We Are The City @ Vogue -- 07/04/13

Sometimes a lineup comes along that is almost too good to be true, which was the case for We Are The City's album release part. Celebrating their new album, Violet, they stacked the bill with local favourites for an incredible showcase of the city's talent.


Starting the night was an all-too-short set from the violin looping Hannah Epperson. She came out on stage, alone and barefoot, to create beautiful sonic soundscapes using masterful loops of nothing but her violin, sometimes plucking, sometimes tapping on it to get percussive beats.
A couple of the songs were just instrumental, but she added fragile yet captivating vocals to a new song, "Shadowless" and "We Will Host A Party", which ended the set.


After a short turnaround, Jordan Klassen took the stage, alone at first launching in to a song that started soft and tender before the band slowly joined him one by one and the song swelled to a rich ending. It's a formula that a lot of his songs follow, the quiet start with the slow build and climactic finale, and he pulls it off well.
Klassen also has a great energy on stage, full of enthusiasm with his pure joy infecting the audience, and he clearly has fun on stage; as demonstrated when he introduced his bandmates with a rap.
A few old members joined him for "The Horses Are Stuck", which was a very fitting song for a venue like the Vogue. "Sweet Chariot" started with a very impressive vocal display from Jordan and Jocelyn Price, and they wrapped up the set with another high energy ending on "Where Is Your Sound".


The last time I saw The Belle Game, I mused that the Vogue would be a perfect venue for their rich, dark, orchestral pop, and that was certainly the case. The six-piece was at their best, despite a brief microphone issue during "Blame Fiction", as they filled the room with huge songs like "Bruise To Ash", a bit of a sexy slow-jam, and Andrea Lo's incredibly powerful voice captured the crowd, most evident on "River".
The band had a strong energy and stage presence, too, including Katrina sharing a story, confessing their disastrous first show with We Are The City years ago.
They wrapped up the set, as they usually do, with "Wait Up For You", getting people moving and building to an intense ending.
It seems like The Belle Game has been a go-to "opening band" for a lot of local heavyweights recently, and they are always in danger of stealing the show. Soon enough, they'll be the ones headlining the Vogue.


That alone would have been a satisfying show, but of course we still had We Are The City to come. The stage was adorned with a couple video screens, linked to cameras perched on Cayne's keyboards and Andrew's drums, which they moved around throughout the set.
When they took the stage, they launched right into "Bottom Of The Lake", the first song on the new album, exploding with a cacophony of drums. Their dense sound was intricate and layered, creating a much bigger sound than should come from just three musicians.
With a mix of old and new songs, the trio went back to their debut album for "Time, Wasted" and the gorgeous "Astronomers", and played most of their High School EP. "Happy New Year" started only for Cayne to pause the band and urge everyone to "lose it", and restarted with the floor section around the stage jumping wildly, and the entire Vogue singing along.
The trio was in awe of the support of the fans, expressing how they were incredibly grateful to be there a few times, and they were feeding off their crowd's energy with their own amazing and intense energy, backing their gratitude.
Among the new songs, highlights were the emotion-filled "King David", the calm and hypnotic "Friends Hurt" -- during which Andy dove into the crowd to surf a little -- and "Baptism", a beautiful song that bursts into a massive ending.
And the ending seemed like a definitive one -- the band even choosing "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House as the first song to play over the PA after they walked off stage -- but in what may have been a rare "actual encore", Cayne came back out alone to play one more song, "Mourning Song" after someone in the crowd shouted it out (unless he was calling for the similarly named "Morning Song")

We Are The City has been one of my favourite local bands since just about the first time I saw them live, when I knew they were going to be big, and it was incredible to see them perform in a venue like the Vogue. They've more than earned it.

setlist
Bottom Of The Lake; Legs Give Out; Get Happy; Time, Wasted; King David; That's It, That's All; Astronomers; An Angel in White; Happy New Year; Friends Hurt; Dark/Warm Air; Baptism. 
(encore) Mourning Song.

Toque Sessions: We Are The City @ CBC Vancouver -- 02/15/13

Now in their fourth year, the CBC Toque Sessions is a series of free shows at the CBC Vancouver building, featuring some great local talent, and recorded for later broadcast on CBC Radio 2 and CBC Music.


One of the Sessions I was most looking forward to this season was We Are The City. Andy, Cayne, and David (back after a brief sabbatical front the band) have just put the finishing touches on their new album, and they decided to debut it for the crowd in Studio 1 of CBC Vancouver. Rolling out the new album front-to-back, it was the first time most of these songs were being performed for an audience.

