Matt Anderson and Wil!

Last Thursday Sharon and I went to the St. James Hall in Kitsilano to see Matt Anderson’s show. Sharon was excited about this dude named “Wil” who was opening. I’d never heard of him (aside from her mentioning his name) and was surprised at how good he was! Near the end he was getting so intense that he blew out a guitar string, which he ripped off and kept rocking out. I discovered later that his website is at ibreakstrings.com. Fitting.

Matt Anderson is this huge (physically — he’s a big dude!) blues singer from New Brunswick that we were lucky enough to see at the Atlantic Canada House during the Olympics. This time he was doing a solo show and I wasn’t sure it was going to measure up to the last performance he did with a small band. Thankfully, I was wrong! He’s funny, and pokes fun at himself with songs about breaking up with ex-girlfriends and jokes about his size.

I’ve got a ticket to Folk Fest this year and I hope he makes an appearance. Dude’s one singer I don’t want to miss.

Spoon!

Last weekend Sharon and I rolled over to the Orpheum with Mark and Melanie to see Spoon perform. Spoon first came to my attention in 2005 after Gimme Fiction was released. There was one song that I liked but the rest never caught me until recently when I began listening to them again. Now I think they’re “the best band ever!” (I say this about a different band every week so don’t take my proclamations too seriously)  That album in particular is huge for me and I kick myself remembering passing up the opportunity to see them when they played smaller club shows.

When the show was announced I nearly peed myself and made sure I was on Ticketmaster’s website to buy tickets at precisely 10am when they went on sale. What I didn’t realize at the time is the opening band was going to be the night’s highlight.

Deerhunter opened and I quite liked their sound. After a few songs, the singer jumped down into the front aisle and started rocking out his guitar. One girl jumped in beside him to bounce around and this triggered an avalanche of people piling in front of the stage to dance. When the guitar solo was over everybody stayed in front and kept the energy up for the rest of Deerhunter’s performance, which continued to be awesome.

Spoon was a more muted affair and I enjoyed their show but found myself nodding off halfway through when they got into some of the slower stuff. It was cool to hear my favorite Spoon songs live though. The problem with Sunday night shows is I have to be up early to run on Monday morning and don’t usually have much energy for late nights. On the way home I was talking to Mark and crashed right into one of the new low-level benches they’ve installed on Granville Street. I shoulda had more than one beer that night. Then there would have been an less-embarrassing explanation than sheer clumsiness. Doh!

It’s Been a Quiet Week

I wrote this a couple of weekends ago and am finally pushing the “publish” button. I’m going to attempt to write up more recent events in the next few days. It’s been busy. Without further ado:

This past week has been chill. Last night was the first night I spent at home for the whole week since Sharon and I have been spending our evenings at her place. She’s up on Main Street and it’s a nicer area to go for runs in. I don’t pass people shooting up in doorways in East Van nor do I cross paths with hookers stumbling home after their evening shift. Not to worry, those things don’t happen regularly, but they have happened.

Speaking of running, this past week I completed the Couch to 5k program so I’m consistently running 30 minutes, three times a week. I put two gym workouts in between and I’ve got a solid week of activity! I feel great and it’s nice to have the cardio worked into my routine. I’ll be ready for the Grouse Grind when it opens up in a couple of months.

Upping the level of activity has left me a little tired at nights. I’ve found the past couple of weeks I’m wiped in the evenings and I end up going to bed early and sleeping like a bear in hibernation. So it means I haven’t done a whole lot and I feel like I’ve retreated from the world. Between people visiting, my new activity level, and spending as much time as I can in the romantic bubble of a new relationship, I’ve been a little disconnected from everybody I normally hang out with.

All’s been quiet on the music front the last couple of weeks too. We’ve all been busy so meeting up for jamming has been tough. With everything going on in my life I’ve let drumming slide for the past month and it was only Thursday night that I picked up the sticks for 15 minutes and banged around. I am planning to work drumming back into my routine, starting this weekend. With my practice schedule back I’ll have everything in place and will feel like I’m accomplishing the things I want to do.

Cooking is something I’ve begun to get into again. Last night my friend Dave, who I’ve known since high school, and his girlfriend Amelia came over for a BBQ. Dave’s taking a Home Inspectors course over at Ashton College downtown and has just moved into a new place near Denman Street. I’m looking forward to spending time with him now that he’s close. We’ve only managed to get together once or twice a year since he moved out to Tofino some years back.

But back to cooking! I used to eat out quite a bit and it would cost me a small pile of cash each month. I’ve scaled that right back and now I barely go out at all. Feels good to be making my own stuff again. It’s something I did more of before I moved to Vancouver 10 years ago and now it feels like it’s time to jump back in. I’ve mostly been focused on getting my dough figured out and I’ve made a few pizzas and some buns. They’ve turned out ok so far, but it’ll take some time before I get things dialed in.

