Reggie Watts @ Vogue Theatre -- 09/04/14

Every so often, my love of music and my love of comedy dovetail perfectly, and the co-host and "house band" on Comedy Bang! Bang!, Reggie Watts, is one of the best examples. He played a sold-out show at the Vogue (or "The Vag" as he pronounced it) this week, with his perfect blend of humour and song.

Taking the stage with an outrageous, Cosbian sweater, Watts starting off with some standup. Or his version of it. While it's tough to review comedy (since it is arguably even more subjective than music) Watts' style of humour is right up my alley. Dry and absurd, taking strange twists and turns in his narratives, or playing ridiculous characters & concepts completely straight, his comedy rambles along at a good clip. He covered everything from Canada's (fictional) history to (fictional) upcoming shows at the Vogue. I've seen Watts a few times now and I am still not sure if he has "material" or if everything is just off the top of his head (along with that glorious hair of his). He even pushed the envelope with a couple jokes that had half the crowd howling, half the crowd nervously stiff.

But where Watts really impresses is his musical talents. Too often I've seen comedians use music as a crutch, not really that good at either, but that is certainly not the case with Watts. He had a table with a loop station on one side of the stage, and a keyboard on the other.

They keys were used only briefly, and even then the first song it wasn't even on while he played dramatically. The second showcased perfectly Watts' improvisation, as half way through the song someone near the front ran off to the washroom, and Watts incorporated that, spinning the song into that direction.

But it was his beatboxing and looping that really had the crowd eating right out of his plastic fork hand. With sparse bass and synth from his sampler, and the occasional tweaking of knobs to change the pitch, distort, or pan the sound from one side of the theatre to the other, all of that was just to backup and enhance his looped beatboxing. Using it either as the main focus of the song, or as the backing to then sing (or rap) over them with stream-of-consciousness rhymes -- or even just incomprehensible syllables and noises. It had the crowd mesmerised and by the end of the night, the front of the stage filled with people dancing.

There's an old theory/joke that all comedians wish they were musicians, and all musicians wish they were comedians. I have no idea what Reggie Watts wishes he was, because he excels at both.

Summer Send-Off @ Sun Peaks Resort -- 08/30-31/14

I thought I was going to go the whole summer without any music-based road trips, but when Sun Peaks announced their Summer Send-Off weekend, headlined by Arkells and Eliott BROOD, and also including Hey Ocean!, I knew it couldn't be missed. Hopping in the car with Christine of Vancouver Is Awesome , we headed up to the resort just north of Kamloops for a weekend of music in the mountains.
(and also off-road segwaying)

The first night the music started with Coloured Sky who I unfortunate missed due to rain, but JUST as Arkells hit the stage, the rain stopped and the sun peeked through the clouds.
Starting off with the first song from their new album High Noon, "Fake Money", and as soon as the song was done, lead singer Max Kerman -- always looking out for the fans -- urged everyone to rush the stage and fill the sparse VIP area at the front of the stage.

I've seen Arkells live more than a half-dozen times and they never fail to impress. Aside from guitarist Nick Dika having some small technical issues (faulty outlet, fixed by switching power supplies) they band was firing on all cylinders. Especially Max, one of the most charismatic frontmen that Canada has to offer; always moving around the stage, interacting with the crowd, sometimes even at a one-to-one level, and rarely without a giant grin on his face.

The set spanned their three albums, but also included a few of their usual covers of the Motown variety (as a "request by some friends from Vancouver") A cover of "My Girl" in the main set, and then "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" in the encore; with Max down on his knees at the front of the stage getting the crowd to sing along with the impassioned apology, "I've done a lot of foolish things / That I really didn't mean"
Other highlights of the set included more singing (or yelling) along with "Oh, The Boss is Coming", the beautiful slow burning build of "Never Thought That This Would Happen", and Anthony Carone's badass piano solo during "Puling Punches"
After a little over an hour, they ended the evening with a song that is still my favourite of theirs, "John Lennon", which even included a little bit of Iggy Izalea's "Fancy" snuck into the chorus for good measure.

The second afternoon of music on the main stage started with Hey Ocean! as they hit the stage with "If I Were A Ship", from their most recent album IS. The Vancouver band always puts on a fun and energetic live show, and even their self-admitted relaxing dip in the hot tub right before the set didn't slow them down. Lead singer Ashleigh Ball is a, well, ball of energy, dancing around stage and singing sometimes directly to the young fans in the front row.

