Big Sugar @ The Pearl -- February 06, 2026

In September of 1996, Big Sugar released their third album Hemi-Vision, and now they’re celebrating the 30th anniversary with a string of shows playing the acclaimed LP. It’s been a few years since I last saw the blues rock band, so I was excited to head down to a sold out Pearl.

With no opening act for the night, frontman Gordie Johnson took the stage joined by Anders Drerup on bass and Root Valach on drums, in front of a screen that flashed through some logos and artwork from the band over the years.

The first half of the night was Hemi-Vision in full, as they launched into the album’s killer three-track opening; the instantly recognisable riff of “Diggin’ a Hole”, “Opem Up Baby” which saw all three members of the band on harmonica, and “If I Had My Way” hitting like a punch to the chest. From there burst through the album, from the ripping breakdown of “Skull Ring” to the funky groove of “Joe Louis / Judgment Day” and the bluesy “Rolling Pin”, as the band proudly wore their influences on their collective sleeves.

They wrapped up the album with the longing “Gone for Good”, and that alone would have been a fun show. But after a short intermission (and wardrobe change) Big Sugar was back for a whole other hour, with banger after banger.

Kicking off with the rollicking “Three Minute Song” and the smooth groove of “Turn the Lights On”, off Heated, the second half of the show spanned the band’s illustrious catalogue, including more recent tunes like the title track to Calling All The Youth, and even a brand new one called “Planets”, that was dedicated to Ms. Johnson. Other highlights included the fiery “Nicotina (She’s All That)” and “Girl Watcher”, which saw Anders break out the saxophone.

After of my favourites, the classic Canadiana “All Hell for a Basement” they ended the set as they traditionally do, with an electric rendition of “O Canada” and a big maple leaf emblazoned on the screen behind them. But we still had a few minutes left before curfew, and the trio was quickly back out for one more, Gordie saying they were going back 500 Pounds or so with “Ride Like Hell” to cap off the night on a high.

Even slimmed down as a three-piece, Big Sugar remains one of the loudest bands I’ve seen live. The energy poured off stage, especially from Gordie as he expertly shred on guitar (including his signature double guitar), for an incredibly fun show celebrating a great album.

set two
Three Minute Song
Turn the Lights On
Eliminate Ya!
Nicotina (She's All That)
So Not Over
Better Get Used to It
Freedom Train
Calling All The Youth
Planets
Red Rover
Girl Watcher
All Hell for a Basement
O Canada
(Encore)
Ride Like Hell

set one
Diggin’ a Hole
Opem Up Baby
If I Had My Way
Tobacco Hand
La Stralla
Skull Ring
Joe Louis / Judgment Day
Tommy Johnson
Rolling Pin
Empty Head
Gone for Good

The Offspring @ Rogers Arena -- January 24, 2026

Admittedly, it's been quite some time since I last really listened to The Offspring. But when offered tickets to the Vancouver stop in their Supercharged Tour, I knew if I passed, my 12 year old self would be furious as Smash was a seminal album for me.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get to Rogers Arena in time for Bad Religion, arriving as the intermission shenanigans were happening; a small Offspring blimp circling the crowd, as well as the video screen showing various spotlights for the crowd, like kiss cam, headbang cam, and booty cam.

But soon a countdown appeared in screen and “Thunderstruck” blast over the speakers, before The Offspring hit the stage, Dr. Dexter Holland and Noodles joined by Todd Morse on bass, drummer Brandon Pertzborn, and Jonah Nimoy on “everything”. They burst out of the gates with iconic riff of “Come Out and Play”, followed by the crazy “All I Want” and the tantalizing “Want You Bad”.

The stage included giant video board that alternated between showing the band and animated clips, as well as some ‘guests’ like giant, smoke breathing inflatable skeletons, as the punk band’s set weaved though their expansive career, from “Looking Out for #1” off their latest album Supercharged, back to Smash with “Bad Habit”, which had the entire arena joining in (especially on that verse).

