NEW VIDEOS featuring sparklers : Hey Rosetta! & The Rural Alberta Advantage

Both videos are for songs from their respective upcoming albums, HR!'s Seeds and The RAA's Departing.

Hey Rosetta! - "Yer Spring"



The Rural Alberta Advantage - "Stamp" (courtesy of Rolling Stone)

Best of 2010 : Top 10 Live Shows

2010 was amazing for live music in Vancouver, most notably due to the Olympic games and its twin component the Cultural Olympiad in the earlier part of the year. With all that being said, the cream floats to the top, and certain shows stand out as definitive. There's always those few shows that you mention over and over to friends, those "and when so-and-so did this... I FREAKED OUT!" moments that you can't help but relive. Below are those shows for me in the past year. I'd love to hear what yours were as well!

This past year, I had the pleasure of seeing several Vancouver-based artists several times, including Hannah Georgas, Said the Whale, We Are the City, Aidan Knight, and Dan Mangan. I was fortunate enough to cover the Vancouver Folk Music Festival once again, as well as play witness to the first rendition of the Live at Squamish Festival. For the full list of shows I had attended, you can check out my concert listings.

Without further ado... the top 10 ticket stubs of 2010. Links to original reviews or photos when available.

#10: Great Lake Swimmers at Vogue Theatre- January 29

#9: Malajube at Performance Works (Cultural Olympiad) - February 12

#8: Timber Timbre at Jericho Beach (Vancouver Folk Music Festival) - July 17

#7: Hey Rosetta! at the Orpheum - February 19

#6: Hollerado at Live at Squamish - September 4

photo: Skot Nelson

#5: Hawksley Workman and Jill Barber at Richmond O-Zone - February 17

#4: Diamond Rings at Biltmore Cabaret- November 20

#3: Mumford and Sons at the Vogue - October 23

#2: The Bonfire Ball (Jason Collett, Zeus, Bahamas) at Biltmore Cabaret and Sugar Nightclub (Victoria) - March 26-27

#1: Arcade Fire at Pacific Coliseum - September 28

Honourable mentions:
Library Voices, Paper Lions & Bend Sinister at UBC Pit Pub, Oct 29;
The Malahat Revue (Hannah Georgas, Jeremy Fisher, Aidan Knight, Said the Whale) at Vancouver Folk Music Festival, July 18;
Hannah Georgas w/ Colleen Brown at Venue Nightclub - May 22;
Jamie Lidell at Venue Nightclub, June 14.

NEWS BITES : Hey Rosetta! and BSS tour dates, Arcade Fire streams show, and much more!

St. John's six piece Hey Rosetta! have announced tour dates that take them from their hometown, to China, to a cross North American tour. The last time they were in Vancouver, they were opening for Stars, and the audience actually booed when an encore wasn't granted. Needless to say, Tim Baker and crew are a band that you need to catch live.

Tour dates:

8/6 St. John's, NL - Bannerman Park (Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival)
8/11 Shanghai, China - Canada Pavilion (World Expo)
8/12 Shanghai, China - Canada Pavilion (World Expo)
8/13 Shanghai, China - Canada Pavilion (World Expo)
8/17 Los Angeles, CA - Hotel Cafe
8/19 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop
8/20 Santa Barbara, CA - Velvet Jones
8/21 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
8/22 Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Hotel
8/23 Scottsdale, AZ - Martini Ranch
8/24 Tucson, AZ - The Rock
8/26 Dallas, TX - The Loft
8/27 Austin, TX - Emo's
8/31 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
9/1 Nashville, TN - The Mercy Lounge
9/3 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
9/4 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
9/5 Philadelphia, PA - North Star Bar
9/7 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
9/8 Cambridge, MA - Middle East
9/10 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
9/11 Pontiac, MI - The Crofoot
9/12 Columbus, OH - The Basement
9/13 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Club
9/14 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
9/15 Minneapolis, MN - Seventh Street Entry
9/17 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
9/18 Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
9/20 Spokane, WA - The Empyrean
9/21 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
9/22 Portland, OR - Someday Lounge
9/24 Vancouver, BC - The Commodore
9/25 Victoria, BC - Rifflandia
9/27 Kelowna, BC - The Habitat
9/29 Calgary, AB - Republik
10/2 Winnipeg, MB - Pyramid Cabaret
10/4 North Bay, ON - The Wall at Nippissing University
10/6 Hamilton, ON - The Studio at Hamilton Place
10/7 London, ON - Norma Jean's
10/10 Ottawa, ON - Capital Music Hall
10/15 Quebec City, QC - Dagobert
10/16 Montreal, QC - The Belmont

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Head over to MuchMusic to watch Tegan and Sara's latest music video for "On Directing." The track is from their latest Polaris short-listed album Sainthood.

