11.14.2009 Tiesto @ HMV

To preface this entire post, I've got a friend that is just crazy about Trance music. Most of the time when I'm talking to him, all the names of the artists pretty much go over my head. There is one name that he mentioned so often that it pretty much stuck. The one, the only Tiesto. Arguably the top dance/electronica/(or some other subgenre) DJ in the world. Actually, the main reason being it's an instore at HMV and it was free, but I digress. In retrospect, the whole situation seemed a little ill planned considering Tiesto was to spin at a 10,000 seat venue later that night, but first doing a small instore for probably a maximum of a tenth of that.

The lineup for the instore began several hours before the set even took place, with wristbands being handed out around 11 am or so. By the time the show started, it was already dark and the lines were stretching around the HMV building. Tiesto's 4 CD turn tables were set up in the corner of the store closest to the busy Robson and Burrard intersection. The whole store, inside and outside, was jam packed. After a half hour delay, the 30-45 minute set began. Not surprising, the set was intensely loud and the crowd was super into it. There were certain points of the set when I thought they'd have to shut it down due to capacity limits.

In terms of performance, Tiesto's choice of music was certainly catchy and crowd pleasing. However, being the philistine of the Trance world that I am, I wasn't exactly blown away by his technical prowess on the turntables. Other than a couple of on the fly mixing, I really couldn't tell the difference from what he was doing and just pressing play. It's possible he was just saving his 'A' game for later that night, but there were times when I thought he was just phoning it in. Actually my friend who is a DJ and even a Tiesto fan remarked later that his mixing was pretty off that set. Regardless, you had to be impressed at a man who could command a packed house and make them eat out of the palm of his hand. There was definitely no shortage of charisma, theatrics and stage presence behind the decks. Like a well seasoned veteran, he seemed to know exactly how to move and what to do to keep his fans and the mini-party moving and that's all that mattered.

$20/$0

11.07.2009 Land Of Talk / Machu Picchu

The show billed as an early show with doors at 7, which is when I got there. Doors opened an hour later. I don't normally do this, but I actually went to the venue without a ticket thinking it would be undersold and usually tickets are cheaper at the door. This turned out to be a mistake as, the lineup for non-ticket holders had to wait until the ticket holder's line disappeared. As my luck would have it, there was a line up to get in, which I've never had to do at the Biltmore. This was probably due to most people thinking that doors were earlier. It didn't help that everyone who brought their big cold weather rain jackets had to have them coatchecked.

I had a chat with Joe LoT's bassist when I got in. He said to expect a totally different show later in the evening. I shrugged it off thinking it would be just new songs. I had a chance to ask him if they ever played "2 Ships" and "Dark Nature Places" live. It looks like they did, around 2007 for a short period of time. The aforementioned songs, for those who don't know, appeared as bonus tracks on the European version of their 'Applause Boo Cheer Hiss EP', in order to bring it closer to "LP length". There's also a possibility they'll be reworked for a later LP.

I think Machu Picchu is local, but I'm not quite sure. They do sound familiar, I just can't place from where. The drummer was wearing a Cobalt T-shirt. One of the guitarists, I know I've seen him before. Plus I'm pretty sure they're associated with My!Gay!Husband! somehow. I think my overall impression of them is mixed.



This marks my 6th time seeing LoT in one form or another. Admittedly seeing a band this many times makes it harder and harder to leave the show impressed. Fortunately, the show was quite a departure from any of the previous shows. The Biltmore's stage has a curtain that they use to hide the change over. I never would have expected to see a fourth person on stage when they opened the curtain launched into a blistering version of Corner Phone. It took me a minute to realize that Joe was handling guitar duties and the fourth person, who turned out to be their guitar tech, covered bass. This would be the case for a couple of the songs, but most of the set they were still a trio. I should make note that Land of Talk were also using some onstage visuals as well. Most of it consisted just visual background noise, but it still upped the stage ambience of the show. The rest of the setlist varied from the usual staples to include lesser played songs such as, "Troubled" and "Corner Phone". Overall, you couldn't help but be impressed by how tight the band sounded, especially drummer Andrew Barr (which shouldn't surprise anyone seeing as how he also plays in the Slip). Towards the end of the night, frontwoman Elizabeth Powell mentioned how packed it was at the Biltmore and how there was only 120 people last time at the Media Club. Unfortuanately, judging from the crowd of disinterested clubby looking people talking behind me, I've got a feeling they were already letting people in early for the "Dance Party" after the show. Still another good night for one of Canada's best kept secrets.

