This great Kermit doing Needle in the Hay a la Royal Tenebaums is pretty wicked awesome. And honestly, kind of caps off quite the day. On the other hand, that video + the 2nd one = me watching the opening sequence to the movie and that actually salvaged the day.
Did watching the Weird Science last night and in particular the end, where Garry and Wyatt drop off Deb and Hilly really spark the first post in like forever? I think it did. Gulp...
(Photo: Monceau)
January hasn’t been the kindest month for the pocketbook. Your credit-card statement from the holidays left you wondering why in the hell you spend large bills on people you can’t stand. Your RRSP account went down like a champagne bottle on New Year’s Eve thanks to the Yanks’ wacky concept on how to pay for a house (or not). And you had to shell out a couple of hundred on those snow tires you should’ve bought four months ago.
Now, Mardi Gras is coming up and you’re in the mood to get funky. But you want to keep it cheap and casual. Luckily, this past weekend one of the best bands going was in town. Had the deadbeat editor been able to post, he would have been able to tell you about this Friday:
"For just $13.50, you can get in Saturday night to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. The notoriety of the bluesy Vermont band is rising fast Stateside. Their 2007 release “This is Somewhere” finished sixth in the year-end listener poll at WDST, the coolest radio station you’re not listening to, and this appearance in Vancouver presents the best value you may see in 2008. Don’t pass it up."
Here are the highlights for the Vancouver music scene for February (***-I have my tickets; **-If I could afford it, I’d go; *-Give me a freebie and I’m there, and I’ll buy the first round):
Feb. 5: Editors/Hot Hot Heat, Commodore**
Feb. 5: The Kon Tikis, Railway Club*
Feb. 8: Dustin Bentall, Run GMC, Bourbon*
Feb. 10: Matt Costa, Commodore*
Feb. 11: Jim Bryson, Media Club*
Feb. 11: DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, Commodore**
Feb. 12: Feist, Orpheum***
Feb. 13: Wyclef Jean, Commodore*
Feb. 14: Sean Costello, The Yale*
Feb. 15: Mika, Orpheum**
Feb. 16: Ladyhawk, Commodore*
Feb. 17: Marilyn Manson, Queen Elizabeth Theatre*
Feb. 18: John Mellencamp, PNE***
Feb. 21: Corb Lund, Commodore**
Feb. 21: Bonobo, Richard’s on Richards*
Feb. 22: The Hives, Commodore*
Feb. 26-27: Johnny Winter, The Yale***
Feb. 27: Gregory Isaacs, Commodore*
Feb. 28-29: Daniel Wesley, Commodore**
Not a bad start to a Friday with solo work from Weezer's Rivers Cuomo out. Sounds purdy and the mustaches in full effect and it also features trampolines!
So Conan O'Brien is back on the tubes. And the idea of him doing Radiohead's 'Creep' on Rock Band and then doing Beastie Boys 'Sabotage' as Edith Bunker is, well, pretty funny.
(Blue Rodeo at Bluesfest XXXIII. Photo credit: jessica @ flickr)
So what’s with the lame New Year’s Eve in this burg anyway?
Sure, the action on Granville Monday night was more lively than usual, but watching a countdown on an unspectacular clock makes us look more Mayberry than Olympian. Just throw together a stage outside the Commodore, stick an amp, a drum set and a mike stand on top, drop a giant inukshuk at midnight and trawl out 54/40 for some rockin’ tunes.
Seems simple. Toronto can do it.
All it would take is a little bit of effort. Then again Vancouverites aren’t about work, are we? Ah, well, I guess our sleepy little town will never be all it can be. Too bad, since we could do a hell of a job of throwing a bash with the climate and all. What the city needs to do is enlist the help of some NYE veterans, like the guys from Blue Rodeo, who’ve gotten Nathan Phillips Square in TO hopping numerous times in sub-zero temps.
The Little Canadian Band That Could stops into town for a two-date set at the Orpheum this month. I’ll be in the second row in the Orchestra Pit – come by and say, “Hey, hey, I guess it hasn’t hit me yet, I fell through this crack and I kinda lost my head…”
If you’ve never seen Greg Keelor, Jim Cuddy and crew, shame, shame. Resolve to support great musicians this year, starting with these venerable and humble guys who Rolling Stone once said are “good enough simply to let the music do the talking”.