[Edit] It's heeere:



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Toronto's Broken Social Scene has announced 3 additional dates on their Canadian tour. Fan club members can purchase the tickets right now, ahead of the crowd.
December 16 - Ottawa - Bronson Centre
December 18 - Montreal - Metropolis
December 19 - Quebec City - Imperial Theatre
For the rest of the dates, visit their website.

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Arcade Fire will be playing New York City's Madison Square Garden on August 5. The show will be streamed via Youtube and will be directed by Terry Gilliam. For more details, check out this article.

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The Vancouver CBC Broadcast Centre has been hosting a series of what they call the Musical Nooners, where they invite musicians to play outside on the CBC plaza for free at noon, every weekday. I've been able to catch The Malahat Revue, We Are the City and just today, Headwater. Below are some upcoming confirmed artists. For the full list, which will be updated constantly, check out the CBC community blog.

July 27 - Ache Brasil
July 28 - Jon and Roy
July 29 - Kuba Oms
July 30 - Los Paperboys

August 3 - Krystle Dos Santos
August 4 - Mani Khaira
August 5 - Greg Sczebel
August 6 - Eric Lenger et C'est extra Vancouver

August 11 - James Lamb
August 12 - Current Swell
August 13 - Marc Fournier and Hiro Takashiba

August 16 - Kim Churchill
August 17 - Bodhi Jones
August 18 - Andrew Allen

August 25 - Joanna Chapman Smith

NEW PHOTOS : Stars & Hey Rosetta!, Feb. 19 at the Orpheum

No reviews for this show; because needless to say, it was breathtaking and awesome. The only thing I have to say is that when people demand an encore, and you don't give it to them, they will boo! This is what happened with Hey Rosetta!'s set.

 

Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta!

 

Stars

  

Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan

For the complete photo set, visit my Flickr.

Top Albums & Live Shows for 2009

As 2009 is coming to a close, let's wrap up a formidable year in (Canadian independent) music by listing my personal highlights. Feel free to disagree and point me in the direction of your personal favourites!

Top Albums of 2009

Ha, it's not until I researched a bit deeper that I realized a good chunk of my current favourite albums are actually from late 2008! Nevertheless, 2009 saw some strong releases in both full-length and EP categories. Some are Polaris-nominated and some, well, should be.

Honourable Mentions (EPs):  
Zeus - Sounds Like Zeus
J.Period & K'naan - The Messengers EP


7. Metric - Fantasies
6. Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
5. Rose Cousins - The Send Off
4. The Swell Season - Strict Joy*
**1. You Say Party! We Say Die! - XXXX
**1. Joel Plaskett - Three
**1. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
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*note: The Swell Season are not Canadian.
** These 3 albums are virtually tied and are in alphabetical order.

Top Shows of 2009

This past year saw the beginning of my infatuation, now full-blown love with attending live shows. It began in January with the Sam Roberts Band and The Stills at the Orpheum, and ended with Patrick Watson and Aidan Knight**. I've both gone to huge stadium shows (U2, Coldplay) and witnessed small, inattentive crowds in bars (Matthew Barber). 2009 also saw the Junos descend upon Vancouver, and early 2010 will see the Olympics with its associated Cultural Olympiad. I was also able to attend festivals, new (Rifflandia) and old (Vancouver Folk Fest). Who stood out? Keep reading!

Honourable Mention: Hey Rosetta! at Rifflandia -- the set was just way too short.


10. Mother Mother at UBC Pit Pub
Being in the crowd for this fanatic-making show was "like watching Rock Band live," according to the reviewer for the Ubyssey (UBC campus paper). No casual fan left without feeling fanatic and extremely impassioned about this talented Vancouver band.

9. Champion at Rifflandia
His feverish conducting of his team of guitarists and bassists stirred the large crowd into the most rhythmic, hypnotized mosh pit that I've ever witnessed.

8. Hannah Georgas opening for Said The Whale at St. James Hall
This winner of the 2009 CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award for Best New Artist showcased her whimsical lyrics, her playful voice and her chops on guitar with a full backing band consisting of members from Said The Whale.

