Olympic Shenanigans: The Big Finish.

Here it is,: the last few olympic shows. In the last two weeks I managed to see ten free olympic shows, one ticketed show and one CBC Radio 3 session. Sixteen different bands. As much as I wasn't a supporter of the olympics, I have to admit, the shows were unbelievable. Now, if only Vancouver could get a Rifflandia or SxSW type music festival going... Anyway, on to the last few shows:

Thursday, Feb 25
Backtracking a little before the Mangam/Fanshaw/R3 show, Two Hours Traffic was playing Thursday night at the Richmond O Zone. They were opening for Wintersleep, but I was going specifically to see them; especially because I missed the last time they were in town. Even though it was a short set, they managed to play a decent number of songs, kicking things off with the title track from the new album, "Territory". They played a good mix of songs from their oeuvre, though focusing on the newer material. There were a few I hadn't heard live before, like "Drop Alcohol" and "Happiness Burns", so those were especially great to hear. As usual, they were energetic, with a good stage presence, some other highlights were the infectious "Sure Can Start" and the always-fantastic "Heroes of the Sidewalk".
They capped off the set with "Jezebel", and I don't know how many people there knew them beforehand, but judging by the crowds reaction they gained more than a few fans that night. It was a pretty damn good set, and I can't wait until the next time they come through town for a proper show.
setlist:
Territory, Stolen Earrings, Drop Alcohol, Nighthawks, New Love, Wicked Side, Noisemaker, Stuck for the Summer, Sure Can Start, Painted Halo, Heroes of the Sidewalk, Back Seat Sweetheart, Weightless One, I Did What I Could, Happiness Burns, Jezebel.

Saturday, Feb 27
This day was supposed to be a great day of music, and it was... but there just seemed to be a bunch of non-music-related minor annoyances that dampened my enjoyment (no, not the rain).

First up was Matt Mays at Livecity Yaletown. According to both the internet and the radio, he was supposed to start at 6:30, so imagine my surprise when I am standing in line outside and I hear his name being hollered... followed by the familiar strains of "City of Lakes". Luckily, I had gotten there early-ish, so I managed to get in at about 10 after six, only missing a couple of songs. (Also, the guy at the gate was an incredible jerkass). I was disappointed to miss "City of Lakes", since that is one of my favourite songs of his (especially live) and "Tall Trees", but the rest of the set was pretty awesome. Both "What Are We Gonna Do Come The Month of September" and "On The Hood" (another favourite) got extended versions, with the latter including Mays adding some Olympic-hype to it, with the line "A whole lot of gold, for us, for us" repeated. He finished with "Cocaine Cowgirl", which ended with Mays soliciting applause for his band, the city, the athletes and even the people in the apartments overlooking the park, before jumping into the crowd and running off, leaving the band to bring the song to an awesome finish.
The other annoyance was that the set was way too short. Lasting only 40 minutes, he only got to play a handful of songs, so there was a lot I wished he had played. But still, Short-Mays is better than No-Mays, so I was still glad to have heard him. I kind of wish I was able to make it to Atlantic House for his show later that night, but I had other plans.

setlist:
City of Lakes, Tall Trees, Downtown, What Are We Gonna Do Come The Month of September, [mystery song], On The Hood, Cocaine Cowgirl.

Those other plans? The Stills at the O Zone. This marked my seventh time seeing them live, and they were as good as ever, but the annoyances this time were the crowd of obnoxious teenagers and the freaking camera guy, who thought the best possible spot that he could stand was in front of the band. I don't know what kind of idiot he was, but I hope he ends up in the very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theatre.
Anyway! They hit the stage decked out in various hockey jerseys and started off with a song that is always great live, "Snakecharming The Masses". The extra floor tom gives it the extra power, but I do miss the saxamaphone -- the first time I saw the song live it included Dave playing a sax solo, but it was cut out of the album version for some reason.
Playing mostly from their first and third albums (for some reason Without Feathers got no love...) they got through a good blend of hits and fan favourites. Though despite being the headliner of the night, there set was inexplicably only 45 minutes, so again, there were a bunch of songs I was sad they didn't play... but hey, it was free Stills, I can't complain.
setlist:
Snakecharming The Masses, Lola Stars & Stripes, Snow In California, Being Here, Of Montreal, Panic, Everything I Build, Hands On Fire, Gender Bombs, Don't Talk Down, I'm With You.