Bursting to life with a chaotic cacophony of drums, the album was far more rich and layered than you would expect from just three musicians, with the intricate songs ranging from soft and slow to energetic and rocking -- sometimes even within the same song. It was as far a leap ahead of the High School EP as that was from their debut, In A Quiet World.

Some songs that stood out were a spacey and nostalgic (lyrically, not musically) song possibly called "Home Videos" and another possibly called "Shooting Star" which saw Cayne on a grand piano. But the last couple songs were my favourites; first "Baptism" which wove from great three part harmonies to dense and breathtaking guitar riffs, and then the final song, "Punch My Face" which starts with just Cayne on the piano -- absolutely gorgeous and heartbreaking -- before building to an intense wall of sound to close out the album.

For the most part, the band stuck to playing, but they paused a couple times to chat with the crowd. In true WATC fashion, they rambled on entertainingly, interrupting and interjecting into each others stories. Their banter has never felt like practiced "stage banter", rather a couple friends just telling stories and joking around, making you feel that these are a bunch of guys you want to hang around and talk to about celebrity spottings or Community.

The first time I saw them a few years ago I was impressed, and they've only grown exponentially. If this performance was any indication (and why wouldn't it be?) their new album is going to be incredible, and it is definitely one of my most anticipated albums of the spring.

Sing It Forward @ Vogue -- 01/10/13

A year (and change) ago, David Vertesi & Ambrosia Humphrey brought together nearly a dozen of the finest musicians from the local scene for the first Sing It Forward, an evening benefiting the kids of the St James Music Academy. It was such a huge success that they decided to do it again this year, with a lineup no less impressive.

Trimmed to eight from last year's eleven -- which made the pacing of the show much nicer -- each act played a short acoustic or stripped down set, with quick turnovers. There were also a few videos playing between sets, usually showing the bands either interacting or playing songs with the kids from the academy, showing their effort to support the kids went deeper than just playing at the show.

Starting off the night was Andy Huculiak and Cayne McKenzie, two thirds of We Are The City. They played a couple new songs, teasing their upcoming album, which were amazing. Dark and moody, but quite catchy; definitely had me excited to hear the full thing. They ended with "That's All" from their most recent EP, High School.

Victoria's Aidan Knight was up next with part of his band, Julia Wakal & Olivier Clements (jokingly dubbing themselves "The Aidan Knight Chamber Trio Orchestra"). They played mostly newer songs, from last year's Small Reveal, starting with "A Mirror" and then the contemplative "Master's Call", and then getting everyone to hum along to the end of "Magic Cupboards".

Next up was the combined forces of Hannah Georgas and Mother Mother's Ryan Guldemond. Starting with Hannah's "Enemies" and then Ryan's "I Go Hungry", they traded off songs, backing each other up. They also brought out some help, first Hannah bringing out Shad to sing backup on "Waiting Game" and they wrapped up their portion with all the kids from the St James Music Academy coming out to join in on (a slightly cleaned up version of) Mother Mother's "Bit By Bit"

The first half of the night ended with a secret surprise guest, none other than Dan Mangan. He played a couple songs, first flanked by Vertesi and Knight for a cover of David Bazan's "Strange Negotiations" and then the SJMA kids joining him for "Oh Fortune", the line "nice to have the kids around" being especially poignant and heartwarming.

After an intermission, the SJMA kids came back for a song of their own, and then slam poet  C.R. Avery took the stage. First showing off his unique harmonica beat boxing, then taking a seat at the keyboard for a song. For his last song, he was joined by Hey Ocean's Andrew Rasmussen on the keys for more of a spoken word number.

Shad was up next with one of the best moments of the night; he was joined by Vertesi and Andy & Cayne as his backing band for a great remix of We Are The City's "Happy New Year". They stayed to back him up for his own song, "Exile", and then he ended his set alone, with the spoken word soliloquy from the end of "Live Forever"

An acoustic Yukon Blonde was up next, joined by Matt Kelly on keys. Their usually high energy set was calmed down, but no less impressive, especially their stellar harmonies. They played some of their mellower songs, "Loyal Man" and one they said they don't get to play too often, "Guns".

And finally, wrapping up the night was Hey Ocean! After starting with "Big Blue Wave", they kept the collaborative spirit of the night going, with Shad and Avery joining them for "Vagabond", then as they went into a cover of Arcade Fire's "Sprawl II", The Aidan Knight Chamber Trio Orchestra jumped on stage to join them joined them. Finally, they invited not only the kids, but all the musicians of the night back on stage for a cover of Annie Lennox's "Walking On Broken Glass" for a huge, heartwarming ending.