7. Rose Cousins opening for Royal Wood at the Media Club
I'm not just biased from playing shaker egg for her; it was a phenomenal show. Hilarious and tight knit, musically and personally engaging. Voice like an angel. Upstaged her headliner Royal Wood.

6. Great Lake Swimmers (backed by members of The Breakmen and Rock Plaza Central) at Vancouver Folk Music Festival
Imagine lying in the hot July sun by Vancouver's waterfront, dragonflies flitting above while listening to the angelic melodies of GLS compositions. Tony Dekker's voice surely haunts the halls of heaven.

5. Dan Mangan CD Release for Nice, Nice, Very Nice at the Cultch
There's a drawback to this excellent show; since hearing his material live, I've had a hard time listening to Dan's album. It's hard to capture the raw energy of the band and of Dan's voice that made him so feverishly popular with audiences across Canada and abroad.

4. Joel Plaskett Emergency at the Surrey Fusion Festival
This seemingly impromptu concert, held in one of the most surprising of locales (a relatively far away suburb of Vancouver), was free of charge in a large field in the middle of the city. That didn't stop JPE from putting on an impassioned show filled with favourites from their long career, including from their latest album Three. Peter Elkas singing the back up parts in lieu of Ana Egge and Rose Cousins was the cherry on top.

3. The Swell Season at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
The romance of The Swell Season continues to seduce audiences. To borrow Glen Hansard's phrase, this concert has only made the love for their music "more buoyant." No matter if Hansard or Marketa Irglova was on stage solo, with one another or backed by The Frames, they filled the large theatre with earnest love songs soaked in passion and the grittiness of Hansard's voice.

2. Patrick Watson at the Vogue Theatre
What an inventive, musically satisfying night. Patrick Watson and his band had all ears from the second they took the stage as well as when they left the stage to play through the audience (yes, with the megaphone pack that he sported at the Polaris gala). The delicate, intricate compositions of his latest Wooden Arms came to roaring life in his live show. The audience forgot to breathe and saliva was everywhere from dropped jaws.

1. Joel Plaskett w/ Family and Friends at the Vogue Theatre
A 3-set, 3 hour show from the most personable, lyrically gifted singer-songwriter that Canada has to offer, backed by his father Bill Plaskett, who's an admirable songwriter in his own right, as well as Ana Egge and Rose Cousins, established singer-songwriters with their own critically acclaimed careers. Each artist supported one another and was given their own chance to shine and impress with their personal material, giving the audience a true taste of what the music community should be like.

(Joel Plaskett Emergency, shot at Surrey Fusion Fest)

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** or possibly will end with the NYE party at the Media Club known as One Night Stand, featuring Hannah Georgas, Laura Smith, and members of Said The Whale, The Painted Birds, Elias, Bend Sinister, & The Gentle Infidels. For more details ... here!

Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver - Stars, K'Naan, Veda Hille, and more

No matter what your opinion is regarding the Olympics itself, its effect on its host cities and the inhabitants, its tendency to plunge cities into decades-long debt, or its direct and indirect victims in terms of budget re-allocations... all those heated opinions aside, the Cultural Olympiad of 2010 is bringing some of the best acts in Canada into Vancouver and the international spotlight.

Below are a few of the many ticketed and non-ticketed (i.e. free) events going on in Vancouver and Whistler BC in January to March, 2010.

Stars with Hey Rosetta!
K'naan with Tinariwen
Feist (misspelled Fiest on the website. C'mon; really?)
City and Colour
Malajube
Chromeo w/ Team Canada DJs
Corb Lund
Joel Plaskett (w/ Steve Earle)
Blue Rodeo
Veda Hille Trio

For a full list of music and other artistic events, visit the Cultural Olympiad website here.

Rifflandia Weekend Recap in 5 words or less

As pictures are worth a thousand words each, I thought I'd keep it short.

Longest line-up: Mother Mother
Most improved: Aidan Knight
Best banter: Tegan and Sara
Grooviest: Zeus
Worst venue: Sugar Night Club
Best venue: Alix Goolden Hall
Best word-of-mouth: Holy Fuck

Most photogenic: Zeus (/Hey Rosetta!)
Surprisingly awesome: Timber Timbre
Most mesmerizing: Champion
Shortest set: Hey Rosetta!
Must see: Pink Mountaintops
Regrettably absent (sick): Final Fantasy
Regrettably missed: The Pack A.D. (friend's text: "Holy moley rock and roll just happened")
Rifflandia worth your money?: YES


Photos of each night at Rifflandia:
Thursday Night: Hannah Georgas, Timber Timbre, The Racoons, Shad, DJ Champion and his G-Strings
Friday Night: Aidan Knight, Tegan and Sara, Zeus, The Most Serene Republic
Saturday Night: CHAR2D2, Jon and Roy, Jets Overhead, Hey Rosetta!, Pink Mountaintops

Rifflandia Recap in Pictures : Saturday Night

CHAR2D2

Jon & Roy

Jets Overhead

Hey Rosetta!

