Matt Mays w/ Skye Wallace @ Vogue Theatre -- 10/23/19

Continuing the 2019 trend of ‘put some rad bands together on the same bill’, last night was the Vancouver stop on Matt Mays current Howl At The Night tour, with Skye Wallace as support. The cross-Canada tour kicked off a few days earlier on the island, so they were still on the first leg of it as they hit the Vogue Theatre.

To start off the night, Skye Wallace came out swinging with the soaring "Always Sleep With A Knife" from her latest, self-titled album, her powerful voiced filled the theatre.

Her all-too-short set ranged from the gritty and raucous "Coal In Your Window"; to "Iced In", which saw Skye enlisting in the help of the audience to clap while she sang unaccompanied; to the darker and more personal "Midnight", introduced by mentioning a charity she was working with, CAMH, or The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Throughout the set, Skye was visibly thrilled to not only be back in Vancouver, but gracing the stage of the Vogue, reminiscing about some of the shows she had seen there. And judging by the reaction of the crowd, she not only (deservedly) made at least a few new fans, but I bet there was at least one person in the audience who saw Skye and inherited her hope of one day being in her place.

Not long after, Matt Mays came out alone at first, sitting behind the "space keyboard" (as he put it) for the titular tour song "Howl At The Night". From there, he was joined one by one by members of the band, literally a new person joining each song until the full 8-piece band was onstage.

The set started with some slower or more acoustic songs, ranging from "Downtown" off his first ever release, to "The Past" from the faux soundtrack to the never-made movie …When The Angels Make Contact, and the more recent "Ola Volo", about the local Vancouver artist whose work Mays say and he immediately had to write a song about her -- "Not in a weird way", Mays joked when recounting the story about meeting the artist for the first time, after writing the song.

At about the half-way mark of the set, once everyone was onstage, they launched into "Travellin'", starting off mellow but halfway through the song, shooting out of their chairs & kicking them back, exploding into the full-on rock and roll finish to both the song, and rest of the set.

From there they cranked out bangers like "Building a Boat" and the brand new, bouncy "Let There Be Love". There was a huge sing-along for the nostalgic "City of Lakes", and the set came to a finish with one of my all-time favourite songs, an absolute emotional rollercoaster, "Terminal Romance". Mays stalked the stage, going right up to the edge (literally and figuratively), pouring everything into the heart wrenching song, and even picking up one of the spotlights at the foot of the stage, shining it into the crowd and on himself.

If they had not come back, I would have been more than satisfied with the show ending there. But of course, the encore was yet to come. When the band returned, they first wen into a fun, bluegrass version of "Tall Trees" that Mays said they started playing as a joke before it worked its way into the actual show. And then, capping off the night, Mays invited Skye Wallace and her band back out for a big group jam of "On The Hood", that included almost the entire theatre singing along as well.

I’ve always thought encores should NOT just be 'and now here’s our hit' but rather bands having fun, playing around with their songs, doing covers, jamming with the openers, that kinda thing. And this was a perfect example. In fact, my favourite live sets are always ones that build, seem to have a progression to them rather than just 'a bunch of songs', so combined with the encore, this was quite possibly the most perfectly structured set I could imagine. Starting soft and slower and acoustic, building to the big rock-shift, and finally the explosive emotional climax. That, along with Skye’s killer opening set, means this show is already taking its place among my favourites of the year.

Skye Wallace setlist
Always Sleep With A Knife
Stronghold
Mean Song 2
Scarlet Fever
Iced In
Coal in your Window
Midnight
Death of Me
There Is A Wall

Matt Mays setlist
Howl At The Night
Drive On
Dark Promises
Downtown
Ola Volo
Ain't That The Truth
The Past
Spoonful of Sugar
Travellin'
Building A Boat
Indio
Station Out of Range
City of Lakes
Take It On Faith
Let There Be Love
Terminal Romance
(encore)
Tall Trees
On The Hood

Conversations with Nick Cave: An Evening of Talk and Music @ Massey Theatre -- 10/10/19

A little over a year ago, prolific singer-songwriter Nick Cave started a project called the Red Hand Files, where fans could write in with questions, and he would answer them on the website. Recently, this has turned into a new type of show he’s started touring with, called Conversations with Nick Cave: An Evening of Talk and Music.

After the spoken-word piece "Steve McQueen" played over the speakers, Cave walked out and took a seat behind a grand piano on stage, starting off with "The Ship Song" before introducing the concept of the evening. He would be fielding questions from the audience (helpers going to seats signalling the stage with flashing light sticks) and weave in some music throughout the night.

