Sam Lynch @ Fox Cabaret -- December 04, 2024

Almost exactly a year ago, I saw Sam Lynch opening a show at the Hollywood Theatre for Hannah Georgas. I had seen her a few times before, but that night she previewed some new songs she had been working on for an upcoming album that really caught my ear. I made a mental note to keep a look out for it, and flash forward a year, Outline is in the world and Sam was celebrating with a show at the Fox Cabaret.

Unfortunately due to a busy evening, I missed opener Talel McBriar, arriving shortly before Sam Lynch took the stage. She was joined by some familiar Vancouver faces; Lilli Carr (guitar), Sean Wharton (keys), Joshua Contant-Perdue (drums), and Alex Maunders (bass), with Sam Davidson (clarinet) joining them later in the set.

Lynch talked about celebrating the new album, but also remembering the past and looking to the future, so the set started with some older tracks, kicking off with “Good Year” and a few others from her previous album Little Disappearance. Her indie-folk sound and captivating vocals driving songs like “Off the Rails”, and after a few, the band took a break for Sam to play a brand new tune on her own.

Then it was time to spotlight the new album, Outline, starting with “All the Life”. Sam’s emotions poured out on songs like the haunting “Hurt” and my favourite of the album, “Doing My Best”, which built to an ending that featured Lynch letting loose on vocals. Performing the album front to back, other highlights included the breathless “Getaway Car” and heartwrenching “Piece of You”, which lead into the final song of the album, “Moth” building to an intense finish.

The main set wrapped up with the simmering intensity of “Keeping Time” before Sam was quickly pulled back for one more. Joined only by the album’s co-producer Sean Wharton, she introduced the final song as one of his, a gorgeous tune that had their voices intertwining beautifully.

Throughout the show, Sam Lynch was very clearly grateful for the crowd — who were very attentive the whole show — and confessed that this was her first time headlining ever*. And after that show, it certainly won’t be the last.

(*in a full circle moment for me, the first time I saw her play was at the Fox!)

setlist
Good Year
Darkest Places
Off the Rails
Garden
[new song]
All the Life
Hurt
Doing My Best
Intermission
Getaway Car
Teeth
Piece of You
Moth
Keeping Time
(encore)
[Sean Wharton song]

PHOTOS: Hannah Georgas, Sam Lynch at the Hollywood Theatre - December 07, 2023

Hannah Georgas, with Sam Lynch
The Hollywood Theatre
December 07, 2023

Photos by Christine McAvoy

Read Kirk’s review of the show here.

Hannah Georgas @ Hollywood Theatre -- December 07, 2023

It has been a long time since I’ve seen Hannah Georgas perform live, a little over five years, and even longer still since her last proper headlining show in Vancouver. So I was very happy that she was ending her current tour, in support of her new album, I’d Be Lying If I Said I Didn’t Care here at the Hollywood Theatre.

I was also glad to see Vancouver’s Sam Lynch opening the show. She took stage alone with just her guitar and lovely voice filling the room, teasing a selection of songs from an album she just finished. The short set built in intensity as it went, and also included a couple songs from her debut album, Little Disappearance, from a few years ago. On “Good Year”, she had the audience softly singing along, and ended off with “Keeping Time”.
I’ve seen Sam Lynch a couple times before, opening for or performing with others, and the new songs definitely made me want to keep an ear out for when the new album is out.

After a quick turnover, Hannah’s band hit the stage, consisting of some familiar faces -- Feurd Moore, Robbie Driscoll, and Andrew Braun. They started with the instrumental “Drew’s A Beast”, before Hannah Georgas herself came out to launch into “Scratch”, the first song on I’d Be Lying If I Said I Didn’t Care.

From there, Hannah played a selection from the new album, including the punchy “What I Don’t Want”; “Fake Happy”, written about a friend she lost to a cult(!); and the soft “Beautiful View”, bringing Sam Lynch back out to sing with her.
She also delved into her catalogue, from the ethereal “Enemies” to the more upbeat “Robotic”, and showing off her gorgeous voice on “Don’t Go”.

Throughout the show, Hannah was both vocally & visibly excited to be back in Vancouver, where she started her music career. When not playing guitar or keys, she bounced around the stage dancing, and seemed as bummed as the crowd when the main set drew to a close with “Not The Name You Say”, and everyone in the band letting loose for a swirling finish.

But of course, Hannah was back after a moment, on her own for one of the first songs she wrote (and still one of my faves) “The Beat Stuff”. Then the rest of the band returned to cap the night off with the always heart wrenching “Ode to Mom”, written about her late father.

