beekeeper @ Media Club -- 05/05/12

A couple months removed from the release of their latest 7", beekeeper returned home and gathered some friends to swarm the Media Club for their official release party.

Starting off the night was Fine Times, with a strong synthy-pop sound (one member even had a tower of keyboards almost as tall as he was). While the set started off a bit slow, they picked up momentum as they went, songs getting more and more catchy. Despite the awkward pauses and silence between songs -- and general lack of stage presence -- they put together a pretty entertaining set and I wouldn't mind catching them again sometime.

Next up was the first -- and likely last -- show from Brother Act, a band consisting of a few familiar faces. Led by David Vertesi and Shad, and backed by Devon Lougheed, Peter Carruthers, and Johnny Andrews, their set was brief, with only four song set of sloppy garage rock and purposefully rough vocals from Vertesi; a real contrast to his usually smooth baritone. With fun titles like "Men In Love Are Like Old People Trying To Use Computers" and smiles plastered over all the musicians faces, you could tell they were having a blast on stage, and that enthusiasm was definitely picked up by the crowd.

Next up was The Belle Game, the six members -- seven, when joined by Andrew Lee on trumpet -- crammed onto the Media Club stage for a set of mostly new material. The new songs definitely had their usual grandiose sound, but also showed growth from the band. Highlights included an amazing showcase of Andrea Lo's powerful voice, "River", and "Sabbath" which had a little bit of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" snuck in. Another new one was spontaneously renamed "Denim and Leather" and the band ended with a couple familiar songs, "Left This Place" and "Sleep to Grow", which built to an explosive ending.

And finally, wrapping up the night was the sometimes incomprehensible, often catchy, and always fun beekeeper. The trio of Devon Lougheed, Luke Cyca, and Brandi Sidoryk have a great, high energy (with Devon jumping around so much he had to enlist the audience to borrow a belt) and their songs are rarely straightforward; not going just from point A to point B, but rather following Devon's manic energy all over the map. Songs like "Table and Bed" and "Pinwheel Revolution" both have halting, alternating or even overlapping vocals and "Pets Eat Their Masters" showcases the band's 90s influence.
Other highlights from the set include the title track for the new 7", "Take Me Back (To The Place)" which name drops some Vancouver landmarks, and the finale to the set, where they asked for as many people as possible to jump on stage for a giant "family photo", something Devon mentioned they had been doing on their previous tour, and couldn't wait to try it out at home.

And the "family" theme was pretty fitting for the night. With a lot of familiar faces both on stage and in the crowd supporting their friends, there was a lot of love and friendship buzzing through the room, and that made for a fun night of music.

Aidan Knight w/ The Belle Game @ Performance Works -- 02/25/12

For the seventh year running, Granville Island is home to a celebration of food and performance and arts and dance and music for the Winterruption Festival. Last night was a fun show with Michael Bernard Fitzgerald and Acres of Lions, and tonight they've got an even better double bill of Aidan Knight and The Belle Game.

I missed a little bit of The Belle Game, getting there just as they wrapped up "I Wish You Weren't Like A Dead Lover (Sometimes)", with the band going nuts on floor toms. I've had the chance to see them a few times in the last several months, and they just keep getting better, their great stage presence and dense & layered sound filling the room and capturing people's attention.
They urged people to slow dance for the brought things down for a moment with "Shoulders and Turns" and Olivier Clements of Aidan's band, was out to join Andrew Lee on trumpet for "Sleep To Grow". They also had a few new songs, teasing a new album, including the final song of the set "River", with Andrea Lo's vocals taking on a smoky, jazz club feel.

Not long after it was time for Aidan Knight. Even though I've seen Aidan and his Friendly Friends live almost a dozen times now, somehow this is the first time I've seen him headlining a show of his own. They started off with "Land's End" and "North East South West", the latter of which he broke a string during. He was a little flustered at first, but Alex Andrew of The Belle Game saved the day by loaning Aidan his guitar. Knight would self-deprecatingly call himself out on this, and a couple other road bumps later in the set -- including his self-proclaimed "terrible" banter -- but his awkwardness has always been more endearing than anything, and he was as charming as ever throughout the set.
And of course, the music was great. There were some new songs sprinkled in, an untitled one about a girl being in love with a guy who has a fake tan; "Singer/Songwriter", which Aidan introduced as "the 'Inception of songs"; and the magnificently beautiful "Margaret Downe", heartbreaking as always, which is quickly becoming one of my favourite songs the more I hear it.
They ended not with "Jasper" (surprisingly) but with "Knitting Something Nice", starting soft and building to a huge ending. And of course they were back for the encore with a song called "Magic Cupboard" which is "about baking", and finally wrapping it up with "Friendly Fires", with The Belle Game and Zach from The Zolas becoming honourary Friendly Friends, joining them on stage for shakers and clapping and dancing.