New Sleater-Kinney?

The other night I read an IFC interview with Carrie Brownstein where she mentions that she’s in a new band with Janet Weiss and that she can potentially see Sleater-Kinney becoming active again! Being that Sleater-Kinney is my all-time favorite band I am, in the words of the article that first alerted me to this, on the verge of having a million excitement-induced heart attacks.

I’m hopeful that this new band puts out some material soon too.

Quasi, the band that Janet Weiss is in, has put out an amazing new album that’s becoming my favorite right now. They’re playing in Portland this weekend and I’d contemplated going, but I really need some downtime after a whirlwind few weeks.

Now to see if Reilly wants to make some noise under the guise of making music.

Danger! High Voltage!

Saw the Electric Six tonight. Singer dude looked like he’d stumbled off a bender in his rumpled suit and half lidded eyes. Good show though. I had to sneak out after Gay Bar since I’m a little wiped this week.

Sharon had wanted to see this band called Paper Lions from PEI. We missed them at the Olympics but they were opening for Electric Six tonight so we made sure we got there early. Good thing we did because they were fantastic! Second song in and the drummer went off on a wild drum solo while the rest of the band put down their gear to sit back and watch. I think I have a new favorite drummer now. Sharon knew I’d like them and I’m happy we went. Their music is diverse but everything sounds really good. Other cool thing was the band dropping into Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody during one of their songs. That got the drunken fratboy in front of us enthusiastically pumping his fist and jiggling his beer gut around the dance floor.

Bed time now! Been a little wound out this week so I’m looking forward to sleep. Am planning on not doing much this weekend. Maybe stare at the wall. Might chew on some chocolate, if the doggy drops it.

Whirlwind

My sister’s on her way to Winnipeg now. It was good to see her before she ran off east. At least I have an excuse to visit Winnipeg. Probably not this summer but likely the next. CBC was broadcasting the Vinyl Cafe from Winnipeg on Sunday and I got to hear Stewart McLean talk about his favorite stops in the town. The place I’m most interested in is the Tall Grass Prairie Bread Company which sounds like the ultimate bakery experience. They mill their own flour and everything! It’ll be my first stop when I roll into Winnipeg.

Saturday night was our good friend Miranda’s 30th birthday party. She and Reilly threw a party at their place to celebrate the occasion and asked that people try and fancy it up a bit. Everybody went over the top with their ensembles as you can see below. Reilly, Josh, and I hit Watts Costumes for some cool outfits. Reilly and I were parading around like upper crust Britons all night.

Good times… this is the way parties should be done! Esp. when you have a camera set up.

Update: Just discovered that Reilly put together a 2-minute video with all the shots taken that night. So much fun to watch!

My Sister Avoids the Deep Dark Woods

I’ve only got a few minutes so I’ll make this quick.

My sister has rolled into town on her way to Winnipeg, where her and her husband are moving to after living in Dubai for a couple of years. It’ll be a big change for him; he’s only lived in India and Dubai.

It’s been good to see Theresa for the past few days. We’ve been hanging out, talking about stuff and playing cribbage. On Thursday Sharon, my sister, and I went over to Naam for tasty vegetarian food. Last night Theresa was dealing with the Ford dealership where she’s buying a new Ford Ranger. She’s pretty excited about that.

While she was working the deal over there, Sharon and I went down to Granville Island to see a Saskatchewan band, The Deep Dark Woods, lay down some jam music. Great band! Lead singer is a lanky lumberjack lookin’ fella who speaks in growls and whispers but sings very well. They’d go on these great jams and it wasn’t long before people were spilling into the aisles to dance.

Wednesday night our band got back together for our first jam in almost a month. It sounded better than I thought it would and I was worried that I’d had forgotten how to drum. My timing was a little shaky but I was able to get through our session without sounding too much like a drunken ape.

Alright, Sharon and I are heading back to my place to make a late breakfast and see how my sister’s truck deal turned out. She was going back to the Ford dealership this morning to seal the deal.

This Is the End (SNFU)

Shan, the talented singer in our band, also has a secret identity as a hip-hop dancer and has written up an excellent post about her performance as part of Sunday’s closing ceremonies. Go read it right now! I’ll wait…

Done reading? Interesting article eh!

Things have wound right down in Vancouver. My walk to work wasn’t through throngs of tourists and Olympic staff and it felt like a normal day. There’s still some signs of the Olympics and I walked past the German House as it was being torn down. I’m sad that the Olympics are over, especially since I want to be at the Atlantic House again tonight watching more incredible east coast bands. Last Friday Sharon and I were too pooped to line up at the Saskatchewan house to see the Deep Dark Woods but we’ve just scored tickets for their March 12 show. The best part is we won’t have to wait for 2 hours in a lineup to see them! I won’t miss the lineups even though I won’t get to see free shows every night.