Even though she no longer resides here, I would still count Hannah Georgas among my favourite ‘Vancouver acts’, and it’s always a joy to see her perform, especially in a good venue. In the couple years since it opened, Hollywood Theatre has been creeping up the list of favourite spots in the city (particularly if they keep booking shows like this one).

setlist
Drew’s A Beast
Scratch
What I Don’t Want
Better Somehow
Enemies
Don’t Go
Lost Cause
Robotic
Beautiful View
Someone I Don’t Know
That Emotion
Easy
Same Mistakes
Fake Happy
Home
Not The Name You Say
(encore)
The Beat Stuff
Ode to Mom

Haley Blais (and friends) @ The Wise Hall -- April 14, 2023

Ever since Haley Blais released her debut album Below the Salt a few years ago, I've been wanting to catch her live, but aside from a pandemic-era livestream from the Fox and a quick set at Constellation last year, I hadn't really got the chance. So I was happy to fix that this past Friday, with a show at the Wise Hall. It was a rare seated show for that venue, but during her set Blas quipped “I refuse to believe we can enjoy anything standing up” and I can't disagree with that.

Unfortunately I ran late and missed the opener, Troll Dolly, arriving shortly before Haley Blais took the stage with her backing band, comprised of a few familiar faces; Sam Lynch, Lindsay Sjoberg, Graham Serl, and Alex Maunders.

They started off the set with the chilled out “Rob the Original”, and weaved into a few more from her current catalogue, including “Survivor's Guilt” -- with the first guest of the evening, star of the video Jake Pascoe coming out to dance & accompany on the vibraslap -- and “Firestarter”, my favourite from her debut album, a song that starts slow and soft, building to a crescendo with Blais' voice sending chills and giving goosebumps.
Throughout the night we were also teased with a number of new songs from an upcoming album, like the groovy “Matchmaker” and “Cabin”, a more rocking number that once again showed off Haley's vocal range.

Leading up to the show, Blais had promised ‘special guests’, and delivered when she ceded the mic to her friends and peers, to put the spotlight on them. Mid-way through, Lindsey took centre stage with other members of Babe Corner out for the title track off their recently released album Crybaby; Maunders played a track from his solo project; and Dan Mangan surprised everyone with “Just Know It”, all backed by Blais on vocals.
Then near the end of the set, Blais brought out Jonathan Anderson and David Vertesi to play on one of her new songs “Reset Button”, before Vertesi went into into one of his songs, “My Parents House”, and finally Sam Lynch performed a beautiful new song that I didn't catch the name of.

After a good hour and a half, they brought the set to a big finish with a singalong to “Coolest Fucking Bitch in Town”, Blais conducting the crowd to chant the lyrics as the song wrapped up. But the sold out hall wanted one more song, and Haley indulged, coming out alone to start an older track “Small Foreign Faction”, before the rest of the band joined her and everyone let loose to cap off the night.

Leading up to the show, I had no idea who or what the “and friends” would entail, so the format of the show was a very pleasant surprise, and made for one of the most unique and collaborative shows I've seen in some time. It's rare that you see someone use almost a third of their set to let others shine, and the talent on the stage had the sold out hall rapt all evening. The crowd was (mostly) silent in all the right places, hanging on everyone — especially Haley Blais' — every note.

setlist
Rob the Original
Survivor's Guilt
Matchmaker
Be Your Own Muse
Firestarter
Crybaby (Babe Corner)
This Time (Maunders)
Just Know It (Dan Mangan)
[New song?]
Body
Reset Button
My Parents House (David Vertesi)
[New Song] (Sam Lynch)
Cabin
Coolest Fucking Bitch in Town
[encore]
Small Foreign Faction

Constellation Festival: Day Two -- 07/27/19

Day Two of the Constellation Festival went off with mostly clear skies, and not the rain that was threatened by the forecast (to at least one pale person's chagrin), with an eclectic mix of music throughout the day.

Fred Penner - Christine McAvoy Photography

A crowd gathered early in the day for Fred Penner, with a collection of all ages; kids as well as adults with a nostalgia for the classic children's entertainer. And Fred clearly knows his audience, slipping a Monty Python reference in to one of his songs.
Penner had the kids (and, let's face it, most of the adults) singing and miming along to songs about celebrating differences and just generally being a good person. He was also joined by a few special guests for "Sandwiches", festival director and general all-around superhero Tamara Stanners, as well as Badgerchild and Valor Grey for backup vocals. Valor Grey also then performed her song "Phoenix" with the ensemble, before Fred ended his set with the perennial favourite "The Cat Came Back". And in yet another nod to his varied fanbase, he slipped in a medley of songs from Ray Charles, The Turtles, and even k-os.

Sam Lynch - Christine McAvoy Photography

Next on the Creative BC stage was Sam Lynch and her band, including Stephanie Chatman on violin. Sam’s voice lilted throughout the festival grounds carrying her soft, singer/songwriter sound. Her set started soft, and slowly built in intensity, with songs like "Off The Rails" growing to a heartfelt finish.