Here are the highlights for the Vancouver music scene for the first 31 days of the new year (***-I have my tickets; **-If I could afford it, I’d go; *-Give me a freebie and I’m there, and I’ll buy the first round):
Jan. 4: Pride Tiger, Cobalt*
Jan. 8: Birds and Kites, Media Club*
Jan. 10: Fall From Grace and the Vincent Black Shadow, Plaza Club*
Jan. 11: Big and Rich (with loads of guests), Pacific Coliseum**
Jan. 11: Patti Labelle, River Rock*
Jan. 11: Mark Farina, Commodore**
Jan. 12: Michael Buble, GM Place**
Jan. 14-15: Blue Rodeo, Orpheum***
Jan. 15: Classified, Plaza Club***
Jan. 18-19: Amanda Marshall, River Rock**
Jan. 18: Hedley and Pride Tiger, Croatian Cultural Centre*
Jan. 18: Shuyler Jansen and Deep Dark Woods, Railway Club*
Jan. 19: Hedley and Pride Tiger, Commodore*
Jan. 19: SNFU, Red Room*
Jan. 21: Dan Deacon, Richard’s on Richards*
Jan. 24: The Bravery, Richard’s on Richards***
Jan. 25: Loverboy, Commdore* (just for the laughs)
Jan. 26: Macy Gray, River Rock**
Jan. 28: Silverstein and IllScarlett, Croatian Cultural Centre*
Jan. 31: Chris Smither, St. James Hall***
Sinatra and Deano singing about some sort of magical Marshmallow world? You betcha.
And you're damn right. If I'm posting Bear Force 1 videos, that you need some S Club 7 Christmas too. And yes, my postings this week consist of mostly Youtube. Deal with it.
If there is a song that sums up a cold Monday in December, this is it:
Yes, Graham. This is "Easily The Best Video Ever Made". And yet, his new reality show Father Hood looks not so good. What up?
(Bon Jovi at Giants Stadium, Photo credit: Rock and Racehorses)
If you didn’t know better you’d think New Jersey had decided to invade the Lower Mainland. Bruce Springsteen tix just hit Ticketmaster for the Boss’s March 31 show (got mine!). Meanwhile, the Devils skate over to the Garage to face the Canucks on Dec. 18.
Before they arrive, Bon Jovi charges into town on their steel horse — and with more makeup than five hetero males should ever carry — for back-to-back dates at GM Place on Dec. 15 and 16. I normally wouldn’t get excited about an obscenely overpriced ticket that’s more about commercial sales than artistic merit, but this tour is in support of a new album, “Lost Highway”, that’s damn good. Bon Jovi could always put on a stadium-rocking show that rivals most acts, now they’ve got some really outstanding tunes to fill the space while you’re waiting to hear “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer”.
The other two big-name shows at GM Place are the Spice Girls (Dec. 2) and Van Halen (Dec. 5). But you’re not shelling out for that junk, right?
Here are the highlights for the Vancouver music scene for December (***-I have my tickets; **-If I could afford it, I’d go; *-Give me a freebie and I’m there, and I’ll buy the first round):
Dec. 3: Tori Amos, Orpheum**
Dec. 7: Tower of Power, Red Robinson Theatre*
Dec. 8: Apostle of Hustle, Plaza*
Dec. 9: Sharon Jones and the Dapkings, Commodore*** (Go see this show!!)
Dec. 13: Shonen Knife, Richard’s on Richards*
Dec. 13: The Blakes, Media Club*
Dec. 15 and 16: Bon Jovi, GM Place***
Dec. 31: Tom Cochrane, Red Robinson Theatre**
Remember 20 years ago when Canadian music went from laughable (oh, hey, BTO’s on the radio again) to pretty damn cool in what seemed like a matter of months? Thanks to VideoFACT and MuchMusic (which actually played videos in their entirety back then), Canadian acts were showcased nationally and many of us liked what we saw and heard. Actually, we liked it a tonne. From 1986-1989, the Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Sarah McLachlan, Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, and 54-40 all released debut albums to critical and commercial success. Before their arrival, DJ’s were stuck with such a lack of home-grown choice a drinking game could be played every time a Canadian Content regulation was fulfilled. (That’s “Standing in the Dark” by Platinum Blonde, they're from Canada - take a shot!) Luckily for us, our best musicians got their due. Those of us who have enjoyed their careers from the beginning felt a sense of national pride that we could produce talent more than capable of holding its own on stage with whatever came out of New York or London or Sydney.
Since then, Canada’s continued to produce outstanding acts, but the corporate machine has won out. If this was still 1987, Kathleen Edwards, Matt Mays, Stars and Classified would be as successful as the Hip, Maestro Fresh Wes and McLachlan were then. While the critical acclaim for Canadian music has never been greater, commercial success isn’t there unless you can land a deal with Apple to get your video constantly shown on iPod commercials (are you sick of “1-2-3-4” by Leslie Feist yet?). Instead, bland, gimmicky acts get the attention and many of us have to dig for the great music within our borders.