Without going too far into the details, the questions Cave tackled ranged from his music to grief to mental health, and everywhere in between. With open and honest sincerity -- and occasional interjections of a wry sense of humour -- he talked about his writing process and collaborations, his novels and film scores, and the concept of "separating art from the artist". But also opened up about addiction, about faith and dealing with the death of a son. And many of the questioners themselves were just as candid, sharing their own stories and heartache, a couple even likening it to a sort of group therapy session. A fact that Cave pointed out was interesting, because he never specifically intended for that; not having a plan for the shows, he lets the audience dictate the tone and mood -- but embraces it with open arms and compassion.
Which can be risky for unplanned Q&As, but the questions were all very good, with only a couple people being... let's say "overly enthusiastic" or asking something that he just flat-out couldn't answer.

But it was a night of Talk and Music, and every few questions Cave would segue into a song, either fielding requests or finding a natural transition. He admitted his "fucking jealousy" for Leonard Cohen before going into a cover of "Avalanche" and after a question on his old band The Boys Next Door, played "Shivers".
Songs spanned his career and projects with “Palaces of Montezuma” from Grinderman, and fan favourites like "The Weeping Song" and one of my personal all-time faves, the heart-wrenchingly gorgeous "Into My Arms". Other songs were given a bit of a makeover, as Cave was alone at the piano. The fractiousness of "The Mercy Seat" was only slightly tempered, and the raucous "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry" kept its sinister tone.

After three hours(!) of taking questions, he was given the sign to wrap it up. Having previously talked about the the ultra violent and over-the-top murder ballad "Stagger Lee", he played that, once again the translation on piano losing none of the vitriol or hatred as Cave spat out the narrative. And then he finished off the night by doing a complete 180, like only Cave can, with an absolutely beautiful rendition of "Breathless".

It felt like Nick Cave could have gone on for far longer, if he wasn’t cut off. And honestly, I could have, too. There are few musicians that I’d want to see play for three hours, let alone talk at length, but Nick Cave’s captivating presence, both performing and preaching, made for an incredibly memorable night.

setlist
The Ship Song
The Weeping Song
Avalanche [Leonard Cohen cover]
The Mercy Seat
Into My Arms
Jubilee Street
Shivers [The Boys Next Door]
Papa Won't Leave You, Henry
Palaces of Montezuma [Grinderman]
Stagger Lee
Breathless

Owen Pallett @ Imperial -- 09/14/19

The 2019 Westward Festival was this past weekend, and my most anticipated show was hands down Owen Pallett. It’s been nearly five years since he last played the city, and with a new album on the horizon, I was excited to see him again. Especially at a venue like the Imperial.

Unfortunately I missed locals Douse opening the show, arriving just before Owen Pallett hit the stage alone, armed only with a guitar, violin, and looping pedals. A stripped down -- but no less intense -- version of one of my favourites “The Riverbed” opened the set, and from there he played a selection of old and new, stretching back to his time as Final Fantasy with songs like “The Butcher”, and teasing his upcoming album with some new songs. The standout being one called (if my Google-Fu is correct) “Fire-Mare”, which featured some incredible layered vocals.
Owen’s gorgeous violin was strengthened by his guitar, as his impressive voice had the room in an (almost) complete hush while he sang. Other highlights included a heavier “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt” with a raw guitar riff starting the song before the violin joined in, and a beautiful rendition of “The Passion”.

With two lights directly under him, pointed up, Owen was bathed in a blue light throughout the set, while in front of a large screen with scenic visuals playing. From mountain ranges, to spooky towns, to starry skies, more often than not the imagery tied in to the music. One song featuring the sounds of trains was accompanied by slow pans through a rail station, there were aerial shots of a volcano for “Fire-Mare”, and we passed over a graveyard for the haunting “E Is for Estranged”. During an impromptu Q&A near the end of the set, Owen admitted to wanting to get everything done in CG, but due to time constraints, ended up using the Unreal engine to generate everything. Which, all things considered, is pretty appropriate for the man formerly known as Final Fantasy.

After an hour or so flew by, Pallett “ended” the set with “The Great Elsewhere”, but then didn’t even bother with the charade of leaving the stage for the encore. He just declaring he would play a few more, without the mood lighting or visuals. From there he gave a few more songs, including “That's When the Audience Died” as his bow sawed at the violin, and finishing the night with the old favourite “This Is the Dream of Win & Regine”, a song more fitting now than when it was written, and also one that reverberated in my head for the rest of the evening (and on to the next day).

I was sad I didn’t catch more of the Westward festival this year -- mostly just the timing not working out for much else -- but this one show was worth the entire festival. And if the teasers we got at this show were any indication, I can’t wait to hear the new album.

Said the Whale @ Malkin Bowl -- 09/06/19

It's been a little over ten years since the first time I saw Said the Whale, playing at the Biltmore Cabaret. Since then I've seen them at nearly every Vancouver venue, but this summer they aimed big for a show at [un]arguably the most beautiful venue of the city, Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park.

