Hey Rosetta! w/ Yukon Blonde @ Vogue -- 11/06/15

Every once in a while, a couple bands tours together that you would never have expected, but end up working quite well together. That was the case with the pan-Canadian pairing of Vancouver's Yukon Blonde opening for Hey Rosetta! from St John's, who I never would have thought to see together. They had been touring down through the states, and came up through The Vogue Theatre for the first Canadian date of the tour. 

The five members of Yukon Blonde spread out across the front of the stage, kicking off with the first few songs from the new album On Blonde, "Confused" showing off their stellar harmonies (well, when Brandon Scott's microphone was working). There were a bit more mic issues in the second song, this time Jeff Innes' mic going in and out, but they were quick to fix it between songs, as Jeff didn't need it to chat with the crowd, yelling from the edge of the stage.
After the high energy opening, they chilled out for a moment with an older beauty "Wind Blows", and an ode to Hannah Georgas in "Hannah", perhaps the lyrics unintentionally bittersweet now that she's moved to Toronto. But they quickly got the energy right back up, and the crowd moving, with a string of favourites; the undeniably catchy "Radio" from Tiger Talk, and from the new album, the glammed out "Saturday Night" and "I Wanna Be Your Man", a sexy jam if there ever was one.
Aside from the minor troubles at the beginning, the band was firing on all cylinders, and wrapped up their first (but surely not last) show at the Vogue with the crowd singing along to "Stairway".

setlist
Confused, Make You Mine, Como, Wind Blows, Hannah, Radio, Saturday Night, I Wanna Be Your Man, Favourite People, Stairway. 
 

Not long after that, in front of a gold foil background (a nod to kintsukuroi , perhaps) and a couple dozen light bulbs on stage, Hey Rosetta! came out in darkness, the bulbs slowly lighting up for the opening song "Promise", before bursting with brightness. 
The bulbs were actually a really nice touch of lighting, as they were independent from each other, occasionally only on near the members playing in the song, or shining full when the current song hit a crescendo. A nice touch to give atmosphere to the show.
As for the set itself, the band weaved through their three albums, focusing mostly on the new Second Sight, with songs like the explosive "Soft Offering (For The Oft Suffering)" and "Trish's Song", which brought the band in for a bit of intimacy, as they attempted to hush the room for the soft and beautiful song. 
Other highlights included the gorgeous "Red Heart" -- Tim taking a second to remember the words at the beginning -- which flawlessly segued into a little bit of "Black Heart", the breathtaking "Bandages" with the crowd perfectly singing along, and an oft-requested song, bringing some early holiday cheer with one of the the few Christmas songs that works year-round, "Carry Me Home". 
They ended the set with another burst of intensity, with "Welcome", before coming back out with Yukon Blonde for their political protest song, released right before the last election, called "Land You Love". They then wrapped up with one of my absolute favourites, "New Goodbye" which on a night full of chill-inducing songs, gave me the most chills. From the slow and soft intro, bursting into a wall of sound, I couldn't think of a better way to end the night.

Ever since the first time I heard Hey Rosetta!, I was hooked. Grand, swelling songs with strings and horns, songs that build to epic climaxes, and poignant lyrics. And everything about that comes out tenfold in their live show. Just about every member of the seven-piece band is a multi-instrumentalist, switching out between songs, and frontman Tim Baker's effortless charisma, going between keys and guitar, his heartfelt vocals drive the songs home. All that together makes them one of my favourite bands to see live.  

setlist
Promise, Young Glass, Harriet, Kid Gloves, Handshake the Gangster, Alcatraz, Trish's Song, Soft Offering (For The Oft Suffering), Gold Teeth,  Red Heart / Black Heart, Bandages, Carry Me Home, Welcome.
(encore) Land You Love (w/ Yukon Blonde), New Goodbye.

