Khatsalano Street Party @ West 4th Ave -- 07/11/15

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For the fifth year running, the Khatsahlano Street Party shut down ten blocks of West 4th Ave here in Vancouver for the city's largest free music & arts festival. With a half dozen stages, there were over fifty bands playing throughout the day, as well as activities throughout, and hundreds of vendors lining the streets.

Click through for a rundown of the day, including sets from Louise Burns, Hot Panda, Yukon Blonde, and Peak Performance Project acts Windmills, JP Maurice, and Chersea! 

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Kathryn Calder @ Media Club -- 04/18/15



About eight or nine years ago, I went to go see The New Pornographers play a show here in Vancouver, and discovered Immaculate Machine opening for them. They quickly become a favourite, and that was due in part to co-lead singer and keyboardist Kathryn Calder (who, later in that show, joined The New Pornos on stage to fill in for the absent Neko Case). Since then, Immaculate Machine broke up, Calder officially joined of The New Pornos, and as of earlier in the week, she has three solo albums to her name.
So just days after the release her latest, self-titled album, Kathryn Calder returned to Vancouver to celebrate with a show at the Media Club.


I missed the first opener, Ford Pier, getting to the Media Club just as he was wrapping up. But I certainly didn't want to miss Louise Burns and Her Victims, as she called her backing band. The dimly lit stage was fitting with her darker, noir-pop sound, with songs off her two albums so far, Mellow Drama and The Midnight Mass, as well as teasing her upcoming with a couple new songs -- including one that I didn't catch the name of but had almost a moody-Fleetwood Mac feel to it.
Louise joked about her stage banter (or lack thereof), rather letting the music and her captivating stage presence speak for her.
My two favourites of the set came at the end, and were on pretty opposite ends of the spectrum; first the most rocking song of the set, "Emeralds Shatter", followed by the gorgeously haunting "Heaven", Louise's powerful voice filling the room.


Thanks to the 10:30 curfew, it wasn't long before Kathryn Calder was out, kicking off with the absolutely beautiful "Slip Away" off her first album Are You My Mother?, starting soft and building to a big, indie-pop ending. She went chronological from there with "Turn A Light On" from Bright & Vivid, before the first single from the new one, an incredibly bubbly and catchy anthem "Take A Little Time".
Switching between keyboard and guitar throughout the set, Calder was visibly (and vocally) happy that the latest album was finally released, and that energy definitely came through on the songs, from the upbeat and jaunty "If You Only Knew" to the more down tempo and somewhat bittersweet "Song in Cm", featuring special guest Sam Davidson on the clarinet (who you may know from Brasstronaut).
Kathryn played right up until curfew -- not even bothering with the silly encore tradition -- finishing off the night first with perhaps my favourite off the new album, "When You See My Blood", another song that starts off slow and erupts into a chaotic ending, and the ending the night off on the heartbreaking "So Easily".


Be it with a band or performing solo, I've seen Kathryn multiple times at various points, and it is always enjoyable seeing her perform live. And I am really enjoying the new album, as well. Add Louise Burns to the mix, and it was a great night of tunes.


setlist
Slip Away; Turn A Light On; Take A Little Time; Blue Skies; New Frame of Mind; Beach; My Armour; One, Two, Three; Song In Cm; City of Sounds; If You Only Knew; Arm in Arm; When You See My Blood; So Easily.

Kandle @ Biltmore -- 09/11/14

One of my favourite albums so far this year, as well as one of my favourite new discoveries, has been Kandle. So when it was time for the Victoria native, who not lives in Montreal, Kandle Osborne (yes, daughter of that musical Osborne) to hit Vancouver on her way to the Rifflandia festival, I wouldn't be missing it.


Opening the night was The Franklin Electric, the first time in Vancouver for the Montreal folk-pop band. Great harmonies and a trumpet to flesh out their sound, they put on a fun set, though I'm not sure it's anything I'd go out of my way to listen to, and it did drag on a little. They played for 45 minutes (which seems long for the first of three bands) and had a few too many of their slower songs in the latter half. They even had a big finale that grew to a grand climax, which would have been the perfect ending, but decided to play one more low energy song.


Louise Burns was up next, with her backing band dubbed The Victims, which included Jody Glenham and members of Ladyhawk. The stage was barely lit, the dark mood matching her dark pop as she opened with "Emeralds Shatter" from her latest album, The Midnight Mass. Burns had a great presence on stage -- it was clear she had been performing since a young age, as part of Lillix -- and her strong voice drove the set. Highlights including "Ruby", which manages to be both catchy and a little depressing, and the gorgeous "Heaven", which ended the set. I hadn't seen Louise play her own set in a few years, only shows with her other band Gold & Youth, so it was great to finally see her play again.


And finally, at just about midnight(!) it was time for Kandle. Her backing band, The Krooks took the stage first, playing the Bond theme as Kandle Osborne strutted out. The Krooks were pretty all-star, including ex-members of Broken Social Scene, The Dears, and even Tim Fletcher of The Stills (which made my night, as The Stills were one of my favourites), and Kandle herself oozed sultry charm and charisma on stage, occasionally chatting with the crowd, thankful that there was more than the three people they had played to in Kamloops the night before.

They opened the set with "So Bad", the first track from this year's In Flames, and the set focused mostly on that album, with a few off her self-titled, as well as a couple brand new songs. She introduced one new one called "Won't Do That Again" as her "Disney Villain song", and I didn't catch the name of another about sleeping with your boss, but both were fantastic with the latter built to a powerfully emotional ending, her incredible voice on the forefront. It's a powerful and beautiful voice that was juxtaposed with the dark, blues-rock, but the mix of the two works perfectly.

She wrapped up the set with my favourite of hers, the driving and badass "Demon", which ended set with a bang. She even invited a gentleman dressed as Satan -- waxed up hair into horns, whole head painted red, and everything -- onto stage to dance. She didn't bother with the whole "faux encore", which was great since that was the perfect ending (and it was pushing 1am on a Thursday).


setlist
So Bad, Oh Great, Not Listening, Baby, Small, Control Me, Winter, Know My Name, Won't Do That Again, Not Up To Me, [Boss], Demon.