I said on my blog post for the last one "It would be cliché to call it a magical night, but there is hardly any better description", and that rings true to this year as well. It was an amazing night, with everyone from the musicians to the venue donating their time and effort, so all the proceeds could go towards the SJMA, and I can only imagine what it must have been like for the kids themselves who were involved.

We Are The City w/ Treelines & Fields of Green @ Rio Theatre -- 12/10/11

Two years ago -- to the day -- was the first time I saw We Are The City live. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. They quickly became one of my favourite "local" bands (being from Kelowna), and I have probably seen them a dozen times since. Even the brief departure of David Menzel didn't slow them down, but last night was the first Vancouver show with him back. And along with them was a couple other Kelowna transplants -- and Peak Performance Project alumni -- for a killer lineup at the Rio Theatre.

First up was Fields of Green, and right off the bat I noticed their energy, particularly that of drummer, who is almost a human analog of Animal from The Muppets, with wild arms flailing. They had a bit of a synthy, prog rock driven sound and some pretty catchy songs, with a few new ones in the set, as they had just finished recording a new album and part way through the set they switched things up with the keyboardist taking over on guitar for a few songs, and switching up lead vocals for another.
When I saw them earlier this year, I thought they were quite good, and really fun to watch, but a bit green, and I thought they have really improved in just the last couple months. I am definitely looking forward the the upcoming album, and their next show.

Treelines was up next, starting their set off with a bang by high-kicking right in to the rocking "Ghost Towns". As usual they, they had a great energy, especially lead singer Matt Lockhart, but especially his brother and bassist Steve, who never fails to amuse me by singing along to every word of the set, even though he rarely has a microphone in front of him.
Mid-way through the set they brought things down for a moment with the heartbreaking "When I Get Grown", which saw Matt Kelly on slide guitar, and the title track for their new digital EP, Courage, which starts slow but swells to a grand finish.  After a couple more they ended the set ended with catchy "Ode to the Prairies", and that awkward moment where someone in the front threw a bra at Steve, who didn't seem too amused by it (keep in mind, it was an all ages show). Treelines always put on a fun, rocking show and this was no exception.

And finally, We Are The City hit the stage to a bit of a haunting intro and kicked off with "Happy New Year", garnering a fair amount of singing along. The set was a mix of new and old, with Menzel nailing the guitar parts from the High School EP and the trio sounding better than ever. When I first saw them, I was amazed by how tight they were, and they have gotten exponentially better since then, with a great stage presence and an incredible energy; especially Andy who is up and down more than any drummer I've seen. They also have some of the best banter, which seems less like "stage banter" and more like three friends chatting with you, which is highlighted in the way Cayne & Andy play off each other and interact.
As for the set itself, highlights included the beautiful "April" and the intense "Astronomers", both from In A Quiet World, a newer, unreleased song called "The Birds" which ebbs and flows, and "Mourning Song" off their most recent 7", with an amazing outro/transition between that and "Dark/Warm Air", which saw Andy on vocals and has a bass line that thumps right to your core.
Early in the set I was ever so slightly disappointed that they did not play the entire High School EP in order, with the Amazing Factory video playing on the big screen behind them, but that disappointment was sated when they launched into "Dark/Warm Air" and the video came on screen. That was the "last" song, but they were back out for "Angel in White", with the video projected for that song as well.

My only squabble was that there was a slight buzzing for the entirety of We Are The City's set, and while it wasn't always noticeable, there were a few times during the softer parts of the song where it was; but aside from that, it was an incredible set, and an incredible night of three great bands.

Summer Live w/ Hey Ocean!, We Are The City, The Belle Game & Aidan Knight @ Stanley Park -- 07/10/11

It was the final night of Summer Live, a free outdoor festival at Brockton Point in Stanley Park to celebrate the 125th birthday of Vancouver (see bloggery about night two here) and they were determined to keep the great bands coming -- as well as the headache and heartbreak of overlapping schedules.

The day started a little earlier than the previous, for me anyway, as Victoria's Aidan Knight took the Trail Stage at 4pm to a nice sized crowd. He started off the set with "Friendly Fires", off his latest 7", followed by a couple of new ones -- one of which I had heard before and really like, which I dub "Jean Baptiste" (playing the guess-the-name-of-the-new-song game). A couple songs in he realised he forgot a capo, so while flugelhorn-extraordinaire Julia Wakal ran to grab it, it was Story Time with Aidan Knight. That, combined with a story he told later about "North East South West", were great examples of Knight's charmingly awkward banter. There was another new one in the set, the incredibly beautiful "Margaret Downe", and he played the song "The Sun" just as the star The Sun was coming out from behind the clouds. And after an intense ending to "Knitting Something Nice For You", the set came to a close as Aidan's shows usually do; With an extended intro to draw out the anticipation, he launched in to "Jasper", with many people singing along. As usual, a great set from Aidan, and I was relieved as the Trail Stage seemed to have better sound that the main stage, one thing that bugged me the previous day.

setlist
Friendly Fires, Jean Baptiste[?], new, Altar Boys, Margaret Downe, The Sun, Land's End, North East South West, Knitting Something Nice For You, Jasper.

