PHOTOS: Safe & Sound Music Festival - August 24 & 25, 2018

Safe & Sound Music Festival
ft. Sophia Danai, So Loki, Dino Archie, LNDN DRGS, Vince Staples, Goldstepz, Kandy K, Sonreal, Anderson .Paak
Westminster Pier Park
August 24 & 25, 2018

Christine McAvoy Photography

Youngblood @ Blue Light Studio -- 08/25/18

One of the most anticipated releases for the rest of the year is the upcoming EP from Youngblood, Fantasy Love. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to see the Vancouver quintet of Malcolm Holt, Bruce Ledingham, Louis Wu, Pascal LeVasseur, and, of course, Alexis Young playing the new album from front-to-back at a session at Vancouver’s Blue Light Studio. 

With the cozy studio packed with fans (and cameras filming for the Blue Light Sessions), they started off with the first single from the album, "Better When You’re Close", a sultry song that has been intermittently stuck in my head since they released it. Living up to their tagline of "what the 60's thought the future would sound like", the new album was full of dark, dreamy pop songs like the fittingly titled "Dark Place", and few other bands could transition as seamlessly from a song about falling in love with a stripper to one about getting high at the Harry Potter theme park. To round out the first half of the evening, Alexis -- inspired by the Kevin Drew Side Door show earlier in the week -- went over to the piano in the room for a nice cover of an old Stars song, "Tonight". 

After a brief intermission, they were back for a second set of songs from their previous album, Feel Alright. Starting with "Broken English" they included my favourite from that release, the steamy "Alone With You", and their fantastic cover of Bloc Party’s "Positive Tension". Even on a smaller stage (the "stage" being just a portion of the room, the band on the same level as the audience) Young had an undeniable and captivating stage presence, and connection to the audience. Sometimes literally, as with the last song of the night, "Easy Nothing" which saw her going into the crowd before the explosive finale.

Before the set ended, they promised Fantasy Love would be out real soon, that there would be some more news on the horizon, and they’ll be opening for Portugal. The Man and Broken Social Scene at Deer Lake Park this weekend(!). And especially after the preview of the new EP, I'm looking forward to finding out what's next. 

Kevin Drew & Belle Game @ The China Cloud -- 08/23/18

In 2015, Dan Mangan began a house concert network for artists on his label, Madic Records. In the three years since, that has evolved into Side Door, co-founded by Laura Simpson, meant to connect artists & show hosts for a "direct-to-audience gigging economy". 
They’ve put on hundreds of shows across the country and into the States, with the latest being an intimate, acoustic night with one of the founders of Broken Social Scene, Kevin Drew. And joining Kevin was Andrea Lo, Katrina Jones, and Adam Nanji from Belle Game as his backing band. This all came together for about 75 people at The China Cloud in Vancouver.

Kevin Drew started off chatting and joking with the crowd, setting a loose tone for the night as he started with "Broke Me Up" off his first solo album, then went back to a Broken Social gem, "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)", as he deftly wove through his musical history, captivating every single person in the room. Definitely a pleasant surprise, as I wasn’t sure if he would just be playing from his solo albums or not. 

After a few more songs, including b-side "All My Friends Are Magazines", Drew let Belle Game take centre stage. They recounted their first meeting before going into "Spirit", a song Kevin provided backup vocals for. I've still never seen belle Game perform where I haven't been absolutely blown away by the power of Andrea's voice, and that was especially true in this smaller setting, as they played a couple more songs while Drew took a brief break from the stage. 
Kevin then returned, giving Andrea, Adam, and Katrina a short break, as he did an incredible acoustic rendition of one of my favourite songs, "It’s All Gonna Break" which was not only the highlight of the night, but the year so far. 

As the set wound to an end, he jumped on the piano side-stage to play "Good Sex", joking about how it was pretty much a re-write of "Lover’s Spit", which of course followed. At that point he poked a bit of fun at friend, sometimes-BSS member, and Stars singer Torquil Campbell... who hollered back from the crowd. Drew called him up and they bantered for a few minutes before launching into an impromptu song Torquil wrote (but never recorded) after the passing of his father. 
 
They ended the night with Drew talking about Gord Downie, and his experience co-writing songs off the Secret Path project, before he and Campbell sang "Here, Here and Here" for the perfect ending to a beautiful night.
 
Some of these songs I had only ever seen in venues ten times the size with three times as many people on stage, so seeing them in this setting was almost unreal. It wasn’t a "show" or a "concert" or a "gig", it was a group of friends gathering to share their love of music. 

setlist
Broke Me Up [KD]
Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day) [BSS]
All My Friends Are Magazines [BSS]
Safety Bricks [KD]
Spirit [BG]
I Want Nothing [BG]
Oh I [BG]
It’s All Gonna Break [BSS]
Good Sex [KD]
Lover’s Spit [BSS]
A Song for Torquil’s Father [TC]
Here, Here and Here [Gord Downie cover]

PHOTOS: Nice Horse @ Red Truck Brewing - August 11, 2018

Nice Horse
Red Truck Brewery
July 14, 2018

Christine McAvoy Photography

PHOTOS: The Belle Game, Hannah Georgas, A Tribe Called Red @ Vancouver Mural Festival - August 11, 2018

The Belle Game, Hannah Georgas, A Tribe Called Red
Vancouver Mural Festival
August 11, 2018

Christine McAvoy Photography