Both Davids took over lead vocals for a song each, guitarist Beckingham for "Islands", and the low baritone of Vertesi on bass for one of my favourites off the new album, "Jolene". They also played a couple of covers in the middle of their set, first Price's "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and the slightly more PG "Be My Baby" for the all ages, late afternoon crowd.
After a couple more songs, including a new one called "Sleepwalker", they brought the set to an energetic close with the pairing of "Big Blue Wave" and "Make A New Dance Up", the latter culminating with a dance party and a giant drum breakdown, every member surrounding Johnny Andrews on the drum kit, before Ashleigh ended with a slide whistle solo (yup).

Rumour has it this may have been their last show for a while, and if that's true, then they certainly out with a bang.

And to round out the music for the weekend was Elliott BROOD, who were in Newfoundland not 24 hours earlier for the Harbourage Music Festival. But after a long day of travel they made it up to the mountains and hit the stage, clad entirely in white.

All three members were very loose, telling stories and joking around with the crowd, and letting the set flow off-the-cuff. They opened with what I think was a new song from their upcoming album Work and Love, before an hour-plus set that spanned their entire ten years.

From the older singalongs like "Oh Alberta" to the intense instrumental "Chuckwagon" and even the slower & softer "Northern Air", everything was punctuated by their amazing energy and passion; Steve's incredibly tight drumming, Mark switching seamlessly between guitar and banjo and ukulele, Casey playing the bass pedals with his feet while simultaneously playing guitar. Their self-described "death country" sound proved that "banjo" doesn't have to be a dirty word.

The main set culminated with the explosive and infectious "Write It All Down For You", the crowd clapping and "Hey! Hey! Hey!"-ing along, before they took a request from the crowd for a song that they rarely play live, "Twill", which broke down into a psychedelic jam with Casey down on the stage coaxing his guitar that left the band -- and the audience -- spent.

But of course they couldn't end there, and were back out for one more: the perfect song to wrap up any show, "Miss You Now", with the remaining crowd gathered and some final singing along to the beautiful tune.

In all, it was a pretty great weekend of music in a gorgeous setting. I don't think I will ever tire of seeing Arkells play live, Elliott BROOD was as good as ever, and Hey Ocean! always put on a fun show. And even though the Labour Day Weekend weather wasn't as cooperative as it could have been the whole weekend, the rain was nice enough to hold off almost entirely in the late afternoon/early evenings while the music was going.
If next year's Summer Send-Off is comparable, I would definitely be interested in heading up again.

Arkells setlist
Fake Money, Come To Light, The Ballad of Hugo Chavez, Michigan Left, 11:11, Oh The Bos is Coming, Pulling Punches, Kiss Cam, Never Thought That This Would Happen, Dirty Blonde, On Paper, My Girl [The Temptations cover] Leather Jacket, Cynical Bastard, Whistleblower.
(encore) Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours [Stevie Wonder cover], John Lennon.

Hey Ocean! setlist
If I Were A Ship, I Am A Heart, New Love, Islands, Jolene, A Song About California, I Wanna Be Your Lover [Prince cover], Be My Baby [The Ronettes cover], Change, Sleepwalking, Liar, Maps, Steady, Big Blue Wave, Make A New Dance Up.

Elliott BROOD setlist
[new song?], Oh Alberta, Without Again, Second Son, Wolfgang, Northern Air, Johnny Rooke, Chuckwagon, The Bridge, If I Get Old, [new song], Lindsay, Old Dan Tucker [traditional], The Banjo Song, The Valley Town, Write It All Down For You, Twill.
(encore) Miss You Now

Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival @ Deer Lake Park -- 08/09/14

While lots of other festivals this summer have been riding the hype train so hard it's about to derail, the Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival relatively quietly took over Deer Lake Park this weekend -- Saturday, to be exact -- for its 15th year. Somehow, I had missed the festival every year up until now, but with a headliner like Big Sugar, and some other strong blues and roots acts this year, I decided it couldn't be missed.