One of the best comes to town this month when Broken Social Scene plays the Commodore. These guys and gals aren’t only among the most talented bands going, they’ve got the coolest collective around. Based in Toronto, they only have two permanent members (Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew), but the band can at any time include 19 musicians who drop in and out of recording sessions. When they play live, you never know who you might get. BSS members include Feist, Jason Collett, members of Stars, Metric, Apostle of Hustle and Treble Charger. They play award-winning music that’s ambient, psychedilic and, at its best, mesmerizing. Hear ’em play songs by Drew on Oct. 25 and don't surprised to see something of an encore on Oct. 29 when Apostle of Hustle (aka Andrew Whiteman) takes the stage. (Watch Apostle of Hustle - National Anthem of Nowhere)
(Black Francis, Credit: Will Fresch)
Here are my highlights for the Vancouver concert scene in October (***-I have my tickets; **-If I could afford it, I’d go; *-Give me a freebie and I’m there, and I’ll buy the first round):
Oct. 1: Klaxons, Commodore*
Oct. 1: The Aliens, Richard's*
Oct. 2: Chris Cornell, The Centre**
Oct. 2: Built to Spill, Commodore***
Oct. 2: Dick Dale, The Yale*
Oct. 3: The National (with St. Vincent opening), Commodore***
Oct. 3-4: Black Francis, Richard's*
Oct. 4: Down, Commodore*
Oct. 6: Foreigner, Red Robinson Theatre*
Oct. 6: The Weakerthans, Commodore**
Oct. 10: Nick Lowe, Richard's***
Oct. 11: Mondo Generator, Commodore*
Oct. 12: Sum 41 and Finger Eleven, GM Place*
Oct. 17: Kanye West and Ludacris, GM Place**
Oct. 17: Tokyo Police Club, The Plaza Club*
Oct. 19-20: 54-40, Commodore***
Oct. 20: Final Fantasy, Richard's*
Oct. 20: Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie, GM Place*
Oct. 21: Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift, GM Place*
Oct. 21: The Mobius Band, Media Club**
Oct. 25: State Radio, Richard's**
Oct. 25: Broken Social Scene, featuring songs of Kevin Drew, Commodore***
Oct. 26: Justin Nozuka, Media Club*
Oct. 27: Brandi Carlile, Commodore***
Oct. 29: Apostle of Hustle, Commodore***
Oct. 30: Henry Rollins, The Centre**
Oct. 30: Boys Like Girls, The Plaza Club*
Oct. 30: Billy Joel, GM Place**
This video is amazing for a variety of things. For one, Peter has an incredible mustache. It's also featured in the Wes Anderson short Hotel Chevalier that Steve Jobs doesn't care if we see. It's still super awesome.
Okay. I'm not sure this is cool, but Mandy Moore singing Rihanna's Umbrella is pretty awesome. And it feels like our 7 months of rainy monsoon season may start today. Posting this video isn't cool, but whatever. And really whats with these three points 1. What is with all the extreme closeups of Mandy? 2. Honestly Mandy, would it kill you to rock some high heels? 3. Creepy Klingon head Rihanna in video format in the background.
Somehow on Friday night I ended up watching this ridiculous music act at the Railway Club. That 1 Guy, who seems to play some sort of vacuum cleaner or something - he apparently calls it his magic pipe. It was totally sureal, almost as sureal as watching the three idiots doing Dr. Pepper shots at the bar like it was 1994 all over again. Whatever, I'm over it.
Oh Britney what the hell was that? I think Perez kind of summed up the whole disaster best. It was a terrible award show too - one long commercial for The Palms. I'm just pissed that we didn't get to see the Tommy Lee vs Kid Rock fist fight. That's hot.
This Cadbury ad is making the rounds. Gorillas playing drums are totally rad.
I'm probably way late to the game of enjoying Richard Cheese, but whatever. My mind is fairly mushy, since I entered the utterly ridiculous 3-Day Novel contest. What was I thinking. 100 pages and 25,000 words of pure drivel into the mail shortly. I'm sure Starbucks enjoyed the extra money this weekend. Bastards.
PS: Richard Cheese is freaking amazing! that is all.
The concert scene is supposed to cool down come Labour Day. Not this year for Vancouverites. September offers more hip-shaking, head-banging, toe-tapping, shroom-tripping good times than any month since … hmmm … well, I’ve been here. Every week has multiple shows that are must-see for music fans and they’re spread through the Lower Mainland’s many outstanding venues (civic strike permitting). There are even a couple of days where it’s hard to decide who to see. On Sept. 17, Mute Math plays the Commodore while Editors headline at Richard’s on Richards. Tip the door guy and see if he’ll let you run from one to the other between sets (might work at Richard’s, but not the stricter-than-a-nun’s-ruler Commodore).
