Vancouver Music Reviews

Photos courtesy of Dominic Cho

Well this night was very interesting to say the least. I wasn’t 100% sure if I was going to come out to this show at The Biltmore, mainly because I was heading up early in the morning (when I say early… I mean 6 AM!) to cover the Whistler Music Festival. But I’m not a person that worries too much about sleep deprivation, so I ended up going and now you all have an article to read. So this is solely for your reading pleasure and just to let you know, I’m dead tired and still recovering. The things I do for you guys… Read more »

Photo taken by Rena Hood Lundrie

With summer upon us and the patios calling our name, The Arbutus Collective brings that beach music straight from your speakers and into your ears, while leaving you relaxed and wanting summer to never end. Coming straight from Vancouver, B.C., this four-piece band blends everything you love about summer into notes and melodies that just make you want to spend the rest of your life living as a beach bum.

The Arbutus Collective is fronted by vocal, guitar, harmonica, ukulele extraordinaire Brandon Chalmers, Jeremy Rae, who is equally as talented but was absent for the show at The Media Club, Steve Wasstrom on drums, and Jemia Fong on bass. Playing for family and friends, Brandon’s songs soon became campfire favourites and upon meeting up with Jeremy, they soon formed what would be known as The Arbutus Collective. Influenced by such artists like Ben Harper, Simon & Garfunkel, and most noticeably Jack Johnson, Brandon and company provide the perfect atmosphere to just mellow out and enjoy the sunset. After playing open mic nights and other various shows, they were recruited by Josh Bowman of Warehouse Studios to record a demo and are now currently working on a full-length disc set to be released summer 2008. If you can’t find them touring “you may be able to find them at one of your local beaches watching the embers burn down over a good old fashion sandy jam!” Read more »

This could have been the best show review ever, but somebody blew it bigtime and forgot about the release party that happened last Saturday for the first ER Compilation. Gah! And exactly how rad was the show? Brie from Scratch Records posted THIS on my message board the next day: “[The album is] totally out! The release party was last night and I didn’t get home until 7am!” Seven in the morning, babies. That’s a party and a half! C’est la vie, I suppose. So on to the next best thing…the record review! Read more »

I love bands that aren’t very good yet. You know what I mean? Brand spankin’ new bands that have a lot of potential but are still not quite ready to rock nuts. There’s something about them that’s so endearing that I can’t help but have a good time at their shows despite the fact that things are just a little bit disastrous. Last night’s set by Vancouver locals Catamaran was just such a show. Please keep in mind as I rattle off a list of oddities with their performance that I actually do like these kids a lot, okay? Okay. Read more »

Said the Whale CD Release Party
With Special Guests Maurice and Lotus Child
Biltmore Cabaret – Thursday, June 5th, 2008

First up on the bill was my old nemesis Jean-Paul Maurice and his new band, simply called Maurice. I guess I shouldn’t use words like ‘nemesis’ unless I’m talking about idiot bands like Prox, but it would behoove this review to say that I saw our kid open for Sarah Slean in oh-five and to quote the notes I took at the show, his solo performance was the “epicenter of emo-horror”. Regardless, JP and the kids served up a MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT last night on the second-last stop of their mini Spring tour. Read more »

Well first things first. The Penthouse. You don’t usually find a live music event in the heart of strip central, but I have to say, I was really impressed by how the night turned out. No there were no strippers, and no there was no pole in the middle of the stage. Instead, we had a great trio perform that left the crowd awestruck.

This night was organized by the Vancouver Artists Collective Association, or better known as VACA. This organization was created in June 2006 that brings together a local network of photographers, painters, writers, dancers, models, and, of course, musicians. The artistic talent that dwells in the heart of Vancouver undoubtedly values this mini-society and greatly appreciates the hard work and dedication they have in promoting the pool of talented individuals that resides in our city. They help organize events, such as the one I attended, and do a great job of promoting it as well. Every Sunday, they arrange an affair known as the Circle of Songwriters. This show features performances by three local musicians and the one I was lucky enough to attend, included the likes of Dan Mangan, Nat Jay, and James Lamb. And better yet, this entire night was recorded by CBC Radio 2, which has a section for “Concerts on Demand,” and you can listen for yourself and decide if this review is total crap or if it’s bang on. Read more »

Okay kids, I’m back with the final installment of what I experienced during the New Music West Festival this year. Keep in mind that I was only able to catch sixteen bands out of about two-hundred and fifty so yeah, NMW is a pretty big deal around these parts. Hopefully by this time next year there will be even more local music websites in Vancouver and between us all we can write about the vast majority of the good folks that come all the way to the Rain City just to play for us. On with the final two reviews! Read more »

Well, calamity struck yesterday and I didn’t get to attend ANY shows but don’t you worry kids because I’m making it up to you today! Are you ready? Here it is! The six-bands-in-one-night (May 17th) revue! Woo! Read more »

So I was originally supposed to review five bands again tonight, but I totally effed up the time and missed the seven o’clock show put on by The Fury at the Blarney Stone in Gastown. This is the second time since the festival started that I’ve missed a gig at that spot, so come hell or high-water I’m going to make it there sooner or later. The second band I missed was called Smoosh who were up from Seattle. By the time they were scheduled to hit the stage, I was honestly just too tired to see another show. I’m starting to see how classic rock writers like Lester Bangs and Nick Kent ended up in unholy relationships with amphetamines. Not that I would advocate those shenanigans. Anyway, onto tonight’s reviews! Read more »

Surrey locals Versus the Nothing are a really nice bunch of guys. In what would become a stark contrast to the opening remarks of Southern Death Threat, Versus the Nothing chose to open their set by modestly thanking everyone for coming to the less-than-ideal gig before rocking as hard as they could at 7pm to an empty room (I counted thirty people, including the bartender and waitress). The highlight of their set was the first single from their new album ‘Let It All Come Down’ , which goes juh-juh-juh-juh-juh, haha, you get the picture. It’s a tried and true formula for the lads, but they play with a lot of heart and while they’re not doing anything that hasn’t been done, they do give it their best and they’re entertaining as all hell. The members of the band formerly known as Elixir are capable musicians, their set was tight, and their lead singer is able to shred vocals with the best of them. Is this a band destined for greatness though? Probably not. However every city needs a couple of these solid alt-rock bands in order to maintain a base of decent live music. Read more »