Now that the real world starts back up again tomorrow, I have a feeling I am going to be going some serious live music withdrawl.

Olympic Shenanigans: Fit the Third

Even more great shows going on around, including one of the best surprises ever! I'll back track a tiny bit, to before the Hey Rosetta!/Stars show, and I won't try to ramble on too much, but that could be difficult considering last night.

Thursday, Feb 18
Back into Richmond to see Arkells. The park was pretty packed, but sadly that was probably because they were opening for Our Lady Peace. They played a pretty decent set, starting with "The Ballad of Hugo Chavez" and going through a few tracks off of Jackson Square, with at least one new one in there. The whole set seemed a bit... off, though. I don't know if it was bad positioning, where we were standing, or what, but the whole set just didn't sound right. Instruments were murky or too high or barely audible. During "Oh, The Boss Is Coming", for example, the bass seemed overpowering while the guitar nearly indistinguishable. Due to this, it was probably the worst least-good Arkells set I've seen thus far. But even despite that, they still put on a hell of a show to the packed field, and if the response was any indication, they won over their fair share of fans that night. Some other highlights were "Deadlines", which morphed into a brief cover of "My Boyfriend's Back" and the always awesome "John Lennon" to end the set, which again included a few lines from "Eleanor Rigby".
Due to my vast indifference for OLP, we bailed before they actually came on.

Friday, Feb 19
After the spectacular Stars show, we attempted to race over to Robson Square to check out the free show Said The Whale was doing. Unfortunately, it was way too insane, and we didn't really get a decent spot, ending up behind the band. Half the songs were not very audible, and it was getting pretty late, so we took off about half way through the set. I would have felt bad, but I'll be seeing StW soon enough, when they open for Plants & Animals in May.

Saturday, Feb 20
This was quite the tricky day. Right up until the night before, I was still unsure as to what to go to. Sam Roberts, Arkells & Coeur de Pirate at Livecity Yaletown? Or Hey Ocean!, Mother Mother & Said The Whale in Surrey? That was quite the predicament. Fortunately, my decision was made by Ontario House, of all places. The night before, they announced who their surprise guest was going to be, and that made my decision right there. For you see, the surprise guest was...

Broken Social Scene.

Being incredibly paranoid, I ended up heading down far too early, so after soaking in some of the sights around the area, I met up with people and got in line around 6. For the 10:00 show. And they were not admitting people in til 9. Though considering I hadn't seen them live for almost three years (not counting the Kevin Drew show two years ago) and since it was Broken Freaking Social Scene, I was more than willing to wait in line.
After an epic wait, they hit the stage around 10. It's always interesting to see who is going to show up to the shows, and just after they came out, Kevin Drew made the introductions. There was Drew, Canning and Peroff, of course, as well as Jimmy Shaw, Bill Priddle and a few others, some new to the band. (Random aside: Canning was clean shaven, which looked kinda weird and made him look really young!) They kicked off with "Superconnected", before bringing out another BSS veteran, the lovely Lisa Lobsinger for "7/4 Shoreline".
The set consisted mostly of older songs, spanning the BSS library as well as a few from the Drew and Canning solo albums. Half way through the set they brought out a surprise, Julie Doiron! For a cover of Neil Young's "Out On The Weekend"!! They followed that up with one of my favourite songs, "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl", with Lobsinger fitting in almost perfectly for Haines. As they set came to a close, they brought Doiron back out and rocked through one of her songs, "Consolation Prize" (which was, apparently, unrehearsed!). They finally "ended" the night with another one of my favourites, and a fantastic live song, the ten minute epic "It's All Gonna Break", dedicated to the city of Vancouver. Perhaps a sly way of getting around the contract they signed not to speak ill of the olympics? It was an incredibly sublime sight, especially to see all ten of them out there, absolutely rocking out. The song ended and members slowly filtered off with just Drew left on stage, thanking us profusely and promising to be back soon. He then spontaneously (or "spontaneously") proclaiming he didn't want to leave, and would do one more, but a song made up on the spot (or "made up on the spot"). It started with just Drew and his guitar, but he was joined first by Peroff, then Canning as the night ended with the three core members, proving that Broken Social Scene didn't need a stage full of people to be amazing.
They took their leave at 1130, but the crowd was still fanatical to see more, even though the roadie removing all instruments and equipment seemed like a bad sign. But Drew eventually made his way back on stage and apologized for not being able to play more, due to the curfew... before leading the crowd in an impromptu karaoke of the first verse & chorus of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

