Vancouver Music Reviews

Photos courtesy of Alex Ramon.

Every music festival seems to have the same problem, garbage. With music put aside for just a minute, I want to talk about the cons of these large outdoor festivals that bring thousands and thousands of people into a cramped environment, where food and water (or beer) is incredibly over priced, and the aftermath of all this consumption leads to an ecological disaster. I saw it at Pemberton, where after the first day water bottles and empty beer cans lay rampant across the field and the staff they employed to collect all this, well let’s just say there weren’t enough of them. That’s one of the reasons why Pemberton might not happen again next year, and it’s a real shame because it was a great festival and everyone I talked to, despite the horrible line ups, really enjoyed the entire weekend. Read more »

Article written by Steve Smysnuik. Photos courtesy of Jon Healy.

I swore I wouldn’t get stoned for this Black Mountain set. This’ll be the sixth time in little over a year that I’ve seen ‘em live and each time has been a blaaaaazed affair. Just once I’d like to experience them with sober ears and sober eyes.

Alas, the second these homegrown boys and girl laid the “Wucan” groove upon us, I knew it wasn’t meant to be. That Pink Floydian Moog beckons some deep-rooted psychological response to smoke something. I’m like Pavlov’s dog with marijuana. Why deny it, anyway? Every Vancouver Black Mountain show is a hazy smoke show and this one, so far, has been no different…except there’s no roof overhead to hotbox. Pot goes hand in hand with these guys. A stranger passed along a little something special and I don’t turn it down…. Read more »

The following article was written by Steve Smysnuik. All photos courtesy of Jon Healy.

Nardwuar the Human Serviette does jumping jacks with that goofy grin and clucking nonsense into the mic while his band of preppy punk rockers, the Evaporators, belt tunes ranging in subject matter from rashes to lack of government subsidies for the homelessness. The Serviette is, without a question, the most irritating personality to have been berthed by Canadian media but he’s entertaining. He runs through the audience, assembles a measly version of the wave in the sparse clusters of people sitting comfortably on their blankets, enjoying the sunshine. The music itself is, well, less than stellar.

“It’s like chaffing up your ass,” Jon the photographer says, “and we have to listen to it.”

Indeed, but the people are smiling and they seem to enjoy it. It’s not about the music, anyway. The Evaporators are a band we watch for “kicks,” for a “larf,” even as Nardwuar takes his shirt off and reveals to the humble below his nappy, hairy chest, as thick as a fleece pullover. And this, Faithful Reader, is how the day begins. Read more »

Article and photos by Chris Morrison.

Riding the wind of his successful TV show Rock of Love; Brett Michaels and his band mates C.C. Deville, Bobby Dall and Rikki Rocket otherwise known as Poison, have embarked on a North American tour.

Sunday night amidst a ruckus crowd loaded with revealing halter tops, big frizzy hair, tight jeans, bandanas and a shit load of Ed Hardy paraphernalia, Poison rocked the shit out of The Red Robinson Show Theater in Coquitlam. Read more »

Photos by Alex Ramon

Vancouver is a metropolitan in its own right, with huge businesses and skyscrapers (sort of…). And this goes for our music scene as well. So I have to ask this question, because there have been rumours for as long as I can remember, why tear down “Richard’s on Richards” and build a condo? If we value our music scene, there should be no reason to tear down a great live venue such as “Dicks on Dicks.” Sure condos are great (actually they’re not…) but what about the Vancouver culture we are trying to build? Music and art are the ones who suffer from this lack of respect and it’s sad when you see great venues shut down. I remember a few years ago, the Buffalo Club got shut down and I nearly cried (OK maybe I didn’t…). But this rant of mine wouldn’t have even happened if it wasn’t for the sudden change of venue. I went to catch Tender Forever and Mirah at “The Biltmore,” but as soon as I got there, there was a sign saying that they were closed for “undisclosed reasons” and “sorry for the inconvenience” but the show was moved to “ROR.” That was fine by me, but I was more concerned about “The Biltmore” than I was about missing the show, and you’ll know why in just a second. But let’s start off with Tender Forever. Read more »

Tally-ho good readers! It’s your old pal Mace with another concert review made possible by the rowdies from Fuzzcat and Whitey, both of whom were goodly enough put us on the guest list for the Fuzzcat CD release party over the weekend. And what a party it was! A ska/punk/funk equivalent of a Saturday night St. Paul’s emergency room defibrillation, if you will. So have a read, and live vicariously through my modest words! Read more »

Photo by Alex Ramon

When you turn on the radio don’t you find that most of the bands sound the same? They all seem to have this proven formula for success and they all seem to follow this to a dime. I’m not sure what this formula is, because if I did I would be ultra famous and have multiple minions doing my bidding. But with this “formula” there really isn’t any originality out there anymore. But of course, there are exceptions with mainstream music, and I’m just making a generalization, but that is what I see happening to the music industry. I guess everything has been done before and every band that does see success is probably just ripping someone off. Ok maybe “ripping off” is a strong word, so let’s just say they were “influenced” by other artists. Dawntreader, in my opinion, brings a unique style of indie rock with a European kick mixed with some good ol’ Canadian flavour, if that makes any sense. Read more »

Pictures courtesy of Alex Ramon

So we’re back on the Pemberton train and going full speed with Low vs Diamond. You might not have heard about this band, or maybe you have, but trust me when I say this, they are the NEXT BIG THING. That is to say if they don’t crash and burn and bite each others heads off, which I highly doubt will happen. But let’s take a look at the bigger picture for a second. There are so many bands out there that have great success off their first album, and then you just don’t hear about them anymore. Why is that the case you ask? Well I just can’t tell you because every band I’ve been in hasn’t had success, but what I think happens (with an emphasis on the “I think” part) is that they just aren’t friends to begin with. Many bands form on the basis of either a hobby between friends or getting rich and famous, or even both for that matter. Those, in my opinion (because I don’t want to upset anyone…), whose sole purpose is to make it big will crash and burn, while those who are friends to begin with have that core group that will last and continue to make great music. Low vs Diamond falls into the later category, and that is why I think they will soon be a household name. Read more »

All photos courtesy of Alex Ramon

Day 3 probably had the most ridiculous line-up, what with Jay-Z and Coldplay ending the night off. To be frank, I expected them to kick some major ass on stage and I wasn’t disappointed. But they get enough exposure as it is. Com’on, it’s the Jigga man for crying out loud! As much as I want to write about them, I think I’ll leave it up to the others to praise Coldplay for having an outstanding set. All I have to say is, it takes a band of outstanding calibre to come to the back of the audience and play a few acoustic songs. But on to some of the bands you most likely have heard of, but not enough of! Read more »

All photos courtesy of Alex Ramon

I have one, and only one, bad thing to say about Pemberton. There is just so much to do and see that there is absolutely no way of accomplishing it all. It’s sad, I know, having all these great acts and having to pick and choose. It’s like trying to decide which son you like more, the older smarter one or the younger cooler one. That’s pretty much what I had to do on Day 2, but what I was able to catch was absolutely amazing. It was such a drag, having to choose which great band I wanted to see. It’s a hard life. Read more »