$30/$10

11.02.209 Regina Spektor / Jupiter One

I've been wanting to see Ms. Spektor since I heard her first (major label) album Soviet Kitsch. A luck would have it, she wouldn't hit Vancouver until the tour afterwards. Unfortunately my school exams kept me from catching her on latter tours. I think that happened twice actually. When I found out that she would be playing at the Orpheum this time around I got excited. It's a beautiful venue and the acoustics in this building are awesome. As I entered the building I overheard someone tell their friend that when their Dad found out that the show was at the Orpheum he offered to go instead just to stare at the decor inside.

Jupiter One apparently knows how to market themselves. They have a who slew of songs that appear on commercials and video games. Sadly I didn't recognize any when I was watching them. I would describe their sound as corporate indie pop rock. I kind of feel sorry for the people on the right side of the venue because the way Jupiter One was set up, they only occupied the left side of the stage. Makes, sense, it's pretty hard to move a grand piano, which was in the center of the stage. Anyways, I found the band to be pretty boring, their sound was a little to safe for my tastes. It didn't help that each member seemed to be confined by an invisible box and wouldn't move outside it until the last song, which is when they started to rock out.

Like I said, I feel sorry for the members of the audience on the right side of the venue, especially in the front couple of rows. Their sight light couldn't have been that great because Regina was on the piano the majority of the time. The length of the grand piano (Steinway and Sons, if you're curious) probably would have obstructed someone's sight line. Anyways, Regina started her roughly 80 min set with "The Calculation", the first song off her new album Far (or as she would like called, Far(t), I didn't bring it up, she did..) I was actually pretty impressed with how well behaved the crowd was. Most people were refrained from talking to their neighbour and spent the night listening to the music. I guess the classiness of the Orpheum rubs off on everyone. A couple songs in, she introduced the band. There was a violin player, a cellist and none other than a certain ex Pearl Jam-mer, Matt Chamerlain on drums. I can only imagine how those previous Commodore shows were. Anyways between songs, Regina seemed humbled by the show of appreciation the crowd had for her after each song. She was taken aback, when between a song, someone yelled out if she would join them for dinner. Being too nice to decline the offer, she went into the next song. She played all the favorites from her past albums, like "Fidelity", "On the Radio" and "Apres Moi", and the majority of the new album, though I was a little surprised she didn't play "Blue Lips". For "Poor Little Rich Boy", the stage hand, brought out a wood chair and put it beside the piano. Immediately I thought there'd be a duet. Instead she was given a drum stick, which she used to perform the song's percussion while playing the piano and singing. She hits the sticks hard too, pretty sure I saw splinters flying. No wonder they were selling drumsticks at the merch table for $5 a stick. The final song of the night was a country song called "Love, You're a Whore". I don't think it was ever released, but it's a very fun song, which got everyone up on their feet and clapping. I guess you could call it a barn burner.

$70/$50

10.18.2009 Matisyahu / Dub Trio

Well, sold out Matisyahu gig in Vancouver. Who would have thought? Does Matisyahu even get airplay in Vancouver? Anyways, before the show, I was wondering who would be opening. To my surprise, it was Dub Trio. It turns out they're part of Matisyahu's backing band. Nice. Apparently people have heard of Dub Trio, or rather fans of Matisyahu have heard of Dub Trio. You'll have to forgive me I still can't believe their fanbases would overlap. Dub Trio's 45 min set was as expected, lots of time changes, spacey "dub" jams, and a whole lot of style changes. Crowd seemed to enjoy it.