Opening the night was Jaden Bricker, who won a contest Said the Whale was running for high school musicians and bands to open the show. Unfortunately I only caught the last couple of his songs, but his strong vocals and catchy indie-pop songs made me wish I (as well as Translink) had gotten my act together and been there 15 minutes earlier.

Next up was The Beaches from Toronto, who hit the stage hard. All four members had a high energy that barely faded as they cranked through a set of frenetic songs like their sultry single “T-Shirt”. Bassist Jordan Miller's powerful vocals filled the park, as her voice was occasionally joined by guitarist Kylie Miller and Leandra Earl on keys — all held together by the strong drumming of Eliza Enman-McDaniel.
Mid-way through the set, they did dial the energy down a bit with a a chilled out cover of “Kids” by MGMT, but were right back into with a banger “Desmonda”, from their latest EP The Professional. After a few more new songs, they launched into “Boy Wonder”, which built to a big finish and transitioned into “Late Show”, somehow topping everything that preceded it to end off the set.
I really only knew The Beaches in passing before this night, but seeing them live definitely made me want to dive in to their albums.

Then at 8:30 sharp (gotta love curfew shows) Said the Whale took the stage, flanked by a large pair of their Cascadia flags and a giant viewmaster slide in the back, Lower Mainland landmarks as the frames. Ben Worcester kicked off with "Gambier Island Green" before Tyler Bancroft and Jaycelyn Brown joined him on the now-classic “This City’s a Mess”, as their set spanned their entire career. From the ridiculously upbeat “The Light Is You” to the moody “Step Into The Darkness” and the hard hitting & raucous “Record Shop”, the set ran through hit after hit. And of course, they had to play "Black Day In December", a song about the windstorms which knocked down a good number of trees in Stanley Park.

The band was visibly blown away by the support of the fans, friends, and family, thanking everyone multiple times for being there and even shouting out some friendly faces in the crowd (Ben having to stop himself before he spent the rest of the set saying “Hi” to people). And they even had a few of those friends join them on stage throughout the night; the actual Camilo The Magician came out during his eponymous song for a quick illusion, a group of choir kids from Maple Ridge Secondary & Jaden Bricker sang backups on "Wake Up", and then stayed on stage for "False Creek Change", the sea shanty that also had CBC Radio host, lead singer of The Smugglers, and STW Superfan Grant Lawrence join on vocals as well.

After over an hour, they drew the main set to a close with a pair of hard hitting earworms "UnAmerican" and "I Love You", before of course returning just before the 10pm curfew. From there Ben once again silenced the crowd for the heartbreaking "Curse of the Currents" which had many singing along, and finally a very fitting song to cap everything off, "Goodnight Moon" exploding into a joyous ending for the evening, proclaiming that they had “so much love”.

I’ve seen some of my favourite shows (and some of my favourite bands) in Malkin Bowl, but Said the Whale is the first band I’ve seen play where everything just makes sense for them to be there. A band that shows their hometown love both in song and outside their music (as seen in their recent cookbook) surrounded by “Stanley’s Soldiers” couldn’t have been more fitting.

Also, make sure to check out Christine’s photos post right over here!

setlist
Gambier Island Green
This City's A Mess
Camilo (The Magician)
Step Into The Darkness
Mother
Black Day in December
The Light Is You
Cascadia
Oh K, Okay
Moonlight
Record Shop
Wake Up
False Creek Change
Loveless
Broken Man [incl. Whole Wide World by Wreckless Eric]
Love Always
Level Best
The Gift of a Black Heart
Emerald Lake, AB
UnAmerican
I Love You
(encore)
Curse of the Current
Goodnight Moon

Constellation Festival: Day Three -- 07/28/19

Before getting into the third and final day of the Constellation Festival, I want to mention how smooth the whole weekend ran. With two stages of alternating acts, and being able to hear the music anywhere on the grounds, just about the entire weekend ran according to schedule.

And if they did fall behind, the time was very quickly made up for. There were also no Skookum-esque lineups for washrooms or food!
Any complaints, or thoughts for improvements in the future (such as phone charging stations that are NOT in the area dedicated for the festival patrons to smoke weed) were very minor. I was very impressed with how it turned out, especially for the first year of the festival.

Luca Fogale - Christine McAvoy Photography

But on to the music, as Sunday for me began with Luca Fogale, who took the stage alone -- a bold move for a festival. He started off with his acoustic guitar, his heartfelt voice pouring out in the mid-afternoon sun, as the crowd grew. Mid-way through the set, he switched over to keys, which I thought was a much better fit for his crooning vocals.

Next I listened to a bit of The Modelos, over on the Creative BC side stage. The self-proclaimed "Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy Surfers" lived up to the moniker, with a loud and rollicking set of a combination of surf rock and honky-tonk that fit together surprisingly well for a fun set.

