The Matinée @ Venue -- 02/18/12

One of my favourite things to come out of last year's Peak Performance Project was the discovery of The Matinée. I've always had a soft sport for roots-rock and alt-country -- which is odd, since I don't really like "actual" country music -- and I was won over by The Matinée two songs into the first time I saw them live. So there was no way I was going to miss their first show of the year, that was apparently also their first headlining show in Vancouver (which seems surprising).

Starting off the night was current Vancouver buzz band Good for Grapes. With over a half dozen members on stage, they had a rich, lush sound that was folky, with a little bit of a maritime edge to it.
Though there wasn't too much banter between songs, but they had a great dynamic and enthusiasm, especially the incredibly animated accordion player.
Their set seemed too short (also because I missed the first little bit of it) and I will definitely be looking out for them again, hopefully soon.

Washboard Union was up next, who, full disclosure, I had seen years ago as Run GMC and didn't really care for, so I had a bit of a bias going in. Their sound could almost be described as "shit-kicker country", with a very down-south and almost bluegrass feel. And true to their name, they had a washboard out for a few songs to accompany the banjo, fiddle and the rest. While it was a little bit too two-stepping-country for my tastes, they definitely were not bad, as they were all good musicians with great energy. And if the crowd stomping along was any indication, I may have been in the minority.

Not long after -- curfewed shows always run like clockwork -- The Matinée took the stage, kicking it off with "L'Absinthe", with the charismatic Matt Layzell giving us the back story mid-song to get the crowd riled up before "Sweetwater", which had everyone stomping and clapping along. They definitely know how to work a crowd, and they had most of the room in the palm of their collective hands from the beginning.
There were a few new songs throughout the set, including a soft one that had everyone gathered around one mic for group vocals, and one called "Scooterfruit" which was the exact opposite; a huge, rocking song that exploded into an amazing ending that sounded like the band was channelling The Who -- especially drummer Pete Lemon. That led into a pretty spot-on cover of The Tragically Hip's "Grace, Too" and they brought it all to a head with "The Road", with the usual insane drum breakdown seeing every member on drums, and ended with Matt Rose putting on a guitar clinic.
But of course, that wasn't the real end and they were back for one more, just for good measure to cap off the night before Venue was turned over to the shiny shirts for the night.

And the final tally at the end of their set was: three bras thrown on stage, and two pairs of comically oversized underpants.

Hey Ocean @ Venue -- 02/10/12

This weekend was the first City and Slope festival, a new winter festival that spans from the city centre to the mountains for four days of events. The one I was most interested in was Hey Ocean! at Venue, who are building hype for their latest album, Is; which isn't out for a while, but the band was more than happy to give them out by donation to everyone in attendance, wanting everyone in the room that night to leave with a CD. And not only that, but they had a pretty swell opening band with them as well.

I though I was perfectly on time, but as I got there I could hear Elias had already started. The Vancouver trio of Brian Healy (vocals, piano, guitar), Rob Tornroos (guitar) and Stefan Tavares (drums) were joined by Peter Carruthers on bass, playing songs from their new album Fossils -- due out this Tuesday.
I've known Elias for the better part of the last decade, and have admittedly not followed them too closely, but the new stuff they were playing is probably the best I've heard of them; a moody and dark, alt-rock sound with each member having a great presence and confidence while playing. The highlight of the set was the last song, which I didn't catch the name of, that had Tornroos on vocals as well, and built to a big, climactic ending. It definitely got me excited to check out the album next week.

Not long after, Hey Ocean! hit the stage with a shout of "Hey Ocean!" and kicked it off with "If I Were A Ship", the first song off their upcoming album. The main trio of Ashleigh Ball, Dave Vertesi and David Beckingham were backed up by Andrew Rasmussen on keys, Devon Lougheed on guitar and Timmy "Boom Bap" Proznick on drums, and each member was full of energy on stage; especially Devon, but especially Ashleigh, dancing around and jumping up on the monitors at the front of the stage.
The bands' energy was matched by the insanely catchy songs like the aptly titled, dance inducing "Make A New Dance Up", a fun cover of The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and "Fish", which got a nice pop of recognition applause. They brought down the energy a few times, like with the slow "Islands" -- which was a little too slow in the middle of the set -- but the energy was always brought right back up.
The main set ended with their current single "Big Blue Wave" and an old favourite, "California", and they wrapped up the whole night with an appropriately dance-club-y version of "Terribly Stable", due to the early curfew to let the shiny shirts in to Venue to drink & dance & do what they do.

setlist
If I Were A Ship, Make A New Dance Up, Liar, I Am A Heart, Islands, New Love, Fish, Change, Be My Baby, Give, Last Mistake, Big Blue Wave, California.
(encore) Alleyways, Terribly Stable.

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.

The Rural Alberta Advantage w/ Hooded Fang @ Venue -- 04/07/11

I am going to admit right off the bat, while I liked both The Rural Alberta Advantage and Hooded Fang, I never really got too much into either band; listened to their respective albums a couple times, but that was about it. But when given the opportunity to check them out, I thought sure, why not, it'll be at least a decent show, right? Boy, was that an understatement.

The six members of Hooded Fang hit the stage around 9:30 and launched right into their insanely catchy and infectious selection of pop songs. They played a pretty decent set length of new and old, and even brand new, teasing a new album out in the summer. Each member of the band was brimming with energy and enthusiasm -- especially lead singer/guitarist Daniel Lee, but especially the other lead singer -- who also switched off between guitar, glockenspiel and even an accordion -- Lorna Wright. I don't think there was a single moment where she was standing still. It was an incredibly fun set, though I was a little disappointed they didn't play "Straight Up The Dial".

