Cobra Ramone with Miss Quincy & The Showdown and The Wild Romantics @ The Waldorf -- 03/03/17

It's been quite a while since the last time I saw live music at the Waldorf. Since the old promoters had a little trouble with the rent a few years ago, I believe they've only been doing DJ/dance party nights. But what a way to return, with three of the city's most badass bands together on one bill. (And, I don't think I can state enough how much I liked the poster)

Starting off the night was The Wild Romantics who kicked things off with a sultry number, then cranked up the rock, living up to both the 'wild' and 'romantic' parts of their name.
The couple of Aleisha Kalina & Evan Miller, splitting vocal duties, have a great chemistry on stage, playing off each other and getting in each others faces all throughout the set. They played a number of new songs, but included some familiar like the chilled out "Memphis TN", and ended off with a great pair, an incendiary new song called "Heart Attack" and the raucous "Fist Fight". 

Next up was Miss Quincy & The Showdown, Jody Peck on guitar joined by Jen Foster on drums & Jessie Robertson on bass. With their blues-tinged rock, Jody's voice went from a raw growl to soaring, sometimes in the same song. Highlights included the sexy bass groove of "Making Money", and a new one, half-jokingly introduced as they first song that is neither a sad song nor a drinking song. 
After the heartbreaking "Remind Me of Myself", they cranked the dial back up with "Wild Fucking West" and the seductive "Bad Love", before their kickass cover of Peaches' "Boys Wanna Be Her" to end things off. They're always an energetic & fun to watch band live, and this night was no different. 

And finally, wrapping up the night was Cobra Ramone (who, along with Evan, was celebrating her birthday that evening). She was joined by Trevor Snakedust on keys and the non-serpentine-named Pat Steward on drums for some straight up, boot-to-the-chest rock songs.
Cobra Ramone has a captivating stage presence, her powerful voice filling the room, with songs about breakup sex, another she introduced as written in prison, the frantic "Bang Bang", and the venomous "She Don't Know". Ramone also teased new material, including one I really liked but didn't catch the name of. 
The set came to a close with "I'm A Mess", starting low and intense before building & erupting into a bonkers climax, the perfect ending for a set. But then, after that, I witnessed one of the rarest things in live music: a legitimate encore. They had left the stage and the house music came back up, but there was still a pocket of people chanting "Cobra! Cobra!" so Ramone & the band came back out and rocked out one more song. 

Each of these three bands can put on a hell of a show, and it was a nice night in East Van to see them all share the stage. 

Matthew Good @ Commodore -- 02/16/17

Beautiful Midnight is one of my favourite albums; I've said it before, I'm sure I'll say it again. It's one of the first albums I can remember getting into as a album, not just a collection of songs, and I've always thought the "flow" of it is damn near perfect.
Which is all a way of saying when Matthew Good released the I Miss New Wave EP, revisiting songs from the album, and then announced that his 2017 tour would be dedicated to Beautiful Midnight, that they would be playing the album sequentially and in its entirety... well, I was a little bit excited.

Thursday was the first of three shows at the legendary Commodore Ballroom, and I got there a couple songs into the opener, Toronto's Craig Stickland. Alone on stage armed just with his guitar and a looping pedal, the singer-songwriter built loops with a smooth voice and nice guitar chops, providing his own percussion by thumping on his guitar, bringing it all together for a laid back vibe. His set was good, but I feel like he's one of those artists I would enjoy a lot more with a better knowledge of his music (and lyrics) and in a more intimate setting; not that he didn't do a good job endearing himself to the crowd, getting the filling ballroom to sing along a few times, especially to his cover of The Hip's "Bobcaygeon".

It wasn't long after Stickland finished that some dramatic, operatic music swelled and the lights went out while the opening cheerleader chant of "K-I-C-K-A-S-S" filled the room, the letters also flashing on LED lights, as Matthew Good and his band took the stage for one of the best album-openers, "Giant". 

Immediately, people were singing along (some loud, off-key, and directly into my ear, but you can't fault their enthusiasm) which continued throughout the entire night, most notably on hits like "Load Me Up", "Strange Days" and, of course, "Hello Time Bomb". Some from the album were slightly updated, like the recent EP's eponymous "I Miss New Wave", but they were all the songs the crowd knew and loved, as Good poured intense emotion into ones like "Suburbia" which saw him silhouetted as he stood at the front of the stage, and the heartwrenching "Jenni's Song". 