The setlist was as follows:
Superconnected, 7/4 Shoreline, Backed Out On The..., Churches Under The Stairs, Love Is New, Stars & Sons, Out On The Weekend (Neil Young cover), Anthems for a 17 Year Old Girl, Frightening Lives, Sweetest Kill, Consolation Prize (Julie Doiron "cover"), It's All Gonna Break, "spontaneous" song, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2 a cappella sing-along cover)

It's probably a good thing I am taking the next few days off from the free shows -- partially to recharge, partially because there is nothing I need to see -- because there is no way anyone is going to be able to top that.

Olympic Shenanigans: The Second Part

I wasn't going to post again so soon after yesterday, but last night was just so packed with awesome that it requires its own post. Again, I'll try to keep things brief, but I may not be able to contain my ravings.

Wednesday, Feb 17 - Evening

First up was a trip out to Granville Island for Karkwa at the Place de la Francophonie. Last time I saw Karkwa was about a year ago when I am still pretty sure they blew out a speaker at the Biltmore. That show absolutely amazed me and I've loved them ever since, but I was kind of afraid that I had built that show up so much in my mind that nothing would be able to compare. So when they hit the stage at 6, there was some trepidation. Especially since I convinced others to go based solely on my ravings.
They opened with "Le Computer", and halfway through the song any fears I had were promptly crushed by the dual drummers, masterful keys and intense wall of sound. They were every bit as good as I remember them, if not better.
The stage banter was there, but mostly en français (which made sense, since it was the "French Quarter"), however it wasn't too often; they mostly let the music speak for itself. And even though they have only five members, their sound is so layered and dense that you would almost expect there to be twice as many people on stage. In my previous review of them I described them as difficult to describe, and I stick by my made-up genre of: indie-prog-dream-pop-rock-awesome.
They closed with my favourite song of theirs, "La Façade", and cemented themselves as one of my favourite bands to see live. Pretty impressive after only two short shows.

From there, I had the option of staying on Granville Island and brave what was bound to be an insane line to attempt to see Two Hours Traffic; go down to Holland Park to catch Ryan Dahle and Bend Sinister; or head to the O Zone in Richmond for Jill Barber & Hawksley Workman. I figured because I had seen, and would be willing to pay to see, Two Hours Traffic & Bend Sinister I would give Barber & Workman the chance, since I wasn't sure if I would pay to see them. And also because someone is always raving about how good Workman is live.

Anyway, we got there just in time, as Jill Barber was just hitting the stage. I wasn't too familiar with her outside of a couple songs, but her sultry serenading and adorable stage presence kind of won me over (and don't tell Grant Lawrence, but I think I may be a little bit in love with her after the show). Aside from her own songs, she slipped in a cover of a Leonard Cohen song... that was not Hallelujah. I am as shocked as you! (it was "Dance Me To The End Of Love"). She ended off the show with a sing-a-long of "Oh My My", even changing it at the end, from "Oh my my" and "Please don't let me go" to "Ca-na-da" and "Please just go for gold" (Even though it did end up with a couple of mix-ups of "Please don't go for gold"). The only thing that hurt her was the setting. She managed to make it somewhat intimate, but her music was not meant to be played on a big, open air stage, but rather a small, dimly lit, vaguely smoky room, with a glass of scotch.

Finally was Hawksley Workman, and he was every bit the showman that I have been lead to believe. Even sick, as he mentioned at the start, he managed to put on one hell of a show. And although the only three songs I recognized were the last three he played, he grabbed my attention from the start and never let it go. With his on stage theatrics and engaging, hillarious and/or completely random stories, he had pretty much the whole crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. He even managed to slip in quick covers of other songs, mostly just a verse or chorus inserted into one of his own. Prince, Cheap Trick, Culture Club and A-Ha all got a quick "cover". And you could tell he was having a blast doing what he was doing. He, too, won me over, and I would seriously consider going to see him next time he's in town.