Dexter and Noodles seemed to have tons of fun, and they joked with the crowd and each other, and slipped in a few covers with a Black Sabbath medley to honour Ozzy, as well as a bit of Ramones with “I Wanna Be Sedated”, and Noodles shredding the classic “In the Hall of the Mountain King”

Later in the set, a piano was brought out as Dexter played the heartfelt “Gone Away”, getting everyone to hold up a light for someone they lost, and then one last cover for the night in “Hey Jude”. The singing along continued with a couple more fun songs, “Why Don't You Get a Job?” and “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)”, the former saw giant beach balls distributed through the crowd and the latter featured dancers in the iconic outfit, both human and wacky waving inflatable ones.

They wrapped up the main set with “The Kids Aren't Alright”, but were quickly back for a couple more, first “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”, and then one last chance for everyone to yell along with another classic favourite, “Self Esteem”.

I feel like there is always a risk when seeing an act you have such fond memories of, and I did have a quick shock & realisation of “oh, right, Dexter’s vocals aren’t going to be exactly as they were 30 years ago”. But The Offspring still rocks as hard as ever and I was immediately transported back with an incredibly fun show full of songs I still somehow remembered all the words to.

setlist
Come Out and Play
All I Want
Want You Bad
Looking Out for #1
Staring at the Sun
Hit That
Original prankster
Hammerhead
Make It All Right
Bad Habit
Electric Funeral / Paranoid / Crazy Train [Black Sabbath medley]
In the Hall of the Mountain King [Edvard Grieg cover]
I Wanna Be Sedated [The Ramones cover]
Gotta Get Away
Gone Away
Hey Jude [The Beatles cover]
Why Don't You Get a Job?
Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)
The Kids Aren’t Alright
(encore)
You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid
Self Esteem

jo passed @ The Pearl -- January 22, 2026

It’s been eight years since jo passed Their Prime, but after a tease with a single last year, Jo Hirabayashi (平林) is back with a brand new album as jo passed Away. And along with the new album comes a celebration — and tour kick-off — at The Pearl in Vancouver with some local pals.

First up on the night was Buddie, who were playing in front of a projection screen with a cute animation loop of a fish swimming though the ocean. They had a fuzzy, power-pop sound with catchy songs like “Golden” and the crunchy “Antarctica, 2005” from their latest album Glass, released a few months ago. The band blasted through some older songs, including the gritty “Ugly in the End”, before capping off the set with “In A Glass Shell”.
I hadn’t seen the Vancouver band before last night, and I’ll definitely have to keep an ear out for then again.

Babe Corner took the stage next, starting off (ironically) with the deep cut, “Fox Cabaret”. From there, they went into a set of their “babe-core” sound, including songs from their latest album Crybaby; “Summer Slaughter” with its infectious chorus, the breezy “Bianca”, and “Caught On The Double” which say Haley Blais taking over lead vocals for a bit.
They also hit a pair of singles released last year, with the dreamy combo of “I'm Like U” and “Feels Like”, and ultimately wrapped up with “Cigarette”, a song that never fails to get stuck in my head after hearing it live.
Early in the set, a (probably) drunk dude felt the need to let everyone know it was his 33rd birthday, yelling between a couple songs, but Lindsay Sjoberg handled it well, joking we should all head down the street to The Roxy after show.

But before that, it was time for jo passed to close out the night, kicking off with the first track off Away, the appropriately titled “BRB”. Jo continued through the new album with the jagged “Ico” and the chaotic buzz of “339”, an early favourite off the album.
After ‘side A’ of the album finished with “Dizzy Izzy”, Jo introduced the band and went into some older tracks, including “MDM”. Through the set, Jo didn’t say much, mostly thanking everyone for being there and quickly introducing songs; the one time he did try to talk more, about his trepidation for embarking on a tour through America right now, someone kept dismissively yelling “relax!” until he moved on (strange crowd last night, and that’s before even mentioning the people dancing/swaying/flailing in front of the stage all set!)
And finally, the all-too-short set wrapped up with the title track “Away” and chilled out “J Walking”, foregoing the encore routine, thankfully.

