Live It Out

Caught Metric at the Commodore last night. Awesome show.

First opener was The Lovely Feathers. They played a brief 25min set. I thought they were good and had a lot of energy. For their last song, the drummer from The Most Serene Republic came out and played the cowbell while dancing around the stage. His cowbell mannerisms were quite intense.

The Most Serene Republic was the next opener. They played for 45mins. The drummer was amazing. The singer has a unique stage presence. Looking forward to seeing them again at the Broken Social Scene show.

I first saw Metric last year when they opened with Death From Above 1979 for Billy Talent. At the time, I'd never heard of them but they completely stole the show for me. After seeing their performance, I was instantly hooked. I missed them twice this year due to a David Usher show one night, and arriving late the next day after our hitchhiking fun to Arts County Fair. Fast forward a couple months later and Metric are back playing at the Commodore. This time, they were playing two shows in one day.

Metric opened their 1hr 25min set with an energetic Empty. Emily's trademark head twisting with hands-on-hips dance was great. They followed up next with one of my favourites, Succexy. Not as much energy for this song, but understandable after playing another show just hours before. I'm actually very impressed with their performance as it's pretty hard to play the kind of show they do twice within only a few hours.

Some other highlights for me included The List, Monster Hospital, Handshakes, Live It Out, and an extended version of Dead Disco. There were also some good crowd sing-a-longs to Calculation Theme and Combat Baby.

Emily and James finished off the encore with Love Is A Place.

My time is running and I'm trying to slow it down

Local favourites Cherrybomb played a fundraiser show last night at The Backstage Lounge.


Apparently another band in Alberta has the same name, so the Vancouver band will be undergoing a name change as a result of trademark issues. This will cost somewhere in the range of $12,000 after factoring in the re-design of website, re-design of logos, re-publishing of CDs, re-producing of merchandise, legal fees, and other unforeseen costs.


Various bands and entertainers were on hand to support the cause. Among them were Hunter S. Thompson, The Cat in the Hat, Tarzan, and Sponge Bob making a special guest appearance.


A giant pumpkin was also present to lend support.


This would be their last performance under the name Cherrybomb.


Setlist

Where The Wild Things Are

Scored this sweet shirt today.















For Halloween, I'm going as the kid Max from Where The Wild Things Are. A friend sewed me the outfit. It looks pretty cool.

We might go trick-or-treating this year. My friend thinks no one will hand him candy because he's 6'6 and has a beard. I told him then to go as a Super Giant Ninja. Problem solved.

Maybelle

the distance between us

So we started off the night by going here.


It was completely packed, so we traveled to here.


There was quite a long lineup so we walked here.



It was full too, so we settled for this.


Yes.....Big Crunch Combo.


Then we made our way over to here.


It was getting late. The lineup at the entrance was moving very slow and we figured the lineups inside would be even longer. So we danced over to here.


They serve wontons at the casino? What the...

En fin.

the disappearing ground

under the gun

The Killers played the Coliseum last night. It was the last stop on their year and a half tour promoting their first album. The opening band was called British Sea Power. Nothing too special. The bass player was wearing some kind of tree decoration on his head for awhile. At the end of their set, they were jumping on each other's shoulders and walking around. One of the guys hopped onto an amp stack and did some kind of dance. That was about it.

The show was filled with mostly teenagers and many of them had on some kind of Killers merch. The band has probably made a fortune on this tour off t-shirt sales alone.

With so many teens at the show, I felt like the band was playing in some large highschool gymnasium. The talent shows at our highschool sucked by the way. The best performance was by these guys that decided to cover Filter's Hey Man Nice Shot one year. Yup....that's as good as it got back then.

The backdrop of the set looked pretty low budget, with a shiny grey banner that said The Killers on it. Too bad you could barely make out the writing on the banner. The last time I saw them, they had a nicely lit logo in the background.

I felt the setlist this time seemed stronger than their previous show here in April. The songs played were mostly the same, but the order was switched around quite a bit and created a better flow to the set. They opened with Jenny Was a Friend of Mine, with the bass player Mark doing a solo intro before the band kicked in. Some highlights for me included On Top, Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll, and Mr.Brightside. There was a huge sing-a-long at the end for All These Things That I've Done. Brandon called out everyone with a lighter or cellphone to hold it up. It's scary to realize how many kids have cellphones these days.

Their set was 1hr 10mins with one encore.

Setlist:

Jenny Was A Friend of Mine
On Top
Somebody Told Me
Midnight Show
Believe Me, Natalie
Change Your Mind
Under The Gun
Smile Like You Mean It
Andy, You're A Star
Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll
Mr. Brightside

Encore:
Everything Will Be Alright
Moonage Daydream (David Bowie cover)
All These Things That I've Done

rearview mirror

Some friends of mine recently returned from their Pearl Jam Cross Canada Tour.

This is the van we used to drive down to the PJ Gorge and Vancouver shows. It's also the van they used to make the 10,000 km drive from Vancouver to St. John's, Newfoundland and catch 16 PJ shows across the country.


The Gorge is by far the most amazing venue I've been to for a concert.



Some shots of PJ at the Gorge show.






They're currently working on a website that will document their trip.

everytime you close your eyes (lies) (lies)

The Arcade Fire played the PNE Forum last night. WOW!!! It was my first time back at the Forum since I saw my first concert, Soundgarden, nine years ago. In a way, I've come full circle. Over 150 concerts and 400+ bands later, I'm back to the place where it all started. Sometimes, I feel like I've seen pretty much every band I've wanted to see. Then the next day, I realize there's so much more music I've yet to discover.