The only thing that marred the set was some slight sound issues; the most noticeable being a persistent hum, but it was more a minor annoyance than anything, and didn't stop me from enjoying the set. Knight always puts on a great show, and I am definitely looking forward to the new album he was teasing.

And don't forget, Winterruption continues today, where you have two chances to see Jasper Sloan Yip at Performance Works: an electric set at 12:30 and an acoustic one at 1:45, both free!

Steam Whistle Unsigned w/ Treelines, The Ruffled Feathers & Sidney York @ Biltmore -- 01/26/12

For a while now, the Toronto microbrewery Steam Whistle has been hosting its Unsigned events in various Canadian cities, and now it's finally come to Vancouver. Each concert in the series features three Canadian artists with all of the ticket sales going back to the arts community; in this case to Music BC. And the three acts chosen to launch the series in Vancouver? Well, three favourites around these parts.

First up was Sidney York, who I've seen a few times in the last little while and each time the whole band, but especially "Sidney York" herself Brandi Sidoryk, seems to have more and more pure energy, to match their insanely catchy indie pop. Hardly contained behind the keyboard, she was out to the front of the stage a few times, to get the packed crowd into it, leading sing along to "Roll With Me" and later getting everyone clapping and singing (and likely whistling) along to "Dick & Jane". Brandi also broke out the ukulele and french horn at times, and combined with Sheryl Reindhardt and Krista Wodelet on oboe and bassoon, respectively, the unusual instruments gave the insanely catchy indie pop a touch of eclectic depth. They also threw in a cover in the middle of the set, a really cool version of Savage Garden's "I Want You", and brought the set to an end with my favourite, "Mile High Love", which somehow managed to top the energy of the entire set.

The Ruffled Feathers were up next, with their grand, chamber pop sound. They're new album Oracles is due soon (spoiler: it's good), and their set consisted mostly of songs off that, with the bulk of the vocals handled by Gina Loes, who also played guitar, and trumpetite Andrew Lee and Charley Wu -- mandolin & keyboard -- also contributing. The whole band has a very bubbly and upbeat stage presence, with their sense of sheer joy spreading through the crowd, definitely helped by Gina's adorableness.
Highlights of the set were the ear-worm-y "Blueprints for Our Failed Revolution" and "Home", and definitely "Lead Me To Destruction", which started a little 50s do-wop, with Charley Wu taking over lead vocals -- backed by Gina and Andrew -- before building to a chaotic breakdown and explosive climax.
They ended the set with the mood brought down a bit, and Lee urging everyone to slow dance (and/or make out) for the slow and romantic closer. They are another band that just keep getting better, and more polished, every time I see them, and this was the best yet.

And finally, rounding out the night was Treelines, and even though they hit the stage at nearly midnight (on a school night, no less) their straight up high energy rock had the crowd still into it. With a set ranging from the new EP, back to their self-titled debut, they burst forth right off the bat with "Summer Song" and hardly took their collective foots off the gas through the set; even during the slower songs, like the title track from their newest EP, Courage, which builds to a soaring chorus. Another highlight was the very Canadian, and very catchy, "Ode to the Prairies" which ended the main set before they were back for one more song. Orinially planning on "When I Get Grown", they spontaneously decided on the title track from their Young Man EP thanks to a request called from the crowd, with Matt Lockhart making sure everyone was ready to help out on vocals, since his voice was going (there were a couple tell-tale cracks near the end of the set). And the crowd definitely complied, commandeering the microphone for the chorus of whoa-oh-oh-oh-ooh's to end off the night.

As always, Treelines is a tremendously fun band to watch live, with all four members having an unbridled energy and enthusiasm on stage. And all in all, it was a fantastic way to kick of Vancouver's Unsigned series, with three bands that all had different sounds, but meshed really well together. I can't wait until the next one, and if it's even half as good as this, it'll still be a hell of a show.

setlists

Sidney York
Tea As It Should Be, Roll With Me, Math & Fractions, Apocalyptic Radio Cynic, Cold In Here, I Want You [Savage Garden cover], Dick & Jane, Doctor Doctor, Mile High Love.

The Ruffled Feathers
Canals of Suzhou, All My Cities, Home, Our Beautiful Hearts, Mockingbird, Lead Me To Destruction, Paloma, Blueprints for Our Failed Revolution, Your Embrace.

Treelines 
Summer Song, The Vancouver Song, Birds, Burned Up Hands, Statuette, Ghost Towns, Linked Arms, Courage, Cowboys, Ode to the Prairies. encore) Young Man.