Dub Trio's Set:


Now Matisyahu I'm familiar with mainly due to his song "King Without a Crown". When he played it, it sounded totally different. Let's call it the "Dub Trio" version. Highlight of the set was probably Matis doing a full 3-5 min of beat boxing. There were many moments in the set where Matis would just let the band jam out and he would stand by the side of the stage and take in the energy of the crowd and the music. He's probably one of their biggest fans. This was a pretty long show. It's been a while since I've seen a Commodore show go over 2 hours. Actually, if I had to mention anything negative, it would be just that. The show was almost exhausting. Almost every song approached the 10 minute mark and had a fairly loose jam integrated into it. That being said, the energy from the crowd and the strangely mesmerizing intensity coming from Matis made the show.

$15/$0

10.16.2009 Torngat / Role Mach

Torngat at the Toast Collective. So who is Torngat? Well you know that band the Arcade Fire? Well they used to have a french horn player (maybe just live or on record, whatever just not a main member). Well that horn player plays in Torngat. Both bands are from Montreal. Actually, that horn player also plays in a the other Arcade Fire associated band, Bell Orchestre. I double checked he's in those pictures I have from that Bell Orchestre show I went to in June.

The other question that remains is where is Toast Collective? It appears to be a fairly new diy venue near Fraser and Kingsway (across the street from Les Faux Bourgoeis). This is probably the second most diy venue that I've ever been to. The first one being someone's living room. In fact I'd say this larger than you average person's living room. If you can picture a typical boutique store, it'd be about the same size. I did a rough count, there was about 40 people there. I'd say at least a quarter were either in the opening band or friends of. If there were any more people in the room I'd say it could get uncomfortable real quick, especially with the lack of vents and the fact that the entrance pretty much was beside the makeshift stage. All things considered, I really like this venue, it's a very small, but it's a very cozy spot. That being said I'd probably hate it if it was packed.

The first band was local and started with an instrumental glockenspiel/xylophone piece, which roughly lasted 12 min. Apparently this incarnation of the band isn't what they normally do, as they were billed today as acoustic (which i guess they technically were). Oh btw, the back of the venue has a living room couch setup. As it was, they played on the floor with their friends on the couches, so it was just like playing to their friends in their living room. After the 12 min, the lead singer grabbed an acoustic guitar and they played some other songs I didn't know. I think one of the xylophone guys works at the Biltmore doing sound or something. The last song was sung in Cajun French.



Torngat hit the stage....well front right corner of the room shortly after. Torngat is actually just 3 guys with a whole slew of instruments and effects. I can't remember the last time I saw so much gear stuffed into one corner of the room. The majority of the set was culled from their newest album La Petite Nicole. The old school analog synths which the band uses really gave their music a haunting feel to it. Their music, stage setup and instrumentation really didn't look too out of place in the very indie DIY art space. I think they'd sound pretty wicked in an old church, not that they didn't sound good here. I actually thought the drums would drown everything out, but nope, you could hear everything ok. Their set was a little under an hour, no encore. Probably didn't need one, I think most people were just as happy hanging out with the band afterwards.

more photos from the promoter's website here.

$15/$10

Interview: The Pack AD (Oct 2009)

photo credit: Justine Warrington


The Pack AD will be heading to New York to play at the CMJ 2009 Music Marathon and Film Festival. They were selected to play at CMJ 2009 by applying via their Sonicbids account. A long time ago, I used to work in the same bookstore as Maya.


Please identify yourself(ves) for those reading, what you do in the band and who else plays in the band.

This is Maya Miller - drummer, organizer, and exactly one half of The Pack A.D. Becky Black plays guitar and sings and is exactly the other half of The Pack A.D.