The Zolas @ Imperial -- 11/05/15

I am not entirely sure why, but out of all the venues I have seen The Zolas in, it feel the most "at home" when they play The Imperial. I have only seen them there once before, but for whatever reason, it just seems like the perfect fit.
Anyway, the Vancouver band returned home for a sold out show at the Imperial Thursday, with a pretty stacked lineup. 

Unfortunately, I missed nearly all of Fine Times, the first band of the night, arriving just in time for the last song of the set, their catchy single, "Hey Judas". 

Next up was Hannah Epperson, which also felt strangely fitting, since the first few times I saw her perform it was opening for The Zolas. Hannah and her violin & looping pedal were joined by Daniel Ruiz on drums, and started the set off with the gorgeous "Cat's Cradle", her soft voice floating over the swirling violin. 
Between songs she was charmingly awkward as she made some jokes before introducing a "depressing medley", the beautifully haunting "Brother" seguing perfectly into "We Will Host A Party". She also debuted some new songs, introducing a microkorg to the mix, which gave her a little troubles in the first song, before ending her set off with another new one about how "hashtags suck". (She explained it was a little more complex than that, but that was the gist of it) 
I was also impressed by the drumming of Ruiz. I've seen live loopers play with drummers before, and they always seemed to be trying to catch up to the looper, but that was definitely not the case here. Ruiz was more than keeping up, and if the stolen glances and grins back and forth were any indication, they were playing off each other perfectly.

And finally, The Zolas took the stage, shrouded in darkness, with Tom Dobrzanski tinkling the keys before the rest of the band came out and launching into the dancy "Invisible" and new song, written about touring out east. The sold out crowd was firmly behind the band, and that was evident early on as everyone sang along to "Ancient Mars", despite Zach Gray's teasing that he would wouldn't make it easy, pausing the song only to be overruled by the audience. 
They featured their new EP Wino Oracle with some songs, including their aptly titled love letter to new York, "Fell in Love With New York" and the anthemic "Molotov Girls", as well as teased some new songs. Two of my favourite songs of the set were actually new tunes that came back-to-back part way through. Zach didn't name either (though he did say the second was the title track for the upcoming album) but I'm going to speculate they're called "Pixelate" and "Miss Mythical" based on the lyrics. The former, called "CV Dazzle" was high energy, with Gray hitting the drum pad with his guitar head while playing to spout off cries of "ooooh!" and "pixelate!" , and the latter, "Swooner", just rocked out. They were both a nice marriage of the old familiar sound, and the newer, synth-driven songs like "Invisible" and "Molotov Girls".
After about an hour, and another big songalong to "You're Too Cool" -- the crowd impressively hitting the falsetto -- Zach went into the crowd for the big finale, "Escape Artist", surrounded by fans. BUT, of course, they wouldn't leave it off their as they were back for a couple more; "Male Gaze" from the new EP, and another favourite of mine, "Strange Girl" with the crowd flawlessly clapping along to it's unusual beat. 

As always, The Zolas put on a high energy and just flat out fun show, the passion of the crowd reflected in the band. And while I will fully admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of "Molotov Girls" when I first heard it (though it has since grown on me, especially after giving the lyrics a good listen) , the other new songs had me very eager to hear what The Zolas have up their collective sleeves. Hopefully it won't be too long before we get to hear more. 

setlist (amended thanks to "Lazos" commenting below)
Invisible, Get Dark, Ancient Mars, Fell in Love with New York, Knot In My Heart, CV Dazzle, Swooner, You're Too Cool, Molotov Girls, Escape Artist.
(encore) Male Gaze, Strange Girl.

Weekly Photo Roundup - November 04, 2015 ft. THEN & NOW IV

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween! BIG thank yous go out to everyone who came to our fundraiser for Megaphone Magazine last week.

The photos from the photobooth and the night are up on Facebook now - click here to see them.

And hold on to your butts, because it's November and there are SO MANY amazing shows coming up. Check our concert calendar to see what's going on.