The Forum still looks the same as it did the last time I was there. Pretty rundown. Not much ventilation. The crowd seems like a sea of people packed into some large warehouse. Surprisingly, I didn't have a problem with the sound of the venue. That was a concern going into the show. I knew though that if there's any band that could have a good show at the Forum, it would be The Arcade Fire.

Caught the last two songs of Bell Orchestre. Sounded nice. Would like to hear more. Wolf Parade was the next band. They've been getting some great reviews recently. Their set was fairly short. 35mins. The band said they got to the venue late because of an accident on the highway. They didn't have a setlist prepared so they improvised. Apart from some technical difficulties during the set, I thought they did a good job. The last few songs stood out.

Arcade Fire hit the stage shortly after 9:50pm and launched into Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels). The band was very energetic and full of passion throughout their 1hr 20min set. Percussionist Wil Butler was great to watch, drumming like crazy on things and losing sticks. He would also throw some sticks across the stage trying to hit his band members.

After a cover of Springsteen's Mr. State Trooper, vocalist and guitarist Win Butler smashed his acoustic guitar then threw it off to the side. The band then shifted into an explosive performance of Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), followed by Rebellion. The crowd was vey responsive throughout the night, especially during these two numbers.

At the end of the second encore, the band members started marching off the stage playing their instruments.....but they didn't stop there.

They proceeded to play and walk all the way to the other end of the PNE Forum. Once they reached the other side, they continued playing for a few minutes. Everyone in the crowd followed and formed a circle around the band as they covered The Violent Femmes' Kiss Off to end the show. This was the craziest finish I've seen to a concert. Incredible show!!!

Here's the setlist:

tunnels
crown of love
headlights
laika
no cars go
haiti
submarine
seven kettles
mr. state trooper (springsteen)
power out
rebellion
---
wake up
---
age of consent (new order)
---
kiss off (violent femmes - in the crowd)

inside and out

Back at the Commodore last night to catch the lovely Feist play a sold out show.

Walked in just as New Buffalo was playing. She was a one woman show, singing and playing different instruments throughout her set. She had this one song called "Come Back" that was amazing. Can't wait to hear her album.

Jason Collett was next, playing an alt-country rock type set. The music was mellow and had some nice texture to it. During the set, Feist came out and joined in on vocals for a few numbers. She also played the drums on a song.

Feist took the stage around 11:20pm and her set went 1hr 20mins with one encore. Excellent vocals. The music was emotional. The set featured songs with a band as well as some solo songs. During the solo part of her set, she would sing and record a background part, then loop it. She would sometimes do this a couple times to create some great layers.

Feist asked a woman on the cell phone during the set who she was talking to. Feist then started talking to the person on the other end of the phone on stage. Everyone got a kick out of that. A girl near the front of the stage fainted during the set. Thankfully, she was okay. Feist then jokingly said we were moshing to hard.

The show overall was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed every act.

The Arcade Fire plays tomorrow night. Very excited about the show.

take me out

Franz Ferdinand played a sold out show at the Orpheum last night. Their new album also came out the same day.

The first opener of the night was an Australian trio called Cut Copy. They played a new wave pop-rock set and did a good job warming up the crowd. At times, they had the audience dancing. By the end of their set, a crowd had formed between the stage and the first row. Solid opener.

The second opener was TV on the Radio. Their set was okay. More of a straight up rock approach.

Franz played for 1hr 15mins with one encore. It was a pretty upbeat set that showcased many new songs and included several of their catchy numbers off their debut release. A crowd once agained formed near the front of the stage for the set. Singer Alex Kapranos was very entertaining to watch, jumping on the drum kit and rocking out. The whole band seemed like they were enjoying the show and happy to be there. Overall, the band put on a solid performance.

NHL season starts today. I'm in 3 hockey pools this season. Should be fun.

sorrow.drips.into.your.heart.through.a.pinhole

Saw Death Cab For Cutie at the Commodore last night. Amazing. Youth Group opened. There was quite a huge turnout to see the opener. I'm glad. They were great.

Death Cab came on at 10:15pm and opened with Marching Bands of Manhanttan. Some highlights for me included We Laugh Indoors, Photobooth, What Sarah Said, I Will Follow You Into The Dark, and a very emotional performance of Transatlanticism to finish off the set. They played for 1hr 30mins with one encore.

Woke up at 2:30pm this afternoon. Yup. No time today. Off to see Franz shortly.

Edit: Here's the setlist from the show.

Marching Bands Of Manhattan
The New Year
We Laugh Indoors
Title and Registration
Soul Meets Body
Summer Skin
Expo '86
For What Reason
Company Calls
Crooked Teeth
Photobooth
A Movie Script Ending
Your Heart Is An Empty Room
Different Names For The Same Thing
President Of What?
We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes
What Sarah Said
The Sound Of Settling

encore:

I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Tiny Vessels
Transatlanticism

the exit

Finished off September with my 10th show of the month....I'm pretty exhausted now. The Exit and Mariana's Trench played at the Media Club last night.


The Usual Suspects:




Mariana's Trench is a local pop-rock quartet that blends great harmonies with upbeat riffs. I first saw them open for MG during the Avalanche tour. Over the last two years, their sound has evolved nicely.

The Exit is a rock trio from New York. Last night, they tore the house down during their explosive 45min set. The guitarist played quite a few sweet riffs, while the bassist laid down some funky reggae type lines during the set. The drummer hits just as hard as Pat Steward.




Not related to Jimi Hendrix.


Also, go check out my friend's band Elias, formerly known as Second. They're great and have some upcoming shows lined up.