Sing It Forward @ Vogue -- 12/21/11

Name your three favourite Vancouver bands. Chances are pretty strong that at least one of them was at the Vogue last night for Sing It Forward, an evening benefiting the kids of the St James Music Academy. Organized by David Vertesi and Ambrosia Humphrey, they brought together some of Vancouver's finest for a night of music.

Leading up to the night, there was also a series of videos posted on Vancouver is Awesome of the bands joined by the kids of SJMA for a song (see them all on their Vimeo channel), and these were shows throughout the night between sets.

As there were almost a dozen acts, each had a short set of three acoustic songs, so I won't linger too long on each act.

Arriving just in time for the last song by Aaron Nazrul of The Boom Booms, he was joined by just about the whole band for a song about East Van, where they're from. It sounded pretty much what you'd expect from The Boom Booms; upbeat and energetic.

Next up was The Belle Game, starting off with "Sleep To Grow", including a fantastic ending with Andrew Lee on trumpet. Even stripped down acoustically, the band had a lush, rich sound that seemed to fit perfectly for a theatre venue like the Vogue; I would love to see them do a full set there sometime. They wrapped up their set with "Shoulders and Turns" with a good number of the other musicians coming out for percussion to end with a bang.

Rococode was next, their raucous sound translating acoustically very nicely (the use of the xylophone definitely helped out with that). The songs -- "Empire" especially -- were no less catchy, and "Dreams" possibly worked even better as an acoustic song, being much more haunting stripped down, and getting the crowd to sing along for the end of it. 

Up next was the man of the night, David Vertesi himself. With just Andrew Rasmussen joining him on keys, he played some of the softer songs from his album; "All Night, All Night, All Night" and "Learn To Run", the latter building to an intensely emotional ending. He ended the set with a surprise guest, calling out Hannah Georgas to sing backups on "Mountainside", bringing up the energy a bit more to wrap up his set.

Ben, Tyler and Jacelyn of Said The Whale were up next, with Ben taking care of the vocals, since Tyler was still recovering from having his tonsils removed (seriously). Every year the band puts out a Christmas song or EP, and their set consisted solely of some of these Christmas songs, with the dreary "Puddleglum" being one of my favourites of the night. Even in a post-surgery haze, Tyler had pretty good energy, and Ben's great voice effortlessly filled the venue.

Wrapping up the first half of the night was Aidan Knight who started off with the most heartbreakingly beautiful song, "Margaret Downe", and even managed to break a string. At an acoustic show. After some of his usual hilarious banter -- a story about how his guitar got the name Burnt Reynolds -- and some deliberation, he played a brand new song and ended, of course, with "Jasper", bringing up all the kids on stage to sing with him.

At this point there was a short intermission, and then Adaline kicking off the second half. She had a bit of a auspicious start, as the keyboard she rented wasn't working, and the one they had been using all night wasn't ready. But she handled it like a champ, first encouraging the kids to continue on with music, then ready to sing a capella, with Robbie Driscoll on bass. Just as she started, though, they got the keyboard fixed and she was able to launch into her somewhat dark, sexy sound, starting with "The Noise" and then bringing out Laura Smith to help with background vocals for "Keep Me High", ending with her own Christmas song from the Light Organ compilation.

Next, Vince Vaccaro was out solo, armed with just his guitar. I've always found Vaccaro's music kind of hit or miss, personally, but I rather enjoyed his acoustic set, and I can't deny he is a pretty great performer. After his first song, he invited all the St James kids back on stage, and they helped out -- along with Ash from Hey Ocean and everyone's drummer Johnny Andrews -- for "Costa Rica" to wrap up his portion of the night.

Another surprise guest popped up between sets when Shad came out to fill the time before the next act with a couple freestyle verses, including his soliloquy from the end of "Live Forever"

Then it was the only non-Vancouver act, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald coming in from Calgary. After a new song, and teasing an upcoming album, he launched into "Movie Life", with a little but of "The Thong Song" (cleaned up a little, for the kids) slipped in at the end, and another new one with Vertesi -- and the kids back up on stage out to help out with singing. MBF is always incredibly fun to watch live, as he just exudes charisma, and you can't help but be charmed by him.

Zach Gray of The Zolas was the penultimate act, coming out with a couple new songs; "Strange Girl" and, after taking a survey of his own (which went about as conclusive as Aidan's) a brand new one called "Ancient Mars", which Zach described as a nerdy love song that he never played all the way through before. It had me at the first line, "I want to believe in time travel". He ended the set with everyone getting into "You're Too Cool", and some great singing along from the crowd.

