behind them between songs. He admitted it was only his second time playing solo after he flubbed a song, but that can be somewhat forgiven as he also explained that some of the songs were a mere two days old; even the "oldest" ones had only been written a couple months ago. 

My favourite of the set was the last song, a passionate song that was equal parts celebration and lamentation as a reaction to a band breaking up, with a bit of a sing along. It was a great song, and I am not sure if John plans to do more solo shows, or get some hired guns, but it would sound killer with a full band giving it their all. 

Before Elliott BROOD even stepped on stage, the packed crowd was already buzzing, and there was an explosion of enthusiasm as the trio started off with "Will They Bury Us?" from their latest album, Days Into Years. They played a lengthy set that spanned their entire ten years, and those years of experience has refined their live show to a well oiled machine of "death country".
They are an incredible live band, full of energy and fiery passion. Everything from the songs to the banter seemed effortless, Steve's incredibly tight drumming, Mark switching between guitar and banjo and ukulele, Casey playing guitar while playing bass pedals with his feet.
They got the crowd into early on with the massive sing along to "Oh Alberta", everyone clapping and stomping along, and it hardly slowed down from there; even the the softer and more sombre "Northern Air" had an intensity to it. "The Valley Town" garnered another huge sing along, and they wrapped up the set with "Fingers and Tongues".
But they were only off stage for a moment before jumping back in, somehow upping the energy and intensity with the instrumental barn burner "Chuckwagon", and the night came to and end with the absolutely explosive "Write It All Down For You" and every single person stomping and "hey! hey! hey!"-ing along. It is normally an impressive song to see live, but with the culmination of all the energy and emotion in the room, I am surprised the floor wasn't stomped clean through.

Elliott BROOD is normally a very impressive live show, but put them in a small venue filled with the most passionate crowd I've seen in a long time, and you have one unforgettable show. I can only hope they'll be back to the Media Club for their twentieth year anniversary.


setlist
Will They Bury Us?, T-Bill, Wolfgang, Oh Alberta, President (35), Garden River, The Bridge, Rusty Nail, Northern Air, The Trail, Bowling Green, Lindsay, If I Get Old, Only At Home, The Banjo Song, Old Dan Tucker [traditional cover], The Valley Town, Hold You, Fingers and Tongues.
(encore) Chuckwagon, Johnny Rooke, Write It All Down For You.

JP Maurice CD release @ Fanclub -- 09/27/13

The long awaited release of JP Maurice's new album The Arborist was last week, and so JP took to Fanclub for his CD release show. He brought along plenty of friends, both on- and off-stage, with four bands playing throughout the night, followed by a DJ set after from Top Less Gay Love Tekno Party.

Broken Down Suitcase started off the night. The rootsy, folk duo comprised of Ben Caldwell and Eric Larocque played an assortment of guitars, banjos, and mandolins, with only the stomp of Ben's boot providing percussion.
Their catchy and melodic songs were driven by some great harmonies between the two of them. Most of them were more laid back songs, but they also had a few rockers; one of which started by getting the crowd to clap along increasingly faster was probably the best of the set.

Next up was Chris Kelly. The Vancouver mainstay has finally released an album of his own solo material, and having missed his CD release show, I was just as (if not more) excited for his set. His backing band had some familiar faces including Nathan Shubert, Rob Butterfield, and former Analog Bell Service bandmate Colin Cowan.
Chris has a massive energy, bounding around the stage and hardly staying still for a minute. He even broke a string on his guitar on the very first song, "Money", and the energy only went up from there.
Highlights of the set included the mid-tempo rocker "Up Nights" and "It's Your Way", which starts off with soft female vocals before gradually bursting into a cacophonous ending. He also threw in a great cover of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain", before wrapping up the set with the infectious "Cold Feet".
The night probably could have ended there and I would have satisfied, but they were only half way done.

