Rich Aucoin @ Biltmore Cabaret -- 10/31/19

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Rich Aucoin has been on his "Death Tour" recently, promoting his latest album Release, and he finally brought it back to Vancouver, returning to the Biltmore Cabaret. But what could be better than a Rich Aucoin show? How about a Rich Aucoin show on Hallowe'en night? With loads of costumes both onstage and off, ranging from the lazy (mine) to the elaborate, it was the perfect night for a show about death.

Opening the night was Vancouver duo Tourist Company. Taylor Swindells and Brenon Parry took the stage in banana costumes, for their space-y alt-rock, kicking off with last year's "Spokane".
Swindells' ethereal vocals filled the room, as they played a collection of songs both from their previous album, the space-race-themed Apollo as well as some recently released songs. Highlights included the slower and incredibly emotional "'Til We Disappear", the frenetic "Conflicted/Restricted" and the driving (and infectious) "Fractured State".


After a brief break, Rich Aucoin introduced the show, dressed as an unmasked Spider-Man, joined only by Tony Dallas on drums (in a full Daft Punk outfit, helmet and all). He began, as he usually does, with a vocal warmup for the crowd: singing along to the 20th Century Fox fanfare. This lead directly into the "opening credits", clips from movies intercut with the names of people at the show, along with a fun/awesome "fact" about them.

After the intro, the set opened with the instrumental title track to the new album Release, Aucoin on synth and Dallas the backbone of the show — even when getting tangled in the decorative cobwebs, he literally didn't miss a beat. While the slow-burn spoken-word of "The Base" got the crowd hyped, the energy erupted into the next song, an old favourite singalong, "Undead".

With lyrics on the projection screen at the back of the stage, the audience screamed along for most of the night; in joy, in defiance, in catharsis, and Rich was right there with everyone. Sometimes literally as he would often hop off the stage and go into the crowd, illuminated only by a handheld bare lightbulb. Along with the lyrics, most of the new songs were accompanied by clips from Alice in Wonderland, as the new album was written to be synced up with the film, Dark Side Of The Rainbow style.

And of course, as is now the Rich Aucoin trademark, he brought out the parachute during "Are You Experiencing?", the rainbow canvas stretching back to fill the entire Biltmore dance floor, as people rushed under it to dance with Rich, or held on to the edges to wave it with the enthusiasm of a 3rd grade gym class. There are few concert experiences I've had that spark more joy (to borrow a phrase) than the parachute.

But as I've said before, no amount of "stage show" would be as fun if there weren't the songs to back it up, and Aucoin absolutely has that. From the unbridled exuberance of "Want To Believe" to the melancholic "The Time" and every emotion in between, the show included some of the most uplifting (and catchy) songs about death you will ever hear, including favourites off the new album like “The Middle” and “The Other”.

After a set that completely flew by, Rich brought the night to an end with one last giant singalong, as he started "It" by asking everyone to put their arm around their neighbour, and then wading into the middle of the crowd while urging the audience not to leave it all in their head.

I've joked to people that Rich Aucoin is one of only two musicians who I will voluntarily stand front-row for, and the ONLY one that will get me to actually dance, because the energy at one of his shows is utterly unparalleled. And not just coming from the stage -- he barely stands still even for a moment -- but in the crowd as well. Aucoin has a talent to bring everyone in the room together, not just as a collection of people standing in the same room watching the same show, but a true shared experience.

And don’t forget to check out Christine’s photos here!

setlist
Release
The Base
Undead
The Middle
The Change
The Self
Want To Believe
The Time
Are You Experiencing?
The Other
It

Dan Moxon @ WISE Hall -- 10/24/19

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Back when I was first getting into the "local scene", I went to see a well-known Canadian band who... well, I didn't much care for their set, but I did come away from that show with a new discovery: a band by the name of Bend Sinister. They were one of the first local bands I really got into, and have followed them for the last decade-plus. Flash forward to this month, where frontman Dan Moxon has released his debut solo album Lounge Singer, and hit the WISE Hall for an album release show.

First up though, was another band celebrating a new release, The Wild Romantics. Aleisha Kalina and Evan Miller took the stage alone, Evan armed with a guitar, and started off with "She Could Tell" from their previous release of the same name. From there they went through every song from the new EP Feel The Lightnin'. Their voices blended beautifully for the stripped down set, going from the soft and longing "Long Blue Highway" to the electric "Feel the Lightnin'" to the darker "Hungry Teeth".
Kalina and Miller have such amazing chemistry together & are always a joy to watch live, and this night was no different.

After a short break, Dan Moxon took the stage with his band, immediately launching into "Be Better" from the new album. Behind the keys, Dan was joined only by a rhythm section (who also backed him on vocals) and a saxamaphone, the lack of lead guitar being one of the driving things to set the album apart from Bend Sinister.

Moxon focused mostly on the new album, with songs like the contemplative "Where You Going To Sleep Tonight", the upbeat "Playing With Fire", and "Morning After" which built to a frantic ending. Other highlights included my favourites off the album; "Around the World", the most jaunty song I've ever heard about not leaving your home, and the 50s doo-wop tinged "You Left Me", a fun song about an 'I Saw You' or 'Missed Connections' newspaper ad.