After that, I wasn't sure if the The Rural Alberta Advantage would be able to top them, but it was a night of shattered expectations after all. Even though they were a trio, they had about twice as many instruments on stage; and it wasn't just the multi-instrumentalism that was impressive, but the simultaneous-instrumentalism. Nils Edenloff was switching between guitar and keys for at least one song, but Amy Cole was, at one point, playing three instruments at the same time. A korg with one hand, a floor tom with the other, and a moog with her feet. Count the tambourine that was on top of the tom, and that brings it up to four. And let's not forget drummer Paul Banwatt, who was pretty damn impressive on the skins. 
The band was incredibly dynamic with a fantastic stage presence, the set seemed to have more energy than their albums and the sold out crowd absolutely into it, with lots of clapping and singing along. Among their own songs, part way through the set they broke out a cover song, with Nils alone doing a really mellow and folksy cover of... Eye of the Tiger, which turned out to be a really cool interpretation of it.

They ended the set with the new single, "Stamp", but came back out for a few song encore that came to a close with "The Dethbridge in Lethbridge"... or so we thought. As they ended the song, they all left stage -- guitar, tambourine and floor tom in hand -- wandering through the crowd and to the back of the room. They thanked everyone for coming and being great, and asked for quiet as they played one last song, completely unamplified in the middle of the room, standing above the crowd. A crowd that, shockingly enough, actually managed to stay almost completely silent for the song! As Nils belted out "Good Night", everyone started snapping along, creating a pretty amazing experience, and an incredible way to end the show.

Needless to say, both bands turned me from a casual fan to one that will definitely be back next time they come through town.

The Dears @ Venue -- 03/05/11

I am going to come clean with you right off the bat. The Dears are one of my favourite bands. I hadn't seen them live in almost two years, and was more than a little excited for this show. It was an early show at Venue, which I both liked because I was able to get home early-ish (for I am apparently an old man), but also disliked, because I felt it cut the set short.

As it was a curfewed show with three bands, he first, The Tender Box, hit the stage around 7:20. There weren't too many people when they started, but by the end of their half hour set, there was a decent crowd. They had a pretty basic rock sound, with a high energy, but most of their songs sounded pretty similar. Two back to back songs even had the same "sing along to this part where we just go ooohh-ooooooh" template. Nothing terrible, and enjoyable enough to watch, but not too memorable either.

Next up was Eulogies. I had only heard one song prior to the show, and I liked it so I was intrigued to see them. I was won over, if for no other reason than the lead singer had a Fantastic Four guitar, but also at the incredibly catchy and well written songs. They had a sound that I immediately though to classify as "dark pop", even if that isn't a genre and makes no sense, but the songs managed to be equal amounts upbeat and intense. There wasn't much by way of banter, but the lead singer still had a charm and charisma to him, and did a good job of engaging the crowd. I will definitely be checking them out next time they're through town, and had I the monies, I would have picked up their new album. (But I will have to make do with it streaming from their website for now)

And then the lights dimmed, and "Love me Tender" started to play. At first I wasn't sure if it was The Dears intro music or not, but as the song ended, they hit the stage and launched right into it with the first four songs off their new album, Degeneration Street. "Omega Dog" was brilliant live, with Pat Krief's amazing guitar work melting faces early on and "Tigerblood" (as Murray introduced it), bound to be one of my favourite songs of the year, was incredible live. They went on to play a good cross section of their material, with "Whites Only Party" getting everyone dancing, and Natalia's vocals coming to the forefront with "Crisis 1 & 2". The pair of "Lost in the Plot" and "We Can Have It" were great sing-alongs, and it was nice to see the latter live, as that is more or less the song that hooked me on The Dears. (I had seen them open for Matt Good and liked them enough to get No Cities Left after, and by that song, track one, I was a fan)
There wasn't much chit chat, other than some thank you's and song intros, and near the end of the set Murray explained that since they had a curfew, they wanted to cram as much music in as possible. The "curfew" fact got a few boos, but Murray calmed everyone by quipping that the "shiny shirts" need somewhere to go, too. As the set came to an "end", with a couple more off the new album, there was almost no encore fake-out -- or at least it looked like Natalia was questioning it -- but indeed "left" anyway, for a moment, before came back out with two of my favourite songs, "You & I Are A Gang Of Losers", which was incredibly emotional live, but was somehow topped by the last song, "22: The Death Of All The Romance"

The song began with Murray getting the appropriate parts of the crowd to sing along to the gender specific lines, and by the chorus, he was down on his knees, facing his wife Natalia, vowing to "avenge the death of all the romance". It's hard to convey in text (or blurry cellphone pictures), but it was an incredible moment, and an unforgettable tableau.
After some incredible guitar work (and more melting of faces) by both Krief and Murray, the song ended with Lightburn crouched at the front of the stage, microphone in the crowd, looking emotionally drained.

Part of the reason I love The Dears so much is their live shows. The whole band is passionate, but Murray especially just exudes raw emotion; soaring hope, bitter heartache, and everything in between, he makes the audience feel it. While I think their last show here, at Richard's, was better* it was still an incredible show, and just cemented why The Dears are one of my favourites.
*though to be fair that one is one of my favourite live shows, ever

setlist
Omega Dog, 5 Chords, [Tiger]Blood, Thrones, Whites Only Party, Crisis 1 & 2, Hate Then Love, Lost In The Plot, We Can Have It, Yesteryear, 1854.
(encore) Gang of Losers, 22: The Death of All the Romance.