Rock fans are especially happy because three iconic bands – the Flaming Lips, Smashing Pumpkins and Arctic Monkeys – strum into town. Squealing girls get to see Justin Timberlake and old folks will breathe some Aqualung with Jethro Tull. The Canadian scene is represented by singer/songwriters Matthew Good and City and Colour (aka Dallas Green). (Yeah, Honeymoon Suite’s coming too, but we’re highlighting the good, remember.)
Even when things go bad they work out just fine. Trashy Amy Winehouse cancelled her Commodore gig for Sept. 24, but that only means the guy scheduled as her opening act – Scottish sensation Paolo Nutini – becomes the headliner. Way better value as far as I’m concerned. And when the Orpheum can’t be used because of the no-end-in-sight civic strike, Crowded House’s show for Labour Day Monday was moved to Malkin Bowl, one of the best outdoor venues in the country (as long as it doesn’t rain).
Here are the highlights for the Vancouver music scene in September (***-I have my tickets; **-If I could afford it, I’d go; *-Give me a freebie and I’m there, and I’ll buy the first round):
Sept. 1-2: Gladys Knight, River Rock**
Sept. 2: Tokyo Police Club, Plaza Club*
Sept. 3: Crowded House (with Pete Yorn), Malkin Bowl***
Sept. 5: Justin Timberlake, GM Place*
Sept. 7: Spoon, Commodore**
Sept. 7: Wolf Parade, Richard’s**
Sept. 7: Velvet Revolver, Pacific Coliseum*
Sept. 8: Brian Jonestown Massacre, Commodre**
Sept. 12: Richard Thompson Band, Commodore*
Sept. 12: Sean Kingston, Plush*
Sept. 13: Medeski Scofield Martin and Wood, Commodore**
Sept. 14: King Yellowman, Commodore*
Sept. 17: City and Colour, Orpheum***
Sept. 17: Mute Math, Commodore*
Sept. 17: Editors, Richard’s**
Sept. 18: Flaming Lips, Orpheum***
Sept. 18: Hot Hot Heat, Commodore*
Sept. 20: Matthew Good, The Centre*
Sept. 21: Peter, Bjorn and John, Commodore**
Sept. 23: Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party, Commodore*
Sept. 24: Smashing Pumpkins, PNE Forum**
Sept. 24: Paolo Nutini, Commodore**
Sept. 24: Josh Rouse, Plaza Club*
Sept. 25: Korn, Pacific Coliseum*
Sept. 25: They Might Be Giants, Commodore*
Sept. 29: Jethro Tull, Red Robinson*
Sept. 30: Arctic Monkeys, PNE***
Sept. 30: The New Pornographers, Commodore*
Of course she's not. Amy Winehouse, who was set to play Vancouver's Orpheum in September has postponed her fall US-Canada tour. Gawker suggests this is to "to focus on getting her liver back in condition for her October/November 'Drinking Myself To Death' tour of the U.K. and Europe." I was really looking forward to this trainwreck coming to town. Bummer. [Gawker]
Elvis died 30 years ago today. Because of that, and a bunch of other things like trying undertstand that at somepoint last night I heard somebody refer to The Stone Temple as the "Stone Tizzy", posting will be light. Thanka verra much for your patience. [Elvis.com]
At some point a coworker ripped out an ad for some music acts in Vancouver playing in the next month and handed it to me. The fact that on September 1st you could see Billy Bob Thornton in all his glory live deep in the heart of Coquitlam no less, at the Red Robinson Show Theatre is ridiculous + amazing. Or cray-zee. not sure which.
PS: I think I could do a whole feature on Mr. Thornton's website. Like how amazing his greeting is.
Looks like The Lamplighter will be going dark after tonight's final show. [Georgia Straight]
I cannot emphasize how much the Commodore Ballroom rocks as a venue to see live music, but of course it helps when the show itself is amazing.
Last night, Jarvis Cocker took to the stage and if I said the show was great, that would be an understatement. Obviously the many years he spent fronting the incredible Pulp have helped him develop a great performance style. Quirky and funny, his clever banter was second only to the dramatic timing of his musical choices. Ending with the song Black Magic right before the encore was a decision of staggering genius.
And just as an aside, if you're a big fan of the Chuck Taylors, the Commodore is seriously the place to go... At one point we spotted four identical pairs of black All-Stars, all in a row. I believe there was a his 'n hers matching set as well. Totally adorable.
OK... Your ex-wife is fresh out of rehab, no one bought your album and you can't get real job because you heart your bling just a little too much. What do you do? Well... if you're Kevin Federline, you start your own search engine. What makes this search engine the most special (and I'm kind of thinking short-bus special), is the fact that you can win K-Fed merchandise.
Google is shaking in its boots.
Who knew that eating a curry and good music went so well together? I was almost distracted by the food and nearly missed catching this songstress' performance on the Brit Awards a couple of weeks ago. More than a little bit of fun and full of soul...
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