12.01.2006 Transmission Festival

The premise of the transmission festival is to take 20 or so of the best unsigned indie bands in the world and bring them to Vancouver to strut their stuff for 200 or so industry reps and delegates. There would be 2 showcase nights, each having 2 stages and live showcases non-stop.

In terms of "best unsigned indie bands", the organizers seem to have gotten the Canadian portion of the roster correct. I can't complain there. The non-North American portion i can't really comment on. However, the U.S portion seems to be lacking in general, or maybe my idea of good indie bands differs from the organizers.

After a bit of research, I find out that the event is being held at the Roundhouse Community and Arts center in Yaletown. Not the kind of place you'd expect to find a show. The venue was remarkably nice. The stage setup and sound were exceptional in fact. Good mixes all night and killer sound. All the sets were filmed in one form or another. Probably done by MSN sympatico for future broadcasts.

I got there pretty early, really just in time to catch Wintersleep doing their soundcheck. Really odd being one of 2 people in the audience. From what I heard, played Archaeologists and Jaws of Life. Talked to Loel for a bit. Found out 4/5 of their members were sick. WinterFlu. heh.



The Little Ones started the night off. They were ok. I think they're twins. Possibly the male version of Tegan and Sara. Sort of an indie dance/pop feel to it.



Wintersleep was awesome as usual. Perhaps a little reserved and (for lack of a better term) sterile (due to the unresponsive crowd).

Setlist

Search Party
Weighty Ghost
Murderer
Orca
Archaeologists
Nerves Normal, Breath Normal

Mr. Hudson and the Library, aside from his somewhat interesting name, was fairly lacklustre.

I checked out CircleSquare because I thought I'd heard of them before. For some reason I thought i recognized them as an opener in the US hardcore or metal scene. After seeing them, I doubt I was thinking of the same band. CircleSquare was fairly boring because of their sound came across as monotonous. If it wasn't' for the fact that they had a video (random footage) going on while they were playing, I would have fallen asleep.

Hawksley Workman did not play his radio hit. (I don't know what it was called, "strip tease for me baby.") Maybe he's serious about getting signed and realized he shouldn't be playing shitty songs. He still does nothing for me.



Out of all the bands I hadn't heard of prior to today, Super 700 was probably the stand out. They're a Berlin based band playing alternative rock in english. Comprised of a keyboardist, bass, drums, guitar and flanked by 3 fairly attractive, on average female vocalists, they held my attention for the the duration of their 30 min set. They kind of remind me of Garbage (the band), pre electronica era.

Last time Small Sins were in town, they stole the headlining slot from Wintersleep. Out of spite I left left early. They're really not that bad of a band. They like to bring the dance party. As a result there were people (just a few) dancing up a storm at the front. Yep, they're a pretty fun band to watch. In my eyes they went from 'wouldn't pay to see them' to 'would watch them if they opened up for someone I like'. Definitely one of the better sets of the evening.

Malajube rounded out the night. I got into the room mid-way through their soundcheck. They were jamming on an instrumental number. Pretty cool. By now it was later on in the evening, weeding out the industry stiffs, leaving mostly fans and dedicated suits. The crowd reaction was really good. They even filled the front of the stage when the singer asked them to come closer. My only complaint was the song selection. I would have liked to hear la russe or some of their other more up tempo songs.

Setlist

Pate Filo
Casse-Coc
Monogamie
Pivate
Etienne

rating:
$20/$0