Tomorrow night our band is getting back on the horse with a rehearsal. I’m hoping we pull it together for another show soon, even if it’s only at an open mic.

What else? I’ve been baking more. Last night I made some buns for sandwiches today and then tonight I had a craving for lemon poppyseed loaf. After I mixed together the ingredients I realized I didn’t own a loaf pan so I improvised using a lasagna pan and some tin foil. I think everything’s turned out alright even if the shape is somewhat creative. At least I have the loaf to eat! Who cares how it’s shaped.

And now I watch a couple more SNFU videos on youtube and then I go to sleep.

It’s Our Game! (The Hanson Brothers)

No, not Hanson, the boy band from the 90′s. The Hanson Brothers are the best band to ever put out a punk rock album, ever! All they sing about is beer, girls, and hockey. One of the best albums I’ve ever heard was the My Game album that came out in 2002. That and their most recent live album, It’s a Living, are two staples of my music collection.

So I’m celebrating Canada’s win by playing the Hanson Brothers and finishing up my writeups of the adventures over the past few days.

I’ll recap the past few days again.

Wednesday: Atlantic Canada House – On Deck
Julie Doiron, formerly of the band Eric’s Trip, was doing a solo show and I was excited to see what her music sounded like. She’s come through town a number of times over the past few years and I’ve never taken the time to check out one of her shows. Now that I’ve seen what a creative person she is on stage I’m kicking myself for missing all those shows she’s done. Damn! I feel like a fool for not seeing her sooner. Next time she does a show in Vancouver I don’t care what’s scheduled, it’s being dropped in favor of seeing her perform again.

After Julie opened things up there were 3 more bands, all excellent samples of the mountain of talent I’ve come to believe lives on the east coast. Jill Barber, who now lives in Vancouver, performed a stunning set of music that reminded me of the sort of singing that would come out of the 1940′s, but sassier and much more fun.

Catherine MacLellan followed with a down-to-earth folk set that I enjoyed, and Ron Hynes highlighed the evening with his storytelling and songs. He’s a folk singer that’s been around for over 30 years and had some great songs to share with us. I’m happy I got the chance to see him.

Thursday: Atlantic Canada House – On Deck
The first band was Shannyganock and although I thought they were talented, I wasn’t taken with their traditional music. The next morning I found I was playing their myspace playlist over and over because I couldn’t get it out of my head! Still not my style of music, but pretty good and sticks in your head.

Rose Cousins, who Sharon told me was one of the backup singers from my favorite Joel Plaskett song, Through and Through and Through, was fun to watch. Again, very singer-songwriter and folksy type music. What impressed me the most was all the fun stuff she talked about between songs. So entertaining!

Kevin Fox came on afterwards and was the highlight of the evening for me. He’s a cello player who’s incredibly talented and I was stunned at how good his show was! He normally plays as a session musician for more famous artists and I can see why he’s be in demand. Dude has crazy talent. Glad I got to see him!

Finally this band called Olympic Symphonium showed up to close the show. Another great band! Rose Cousins came on for a couple of songs since they had backed her up for two songs during her set.

Friday – blessed sleep!
After two weeks of almost straight bands and late nights Sharon and I realized we were totally wiped out and decided to catch an early night. Saturday morning was early and I even got out to go for a run at 6:30 in the pouring rain. The day cleared up and we spent a bit of time in the Saskatchewan house (kinda lame – big barn-like beer tent and very little about their culture or province aside from having Pilsner beer on tap) before going down to Atlantic House to try and get into the Matt Mays show. That was totally packed and we weren’t getting in so we retired to the Alibi Room to have beers with Reilly and the gang. Was fun! Alibi Room has the best beers on tap.

Today I got together with Reilly and everyone to watch the game at a local pub. We lined up at 10am and were barely able to secure a table at 11am when the opened and everybody stampeded through the doors to secure seating. Game was crazy, esp. when the US tied it up with 30 seconds remaining and it went to sudden death overtime. Good thing the Canadians pulled through. Downtown’s been a circus of honking and yelling ever since and I think I saw more Canadian pride in that bar than i have at any other time in my life. After the win there was a spontaneous singing of O Canada which got repeated when the anthem was played after the medals were handed out on TV. Wild! My ears are still ringing from the eruptions of noise whenever Canada scored!

Tomorrow I’m back at work and into real life again. I’ve enjoyed the last week, especially at the Atlantic House where Sharon introduced me to so many great bands. I’m looking forward to discovering many more great music acts with her this year.

Near the End

Tonight is our last night at the Atlantic House. I’m already starting to miss the neverending stream of great shows that we’ve been able to go to every night! Tonight we see Matt Mays at the Kitchen Party. Hopefully we’re able to get in and don’t have to line up too long.

Back to Wednesday night when we saw four more incredible bands! Oh wait… Sharon just put food in front of me. We’ll be leaving her place soon so I’m going to cut this off and (hopefully) finish my update tomorrow.