Spreadeagle at The End Cafe

Went to a rock show last night.  Now I'm too tired to stay up and write this, damn my day job. Spreadeagle was headlining at The End cafe on Commercial drive.  Totally weird venue for a rock show.  Might be a great place for a poetry slam or something?  One whole wall is windows looking out to Commercial drive and the Skytrain station.  It was fun to watch people walking by staring in the window at our little metal gathering.  The crowd was awesome, the bands were great.  Spreadeagle rocked it hard.

Bison b.c.

Thank you Bison b.c. for waking up my inner metal appreciation.  It was having a nap. 

I saw them play at Amberjack's on Feb. 14th.  It was perfect, I went by myself to a metal show in Surrey on Valentine's day.  But I fell in love that night...  I bought their C.D. "Earthbound" and have been listening to it on repeat in the car for like 2 weeks.  Check out their myspace and listen to the song Earthbound.  They are going on a European tour right now... Oh those crazy Germans metal heads are going to love them.

Super heavy riffs.  Loving it.

Cap Lori/ Past Lives/ The Murder City Devils

Feb 13th Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver

Cap Lori, a petite dark haired girl wearing a grey dress walked to the front of the stage and started her act.  No one knew what she was doing, not even the lighting guy.  She turned on her background music and started to 'sing'.  More like monotone breathy talking.  The lighting guy caught on that this meek little lady was actually an act, not just an over confident audience member on stage with a boom box.  She whispered her songs (including a few cover songs which she made the minimal crowd guess who they were originally by), into the mic with her background music going and slowly paced the stage.  At one point she opened her song saying that it was about sailors and that "It's my favourite".  Make me yarf, how old are you anyway?  Absolutely no stage presence, unrecognizable lyrics and really lame slow music makes me give it a thumbs down.  The guy standing next to me mockingly commented "Didn't you just play this song!?"  A+ for courage there honey, but wrong for this crowd and my taste.

She was really cute, too bad she sucked.

Past lives came was next, the lead singer got into his stance and then just lost himself in the music.  Thumping indie punk sounds with screamy vocals.  I'm not usually into yelling lyrics, but this guy has talent.  Writhing and flailing around, his gaze was focused on nothing but the song.  Totally captivating.  The drummer was amazing, the rhythms popped so fast and easy as he shook his head side to side.  Raw raw raw, perfect for the crowd.  Wonderful.

http://www.myspace.com/pastlivesmusic

Headliner Murder City Devil's devoted fans rushed the stage as they came out to start their show.  They formed in 1996 and lasted till 2001, since then the members have gone off to other projects/bands but they get together for select festivals and this small west coast tour.  The crowd knows this is a treat to see them play live.  A guy on front of me tries to convince me to take my earplugs out because I need to experience it fully. (But I would like to be able to hear tomorrow, so no go.)  I have always had a spot in brain wondering about Murder City Devils - when I was 15 at Hands Across the Border, this dirty rocker guy traded a MCD homemade patch for something.  I had no idea who they were, but it had a skull on it so I kept it. 

The show was intense and rocking.  Spencer the lead singer poured his blood sweat and tears into keeping us totally entertained.  Awesome.

Their myspace page says they are Rock/Gothic but I found it to be more dirty garage punk/rock.  Check them out! www.themurdercitydevils.com

Boards of Canada

Just a note that I think everyone should check out Boards of Canada.  Take a bit of time to relax and read, or just stare at the wall and listen to a few tracks.  Two Scottish brothers who named themselves after, and gather inspiration from The National Film Board of Canada play experimental electronic gems that send you somewhere else.  

I couldn't say it any better, so I stole it from Wikipedia : Boards of Canada's music is reminiscent of the warm, scratchy, artificial sounds of 1970s media and contains themes of childhood, nostalgia and the natural world.