When did The Pack A.D form and how did you come together?

We were in another band with a couple other friends that didn't work out but from it we discovered that we played really well together so we kept it up, just the two of us.


What do you find so inspiring about the blues?

They're a perfect marker as to what to steer away from. Ha, apologies, you've really caught us at a time of change musically. We both love the blues but we never set out to be blues players and in point of fact, we're not. We rock out and incidentally, all rock comes from the blues.


Are there any emerging local bands that you really like?

In Vancouver: Thee Manipulators and Canaries.


Do you ever miss not having a bass player?

We've never had a bass player in The Pack. We never will. Can't miss something you've never wanted.


You'll be traveling to New York to play at CMJ near the end of October,

what makes this festival worth crossing the country for or is it just another show?

It's always worth it to play New York and what better way then CMJ. Campus Stations are crucial to newer bands.


Are there any bands that you want to see while you're there?

Methinks, that once again, we will not be there long enough to do anything but play our own shows :(


What's your favourite song from the 80's?

I believe Becky's current fave is Puttin' on the Ritz by Taco. For me, err, Paint a Rumour by The Eurythmics.

But to be honest, neither of us listen to stuff from the 80's...should we be? Are we missing a trend? Gasp.


What's the coolest thing you've ever bought?

Recently, a pair of boxers with the map to London's tube lines on them. Hard to come up with the coolest thing ever, most things are really cool at first and then to be honest I lose track of them.


Thanks for doing the interview, you have the last word, say what you want to say.

Come to ours shows at CMJ and bring all your drunk friends and tell everybody because that's they way it should go down. People digging a band and sharing it.



http://thepackafterdeath.com
http://www.myspace.com/thepackad

Interview: Immaculate Machine (Oct 2009)

photo credit: IM serious 2009


Immaculate Machine will be heading to New York to play at the CMJ 2009 Music Marathon and Film Festival. They were selected to play at CMJ 2009 by applying via their Sonicbids account. I'm not sure if Brooke got my High on Jackson Hill joke or not.



Please identify yourself(ves) for those reading, what you do in the band and who else plays in the band.

We are a rock band from the West coast. The musicians change but right now we are on tour in Europe with a great lineup: Aden Collinge on drums, Brooke Wilken on guitar and background vocals, Caitlin Gallupe (my sister) on bass and vocals, Leslie Rewega on keys and Brooke Gallupe (that is me) on lead vocals and guitar. We are in a hotel in Hamburg right now and I am writing from my iPod so pardon any bad spelling.


When did Immaculate Machine form and how did you come together?

Immaculate Machine started after high school, with three friends who couldn't find a bass player so made do with a trio. We signed with Vancouver's Mint Records in 2005 and released Ones and Zeros, our first album in a proper studio. Then we did a proper tour, with proper promo in proper venues. It was all very exciting, but it has taken me a while - 4 years I guess - to understand that recording at home and doing certain things a little more casually can have its advantages as well.


As a band from Victoria, being so close to Vancouver, have you ever thought about moving to Vancouver? What keeps you based out of Victoria?


Victoria is a constant source of inspiration for me. Vancouver has a lot more going on, obviously, but in some ways all the action of a big city can stifle its personality. I love living right downtown in the of a small city, somewhere you can be in the social centre. For music business reasons, we should probably leave Victoria, but there is more to music than selling albums. Victoria is very isolated. If we were in the music centre of Canada I am sure we would have done dozens of collaborations with K-os and Sam Roberts and all the movers and shakers and all kinds of big things, but... We tried moving to Toronto one year, but we never did any practicing or songwriting because we were too busy being drunk bohemians.


Are there any emerging local bands that you really like?

It's embarrassing but I have been out of touch with local music ever since we started touring regularly. I swore it would never happen, but hard as I try to get to shows and keep up, it's not easy when you are not playing locally all that often. There are a few great bands, like The Racoons (sic).


