Chersea @ Backstage Lounge -- 01/10/14

For years now I've had a love of looping musicians. It's always fascinating to watch someone single-handedly craft a song on stage, adding layer upon layer, to do what a whole band does alone.
A few months ago I was introduced to a local looper Chelsea Laing -- who performs under the name Chersea, and had recently won a Boss looping contest -- and was instantly enamoured with her music.
Now gearing up to release her debut EP, she took to Granville Island's Backstage Lounge to unveil her first music video for the title track, "Grey Matter".

Chersea took the stage behind a mountain of instruments; everything from keyboard to synth to drum pads to trumpets to bass guitar, as well as a vocal harmonizer. But despite all those, she opened the set with a flirty a capella vocal loop, "Classy", before delving into her ethereal, synthy ambient-pop sound.
Songs ranged from the upbeat and jaunty "Chemical Polarity" to the more dark and intense "Grey Matter", with the first half of the set being a little darker before shifting gears for a more dancey vibe in second half, matching her bubbly personality and trying to get the noisy Friday night crowd to move.
One problem with playing alone on stage presented itself when a couple times during the set there were technical glitches, and the set slowed while she had to fix them, but both times she quickly got things right back on track.
After a little over an hour, she ended off the set with a pair of strong songs, "I Could Lose It All" with vocal effects hauntingly harmonizing with her strong voice, and the catchy "Mind Porn" getting some clapping along to the rhythmic beat.

It can be hard to translate live loopery to recorded albums, but I am really interested to hear her Grey Matter EP. If she manages to capture the same feeling of her live set, it will definitely be to look out for.

Shaun Verreault @ Backstage Lounge -- 02/11/12

One of my absolute favourite guitarists, especially to watch live, is Shaun Verreault of Wide Mouth Mason; so when I heard he'd be playing a solo show at The Backstage Lounge on Granville Island, of course I was going to be there.

Shaun was joined by Darren Paris on bass & drummer Timmy "Boom Bap" Proznick, and promised lots of improvisation and covers throughout the night ("The drunker I get, the more Prince songs I play") and more than delivered. There was everything from Hendrix to Bill Withers to Marvin Gaye, and even the chorus of Blackstreet's "No Diggity" slipped in. And yes, there were multiple Prince songs, including "When Doves Cry" and "Raspberry Beret". Aside form the covers, there was a handful of WMM songs, including one of my favourites off their latest album No Bad Days, "Sweet Little Thing", a slower, bluesy groove.

And there was improvisations abound with Shaun not afraid to take extended solos, or let his bandmates do the same. It was pretty amazing to watch the three play off each other, build the songs and make it look completely effortless. And no matter how many times Verreault tried to stump the other two, they kept right up with him.

After a pair of hour long sets, with a brief break between them, they wrapped up the night with a superb cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition", which has been in the Wide Mouth Mason repertoire for a few years, as well as a little Marvin Gaye and Rolling Stones to close out the night.

As usual, Verreault showcased his phenomenal guitar playing, and it was amazing watching the three musicians mesh and the songs unfold on stage. I could have watched them go on for at least another hour and already can't wait until the next time Shaun plays.

Ali Milner @ Backstage Lounge -- 08/13/11

After an early show with the Ruffled Feathers at the Biltmore, I zipped over to Backstage Lounge on Granville Island to see Ali Milner. I had first seen her play a couple songs at the Valentine's Day shindig earlier this year, but hadn't had a chance to see her play a full show since then.

As I arrived, Mark Hildreth was just finishing off his set (I was certain I recognized him, and it turns out he is Joshua in V). He did an okay cover of Cohen's “Hallelujah” at the keyboard, which was his “last” song, but was back for a couple song encore, with a very jazz/pop/soul style over some backtracks from his laptop.

Finally to wrap up the night was Ali Milner, joined by a full band, with a jazz-influenced sound driven by her incredibly smooth and soulful voice. As well, she had a great presence and confidence on stage, with charming banter between songs, and I wouldn't be too surprised if a few people left the room smitten by her.
Highlights of the set were “I Can't Wait Forever” and a sexy cover of Nirvana's "Lithium" -- I always love to see bands play cover songs, to see how they interpret them, and this was a really cool rendition -- as well as the last song, which I didn't catch the name of. With its grooving bass line, it got everyone up and dancing and it was the most energetic song of the set.
But that wasn't quite all, as she was called back out for one more, another cover, this time "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"

A really good set, and an excellent way to wrap up the night of music (though my two shows paled in comparison to someone's four), I am definitely looking forward to seeing Milner again, and hopefully soon.