check out their Myspace and have a taste: http://www.myspace.com/abeautifulplace

Drum and Light Festival

This was probably the most amazing thing I have been to in a long time.  In a small hall in East Van, you walk in to the dark room to see 3 huge screens with crazy images being projected from the mezzanine and hear the music of 'Hard Rubber', a 15 piece 'mondo-groove' orchestra led by John Korsrud.  3 full drum kits, 1 guitar, 1 bass, 1 keyboard, 1 turntable, 2 hand drum sets, 2 laptops and a 4 piece brass section including a bari sax.  A giant white curtain pulled open slightly hides the orchestra members that are off to the side.  They are funk, they are jazz, they are rocking, they are coordinated.  The song never ends for over 2 hours as John leads the crew through a miriad of grooves.  He stands on the stage to the upper left where the band can all keep an eye on the maestro, but he is hidden to most of the crowd by the curtain.  Extremely talented drummers play off each other with ease, smiling and laughing as they communicate with beats.  John plays the trumpet in between leading the group through the music.  Three girls wearing all white come out of the eclectic crowd and close the curtain.  The projected images hit their clothes and the white wall created.  The band keeps us dancing and the girls bend and twist on the stage, their clothes changing colour.  Our lady entertainers open the curtain again for us to enjoy the talent that was hidden for a bit, then disappear and reappear wearing prom dresses and pig masks.  The images change to pre-recorded mini videos of the pig ladies roaming the streets being dramatic.  The real life bossy pigs won't take no for an answer and pick people out of the crowd to dance with.  Using over the top expressions they kept us engrossed in the whole experience.  The music pulsing, the light show engaging and the jesters amusing, it was a show for all the senses.  Our piggy friends finished their time and were replaced by a dreadlocked fire-dancing looking girl with 2 hula hoops.  She twirled in front of the curtain while hippy girls writhed at the front of the dance floor to the complex beats.  I was taking pictures throughout the whole night, one of my favourite shots was of this girl who was enjoying the whole thing as much as I was and wanted to watch the band, not so much the curtain hiding them. 

 She lay on the corner of the stage and lifted the curtain and watched.  Felt like she as peaking behind the curtain to see the Wizard of Oz.  

The 3 drum kits, the 2 hand drummers and the D.J. kept playing while the rest of the orchestra came out front to the delight of the mob.  True rocks stars.  The curtain opened again to reveal the beating heart of our show and the crowd went wild.  The drummers finished and did their bows, with two of the the 'stars' of the show, Tim Proznick (drum kit) and Myles Bigelow (percussion) getting that extra bit of cheering.  

The D.J., Timothy Wisdom kept up the beats and gave us something to hang on to as the crowd dispersed.  Amazing.  I highly recommend getting tickets to this next year.

More info:

 http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/features/2010/story.html?id=9175ee3d-2bcb-4f15-b42e-3bc76a8f3443

Me on the stage:

check this out

http://www.myspace.com/ubiquitoussynergyseeker

USS is a band from Toronto - you have heard their song on the radio - I guarantee it.  I hardly ever listen to new music on the radio and if I've heard it, you have.   It's that funky song that's chorus is "Aye's the by that builds the boat/ Aye's the by that sails her" and you sing along because everyone knows the lyrics.

Check them out,  the rest of the songs on their EP are awesome as well.  They call themselves Drum 'n bass/Folk/ Pop if that is possible - and it is.  Apparently they were the first unsigned band to sell out this 2,500 seat venue in Toronto - due only to airplay.  

Anathematics / Black Mondo Grass / The Outliers

January 31st 2009 at the Bourbon in Vancouver

Anathematics opened the night with their indie garage rock infused with keyboards and dreamy vocals.  The lead singer had good vocal range and had a 'whine' to his voice that worked with the music.  The drummer was awesome, playing numerous rhythms in each song, very intricate.  They definitely rocked it.  The drummer and the singer were very talented, it was stuff I could hear being played on the radio.

Next up was the band I was there to see and take pictures of, Black Mondo Grass.  I had no idea what to expect  but they pretty much blew me away.  The frontman had this Scott Weiland/Jim Morrison aura about him as he danced and rocked out on stage.  Super entertaining.  Great on vocals, oh hell the whole band was crazy talented.  Very heavy drums - this guy was a machine.  He was prepared to sweat by not even having a shirt on to start with.  Bearded and crazy looking, he pounded those skins channeling Bonham himself.  Raw and thumping but catchy tunes, Black Mondo Grass is one to watch.  I hear they are in the process of recording their first album (they haven't been together that long)

The bassist looked a bit like a deer caught in the headlights, but... well... isn't the bass pretty boring anyways?  The 7 foot tall Slash look-a-like guitarist could play really well as could the other guitarist.  They put themselves into the show completely and you could hear it.

The Outliers were the headlining band.  Softer than BMG and really clean cut, they rocked but not as hard.  It was actually a fundraiser for them as all their gear was stolen... Maybe that's why they weren't as good as the other bands?  The drummer had to play someone else's kit, does that explain the uninventive beats? The vocals were scratchy but ok, a few of the songs rocked but not most.  There was not a lot of sweat pouring into this show except from the singer.  I left early.