The last time I saw jo passed, it was during JunoFest last year and the sound at the venue was somewhat muddy, so it was good to see them again with a much better mix! Add on Babe Corner who is always a blast & a fun set from Buddie, and it was a great album release show.

PHOTOS: Shad with Francis Arevalo at the Hollywood Theatre - January 17, 2026

Shad (with Francis Arevalo)
Hollywood Theatre
January 17, 2026

Photos by Christine McAvoy

Unreal City Music Festival @ Russian Hall -- January 16, 2026

Unreal City returned for their second year of celebrating local music, this time spanning three nights — one at the Rickshaw, two at the Russian Hall. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to all three, opting just for the killer lineup on Friday. (Also, somehow I had never been to a show at the Russian Hall, so I was glad to fix that).

I missed the first band of the night, checkedout, arriving just after Bloom Effect started. Clad in all black on a stage bathed in red lights, the trio wove through their dreamy shoegaze, transitioning from one song to the next with barely a break.
Though I feel like both times I’ve seen the band in a real venue (as opposed to a free outdoor show) singer Jula Lafit’s vocals have seemed low in the mix. I’m not sure if it’s for the mood or bad luck on my part, so I am interested to catch them again some time this year.

Next up was Ira Hardly, who started with a laid back, folk sound with songs like “Out of My League” and a cover of “Random Rules” by Silver Jews. But the set had a great flow as it slowly ramped up in energy, as Ira sang about social anxiety or running errands with the raucous “Man of Action” for a fun finish.

Shortly after was Jody Glenham, who was joined by some familiar faces in Michael Slumber and Adam Fink with Florence van Camerijk. She kicked off with some older Mood Rock tunes, the simmering “War On This World” and the incredibly catchy “Talking Out Loud”, even reaching back to the breezy “Ill Wind”. But Jody also teased her upcoming EP with “Love Deficiency Syndrome” which immediately got stuck in my head (a curse for an unreleased song), an ode to ‘third spaces’ with “The Local”, and the just-released “Overtime” which built to a crashing end to the set.
The last few times I’ve seen Jody play were free outdoor shows, so I was happy to catch her indoors again and I am definitely looking forward to the new EP!

As well as the main stage, there was a second stage downstairs, though it was only after Jody I managed to slip down there to hear a little bit of trippy synth punk from the ski-mask clad Phuture Memoriez. I also did not have time to get a quick flash tattoo from the station, as it was soon back upstairs to check out worrywart.
The five piece launched into “hail mary baby” and barely slowed down as they played hard and fast, grungy tunes. The only time they paused was a quick tuning break that ended up with singer Ryley Epp jokingly(?) arguing with the crowd about pizza, but they were quickly back to it with an almost hypnotic build to a chaotic finish.

And finally, to my delight a piano was brough out on stage as it was time for the night’s headliner, Spencer Krug. He started off the set alone with some beautiful piano songs “The Fog” and “My Puppeteer”, before weaving through a set that pulled from most of his career; from the intensity of “Barbarian” from Moonface to Sunset Rubdown’s “A Day In The Graveyard II” and even some new tracks.
Halfway through the set he was joined by frequent collaborator Jordan Koop on electric guitar, whose subtle additions complimented but never overwhelmed, on songs like “Slipping In and Out of the Pool” and one of my favourite Krug songs from any project, the haunting “City Wrecker”.
As the set came to a close, Krug mentioned that one particular Wolf Parade song was “getting a lot of attention recently” due to a certain show about hockey players. And so by request he came up with a reworked piano version, for an absolutely gorgeous rendition of “I’ll Believe in Anything”. I can only hope he ends up recording it for his Patreon or somewhere.

I am always blown away by seeing Spencer Krug live, especially his piano shows, and especially as a cap to a night of some great local acts, where each band felt like they brough a different vibe and sound. I’m sad I can’t make it tonight, but I will absolutely be ready for next year’s Unreal City Fest.