Rilo Kiley @ Commodore Ballroom -- May 21, 2025

Whenever the question of ‘bands you wish you could have seen live’ comes up, my immediate answer was always Rilo Kiley. Not only had I missed seeing them before they broke up, I’ve also somehow never seen any of Jenny Lewis’ solo projects (to my shame). So when the Los Angeles group announced their reunion last year for the Sometimes When You’re On You’re Really Fucking On tour, which included a show at the Commodore Ballroom, I was just a little excited.

Unfortunately due to prior commitments, I missed the opener Morgan Nagler, arriving to the sold out Commodore not long before Rilo Kiley hit the stage. Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Jason Boesel were joined by Harrison Whitford as they kicked off the set to raucous ovation with “The Execution of All Things” and from there spanned all of their albums.

From “Wires and Waves” off their debut Take Offs and Landings, to “Spectacular Views” building to a chaotic finish, and the slinky slow jam “The Moneymaker” from Under the Blacklight, their infectious indie rock full of intricate narratives blasted through the room. Jenny’s voice soared on “I Never”, while Blake took over lead vocals on “Ripchord”, as the band rocked out on songs like “It’s a Hit” (featuring guest trumpet from Orenda Fink) and the heartbreakingly beautiful “Does He Love You?”, Jenny accepted flowers from the front of the stage before the song erupted into a grand finish.

Collectively waiting for this moment for fifteen years, the crowd was locked in all night. People wildly cheered when recognising a song from a single note, I saw lots of hugging & crying around me, with tons of singing along as well; the best example being “With Arms Outstretched” as Lewis handed over the chorus to the audience. I could almost believe them when they gave the standard “this crowd is the best of the tour so far!”

After more singing to “A Better Son/Daughter” — which included the tour’s namesake lyrics — the room somehow came more unglued for “Portions for Foxes”. A favourite of mine (and many others judging by the volume of the punctuating “come here!” in the song) it was incredible to finally see live, as chills crept across my arms and a smile across my face.

That finished off the main set, but with the lights down and interstitial music playing, the band was back soon enough, starting off the encore with the heart wrenching “A Man/Me/Then Jim” once again featuring Fink on trumpet. Morgan Nadler made a quick cameo to provide some dance instructions to “The Frug”, and finally the band sent everyone home with “Pictures of Success”.

Going into a show like this, it’s easy to worry a little. Was I building this up in my head too much? Is this just a cash grab reunion? Questions like that. Thankfully, those were quickly answered with a show that felt simultaneously nostalgic and timeless, Rilo Kiley on top of their game and a crowd hungry for every note. I’m not sure if they have any more planned after the tour (beyond the greatest hits album they have out soon) but if it was just a one off and that was it, it was a hit.

setlist
The Execution of All Things
Wires and Waves
Spectacular Views
The Moneymaker
Dreamworld
I Never
Close Call
Paint’s Peeling
It's a Hit
Does He Love You?
Ripchord
Silver Lining
With Arms Outstretched
A Better Son/Daughter
Portions for Foxes
(encore)
A Man/Me/Then Jim
The Frug
Pictures of Success

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre -- May 11, 2025

If you’ve followed this blog & me for any amount of time, you will probably know that one of my all time favourite musicians is Nick Cave, especially with his band The Bad Seeds, and especially their live show. Not to be too cheesy, but seeing them live is less a concert and more an experience, so when Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds returned to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, on tour for their latest album Wild God, there was no chance I was going to miss it.

With no opening act, the show started as The Bad Seeds took the stage, including the four person ‘gospel choir’ (for lack of a better term), and started into “Frogs” from the new album. Nick Cave then strut out to grab the mic, and from there it was nearly three hours of intense, powerful emotions, spanning the band’s decades long career. Ranging from the bombastic title track “Wild God” to “O Children” which saw Warren Ellis let loose on violin (not for the last time that night) to older hits, “From Her to Eternity”, and even a couple of songs from his recent album with just Warren Ellis, like “Carnage”.

Cave also took a moment before each song for an introduction, often giving quick stories behind them, sometimes insights into the narrative — the character Bea from “Jubilee Street” popping up more than once — or even just prefacing it by calling it a “fucking amazing song” in the case of “Bright Horses”. When not behind the piano, he stalked the front of the stage, reaching to outstretched arms, singing at & to them, and even joking around a bit. When hit with a repeated request, he quipped “the more you yell that the less we’re likely to play it… but if you don’t yell it, we’ll never play it” and at one point stopping dead in his introduction to tell someone “I've seen your face on a dream”. During my fave off the new album, the stunning “Conversion” he even hopped off stage to wade through the crowd, among the seats, yelling to everyone “you’re beautiful!”