Photography by Christine McAvoy

Hawksley Workman @ Commodore -- 10/29/15

Hawksley Workman rolled through his self-proclaimed second home last week on his Winter Bird Tour, to celebrate his newest album Old Cheetah at the Commodore Ballroom. And when I realised I had never seen a "proper" Hawkley Workman show -- only as a part of a festival, or one third of Mounties -- I knew I couldn't miss it. 

Unfortunately I did miss the two openers, The Passenger and Fiona Bevan, due to other commitments, getting to the venue just as Hawksley & co hit the stage. They started things off with "Tonight Romanticize the Automobile" from his Lover/Fighter album, and played a nearly two-hour set spanning his 16 year career. All the way back to his first album For Him and the Girls with "Bullets" and "Paper Shoes", up to his new album and songs like the ridiculously catchy "Don't Take Yourself Away (Instant Nostalgia)". 

Other highlights included "Careful Not Beautiful" and the tour's namesake, the soaring "Winter Bird", and the few times throughout the night that Workman invited friends on stage. Both of his Mounties bandmates were out for a song each; Steve Bays for "Teenage Cats" and Ryan Dahle for "It's Really Starting to Snow", as well as his opener Fiona Bevan to provide backing vocals on "Old Bloody Orange".

And even thought the show was over an hour and a half, it flew by. Never a lull or a drag, the set had a great flow to it. There was a portion in the middle where songs segued into each other beautifully, and his amusing stream-of-consciousness storytelling between songs kept the crowd engaged. In fact, the crowd's energy went a long way to making the show special. Workman came across as genuinely humbled and honoured by the response he got, especially when people were singing along, and especially to the "weird stuff". A few times he even pointed directly at people, thanking them for singing along. 

After wrapping up the main set with the somewhat heartbreaking "We're Not Broken Yet" from the new album, Hawksley returned to the stage with a couple friends out once more, Bays and Dahle, for a slowed down, chilled out version of Mounties' "Tokyo Summer". From there he ended the night with a couple older favourites, the crowd just taking over singing for "Safe and Sound" (and Hawksley letting them) and finally, the incendiary "Smoke Baby", leaving everyone breathless. 

setlist
Tonight Romanticize the Automobile, Don't Take Yourself Away (Instant Nostalgia), Teenage Cats, Baby Mosquito, Ilfracomb, Bullets, Clever Not Beautiful, Dirty and True, Paper Shoes, Old Bloody Orange, When These Mountains Were the Seashore, General January, Song for Sarah Jane, All the Trees Are Hers, It's Really Starting to Snow, Make Up Your Mind Tonight, Winter bird, We're Not Broken Yet.
(encore)
Tokyo Summer, Safe and Sound, Smoke Baby.

Weekly Photo Roundup - October 28, 2015 ft. Daniel Romano, Ark & Ocean, BESTiE, Little India, Donovan Woods, Bros Landreth & Wooden Horsemen

The last of the Peak Performance Project related charity showcases were this past week, with Little India raising and impressive amount of money ($10,000!) for the MealShare program. They along with Ark & Ocean and BESTiE performed at the Portside Pub to a packed house.

Speaking of packed house, the Fox Cabaret was nice and toasty and filled to the brim with Vancouverites in their best country outfits for Daniel Romano.

Jess checked out Donovan Woods as he came out west with Bros Landreth at the Biltmore on Thursday. The sweet chemistry of brothers who tour all the time and sound like a pocket-sized gospel choir was incredible, definitely see them whenever/wherever/however possible. 

Friday night in a living-room sized spot in Chinatown, Wooden Horsemen played a fundraiser for their new album, with loads of new music and classic favourites. Keep an eye and ear out for new music coming from them in January!

Much more coming up this week including THEN & NOW, which is TONIGHT at the Wise Hall (coincidentally featuring Little India)! Come and support an awesome cause: Megaphone Magazine.