While there was not much of Good's usual banter -- just a few wry remarks here & there -- Matt did engage the crowd, including hopping off stage as "Let's Get It On" started, only to reappear standing on a table just off the main dancefloor, singing among the sea of people (and, as we found out after, trying not to kill himself by slipping on a spilled daiquiri). 

After the raucous (and prescient) "The Future Is X-Rated" the set drew to an end with quite possibly my all time favourite pairing of songs to close an album. "Born To Kill" began with Good's voice soaring over the sold out crowd before the song erupted explosively into an ending that would be the perfect soundtrack to someone going mad, followed immediately by the much calmer and beautifully melancholic "Running For Home" -- acting as sort of a climax and denouement of the album. The latter was probably the most changed song of the night, not only switching from piano driven to guitar, but also punched up by the full band performance, as Good left the stage to leave the spotlight on them as they wrapped up the main set. 

Before the tour Good assured fans that there would be an encore of other songs from his catalogue, and he delivered, returning to the stage with a single, massive light illuminating him as he launched into the biggest singalong of the night, maybe even one of the biggest singalongs I've ever heard, "Apparitions". I don't think there was a single person there not right there with him. From there he wrapped up the night with a few from his solo albums, culminating with the intense and emotionally-draining "Weapon". Even though the show was at least an hour and a half, I probably could've listened to another full set of the rest of his songs.

A lot of times you might revisit something you loved 15-20 years ago to find it hasn't aged well, or you've outgrown it, or whatever. But there's something about this album, these songs, that still resonates. A few of these songs were even the first time I had ever seen them live, and I'm very glad I got the chance to.

setlist
Giant
Hello Time Bomb
Strange Days
I Miss New Wave
Load Me Up
Failing the Rorschach Test
Suburbia
Let’s Get It On
Jenni's Song
Going All The Way
A Boy and His Machine Gun
The Future Is X-Rated
Born to Kill
Running for Home
(encore)
Apparitions
A Single Explosion
Born Losers
Weapon

Weekly Photo Roundup - February 08, 2017 ft. Frank Turner, Arkells, Holy Hum, Louise Burns

Weekly Photo Roundup for the week preceding February 8, 2017

It's the return of the End of Winter/Spring Concert Season! I know it's not spring yet (clearly if you look outside right now), but February and March sees a time where lots of Canadian bands are doing the voyage across the country.

To prove my fact, Arkells returned to Vancouver last week, one day to the year that they were performing in 2016 at the Commodore. This time they were at the Dougie at UBC and brought along Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls. Check out Kirk's full recap by clicking here & see the photos above.

Also this week, Louise Burns had her album (Young Mopes) release show at the Lido, with guest Holy Hum. The Lido was packed (with a lineup outside in the blustery winter weather) and the music was excellent - get your hands on Louise's new album by clicking here.

Check out the concert calendar for what is coming up this week!

Photos by Christine McAvoy

Arkells @ Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Arena-- 02/01/17

Watching a band grow from playing the Biltmore to Venue to the Commodore to festivals and now arenas is something special. And that's the journey I've followed of one of Canada's hardest working bands, Arkells. They kicked off the Canadian portion of their Morning Report tour last night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Arena last night, their first ever show headlining an arena. 

And the brought along with them a special guest, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls. Turner started on stage along with "I Still Believe", The Sleeping Souls slowly joining him to launch into a big singalong, the first of the night with the rapidly filling floor section joining in. And if you follow either/both bands on social media, you have seen their friendship, so it's no surprise that during the very first song Max from Arkells came out to play a bit of harmonica.
The rest of the set was filled with high energy Brit-Rock with Turner's almost-manic stage presence, with songs like the defiant "Photosynthesis" and the incredibly catchy "Recovery". 
Part way through the set, Turner brought a girl onstage to play a harmonica solo, the twist being it was a random fan from the front row who had pretty much never played harmonica
(I offhandedly joked he "Bruce Springsteen'd a Courtney Cox" which would turn out to be eerily prescient later on).
As the set came to a close, Turner went into the crowd with "Four Simple Words" starting off as a slow waltz as Frank went into the thick of the crowd to dance with random people, before hitting the throttle as the song turned punk for a fiery ending. 
After thanking us again Frank & the band left the stage to while Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" played, and I hope that's the case because I liked what I saw. 

