The Zolas & Hollerado @ Commodore -- 11/14/13

Despite The Zolas' steady rise to power in Vancouver, they had never played one of its most iconic venues, the Commodore Ballroom. Not even in an opening slot or anything. Well, not only did they pop their Commodore cherry, but they did it in one of the best ways possible; in front of a sold out crowd with the pride of Manotick, Ontario, Hollerado.

I got to the venue with just a few songs left from PUP. It was the first time in Vancovuer for the Toronto band, and if the lead singer's joking was any indication -- "I've never seen a girl at our show before" -- it was the biggest crowd they had played to. The four-piece has been gaining lots of buzz recently for their debut self-titled album, and their live show proved it was all worthy. They were very tight for such a young band, and while their indie punk rock may have been a little too on the punk side for my taste, I couldn't deny how good they were. They wrapped up their set with their current single, "Reservoir", and I would not be surprised to see them back at the Commodore to headline in a few years.

As the lights dimmed and A Tribe Called Red's "Electric Powwow" blasted over the speakers, the four members Hollerado took the stage, launching in to "Don't Think" from their most recent album White Paint. And while that album didn't quite grab me in the same way that Record In A Bag did, I was still excited to see them. With their insanely catchy power pop Hollerado is a ridiculously fun live band, not only with their incredible energy, but with a great stage show too, with blasts of confetti leaving streamers dangling from the ceiling, faux snow machines, and black lights illuminating not only the banner behind them but their instruments and equipment as well.
The set started with the mix a little off, the vocals seemed a bit buried, but evened out a few songs into it and everything really seemed to click. The four-piece is incredibly tight, and Menno Versteeg is a great frontman, but on more than one occasion drummer Jake Boyd stole the show. Standing on top of his drum kit for the anthemic "Got To Lose", and especially his insanely intense drum solo during the set-closing "Do The Doot Da Doot Do". Other highlights included the powerful sing yell-along "Juliette" and "So It Goes", a true story about Menno's Dutch grandfather, Nazis, and forgiveness.
It was a super fun set, and I hope it's not another two years before the next chance I get to see them live.

setlist
Don't Think, Pick Me Up, Good Day At The Races, Too Much To Handle, Fresno Chunk (Digging With You), Juliette, Fake Drugs, Desire 126, So It Goes, Got To Lose, Americanarama, Thank You (For Sticking Around), Do The Doot Da Doot Do.

In contrast to Hollerado's big, bright show, The Zolas hit the stage bathed in shadows and deep blue lights, for their occasionally darker and moodier alt-pop. They opened with the first track off of Ancient Mars, "In Heaven", and their brand new single, the incredibly dancey "Invisible".
While most of the set focused on the new album, there were a few older songs slipped into the set as well, the chaotic breakup song "Marlaina Kamikaze" and the post-apocalyptic "The Great Collapse".
Other highlights included the quirky "Observatory" and the catchy "Strange Girl" (which Zach gleefully praised the hometown crowd for picking up on the irregular clapping beat).
Zach's obvious enthusiasm and gratitude was evident throughout the night; first requesting everyone in the crowd kiss each other to change the mood after a small scuffle broke out near the stage, and later admitting that the band didn't always get lucky or catch many breaks, but rather "our only luck is you guys". And Zach embraced that love when he went into the middle of the crowd with his keyboard for the final song of the main set, "Escape Artist".
But of course, they were back out for a couple more; first Zach starting alone with "Cold Moon" as the band slowly joined him, and ending with the entire room singing along to "You're Too Cool".

setlist
In Heaven, Invisible, Observatory, Euphrates and Tigris, Ancient Mars, The Great Collapse, Marlaina Kamikaze, Local Swan, Cultured Man, Strange Girl, Knot In My Heart, Escape Artist.
(encore) Cold Moon, You're Too Cool. 

Hollerado @ Venue -- 09/21/11


A busy week of concerts continues at Venue for Hollerado. I really liked when I first saw them at Live at Squamish last year, but haven't had the chance to see since, so I was definitely going to be there to see them.
And also, how awesome is that poster?

I only caught the last couple songs of the first band, Wildlife, and they seemed like a pretty good fit to open for Hollerado. A pretty straightforward -- if generic -- rock sound, with pretty god energy from the band. Especially the drummer, who picked up his cymbal stand to bash it at the end of the last song.

Next up was Young Rival, who were also straight up rock, but with a bit of a 50s throwback feel to them. They also had a good energy with a fun set, if not much variation to their songs. I enjoyed them, and would probably see them again given the chance, but am not really in any rush to.