I'm sure you're tired of this question, but any update on Kathryn?

Kathryn has been taking a break from music this year due to some personal things. I think she will be doing some stuff with her other band next year and we have been talking about what we want to do with the next Immaculate Machine album. But there is nothing firm yet, just ideas.


You'll be traveling to New York to play at CMJ near the end of October, what makes this festival worth crossing the country for or is it just another show?

We will be crossing the Atlantic for this show! We are finishing a European tour in London and flying to New York just in time for CMJ. We have played it before and the atmosphere is amazing. Some of these industry festival are pure havoc when they take over a town but New York absorbs it so seamlessly that you are just like, yup, New York has a zillion things to do all within easy walking distance, why do i not live here? Last time we played cmj, elijah wood stood in line to see us but since it was sold out he never got in. So it was a no-brainer to submit our sonicbids EPK application this year.


Are there any bands that you want to see while you're there?

I haven't had a chance to look, but I am really looking forward to seeing who is there. I hope the Dodos are, I have been meaning to try to see them.


The new record High on Jackson Hill was recorded in Brooke's parent's house in order to get a more "natural" feel. Was there any point during the recording process where the unconventional environment hindered the process?


The sound is a little rougher of course, but if you are not a hi-fi sound snob, I don't think that is too big a deal. Overall the album is much better.


Do you think you'll be seeing more people smoking on Jackson St?

Jackson Street is a small residential road on a great big hill overlooking the whole city, which is difficult when you are cycling there every day, but a great place to hang out. I have no idea what you could possibly be talking about with regards to smoking.


In the song "Only love you for your car," what car is referenced and whose was it?

It references my teenage years, when a car parked in a dark corner was the only privacy you could really find.


There's a song on the new album called "He's a Biter", what's that about?

My sister does all the artwork for Immaculate Machine and always has. She has a fairly distinct style and one day I saw what seemed to be a direct rip-off in a restaurant in Victoria. When I mentioned that this artist was biting her style, she just shrugged and said, I guess that means it's time to move on. Great attitude, little sis.


What new albums have you been listening to?

Dirty Projectors, Blitzen Trapper, Sleepy Sun... but mostly just a TON of Thin Lizzy.


What's your favourite song from the 80's?

Wow that is a lot to choose from. I guess something from Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers.


What's the coolest thing you've ever bought?

Last week we were in Prague at the Kolbenova flea market, which is a massive massive garage sale in a dusty parking lot where you can buy anything. Anything at all, from coffins to soy milk to rifles all at the same place. Vendors pull up their cars and lay their wares out on a dusty blanket and you go and try to gesture the numbers since no one speaks any English. I bought a postcard stamped by the Nazi authorities when Czech was still occupied.



www.immaculatemachine.com
www.myspace.com/immaculatemachine

10.08.2009 Mono / Maserati

I haven't been to the Biltmore in a while, so it sort of surprised me how tiny the place actually is. It's one of those places that are pretty nice on the inside with quite the cozy atmosphere, however with a low stage, it's not really that great if it's packed and you want to see anything below the performer's head.

I arrived at the venue about 5 min before Maserati got onstage and was able to find a decent enough spot. I've only heard a couple of songs from Maserati, one of them is a definite banger, "Monoliths", the other was more of a atmospheric/soundscapes kind of tune. Being my only exposure to them were those 2 songs, I was sort of expecting a "Boris" type of set, half uptempo rockers, and the other half soundscapes, which could go from boring to brilliant depending on mood. Well they ended up going with the aforementioned and not the later. Their set was pretty much all uptempo stuff. Dare I say it, it was dance-y post rock. The crowd seemed pretty into it, actually there was this girl beside me who was pretty much 'rave' dancing. I didn't find it weird at all, until she started doing it during Mono's set. But yeah, awesome stuff from Maserati, although a lot of their songs sound the same...