The third band of the night was Small Town Artillery, fronted by Tom from The Boom Booms. While his vocals drew immediate comparisons to the two bands, they were less reggae than The Boom Booms; more funk rock, with a bit of a mish-mash of other things thrown in. Their big sound was helped out for one song when they brought up a few members of Five Alarm Funk for a horn section, as well as Boom Boom Aaron.
Admittedly, I am not all that into The Boom Booms, and I didn't really get into the sound of Small Town Artillery either. It's by no means bad, just not "my thing". But they definitely had a great energy on stage and drew people onto the dance floor.

And finally, the man of the hour JP Maurice took the stage. His eleven piece band was wearing all white, and featured members of Willhorse and Broken Down Suitcase and Redbird, Andrew Rasmussen and Badgerchild and Stephanie Chatman, and even a few others. There were a few times where a band that large seemed maybe a little superfluous -- like they were just playing at the same time, not necessarily together -- but for the most part they created a big, rich sound.
He started off the set with "Poison Heart" and "Get Mad" from the new album, both showing the darker side of his alt-pop-rock. A lot of JP's songs are about love and/or loss, and he always has a strong passion and emotion on stage, and this night was no different.
Other highlights of the set included the ridiculously catchy "Mistake" & "Good Feeling", and a fiery blues-tinged rocker that I didn't catch the name of.
He wrapped up the set with his latest single, "The Other One", but of course was back out for one more; starting with a cover of "Young Offenders" by The Constantines and then segueing into "Night Eyes", his collaboration with Tough Lovers from last year's Peak Performance Project, pulling up Jamie Smail to help with vocals.

It was a solid CD release show, and a great night in music all around, with about five shows worth of talent filling the stage throughout the night.

Young Galaxy @ Electric Owl -- 09/26/13

Three years. That's how long it had been since I last saw Montreal's Young Galaxy perform live. And even then, it was an all-too-short opening slot for the mighty Stars. With the release of their recent Polaris Prize shortlisted Ultramarine their tour saw them came by the Electric Owl in Vancouver, and I knew I was not going to be able to miss it.

I got to there part way through the opener, Human Human. It was the first time in Vancouver for the Montreal band, and they seemed intent on making an impression. In matching jackets with RUN emblazoned on the back, they wore their 80s influence on their sleeves with a synth rock sound and had a great energy to them. The fun they were clearly having on stage definitely bled into the crowd.
The two standout songs were "Control" and the last song of the set, which I didn't catch the name of. I would definitely be interested in catching them again next time they roll through town.

It wasn't long after that Young Galaxy hit the stage, with a projection screen behind them and each member dressed in all black pants and shirts, with suspenders and ties. "Blown Minded" off the Shapeshifting album started off the set that drew from their last three albums -- though nothing from their self-titled debut, which had a bit of a different sound to it --and after the band wrestled with some sound problems early on, it was apparent that they were a force of nature. All five members had an great stage presence; Stephen Ramsey bantered and joking around a little between songs, but it was lead singer Catherine McCandless that all eyes were on. She took command of the stage, stalking back and forth & occasionally crouching down at the front, and with a great intensity her incredibly emotive voice captured the crowd.
The set was full of their dreamy and spacey synthpop songs, but also had a nice diversity. Songs ranged from the thumping of the driving, danceable beat of "Pretty Boy" to the gorgeous "Sleepwalk With Me". Other highlights included the fast paced "Youth Is Wasted on the Young", and "Privileged Poor" with its hypnotic instrumental intro, and one point where Catherine backed off and yelled into the mic, giving it almost a haunting quality.
They ended the set with the huge and showstopping "We Have Everything", and after a great crowd reaction, were back out for one more song; an amazing cover of Erasure's classic "A Little Respect".

The first time I saw Young Galaxy was six years ago at a smoke-filled Media Club. I enjoyed that show and every time I've seen them since, they have gotten exponentially better. Each time leaves me in awe.
I just hope it's not another three years before next time.


setlist
Blown Minded, Peripheral Visionaries, Pretty Boy, In Fire, Out the Gate Backwards, Sleepwalk With Me, Privileged Poor, Youth Is Wasted on the Young, Hard To Tell, Cover Your Tracks, Fall For You, New Summer, We Have Everything.
(encore) A Little Respect [Erasure cover]