And finally, wrapping up the night was Hey Ocean starting with a really cool version of "Big Blue Wave" -- which I may have liked even more than the full band version. They threw in their new Christmas song, which had the best intro; first Vertesi introduced in each instrument as they came in (including everyone's favourite holiday instrument: the keytar) and then brought out the awkward dancers, with the greatest dance moves of the year from Aidan Knight and Alex Andrew from the Belle Game. They wrapped it all up with the St James kids back on stage, and all other musicians as well, for a giant singalong to "Alley Ways", for a pretty great moment to end the night on.

It ended up being a four hour long night, but it hardly felt like it, as there was never a dull moment or a lull in the show. All the performers were top notch, and they kept the changeover times to a minimum, with the videos or the lovely emcees from The Peak keeping things running smoothly.

It would be cliché to call it a magical night, but there is hardly any better description, and I hope some variation of this turns into a yearly event.

2011 Grey Cup Festival @ PlayNow.com Stage -- 11/26/11

I'm no football fan, so for me the best thing about Vancouver hosting the Grey Cup is definitely the free outdoor music. Over the weekend there has been a ridiculous amount of great local bands playing at a free outdoor stage just outside BC Place. Friday saw Rococode, Bend Sinister, Kyprios and The Dudes, among others, but the lineup Saturday night was just stellar. Sponsored by The Peak, it started with TV Heart Attack and The Boom Booms, both of which I missed, and then just ramped up from there.

The first band I caught was The Belle Game, getting there a song or two into their set. As per usual, they had a great stage presence, with members, including sometimes-member Andrew Lee on trumpet, dancing and even braving the rain and coming right out to the front of the stage a few times -- at their own risk of falling. Highlights included "I Wish You Weren't Like A Dead Lover (Sometimes)" and "Shoulders and Turns", which saw tour-mates Hey Ocean! joined them for the cacophonous ending (and also guitarist Alex Andrew's random dance break).

Next up was The Matinée, fresh off their big Peak Performance Project show and BCCMA appearance. Kicking things off with "L'Absinthe", they immediately won over the gathering crowd with their collective charisma, getting everyone to forget about the cold and rain, if only for a moment, while clapping & stomping along to "Sweet Water" and singing to "Rocking and Rolling", one of the highlights of the set.
"The Road" was another highlight, especially with the amazing drum breakdown, and it was fun to see them slip in little bits of covers to their songs, including Neil Young's "Old Man" in "Let Her Go".

The last time I saw The Zolas, a month ago, the band was comprised of Zach Gray backed by The Liptonians, but they were back to the usual lineup with Tom Dobrzanski on keys, Henry Alcock-White on bass and Niko Friesen on drums.
Starting with "You're Too Cool", they were as energetic as ever, with some great banter from Gray; at one point someone threw on Oh Henry bar on stage, so Zach responded by tossing out some chocolate he had in his pocket... and then some carrots that were in the other pocket. The set included a couple new[ish] songs, "Guest" "Cultured Man" of their recent 7" and "Strange Girl", which had short, kinda-rapping verse from Gray, and they brought their portion of the evening to an end with a bang, with "Marlaina Kamikaze".

As the cold picked up and the rain died down a little, Hey Ocean! hit the stage next. Their newest single "Big Blue Wave" started the set, which consisted mostly of their new material from their as-yet-unreleased album -- unless you happened to be at a show on their recent tour, or there last night, where they were more than happy to hand out copies.
Among the new songs, "Make A New Dance Up" was definitely the most catchy, and there were a few older ones as well, including "Fish" with the adorable Ashleigh Ball dancing out at the front of the stage, as well as their great cover of "Be My Baby" -- which had everyone, including the entire Belle Game out huddled around drums at the end. After a couple slower songs, one of which dedicated to the memory of Randy Ponzio, they wrapped up the set with "A Song About California".

And finally, wrapping up the night was Said The Whale just as the rain was letting up -- which had Tyler slightly sad, since they went out and bought 50 ponchos for people and wanted to toss them into the crowd.
They started off with an older, rarely played song "Wanting like Veruca", and had a few other older tunes throughout the set, including "Live Off Lamb" which Tyler said they hadn't played in four years. But as well as the old, there was new, with a few songs from their recent EP and upcoming album; the insanely catchy "Lines" and the intense "Big Sky Montana" being two highlights.
There was also a funny moment during "BC Orienteering" when Ben forget some lines, first asking the audience to help, then trying to catch up until Jacelyn stepped up like a champ to finish the verse; which wasn't the only time the keyboardist stepped up for a larger vocal roll, including one of the newer songs.
There was also lots of singing along throughout the set, especially for the closing pair of songs, "Camilo (The Magician)" and "The City's a Mess"

Any one of these five bands I would see on their own without hesitation, and putting them all together -- for free, at that -- was absolutely worth braving the elements to see.