Mono came out while classical music was being piped out of the PA system, which was kind of interesting. I snuck a look at the setlist during change over and noticed that there weren't any songs before the last two albums. Not that this should surprise me, because even in their last tour, they mainly stuck to recent material. It was a little disappointing that I wouldn't be hearing tunes that I"ve become used to hearing at a Mono concert like "Halycon" or "Lost Snow". If it's any consolation however, their recent stuff does contain songs with the same elements that made the aforementioned songs awesome (crescendos/airplane take offs, chimey melodic songs). Their drummer has a gong as part of his live setup. I never actually saw him use it, though my friend says he saw him hit it during their first song "Ashes in the Snow". If you were near the front row you would have seen Taka at one point in the show on his hands and knees looking like he was overcome with emotions or in a musical trance. At the beginning of Everlasting light there was a pretty cool glockenspiel duet with Taka and the drummer, on two different sets of glocks. There was no encore, just 90 min of emotion rich instrumental musical energy.

$15/$15

09.24.2009 The Gaslight Anthem / Murder By Death / The Loved Ones / Frank Turner

I think opener Frank Turner almost stole the show from well, everyone. He's a singer songwriter type from the UK playing just an electric guitar. He sings with a lot of passion and energy. At one point he asked for someone in the crowd to play harmonica. (I don't think he cleans it between shows) The volunteer was some scruffy looking guy with a hat and leather pants. That's right leather pants, and no he didn't have long hair, nor was he wearing a matching leather vest to go with it. Weird my calender says 2009 on it. His must say 1983. Fashion police aside, he was fairly decent on the harmonica, even had a pretty good solo when called upon. I'd love to see him play a small venue show.

The Loved Ones followed, with a set of pretty much Warped Tour friendly pop-punk songs. Wasn't really a fan of the music, but they did have a lot of energy despite being one guitarist short. During their set someone was texting (in the front row), which caught the attention of the lead singer who announced he would take the phone away if he caught her doing it again. He later recanted, stating she should do whatever she wants, it's her life. Awww.

Murder By Death was next, and were awesome as usual. They played a few songs each from their entire catalogue; Self described songs about "the apocalypse, whiskey, shitty people and the devi." I don't think there were any off of their first album though. Near the end of the set, Adam played "Bang, Bang" solo. That got most of the indifferent folks in the room interested. They ended their set 40 min set with 'Comin Home.'

As for The Gaslight Anthem, I kind of discovered this band pretty recently. Initially I wrote them off as more emo/pop/punk. Now I wouldn't go as far as calling their stuff any sort of ground breaking or even cutting edge, but I do find their newest album to be a very fun listen. And so is their live show. Their sound does have a throw back sound to it, almost a Springsteen-esque vibe, which would explain this video. Damn the boss is sooo intense. Anyways, lots of energy at this show. Quite a few crowd surfers too. There was no barricade at this show, which meant the roadies and techs spent a lot of the show trying to keep the crowd surfers away from the equipment. After coming back from the encore, lead singer went out of his way to show is appreciation for everyone coming to the show, mentioning that it was a whole lot better than his roofing job in New Jersey. The band played nearly every song off their latest album and a few tracks off their first. There were more than a couple of songs that had false endings. The band sounded great and I think everyone had a lot of fun, audience and band included. I know I did

$25/$34

Awards.

Have been a little lazy on updates. Have a review and maybe some interviews in the future.

Also Congratulations go out to....



Dan Mangan for winning the XM Verge award for Artist of the Year. Mangan takes home $25k as does Alexisonfire who also won for Record of the year, except they have to split the cash 5 ways.

Speaking of Dan Mangan, he and Hey Ocean! can be seen covering Wintersleep's Weighty Ghost at the Western Canada Music Awards here.

And speaking of the WCMAs



Delhi 2 Dublin won for winning the Western Canada award forWorld Recording of the Year. CBC broadcasts the ceremony for the East coast version of these awards. Apparently Western Canada isn't a ratings draw.