Then it was time for one of my most anticipated acts of the weekend, Begonia, who had arguably the most amazing and powerful voice of the festival. Her set ran from the soft and heart wrenching "Hot Dog Stand" to the infectious bass groove of "Juniper", as well as my favourite of the set, the title track to her upcoming album "Fear", an intense song that gave chills despite the shining sun.
Judging by the reaction, by the end of her set, both her music and her charming, slightly self-deprecating banter between songs earned her more than a few new fans. My guess is, she's going to be headlining one of the Constellation stages before long.

Begonia - Christine McAvoy Photography

Hunting was up next, the new project from Bradley Ferguson, Dustin Bentall, and Jessicka (who played the festival earlier in the day). It was the first show as this new incarnation of the band, which also included a few familiar faces to the Vancouver music scene, Daniel Ruiz and Catherine Hiltz backing them as the rhythm section.
Their electro-tinged rock & roll was exactly what you would expect from the pedigree on stage, with a high-energy, driving sound. A couple songs especially caught my attention; one I think they called "She Was", along with a song that they introduced as meant to be listened to with the windows down, bombing down a highway. I'll definitely be on the lookout for them in the future.

All the way from Victoria, Current Swell took the main stage next. It's been a long while since I last saw them play, and as far as I could tell the only remaining member was lead singer Scott Stanton, joined by a new group (which included Evan Miller from Wild Romantics). Not only that, but they had a horn section join them for much of the set.
Their laid back, "Vancouver Island surf rock" sound was tempered with some newer tunes that had a bit more of an edge to them. Scott also brought out the slide guitar for my favourite song of theirs, "Cursed", with it's incendiary slide riff.

Current Swell - Christine McAvoy Photography

I only caught a little bit of the next act on the side stage, The Jerry Cans. But I did get a fun and energetic party feel from what I heard, with the Iqaluit band blending raucous vocals with Inuit throat singing.

Half Moon Run - Christine McAvoy Photography

The only celestially-named band at the Constellation festival was up next, Half Moon Run taking the main stage. They started off slow before building over the next few songs, with a set that had a really good ebb & flow of energy, building up to songs like "Turn Your Love" then drop to slower songs like the ballad-y "Need It". Their four voices blended together harmoniously throughout, including their hit single "Call Me In The Afternoon", when they decided their dual drummers were not enough, and one of the singers pounded the floor tom along with them.
The set same to an end with "Full Circle", though the crowd was not yet satisfied, chanting for "one more song" and since there was enough time before the next set, they obliged for what seemed like a legitimate encore, the band huddled around the microphone with an acoustic guitar, for a cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush".

Closing out the side stage for the day was Wintersleep. I've never been that big on the band, but I was a little amazed at just how many songs I recognised throughout the set. They showed off their prolific career with singles like "Amerika" and "Spirit", before delving into their most recent album In the Land Of. As the set drew to a close, they got everyone clapping along with the now-classic "Weighty Ghost", and then finished off with a couple more, a big, extended jam finishing off.

Wintersleep - Christine McAvoy Photography

And immediately as Wintersleep ended, the familiar marimba of "Under The Sea" filled the air, while Bahamas took the stage. Afie Jurvanen was joined, as always, by his fantastic backing band, Jason Tait on drums, Darcy Yates on bass, Christine Bougie on guitar, and singer Felicity Williams.
Starting off the set with "So Free" off the latest album, he spanned his entire career, from the gorgeous "Already Yours" from Pink Strat, to the pseudo R&B jam "Bad Boys Need Love Too" off Earthtones, and many in between. During "Your Sweet Touch" he and Bougie broke into an extended jam, playing off each other fantastically, and other favourites like the sultry "Caught Me Thinking" had the crowd dancing (and swooning) along.
His self-deprecating humour popped up a few times during the set, as he joked he was always called to play a Sunday evening of a festival, never a Friday or Saturday. And, looking back on it, both Skookum last year and 2017's Vancouver Folk Fest… guess what day he played?
He also made a complete mockery of the encore concept, wryly stating that after the "last" song, they're obligated to go stand side stage (where 70% of the people would still be able to see them) and then come back out for a few more. Which, after the beautiful "Lost In The Light" ended the main set, is exactly what happened.
He returned to the stage with "All The Time", which was a little ironic since that was the same moment that Christine and I decided to slip out of the festival to attempt to beat the crowd (and more importantly, any Sea to Sky traffic back to Vancouver), as we could hear the last few songs drifted throughout the night.

Bahamas - Christine McAvoy Photography

I've long told people that the first couple years of Live @ Squamish was the best outdoor festival I have ever been to, and even beyond taking place on the same grounds, Constellation reminded me a lot of that. It was

And I hope they are planning this for a long time, because I am already looking forward to next year! Oh, and don’t forget to check out all of Christine’s photos too!