Along with the new tunes, Dan also slipped in a few treats for longtime fans like the slow-burning Bend Sinister song "Don't Let Us Bring You Down", and a few covers from the likes of Bowie, Radiohead, and a really fun version of "Honky Cat" from Elton John, joking that he needed at least one cover from a lounge singer, based on the album title.

As a band, Bend Sinister always puts on huge and energetic live shows, and Moxon is a big part of that. But even while this was toned down (by its very nature) Dan was no less captivating as his fingers flew over the keys and powerful voice filled the hall. I would go to any lounge with Dan Moxon as the singer in it, in a heartbeat.

Wild Romantics setlist
She Could Tell
Long Blue Highway
Hungry Teeth
San Francisco
Cheyenne
Feel The Lightnin'

Dan Moxon setlist
Be Better
Afraid of the World
The Corner
Don't Let Us Bring You Down
The Blue
Everlasting Fear
Playing With Fire
Oh! You Pretty Things [David Bowie cover]
Where You Gonna Sleep Tonight
No Surprises [Radiohead cover]
You Left Me
Morning After
New Year's Day
Honky Cat [Elton John cover]
Live For Today

Matt Mays w/ Skye Wallace @ Vogue Theatre -- 10/23/19

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Continuing the 2019 trend of ‘put some rad bands together on the same bill’, last night was the Vancouver stop on Matt Mays current Howl At The Night tour, with Skye Wallace as support. The cross-Canada tour kicked off a few days earlier on the island, so they were still on the first leg of it as they hit the Vogue Theatre.

To start off the night, Skye Wallace came out swinging with the soaring "Always Sleep With A Knife" from her latest, self-titled album, her powerful voiced filled the theatre.

Her all-too-short set ranged from the gritty and raucous "Coal In Your Window"; to "Iced In", which saw Skye enlisting in the help of the audience to clap while she sang unaccompanied; to the darker and more personal "Midnight", introduced by mentioning a charity she was working with, CAMH, or The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Throughout the set, Skye was visibly thrilled to not only be back in Vancouver, but gracing the stage of the Vogue, reminiscing about some of the shows she had seen there. And judging by the reaction of the crowd, she not only (deservedly) made at least a few new fans, but I bet there was at least one person in the audience who saw Skye and inherited her hope of one day being in her place.

Not long after, Matt Mays came out alone at first, sitting behind the "space keyboard" (as he put it) for the titular tour song "Howl At The Night". From there, he was joined one by one by members of the band, literally a new person joining each song until the full 8-piece band was onstage.

The set started with some slower or more acoustic songs, ranging from "Downtown" off his first ever release, to "The Past" from the faux soundtrack to the never-made movie …When The Angels Make Contact, and the more recent "Ola Volo", about the local Vancouver artist whose work Mays say and he immediately had to write a song about her -- "Not in a weird way", Mays joked when recounting the story about meeting the artist for the first time, after writing the song.

At about the half-way mark of the set, once everyone was onstage, they launched into "Travellin'", starting off mellow but halfway through the song, shooting out of their chairs & kicking them back, exploding into the full-on rock and roll finish to both the song, and rest of the set.

From there they cranked out bangers like "Building a Boat" and the brand new, bouncy "Let There Be Love". There was a huge sing-along for the nostalgic "City of Lakes", and the set came to a finish with one of my all-time favourite songs, an absolute emotional rollercoaster, "Terminal Romance". Mays stalked the stage, going right up to the edge (literally and figuratively), pouring everything into the heart wrenching song, and even picking up one of the spotlights at the foot of the stage, shining it into the crowd and on himself.

If they had not come back, I would have been more than satisfied with the show ending there. But of course, the encore was yet to come. When the band returned, they first wen into a fun, bluegrass version of "Tall Trees" that Mays said they started playing as a joke before it worked its way into the actual show. And then, capping off the night, Mays invited Skye Wallace and her band back out for a big group jam of "On The Hood", that included almost the entire theatre singing along as well.

I’ve always thought encores should NOT just be 'and now here’s our hit' but rather bands having fun, playing around with their songs, doing covers, jamming with the openers, that kinda thing. And this was a perfect example. In fact, my favourite live sets are always ones that build, seem to have a progression to them rather than just 'a bunch of songs', so combined with the encore, this was quite possibly the most perfectly structured set I could imagine. Starting soft and slower and acoustic, building to the big rock-shift, and finally the explosive emotional climax. That, along with Skye’s killer opening set, means this show is already taking its place among my favourites of the year.

Skye Wallace setlist
Always Sleep With A Knife
Stronghold
Mean Song 2
Scarlet Fever
Iced In
Coal in your Window
Midnight
Death of Me
There Is A Wall

Matt Mays setlist
Howl At The Night
Drive On
Dark Promises
Downtown
Ola Volo
Ain't That The Truth
The Past
Spoonful of Sugar
Travellin'
Building A Boat
Indio
Station Out of Range
City of Lakes
Take It On Faith
Let There Be Love
Terminal Romance
(encore)
Tall Trees
On The Hood