Art d’Ecco - Christine McAvoy Photography

Next over on the main stage was one of the the wildest turns they could get to follow Fred Penner: Art d'Ecco.
Adorned in a grey jumpsuit and gold boots, Art d'Ecco started off with "Never Tell", bringing the energy up with their glam rock. I had, for some reason, not had a chance to check them out up until now and was kicking myself for waiting this long, won over by songs like the haunting "Nobody's Home". There was an effortless presence, both singing, bantering and joking with the crowd between songs, and I am definitely
going to make sure to check out more from them in the future.

I caught most of The Sunset Kids while taking advantage of the food cart area. Their synth rock and split vocals drove big, grandiose songs like "Brave" and their upcoming single, which I think was called "Volcano" and sounded like it could be a huge radio hit. Though I have to take issue with the fact that they were playing at 5pm with the sun bright in the sky.

Jocelyn Alice was up next on the main stage. With an incredible voice propping up her soulful, poppy songs, she amassed a growing crowd of people. Some clearly already fans and, from the response, more than a few new ones as well. Songs ranged from the sultry "Jackpot" to the absolutely heartbreaking piano-driven song called "You're The Worst", before ending with a little Hustler-themed mashup of Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Foxwarren - Christine McAvoy Photography

Next over at the side stage was Foxwarren, the latest project from Andy Shauf. Their chill, downtempo indie rock was highlighted by songs like the infectious "Everything Apart", but I think the timing of the set was a bit of a detriment to the band. Playing smack dab in the middle of the day, I feel like their moody vibes would be better suited to a dark and smoky venue at night, rather than in direct, intense sunlight. Especially when the last song of their set ended with an extended jam. I didn't dislike the set by any means, but I definitely would have appreciated it a lot more in a different setting.

Peach Pit - Christine McAvoy Photography

Luckily Peach Pit was next on stage to get the energy back up. Dressed in various pastel and primary colours, they kicked off with their single "Being So Normal", hair swinging wildly as they played.
They kept the energy up throughout the set, with a smattering of new songs like "Psychics in LA", telling the story behind the song about an actual psychic in LA who didn't have a great reading for singer Neil Smith's friend's cat. They also played “old” favourites like "Drop The Guillotine", and finished off with a rousing cover of Tom Petty's "American Girl"

Back to the side stage was Shad, no stranger to playing Squamish festival(s). He started off with "The Fool pt. 1 (Get it Got it Good)" as his unmatched charisma drove the set full of hits and favourites, like the rapid-fire "Stylin'", which ended with a powerful freestyle, and recent single "Magic".
Other highlights included the best song ever written about saving money, "The Old Prince Still Lives At Home"; and "Fam Jam (Fe Sum Immigrins)" a song that is (sadly) as relevant, if not more, today than it was when it first came out 6 years ago. I haven’t seen Shad play in a few years, it feels like, so it was definitely a treat, and one of the highlights of the festival so far.

Shad- Christine McAvoy Photography

A Tribe Called Red then hit the main stage, with some unfortunate news to start the set, saying that one of the performers that was supposed to share the stage with them was profiled by the RCMP, and removed from the festival earlier that day. But they were not going to let that stop them as they started off with "We Are the Halluci Nation", the soul-thumping-bass pounding throughout the grounds.
Admittedly, I am not that into dance-electronica music (Christine was having a great time), but I can absolutely recognize how good they are at what they do, as the growing mass of people (and Christine) dancing proved. In addition to their music, they also put on a very engaging live show, with the various dancers and performers they have on stage, many in traditional or ceremonial garb.

A Tribe Called Red - Christine McAvoy Photography

Much like the previous day, I wasn't sure how anyone was going to follow that, when the attention turned to the final act of the night on the side-stage, multi-instrumentalist Cosmo Mandrake. He had a really cool and chill electronica sound, that didn't nearly match the energy of ATCR, but was more of a calm break between two storms. Throughout the set he was joined by a few people, local singer Andrea Vargas for the song "Rich" (who was on the recording, but they had never got to play live together), and then during the final song, he was joined by some backup dancers in large sunflower outfits.

And finally, closing out the night was Jessie Reyez, her first live show in a couple months, since as she put it “fucking her back up”. I did end up taking off early for the evening, but caught the first few songs of her brash and unapologetic hip hop, as she had the crowd in the palm of her hand, dancing, jumping (much to her management’s chagrin), and even raising middle fingers at her command.

Jessie Reyez - Christine McAvoy Photography

Which brings us to the third and final day of the fest, which will feature Bahamas, Begonia, Half Moon Run, Wintersleep, and loads more. And again, keep an eye out for Christine's daily photo recaps (including ones from Day 2 - click here)!