I got to Deer Lake Park just in time to make a tough decision: Rich Hope & His Evil Doers or Miss Quincy & The Showdown. Seeing in that I haven't seen Rich Hope in quite some time, I chose his set. Joined by just his drummer, he kicked off the set by proclaiming this was "music for having the sex to" and ripped into some dirty bluesy rock 'n' roll riffs. A little bit of technical difficulties didn't throw him off his game as he ripped around the stage with songs like "I See Trouble" and "Let's Jump Around Some" as well as a few covers of songs by The Sparkles and Jimmy Reid. He had a great stage presence, chatting with the crowd a little between songs, and he even hopped off the stage and onto the grass to urge people to sing and clap along with the last song of his set, "When My Light Comes Shining"

From there it was immediately over to the main stage for The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer. I have had bad luck with the Vancouver duo's live shows, missing every once since I first saw them two years ago, so I was very much looking forward to their set. They started off just the two of them -- Shawn "The Harpoonist" Hall on vocals and harmonica, as well as percussion with his feet, and Matthew "The Axe Murderer" Rogers on guitar and a drum pedal for each foot -- but they soon brought out some help; an organist, and trio of ladies on backup vocals (including Miss Quincy herself). Hall joked that it took them from HAM 2.0 to HAM 5.1 as it really fleshed out their sound.
Highlights of their set included the rockin' "Don't Make 'em Like They Used To" from the new album, as well as a song about how Vancouver's music scene was (and, frankly, can still be) a little sleepy, "Wake Up". They ended off with the stomping (or, clapping since we were on the grass) number "Get Out", as they likely made more than a few fans that'll be there at the November 8th Commodore show they announced on stage.

Back over on the (thankfully tented and shady) Westwood Stage, the Winnipeg/Montreal Chic Gamine was hitting the stage. I had heard of them for a while, but for some reason had never heard their stuff, which I now feel silly about.
Led by Andrina Turenne, Alexa Dirks, and Annick Brémault, their three voices blended for amazing and soulful harmonies, as they also traded off on keys, snare drum and guitar. Their set started with a more soulful, almost R&B sound, including a song called "Girlfiiend" with the haunting and accusatory chorus of "does your girlfriend know?", but as the set went on they got progressively more upbeat and rockin'. With a mix of blues and soul and rock, they had a great flow to the entire set, and they teased an upcoming album with a few songs (as well as a Christmas album, but no songs from that). It's definitely something I'll have to keep an ear out for.

I took a bit of a break to grab some food while Irish Imelda May played the main stage, who sounded good from the food cart section, before it was back to see the headliner of the Westwood Stage, Wide Mouth Mason. With Gordie Johnson pulling double duty on bass, the trio immediately launched into an older tune "Why", stirring up some nostalgia in the crowd before shuffling between old and newer songs. The highlight, as with most every WMM show, was Shaun Verreault's incredible guitar playing, as he effortlessly shredded through the 45 minute set, from some of their oldest material "This Mourning" to their newer, "Go Tell It To The Waterfall" -- which Shaun also slipped in the chorus from another famous song about Waterfalls.
After a set that seemed way too short, they ended with "Midnight Rain", but the crowd was not having it and demanded one more. I didn't think it would happen as Bettye LaVette had already started on the main stage, but I was pleasantly surprised when they were back out for "Change" before thanking everyone and closing down the stage in style.

For the next couple acts I lounged in the back of the park (hiding in the sweet, cool shade) taking in the festival. First was Bettye LaVette, celebrating 50 years making music. And she definitely had both the voice and the stage presence of someone with that much experience. Her set featured many covers; Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" as well as some Tom Waits, and an absolutely soul-shattering version of "Love Reign O'er Me" originally by The Who. Her own "Close As I'll Get To Heaven" was another highlight, her 70-year-old voice brimming with soul and passion and heartbreak.
Second was Matt Andersen, filling the stage with nearly a dozen performers as he was joined by The Mellotones. He was a great guitarist and good performer, and the giant band filled out for a rich sound, but for whatever reason his style of blues just didn't resonate with me. At one point in the set he was on stage alone for a very low down deep blues song, and he dug into the Canadian Songbook for The Band's "Ophelia", and they wrapped up the set with another cover, "Get By With A Little Help From My Friends". It was certainly a good set, but for whatever reason I just wasn't into it.