Pink Mountaintops

For the complete set of photos, click here. Also photos from Thursday and Friday nights on my Flickr.

Plotting & Planning for Rifflandia

Exciting times; new school year (with new research endeavors), new bachelorette pad (with the sister), new job, new breath of fresh air. And through all that, concert / festival season continues!

Next weekend (Sept. 24-26) I'll be in fair Victoria, BC to cover the Rifflandia Music Festival for NxEW. Likely lots of tweets, lots of pictures, and lots of setlists (I've gotten pretty good at grabbing those).

Next Wednesday night before I depart for the weekend, I'll be going to Basia Bulat's show at St. James Hall, hosted by the UBC Alta Mater Society. This saves me the grief of missing her set in Victoria.

I love her Facebook fan club page name the more I think about it -- Basia Bulat Fan Club: We Love These Woodland Nymph Songs! (It's pretty descriptive.)

So here's my tentative game plan, not taking into consideration how I'll get around ...

Thursday Sept. 24
Hannah Georgas @ 8:00 @ Metro Theatre (1411 Quadra Street)
Final Fantasy (picture, left) @ 9:30 @ Alix Goolden Hall (907 Pandora Avenue)
Shad @ 10:15 @ Market Square (560 Johnson Street)


Friday Sept. 25
I'll likely just stick around at either Sugar night club or Market Square. Most likely Sugar. (Choices, choices...)

Sugar (858 Yates Street)
Library Voices @ 9:30  
Zeus (picture, right) @ 10:15  
Cuff The Duke @ 11:15 
The Most Serene Republic @ 12:00am

Market Square

The Dudes @ 10:30
Mother Mother @ 11:30



Saturday Sept. 26
A toss up between Market Square or Metro Theatre. If it's possible logistically I'd catch Char2d2's set then get to Jets Overhead after.

Market Square
Jon and Roy @ 9:00
Jets Overhead @ 10:00
Hey Rosetta! @ 11:00
Buck 65 @ 11:45

Metro Theatre
Char2d2 @ 8:45
Jon-Rae Fletcher @ 9:45

And now I gotta run this schedule past my good friend Roger who is graciously housing me for a weekend, entertaining me while putting up with my relative absence. He'll be able to tell me if my schedule involves running across town in an impossibly short amount of time...

Tune of the Day - Sept 15, 2009

Hey Rosetta! - Holy Shit (What A Relief)

Off their lush, orchestral and haunting Polaris-nominated disc into your lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood).

I can't find a Youtube clip or an audio clip anywhere (it's not even on their MySpace), so you'll have to take my word for it that this is a song that really, truly is excellent. It exemplifies the load-off-your-back feeling when you shed one of your long-lurking, dark demons, and you feel a relief that courses through your body. Try finding it off their website on the mini player in the top right hand corner...

Holy shit, what a relief

I pulled myself apart, couldn't breathe, tore my hair, bit my skin
I thought of all the dark, all the ash, all the blood, all the grief
I told myself look up - told myself look up and believe
and now this peace - like a blanket - enveloping me.

and holy shit
what a relief...
the worst has come
and turned to leave
and holy shit
what a relief!
all that weight falling from me
and all that breath finally free

This is another song I really like from them - I've Been Asleep For A Long, Long Time. I'm hoping that indirectly, you'll really enjoy this song and check out Holy Shit, which is really a song to heave a large sigh to after a long, difficult time in your life.

(thank you, God.)

Juno weekend review (proper)

Thursday night:
Caught last song in Hey Rosetta!'s set. They sounded good, had a cellist and a violinist which sounded fantastic.