As the floor and the stands continued to fill, it was soon time for the Hamilton fivesome, Arkells, taking the stage to Edwin Starr's "War" and kicking off with a song perhaps chosen specifically for Vancouver, "A Little Rain (A Song For Pete)". 
From the raucous songs like "Oh, The Boss is Coming" to "And Then Some" with the band acoustically huddled together; the dark and brooding "Passenger Seat" to the gospel-tinged "Drake's Dad" -- which saw frontman Max Kerman smack in the middle of the crowd -- the band played for about two hours, pulling from all their albums, never losing steam. Especially Max, who I don't think stopped moving for more than 30 seconds. 

They also had a few special guests through the set; first Frank Turner come out and "defend his PhD in Rock 'n' Roll" by putting him on the spot to sing some Springsteen (remember what I said earlier?), and Said the Whale's Tyler Bancroft was out to play guitar for "My Heart's Always Yours". And then in a true "Dancing in the Dark" moment, Max pulled up a girl from the front row to dance with him to "Dirty Blonde" before all the lights went out while the band encouraged everyone to literally dance like no one was watching. 

They finished off the main set with Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls back out to join them on "Private School", but of course that wasn't going to be it. The encore began with an acoustic rendition of "Whistleblower", the band rejoining Max one by one, before one last singalong of the night, and the biggest yet, "Leather Jacket". 

It's been years since I've been to an arena show -- to be honest, I'm not really a big fan of them -- but if anyone's going to bring me out to an arena, it's Arkells. The sound wasn't nearly as bad as I was fearing, and of course the band was explosive on stage. They've always been one of my favourite bands to watch live, and it was such a joy seeing them rock the big stage. 

setlist
A Little Rain (A Song For Pete)
Came to Light
Michigan Left
Savannah
Passenger Seat
Never Thought That This Would Happen
11:11
Making Due
Hung Up
And Then Some
Oh, The Boss Is Coming
Pulling Punches
Drake's Dad
The Ballad of Hugo Chavez
My Heart's Always Yours
Book Club
On Paper
Dirty Blonde
Private School
(encore)
Whistleblower
Cynical Bastards
Leather Jacket

Holy Fuck @ Fortune -- 01/19/17

It's been too song since I last saw the Toronto electronic four-piece live... about seven and a half years, in fact. So when they came through Fortune touring their latest album, Congrats, I sure wasn't going to miss it. 

Unfortunately I did miss locals Peregrine Falls due to the Tiny Kingdom Music launch show, happening at the Biltmore, and only arrived to catching a bit of Mesa Luna's DJ set. 

Promptly at 11, the 4 members hit the stage, Matt McQuaid & Matt Schulz on bass & drums, and Brian Borcherdt & Graham Walsh on, well, everything else; keyboards, distorted vocals, effect, pulling 35mm film through an old synchronizer. You know, the usual. The most captivating part of their live show is that their songs are all performed in the moment, creating a spontaneity you may not always get with electronic music.

Starting off with "Tom Tom" from the new album, the band focused mostly on that, which features a little more by way of vocals than their previous albums. Though -- and I'm not sure if this was their intention or I'm wildly off -- the vocals seem more like an "extra instrument" rather than traditional lyrics, especially in the live show where they're as equal in the mix as the music. 

Aside from songs off Congrats, like the soul-shaking bass in "Chimes Broken", they dipped back to play older tunes from their previous albums, with highlights being the sombre and moody "Stay Lit" and the swirling "Red Lights", both from Latin. And, of course, "Lovely Allen" off LP which is one of the most perfect songs ever written. The intensity built and built, lifting up the entire room to an amazing climax. It would have been the perfect ending, but hey still had some left in the tank, finishing off the main set with the frantic "Super Inuit". 

But of course, that wasn't all; after chants of ho-lee-fuck they were back for a couple more, which were (I think) the vaguely creepy and unsettling "Shivering", a perfect song for a Ghost House in Mario, and the fuzzy "SHT MTN". 

Even with minimal talking throughout the night -- not just the vocals, but the band only paused a couple times for a brief "thank you" to the crowd -- the four members managed to keep the crowd into it and dancing the whole night. Which is not always an easy task with (mostly) instrumental music. It set the bar high as the first show of 2017, and I just hope it's not another seven years 'til next time.