And finally, just after the sun went down, the stage was set for Big Sugar. Joined by Shaun and Saf from Wide Mouth Mason on backing vocals, guitar and percussion, as well as Rich Hope for a handful of songs, the Toronto blues rockers started off with "Roads Ahead" from their newer album Revolutions Per Minute
before pulling out some old favourites, "Open Up Baby", "Diggin' A Hole", and one of my favourites, their version of "Dear Mr. Fantasy". Unfortunately, Gordie's vocals were buried during the latter, as there seemed to be some technical issues plaguing the start of the set (if the stage techs running around adjusting things were any indication).
But it soon levelled out and most of the set went off without a hitch. A lot of the songs in the set flowed into each other, either with a reggae-influenced verse from the deadlock'd keyboardist Friendlyness or seamlessly transitioning musically, and Gordie had fans joining along (or "jamming with Big Sugar" as he called it) for songs like "If I Had My Way" and the newer "Eliminate Ya". Other highlights included "Ride Like Hell" where Gordie literally turned his guitar into a revving engine and the more funky, hip shaking groove of "Little Bit A All Right", another one from their comeback album.
As their set drew to a close, they played a few more of my favourites; the second most Canadian song of the entire day, "All Hell For A Basement" and the insanely raucous "The Scene", both of which which had more jamming from the crowd. And the night was brought to an end with the Big Sugar tradition of an instrumental version of "O Canada", the crowd patriotically singing along, as Johnson finishing off by hoisting his double guitar behind his head to show off the maple leaf painted on the back.

Aside from a few technical issues on stage, most of the day went off without a hitch. The three stages staggered in time and were setup so there was almost no sound bleed, and near constant music. I would have maybe put on another act or two on the side stages, or even "tweeners", as the last three acts on the main stage had nothing during the breaks, but aside from that minor quibble, it was a great day of blues and roots.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds @ Orpheum -- 06/30/14

After twenty years of missing Vancouver, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds were back for the second time in only 15 months. While the last one was at the Vogue Theatre, this time they doubled in size at the Orpheum for not one, but two shows. And as much as I loved the relatively intimate nature of the Vogue, I couldn't think of a better setting than the beautiful (in both looks and sound) Orpheum.

Opening the night was Mark Lanegan, former frontman of Screaming Trees. With a Waits-ian rasp, he sang accompanied only by a guy on electric guitar, his voice definitely the defining quality of the set. But he wasn't very talkative, not even addressing the crowd once, and barely moved from his "singing position"; one hand on the mic, one hand on the mic stand.

His set  mixed his own solo material with covers like  Bobby Darrin's "Mack The Knife", and while it was by no means bad, a lot of the songs bled into each other, and I have a feeling it would have come across a lot more engaging were it at a smaller, club venue as opposed to a giant theatre venue. Or if I been more familiar with him, or with the lyrics.

Not long after, at 9 sharp, the six members of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds took the stage to wild cheers. They immediately launched into "We No Who U R", the lead track to the latest album Push The Sky Away before "Jubilee Street" from the same album, a song which built to an ending to intense, culminating in broken guitar strings. From there the two hour set spanned the band's entire 30 year career, from the latest album all the way back to their earliest work with songs like "Tupelo" from the '85 album The Firstborn Is Dead, which grabbed the crowd as Cave urged everyone not already packed at the stage to come forward.

As one of the most charismatic and intense frontmen I have seen, the only time Nick Cave was close to being still was when he was behind the piano for gorgeous songs like "Into My Arms". The rest of the set he was stalking the front of the stage with more energy and passion than anyone I have seen perform. Orchestrating both the band and the crowd, Cave posed and thrust at the edge of the stage, and even had boxes set up so he could wade into the crowd, which he did frequently, reaching for outstretched hands. During the raucous "From Her To Eternity" he even pulled up one lucky girl to dance with him. It was the exact opposite of Lanegan's stage presence, which was made apparent when Cave invited him out to duet on "The Weeping Song".

And that's to say nothing of the rest of the band. Incredibly tight and flawless, especially multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, who tore it up on everything from bass to electric ukulele to microkorg, and especially on violin.

