PHOTOS: Rich Aucoin @ Fortune Sound - May 1, 2022
Rich Aucoin
Fortune Sound Club
May 1, 2022
Rich Aucoin @ Fortune Sound -- May 01, 2022
The first time I saw Rich Aucoin -- opening for Arkells at the Commodore nearly 11 years ago -- he instantly became one of my favourite live acts. So of course I was excited when he was finally able to return to Vancouver, while touring his 2020 album United States.
I caught the tail end of the opener, The Daveed Saband, who had a pretty high energy rock sound, and seemed like a good opener for the night.
Once they were done, and while the stage was being set, the overhead projector fired up in anticipation, telling us to keep our arms and legs inside the universe, and that in space no one can hear you scream (so we'd better be loud when yelling along).
It wasn't long before Rich Aucoin introduced the set, saying we first had to hear a word from our "sponsor", a jelly commercial aptly scored by "Bootylicious", followed by some faux-trailers and the opening credits -- as usual, featuring fun facts about some of the people who were in attendance.
After being introduced to our narrator (Michael Caine) and a brief mention of the illness that took the world in 2019 (the major motion picture Cats) it was time our feature presentation, as Rich lead the audience to a singalong to some 20th Century fanfare.
Aucoin launched into "Meaning in Life", transitioning into "Yelling in Sleep", and then get the entire room shouting along to one of my favourites, "Want to Believe", which was mashed up with "Four More Years".
Rich was joined only by drummer Tony Dallas, who was on-point all night but especially got to show off during "Undead". Tony matched Rich's incredible energy, even when stuck behind the kit, as Rich was able to run up and down the stage, and even into the crowd frequently.
The projector ran the whole set, showing lyrics to yell, chapter transitions, clips from Cats as well as other movies, memes, narration from Sir Michael Caine, and more, usually synced perfectly to the music. Though I've often said that as fun as the set is, it wouldn't be near as good without the music to back it up, and songs like "How It Breaks", incredibly catchy with heavy lyrics inspired by events of 2020, backed that up.
The climax of the set was "Are You Experiencing?", which saw the nostalgia-inducing rainbow parachute come out, stretched over the entre dance floor for everyone to jump under, as Rich joined everyone in the centre of the parachute, singing to/at/with them. Then all-too-quickly, the set came to an end with "It" — one last giant group song, Rich once again in the middle of the crowd, urging everyone not to “leave it all in our heads”.
Though that wasn’t quite the end of the night. But even though Rich never left the stage area, the finale had “encore energy”, as Rich sent everyone home with a singalong to Smash Mouth hit "All Star", lead by both himself and the disembodied voice of Michael Caine.
If (IF!) there is downside to Rich Aucoin’s shows, it’s that they always feels like they go by way too quick. But then again, by the end of it, I was exhausted... and I wasn’t even the one performing.
Rich has been saying recently there are only a few more years left in this particular version of his live show before he transitions to something new, so if you have a chance within the next few years, I implore you to do it!
setlist
Meaning in Life
Yelling in Sleep
Want to Believe / Four More Years
How it Breaks
Undead
Are You Experiencing?
The Other
It
All Star [Smash Mouth cover]
PHOTOS: JP Maurice, with Leisure Club, and Zoey Leven at the Hollywood Theatre - April 17, 2022
JP Maurice, with Leisure Club, and Zoey Leven
The Hollywood Theatre
April 17, 2022
Christine McAvoy Photography
Plants & Animals @ Fox Cabaret -- April 16, 2022
It's been quite a while since Montreal's Plants and Animals last visited Vancouver, and with a new album The Jungle out at the end of 2020, we were due for a return. So I was pretty happy to see they would be doing just that, with a show at the Fox Cabaret.
I arrived just as opener Gus Englehorn was finishing up his set, but it wasn't long before Plants and Animals hit the stage, launching right into ”Faerie Dance”. Starting soft and building with an explosive energy, the song was a microcosm of the rest of the set, which ebbed and flowed with chill songs like ”Love That Boy” to the harder hitting ”Sacrifice” to the dense and swirling “Le Queens”.
With a strict curfew in place, the band didn't say much, singer Warren Spicer just taking to the mic a couple times to affirm how grateful they were to be there (and how he was happy with the Vancouver crowd not yelling at him & his haircut, unlike another city he did not name).
Other highlights included the simmering chaos of one of my favourites, “Feedback in the Field”, the title track from the new album “The Jungle”, and the raucous “House on Fire” which ended off the main set.
But they were quickly back for one more song, as they ran right up to 10pm with a fitting finale, the last song off The Jungle, “Bold”.
Even though they played for a little over an hour, the set still felt too short, and I definitely could have listened to the band’s lush sounds all night (thanks a lot, curfewed shows). And hopefully it won’t be as long of a stretch between their next show here.
setlist
Faerie Dance
We Were One
All Of The Time
Sacrifice
Love That Boy
The Jungle
Le Queens
Get My Mind
Feedback in the Field
In Your Eyes
House on Fire
(encore)
Bold
PHOTOS: The Darcys, with Fake Shark @ The Wise Hall - March 31, 2022
The Darcys, with Fake Shark
The Wise Hall
March 31, 2022
Christine McAvoy Photography
Read Kirk’s review here.