Friday: (aka. Rock night)
Worked at merch table at main tent, where the Beat showcase was happening. Overheard performances by Kay & Ace (sp?), Divine Brown and Elise Estrada. When I asked who the last person was I got a "omg, you loser" look from one of my co-volunteers. why should I know? all she did was plug Parasuco repeatedly over the course of an hour. Divine Brown has a great voice and sounded very polished, but nothing new. Like a Canadian attempted answer to Beyonce or something.
Snuck into the Fox Showcase (sold out) with a co-volunteer after our shift with our volunteer shirts on. Security guy recognized me and that made things extremely easy.. we felt like such rebels!
Sets--
Incura: winner of Fox's seeds competition. wasn't too much into their style. almost screamo. front man very acrobatically gyrating, very amusing. realized during this set that black skinny jeans = certification for rockers.
Arkells: PHENOMENAL. I broke my no-music-buying Lent rule for their CD... which is a downer. but they were so good. anthemic stadium rock. brought out Zaki Ibrahim and another female singer to sing backup for a couple of songs. Did a rendition of "Ain't too proud to beg" which had everyone singing along. No Champagne Socialist sounded so good live...
Daniel Wesley Band: a more offensive Jack Johnson. I can't believe people moshed to this. Alcohol is a strange substance.
The Trews: SO GOOD. They were visibly confident because they were good and they knew it. Wow, they brought down the tent. I was barely standing.

Saturday: (aka. folk/funk night)
Got up at 6-ish because I was presenting research at a psych conference at 8... gosh. Closest thing to a hangover I'll ever get. Mysterious bruises, groggy, half mute and deaf and head wobbly. Poster presentations went well though, I didn't fall over once! Although I did fall asleep in the talks so I just didnt go after a couple.
Got home, Tim and I went to Cheryl's, the three of us set off to have our musical adventures for that night.
Sets--
Matthew Barber: if I didn't love him, his set would've been only ok. Doolin's was really dingy. a new friend and i went up to the front. we were probably the only 2 in vancouver that knew his music. we were requesting songs and chatting with him haha. guitar + harmonica, charming and good with banter, forgot some of his own lyrics. met Alex, a fellow fan of CBC R3 which was awesome! Also talked with Grant Lawrence (CBCR3 host) and Jill Barber (Matt's also very talented sister). Got a picture with Mr. Barber.
Hey Ocean!: The always talented and fun Vancouver band. Party central! We were very glad to get into Media Club. Missed the first 2 songs of their set but they played for a good hour and 20 minutes or so. their music is catchier than herpes. you can't not dance, it's a physical impossibility. :)

Sunday:
So sleep deprived. Lost voice so couldn't sing at church haha. Kept hoping that the worship band would burst into Caribbean rhythms but alas, t'was not so.
Juno ceremony-- (aka. low point of my weekend)
seat filler. got into GM place after about an hour and 45 minutes. got actually seat filling about another hour after that. Gordon Campbell was right in front of me, as was the bassist from Hey Ocean!. I think they're quite acquainted with each other actually. curious. Gregor Robertson front right. 2 of the judges from so you think you can dance canada (the pretty black lady and the french dude) and Nico (one of the previous winners?) right behind me. Nickelback were about a section over to my right. pondered the likelihood of self getting hurt in a targeted air raid one section over to the right. all that having been said, the only person I wanted to talk to was the Hey Ocean bassist.
Highlights--
Sam Roberts Band: artist of the year, their performance of Them Kids, bassist wearing a poncho
The Stills: performance. unfortunately was blocked off to where i was sitting
Kathleen Edwards & Bryan Adams: KE on violin; did a nice duet where they looked into each others eyes instead of audience. very sizzling and beautiful
City & Colour w. Gord Downie: did Sleeping Sickness, sounded way more upbeat than studio version which is appreciated
Great Big Sea & Hawksley Workman & members of Eccodeck: wrapped up the show with a rollicking finish beyond the credits.
Lights: acceptance speech was good. she's a cutie-patooty. mentioned how it's fantastic to be recognized as a independent musician in a large institution. a small crack in the gloomy clouds, she was.
Lowlights--
Nickelback: DON'T NEED MORE AWARDS. NEED TALENT AND RESPECT FOR WOMEN. they beat Feist for fan favorite (what) and The Trews and Tokyo Police Club for group of the year (WHAT.) album of the year category had really awful nominees so it was no loss. honestly, I felt sick. the whole stadium was roaring. I have never felt so disillusioned about music, nor musically lonely in a sea of people.
Simple Plan: meh.
MCs: Russell Peters was "about as funny as a kick in the nuts," to quote another blogger. The gay guy from video on trial was about as funny as a violent karate session to the nuts then. I'm glad he wasn't in the broadcast.