And then it was time for Hollerado, who hit the stage with huge energy, launching in to "Juliette" early on, which got everyone on the floor jumping and singing along. There were a few new songs in their set, too, which sounded exactly what you'd expect from the band. Other highlights from the incredibly fun set were "Got To Lose" and "Do The Doot Da Doot Doo", which ended the set with with Menno first hanging the mic over the crowd for people to sing along, and then getting down into the crowd himself. They also had some great banter and joking around between songs -- comparing Toronto's pizza to Vancouver's... more notable exports.
They put on an incredibly fun set, with a fantastic energy; especially Jake Boyd, who was a maniac on the drums.
After the main set they came back out for one last song, and one last sing-along, a cover of Young's "Rockin' In The Free World". With confetti cannons and an incredibly fun live show, Hollerado definitely delivers live and made for a great Wednesday night.

Live at Squamish. Day one, part two. -- 09/04/10

Yes, it is even more of day one of the Live at Squamish festival! When last we left off, I had just seen We Are The City on the Serf stage, and the day was just about half over. One thing I will point out is how great it was to see the festival supporting the local and/or smaller artists. And I am always going off on how neat it is that Vancouver musicians support each other... well, there were more than a few of them in the crowd. Adaline, David Vertesi and Zach Gray were all among the people who were there, not playing, but to see their friends. And even the ones that were there would be at each others sets. But I digress, back to the music!

At this point I was torn about going to see The Dudes or Hollerado. Both bands I had heard they were fantastic live, and neither I had really heard all that much of. But I liked what little I had heard from Hollerado more than what little from The Dudes (and I was too lazy to change stages) so I stuck around the Serf stage. And I am glad I did, because man, did they put on a hell of a show. I don't think anyone would call the band "groundbreaking", but they have a fantastic energy about them, and made their set just pure fun. Aside from their assortment of songs -- I actually recognized more that I thought I would -- they threw in a couple covers. The first was "Surfin' Bird", which saw the lead singer jump down into the corwd, then get hoisted back on stage. The other was a pretty damn good cover of "Rockin' in the Free World". They definitely won me over for their set, and I can see why they won the Big Money Shot Competition put on by Ottowa radio station Live 88.5.

After them, it was time to haul ass to the main stage. In the first post I mentioned that I knew I had to come when they added my favourite musician. Well, that man is Matthew Good.
The set started with the familiar cheer of "K-I-C-K-A-S-S, that's the way we spell success", and the band coming out to open with "Giant". It had been a while since I saw a show open with this, so that was awesome. It was followed by a couple more from Beautiful Midnight; "The Future is X-Rated", which is a song I'm not sure I've ever seen him play, and the song that really set the crowd off, "Hello, Time Bomb". Actually, the crowd seemed to be kind of rowdy during the set, moshing and crowd surfing to songs that you really can't do those to... I guess it was the usual somewhat liquored up festival crowd type, though. After a few others, mostly from the newest album, Vancouver, and a great version of "Apparitions" which features a lap steel, he ended the night with "Champions of Nothing", dedicated to Geoff Lloyd, founding member of the Matthew Good Band who passed away in February.
There was also an odd energy from Good. He wasn't nearly as talkative as he usually is; even stating that he had nothing, really, to say. I know in the past, festival-like shows haven't been kind to Good, but there was nothing thrown on stage this time, so I am just going to assume he was having an off day. But even with all that, he was still pretty damn great when playing, and it was, as usual, a treat to see him live. The show didn't quite match up to the last few times I saw him, but I guess it's hard to compare a festival set to a proper show.

At this point I could have left happy, but there was still one more... Devo! I never thought I would ever actually see Devo play live, so this was pretty damn nifty. Even though they were looking their age, they sure didn't sound like it. Though they did sound very much like the 80s still; they do have a very distinctive sound. A sound which maybe... should not have gone on for as long as it did. Some bands can play an hour and a half (or longer) set no problem. Some... not so much. Devo was in the latter. But don't get me wrong, the show was still incredible fun to watch, with multiple costume changes, and some funny/appropriate/great videos up on the screen behind them. There were the obvious hits, like "Whip It", "Beautiful World" and "Jocko Homo", which saw the lead singer go into the crowd for the call & response "Are we not men? We are Devo!" Aside from the length (which, I admit, could have just been fatigue and/or hunger setting in), it was still really cool experience.

And luckily, the rain more or less held off for the day, just sprinkling a little as the night came to an end. And so, that was day one. Some incredible acts -- many I have, would, or will pay to see live on their own. I also got to meet some great people.

Again, since there was so much to see and do, I have decided to split the weekend into four parts. Coming up: Day two, part one: You Say Party, Civil Twilight & Mother Mother. And I have posted the weekends pics on my flickr, check them out! Will day two live up to day one? Stay tuned to find out!