In all, an utterly fantastic night of music. And the best part? It was all for free.

Olympic Shenanigans Thus Far.

Oh, the Olympics. As much as I dislike them and their waste of money, I can not deny the massive amounts of free shows and other enjoyable events that have come because of them. Here are some highlights. I'll try to keep them brief, but we all know how that usually turns out.

Sunday, Feb 14
Despite going to see two shows, I didn't get to actually witness any live music, which was kind of disappointing. Because someone was running late, we didn't get to Livecity Yaletown for Mother Mother until the line was well passed the alleged half-hour mark. So we said nuts to this, and found a perch on a fence across the street where is sounded just fine, and a big screen was in view. Aside from some issues with levels -- which you would think would be slightly important for a band with harmonies like Mother Mother -- it sounded almost perfect. Every once in a while it would sound a little muffled, but
And even from across the street, Hayloft, which seems to be the favourite of a lot of people (me included) sounded killer.

After which we raced on down to Livecity Downtown for Elliott BROOD. The line moved quite quick and we were inside after only ten minutes, just as they were starting. However, the lineup was just to get into the pavilion or whatever. Inside there was ANOTHER line (Yo dawg, I heard you like waiting...) to get into this pretty small building where the band was actually playing. But outside there was a giant screen, so we ended up just watching them on that. It was still decent, and as great as it was to see Elliott BROOD "live" again, it just wasn't the same. Especially when they handed out the specially made, custom maple leaf'd baking sheets with the wooden spoons for everyone to play along to "This Valley Town" & "Write It All Down For You" to. They threw in a few covers, CCR and Neil Young before ending perfectly with "Miss You Now", which was dedicated to Dan Mangan.

Monday, Feb 15
After finding out the line for Sloan at Atlantic Canada House was insane, I went with plan b, which was to head down to the O Zone in Richmond for Jenn Grant & Kathleen Edwards. And boy, am I glad I did. Grant was on first, and I admit I hadn't heard much from her other than whatever is played on R3. But she was pretty good with her folk-y pop sounds and made a fan out of me. I should also mention before she went on, the trickle of rain turned into a full-on downpour and didn't stop until, of course, Kathleen Edwards was done.
And then Kathleen Edwards was up, Peruvian poncho and all. I hadn't seen her live before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but damn was she good. Her band, which includes the great Jim Bryson, was firing on all cylinders, despite needing to warm up their hands between (and sometimes during) songs. There were more than a few songs that ended with the the whole band rocking out, but "The Cheapest Key" was definitely a highlight of the night.
Despite the soaking rain, I am really glad I ended up at that show, and now can't wait to see Edwards again.

Wednesday, Feb 17 - Morning (Non musical, but too awesome not to mention)
Stephen. Freaking. Colbert. That's right, The Colbert Report hit Vancouver for two days of taping, and even though I had to get up at 6:30 to get down to Science World, it was more than worth it. There was a huge line already at 7:45, but that kind of ended up as an epic failure as around 9 they let people in to the field and there was a mad dash toward the stage.
It wasn't a whole show; he taped the intro and a couple of good byes, did a "better know a riding" with the South Vancouver MP Ujjal Dosanjh (which he intro'd, then was played for our benefit on a couple tv screens no one could see). After he did three interviews: Michael Buble, The captain of the Miracle on Ice team and Bob Costas.
The crowd was awesome, and was chanting everything -- when Colbert said we were starting to seem like chanting whores... we chanted "chanting whores". At some point a chant of "Ride the Moose" started, and persisted a few times, to the point where Colbert worked it in to the Costas intro... and then had him actually ride the moose. It was all sorts of awesome. Hopefully most of it makes it on air for his shows next week, which is the Olympic spotlights.

That is all for now. Stay tuned for part two, where I will have tales of Karkwa, wherever I end up tonight, Arkells and my major decision between seeing Sam Roberts, Coeur de Pirate & Arkells Downtown... or Said The Whale, Mother Mother & Hey Ocean in Surrey.
There'll also be a full review of the Hey Rosetta! & Stars show.