As well as spanning the band's three decade career, the songs ranged from beautiful to manic, two of the most extreme examples coming at the very end of the set; the Murder Ballad "Stagger Lee" in which Cave graphically acted out the wanton sexual and violent acts in the song's narrative, followed by the amazingly beautiful title track to Push The Sky Away, Cave softly crooning
"Some people say it's just rock & roll / ah but it gets you right down in your soul"
before saying goodnight.

But of course they were not done there (the mystery of the encore quashed a little by techs doing a quick bass check and drum tightening) as they were back for another handful of songs.

Starting off with another haunting piano number, the subversive "God Is In The House" was followed by requests shouted out from the crowd; older songs like "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry" and "Do You Love Me?" had Cave as full of passion as he was at the start of the set. And finally, the band wrapped it up fittingly with a twist on an old tale, "The Lyre of Orpheus" as they ended the first of two nights at the Orpheum.

For ten years now, Cave has been one of my favourite artists, and while I have only seen him live thrice (twice with The Bad Seeds, once as Grinderman) I can undoubtedly say he is one of the single best frontmen I have witnessed. I have seen people half his age with a quarter of the raw passion and visceral energy he pours out, and no one knows how to work the crowd quite like him.

There is a reason the band's live shows have been heralded as legendary, and I can't imagine anyone seeing them live, and not leaving breathless.

setlist

We No Who U R; Jubilee Street; Tupelo; Red Right Hand; Mermaids; From Her To Eternity; West Country Girl; Into My Arms; People Ain't No Good; The Weeping Song; Higgs Boson Blues; The Mercy Seat; Stagger Lee; Push the Sky Away.

(encore) God Is In The House; The Ship Song; Papa Won't Leave You, Henry; Do You Love Me?; The Lyre of Orpheus.

The Ruffled Feathers EP Release Show @ Red Room -- 06/28/14

It's been a while since I saw Vancouver's Ruffled Feathers live; so long, in fact, that they've undergone a bit of a lineup change. But they hit the Red Room to celebrate the release of their new EP, Bottom of the Blue, the last album recorded with the previous lineup.

Leading off the night was Chersea, who regular readers (all 24 of you) will remember as one of my favourite new discoveries of the year so far. On stage alone behind a fortress of instruments, Chersea builds her songs by looping keys, synth, drum pad, guitar, trumpet, even a metal water bottle for percussion. Songs ranged from electro-pop of "I Could Lose It All" to the darker and sexier "Grey Matter" to even a little tropical flavour for "Mind Porn", and while the half-hour set had a few technical glitches, they didn't detract from the overall enjoyment.

Next up was Rebel on a Mountain, a pretty basic folk-rock band. They had a trumpet in lieu of the requisite banjo, and maybe a little bit of a 90s-alt rock influence mixed in, as well as a good enthusiasm on stage -- one member telling corny jokes between songs -- but in the end were just not interesting enough to stand apart from the rest.

And finally, it was The Ruffled Feathers time to shine. Their set also had a few small technical problems, buzzing & popping cords, as well as a faint hum on and off through the set, and a couple times Gina Loes' lovely voice seemed a little too low in the mix. But again, it wasn't enough to hurt the set as they starting off with the lush "It Doesn't Last", the lead sing from the new EP.
The entire band was bubbling over with energy, and their chamber-pop sound was bolstered by their unique instrumentation. The interplay between Andrew Lee's trumpet and Molly MacKinnon's violin was interesting -- the unusual combination complimenting each other quite well -- and Andrew's backing vocals contrasted with Gina's nicely.
The hour-long set spanned their three albums, and even hinted some new stuff with a song that was either named "Boned" or "Beaune". Other highlights included "Tough Love", with Gina on the ukulele and swelled to a grand ending, as well as the jubilant "Home" and the final song of the main set "Kiss Me In The Moonlight", Andrew aptly introducing it as "one of the cutest songs you will hear all day".
But of course, they were back for the obligatory encore and wrapped up for real with the gigantic "Blueprints For Our Failed Revolution" ending the set with a bang.

The Ruffled Feathers have always been really fun live band, and I'm glad the new lineup reflected that.

setlist
It Doesn't Last, All My Cities, Home, Tough Love, New Song [Boned or Beaune], Buffalo, Siberian Springtime, Caravan, Little Sister, Kiss Me In The Moonlight.
(encore) Your Embrace, Blueprints For Our Failed Revolution.