Late in the set, he broke out a couple perennial favourites, the sinister “Red Right Hand” followed with the frenetic “The Mercy Seat”, Ellis’ violin swirling to a chaotic ending, before capping the set off with “White Elephant”, a gorgeous singalong that saw the ‘choir’ come front and centre to shine.

But two hours of show wasn’t enough, as the audience was applauding wildly for more, and the band was happy to oblige; I’ve always been in awe of how much energy Cave & the Seeds have, pouring everything into each show. The encore included more classics, like “The Weeping Song”, a song in which to weep, and singer Janet Ramus taking lead on the murder ballad “Henry Lee”. After a version of “Shivers”, originally from Cave’s first band The Boys Next Door & in tribute to Rowland Howard, the Bad Seeds took their leave and Cave ended with one final song alone on the piano, a big favourite of mine, the heart wrenching “Into My Arms”, and the crowd softly singing along to the chorus.

Among the magnificent stage setup at the QE was a giant screen that would sometimes show members of the band, but occasionally display lyrics. During “Joy”, the title flashed large on screen, and I can’t think of a better one word encapsulation of the show.

setlist
Frogs
Wild God
Song of the Lake
O Children
Jubilee Street
From Her to Eternity
Long Dark Night
Cinnamon Horses
Tupelo
Conversion
Bright Horses
Joy
I Need You
Carnage
Final Rescue Attempt
Red Right Hand
The Mercy Seat
White Elephant
(encore)
Papa Won't Leave You, Henry
The Weeping Song
Henry Lee
Shivers
Into arms

Godspeed You! Black Emperor @ Vogue Theatre -- May 10, 2025

I’m not entirely sure how it’s happened, but somehow, I have never seen Godspeed You! Black Emperor live. So I was very happy to finally change that as the band hit Vancouver for a pair of shows at the Vogue theatre in support of their latest album, “NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD” (the title referring to the reported number of Palestinian deaths by Israeli strikes from October 7th, 2023 until February 13th, during the Gaza war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry).

Opening the night was Mat Ball, who I just caught the tail end of. Mat was on stage alone with a single spotlight illuminating him, as he played his experimental instrumentals, guitar feeding back as he played with loops and feedback. The songs reverberated through the room, even vibrating through the floor and up your legs, as he was a great opener to set the scene for the evening.

Then at 9pm sharp, lights dimmed and a drone hummed over the speakers, as one by one, the eight members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor took the stage. They each joined in on “Hope Drone” — the improvisational song that opens every show — as the big projection screen behind them flickered to life. 

From there, the Montreal group played for a solid two hours, barely pausing as one song transitioned into the next, the set ebbing and flowing as emotions washed over the sold out crowd. Fuzzy guitars, cacophonous drums, and beautiful strings melded together on songs like “BABYS IN A THUNDERCLOUD” which starts sombre then builds to a hopeful finish, the contemplative pall of “PALE SPECTATOR”, and the anxiety inducing “Cliffs Gaze” as the song frantically drives to its climax.

The stage was only lit with a single row of lights, staying dim all night to give the band a faint glow as all the attention was drawn to the screen behind them. It flashed and looped with 16mm images & short clips to matching the mood; from grainy cityscapes to rural farmland; beautiful scenery covered in snow to frantic flashes of the stock market; serene nature to raging infernos. And even shrouded in darkness, without saying a single word — the only ‘vocals’ were a couple prerecorded clips between songs — the entire room was rapt, not making a sound until a song came to a finish, then bursting with thunderous applause. 

The set came to a close with the chaotic “Mladic”, simultaneously giving me chills and causing a smile to involuntarily creep across my face. And just like they arrived, the band wordlessly left one by one, leaving reverb & flickering film reel, the crowd still silent until the final note faded. 

Halfway through the show, I happened to see the time and was shocked that only an hour had passed. Not in a bad ‘this is a slog’ way, more like the band had the ability to control time itself, slowing everything down to soak it all in. Had they wrapped up after just that hour, it would have been a good set. But they still had more to give, the crowd was happy to hear it, and the show more than lived up to the expectations I had.

setlist
Hope Drone
SUN IS A HOLE SUN IS VAPORS
BABYS IN A THUNDERCLOUD
RAINDROPS CAST IN LEAD
Fire at Static Valley
PALE SPECTATOR / GREY RUBBLE
Cliffs Gaze
Mladic

Shred Kelly @ Fox Cabaret -- May 09, 2025

For the past month, Fernie’s Shred Kelly has been all throughout the Pacific Northwest and BC on their One Day One Night Tour, along with Babes in Canyon. Last night they returned to Vancouver for a show at their “favourite venue in the city”, the Fox Cabaret.