Up next was The Belle Game, once again joined by Andrew Lee of The Ruffled Feathers. With their rich and textured chamber pop sound, I was interested to see how they would turn out on an outdoor stage, and they managed to sound pretty amazing, unsurprisingly. They were incredibly tight and brimming with so much energy that they were just fun to watch.
Along with their own songs, they slipped in a pretty good cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire", and they ended with what was probably my favourite of the set, "I Left This Place". But as they were called back out for an encore by the persistent cheering, they shyly came back and admitted they didn't know any more songs, and if they did do one more, it would be one they already played. The crowd did not seem to care in the slightest and they returned to [re]play their single "Sleep To Grow", which was... interesting. Definitely the first time I had seen that done. But they managed to make it fresh and it was definitely memorable.

There was a bit of a lull next, some time to relax and I caught the last bit of the VSO and the first song from Spirit of the West on the main stage before heading back for Kelowna's We Are The City. No matter how many times I see them live (pretty sure this was number 12), they never fail to blow my mind with how good they are. And last night was no exception, as they all so intense. They sounded as good as ever, and the "new" guitarist Blake has meshed with Andy & Cayne incredibly well.
The set started with a twist and Andy on vocals for "Dark/Warm Air", before Cayne took over again for "Morning Song". Each and every member had unparalleled energy; Cayne jumping around when he could, Blake breaking the strap on his guitar from rocking out so hard, and Andy needing a new kick pedal at one point. There was also the usual funny banter, including tales of Cayne & Andy attending a wedding dressed as pirates, and Andy (reluctantly) showing off his chest hair, which is not quite at Sean Connery levels of fur, to what he thought was just the front row, but he forgot about the jumbotrons.
After a few more songs, including "Time, Wasted" -- which at least one person in the crowd was actually in tears for (not me) -- and one of my favourites, "Astronomers", Cayne took over guitar duties for "1987", which led into "An Angel In White", and they ended off the set with "Get Happy". They too were being cheered for an encore, but Andy came out apologetically and said that was all they had, and thanked everyone again.
Seeing them live always just reinforces why they are one of my favourite bands.

setlist
Dark/Warm Air, Morning Song, There Are Very Tiny Beasts In The Ground, Happy New Year, Time Wasted, That's It That's All, April, Astronomers, 1987, An Angel In White, Get Happy.

Then was time for an incredibly difficult decision: Dan Mangan or Hey Ocean!. Aside from a couple songs at the Valentine's Day show, I hadn't seen Hey Ocean! in a little over a year, and had seen Dan thrice since then, so using that logic, I stuck to the Trail Stage for Ashleigh Ball, David Vertesi and Dave Beckingham, or as they're collectively know, Hey Ocean!. They were joined by a few others to round out the band, including Devon Lougheed of Beekeeper, and I had forgotten what an incredibly fun band they are to watch live. All the members full of energy, especially Devon, but especially lead singer/flautist Ashleigh Ball, who was dancing and twirling all over the stage.
They had a ton of fun with their songs, too. "Fish" came complete with the bubble makers, and there were a few covers slipped in. One full song -- "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes which ended with all the members huddled around the drum kit playing it -- and a few songs ended with a couple verses added on to the end. "Make A New Dance Up", my favourite of their new songs, ended with "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", "Jolene" went into Coldplay's "Fix You" and there was a little of "Where It's At" by Beck at the end of "Beatboxer (Who Broke My Heart)", the song that epitomized the band's sheer amount of fun; Ball's rapping, Beckingham's beatboxing, and Devon playing MC as each member exuded joy.
They ended the night with another highlight of the set, a song I didn't catch the name of, but featured a little bit of harmonized rapping at the beginning. Yeah.
And while I am a little sad I didn't get to see Dan, didn't see 10,000 people singing "Robots" or see Aidan join him on stage to sing "Jasper", I do not at all regret picking Hey Ocean!, as they put on an incredibly fun show.

In all it was a spectacular couple of days, and I really hope the city decides to do something similar (if not on as big a scale) next year. Who says birthdays have to be celebrated on fives and tens?