I got there part way through the opening set from Seattle’s Babes in Canyon, catching the last few songs from Nathan Hamer and Amanda Ebert. The duo had an electo-folk sound, layering their sound with loops on songs like their recent single “The New Loud” and “High Tide”, which capped off their set. Even just the few songs I caught of them, they had a good dynamic and were a perfect fit to tour with Shred Kelly.

Thanks to the show’s curfew, it wasn’t long before the members of Shred Kelly took the stage; Sage McBride (keyboard) sharing vocals with Tim Newton (banjo & guitar) backed by Ty West (guitar) & Ryan Mildenberger (drums), joined by guest Jessie Robertson on bass. They started off with the slow burn of “Rowed Away” as the set built in intensity, exploding in a huge breakdown in “The Bear” and then the stormy “Tornado Alley”, an older favourite off their first album, Goodbye July.

From there the set spanned their career, from Tim’s fingers a blur over the banjo for “Didn’t Know” to the darker “Stuck Between”, where Sage’s vocals erupted off stage. Other highlights included “Roman Candle Eyes”, written for Tim & Sage’s daughter, and the haunting “Ghost Inside My Head”, before the set came to a chaotic finish with “Sing to the Night”.

But they still had time for one more, inviting Babes in Canyon back on stage to sing backups on their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”, the room singing along to the classic. I’ve long said that if there has to be an encore, it should involve fun covers and/or inviting guests (like the opening band) on stage for a collab, so this was a perfect encore for me.

From the first time I saw them, Shred Kelly has had an infectious energy when playing live; the fun they’re having playing radiates off stage throughout everyone dancing, clapping, and stomping along in any room. Last night was no different, with an incredibly fun show from the band.

setlist
Rowed Away
Archipelago 
Jupiter (Any Other Way)
The Bear
Tornado Alley
Roman Candle Eyes
Lost Without You
Take Me Home
Stuck Between
Didn’t Know
Another Place
Ghost Inside My Head
Sing to the Night
(encore)
Dreams [Fleetwood Mac cover]

Basia Bulat @ Hollywood Theatre -- April 30, 2025

In February, Basia Bulat released her latest studio album, Basia’s Palace. And last night, the singer returned to the Hollywood Theatre to celebrate!

Unfortunately I missed opener Maia Friedman, arriving a few minutes before Basia Bulat hit the stage with her band consisting of Andrew Woods (her partner) on guitar, Joshua Toal on bass, and Matthew Woodley on drums.

Basia took a seat behind the keys, immediately showing off her gorgeous vocals with “Are You In Love?”, and from there jumped between instruments and through her catalogue; picking up her signature autoharp on “My Angel”, the lead track off the new album, and the acoustic guitar for one of my favourites, the incomparable “Infamous”.

She dedicated “Laughter” to her (and Andrew’s) daughters, and after the song burst into a huge finish, the band took a break while Basia fielded a few requests solo. She took some deep cuts from her debut full length, including the title track “Oh, My Darling” and “Snakes & Ladders” to celebrate the album’s release 18 years ago, to the day.

The band returned for a few more, including my favourite off the new album, “Disco Polo” honouring the musical influences from her parents, and the simmering intensity of “Tall Tall Shadows”, Bulat once again letting loose on vocals. After the upbeat “Baby”, the set wrapped up with “Love is at the End of the World”, which featured each member of the band taking the spotlight for a solo.

But you knew there had to be more — for one thing, there was still one instrument on stage that hadn’t been used yet (Chekhov’s Charango, if you will). And so the band retuned with the rousing “In the Name Of” and “If It Rains”, dedicated to Vancouver. Finally, she pulled the trigger on the charango for the beautiful “It Can’t Be You”, as Basia stepped away from the mic to let her voice fill the theatre, and then off the stage entirely as she made her way through the audience and all the way up to the back section of the Hollywood, leading the crowd in an ambitious singalong to end the night.

A few months after the aforementioned release of Oh, My Darling, I saw Basia Bulat for the first time, opening for Final Fantasy (when that was still his name) playing at Richard’s on Richards (when that was still a place). I was instantly a fan, and every time I’ve seen her live since then, I am reminded of both how fantastic a musician she is, and how charming a performer she is.

setlist
Are You In Love?
Heart of My Own
My Angel
Fool
Infamous
Already Forgiven
Laughter
Oh, My Darling
Snakes and Ladders
The Garden
Run
The Moon
Disco Polo
Tall Tall Shadow
Baby
Love is at the End of the World
(encore)
In the Name Of
If It Rains
It Can’t Be You