ice skating

Went ice skating yesterday for the first time since Elementary school. It was so much fun. They had this Winter Wonderland theme going at the ice rink.

Starry Night

Year End Lists

My Top 10 Shows Of The Year

1) Pearl Jam - Thurs Sep.1 @ Gorge Amphitheatre
Everything surrounding this show was amazing. From the trip down to the Gorge, to the beauty of the venue. The atmosphere was simply incredible. The concert was billed as an evening with Pearl Jam. They played for close to 3 and a half hours. It's up there as one of my favourite shows of all time.

2) U2 - Thurs Apr.28 @ GM Place
Before 2005, I said there was basically one major stadium band still around I had yet to see live. It was U2. Both Vancouver shows sold out very quickly. I was fortunate enough to grab floor tix for the first night. The production on the concert was the biggest of the shows this year.

3) Matthew Good - Sat Nov.5 @ Commodore Ballroom
My 20th MG show, and also my favourite. The last stop on the tour and possibly my last time hearing many of these songs live. Matt and co. were on their very best this night. Matt seemed genuinely happy playing every song and I enjoyed each of them just as much. Two encores were done on this night. Something I hadn't seen done since the Beautiful Midnight tour.

4) Pearl Jam - Fri Sep.2 @ GM Place
The second night of my back to back PJ shows. The show was in Vancouver but there were a bunch of out-of-towners. You could feel it in the crowd. The set started off rockin' and there was a great flow the rest of the way through.

5) Ben Harper - Tues July 12 @ Commodore Ballroom
This was a pretty special occasion. Seeing Ben play such an intimate venue is quite rare. Show lasted close to 2 and a half hours with 3 encores. The band sounded very tight.

6) The Tea Party - Wed Apr.20 @ Commodore Ballroom
This band is always amazing live. Jeff Martin is a very underrated guitar player. The way he sings his songs are haunting at times. Months after this show, Jeff decided to pursue a solo career. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see them one final time.

7) Death Cab For Cutie - Mon Oct.3 @ Commodore Ballroom
The setlist was perfect. The band sounded great on every song. They also put on my favourite live song performance of the year.

8) Collective Soul - Tues May 24 @ Commodore Ballroom
It's true.......this show surpassed all my expectations. I first saw them back during Edgefest '97. Figured it would be a good night to relive some 90's rock. Their performance went well beyond that. Ed said it would be a long night and he wasn't kidding. 2+ hours of solid energy. I loved Ed's solo acoustic version of Satellite.

9) Sarah Slean - Sun Nov.20 @ Van East Cultural Centre
Just Sarah and her piano on this night, and in a very intimate venue. The audience was completely silent during songs, so much that you could literally hear every pin drop. I loved it. There was a lot of emotion in her performance. I hope I can see more shows at this venue.

10) Rilo Kiley - Thurs June 16 @ Richard's on Richards
This was a show that I decided to go near the last minute. I'm so glad that I went. I hadn't heard too much of Rilo Kiley before that, but quickly fell in love with their catchy riffs, along with their emotional ballads. I remember being very taken by their performance of The Good That Won't Come Out. The show also had my favourite opener of the year.

Best Opening Acts I've Discovered in 2005

1) The Brunettes - opening for Rilo Kiley, Thurs June 16 @ Richard's on Richards
2) Immaculate Machine - opening for The New Pornographers, Fri Sep.23 @ Commodore
3) New Buffalo - opening for Feist, Wed Oct.5 @ Commodore
4) Brendan Benson - opening for Keane, Tues May 10 @ QE Theatre
5) Youth Group - opening for Death Cab For Cutie, Mon Oct.3 @ Commodore

My Top Live Song Performances Of The Year

1) Transatlanticism by Death Cab For Cutie - Mon Oct.3 @ Commodore Ballroom
I was very close to breaking down and losing it during this song. I told my friend that I'm so glad they ended with this. I probably would have had to leave the room if they played anything else afterwards. It meant that much too me...especially watching the emotion of Ben, Chris, Nick, and Jason as they reached through and hammered out the final notes.

2) Prime Time Deliverance by Matthew Good - Sat Nov.5 @ Commodore Ballroom
There's quite a few MG songs that really get deep into me. That's why I love his music so much. This is certainly one of them. On this night, Matt added a couple extra bars near the end. Not sure if anyone else noticed it, but I did and it was just fantastic.

3) Release by Pearl Jam - Fri Sep.2 @ GM Place
Opening song of the evening. Eddie's vocals were so strong. I felt every note. You know it's all business and you're in for a quite a night when PJ opens with this song.

4) Blue Parade by Sarah Slean - Sun Nov.20 @ Van East Cultural Centre
I remember sitting in my seat listening to this song during the show and being completely overwhelmed.

5) Psychopomp by The Tea Party - Wed Apr.20 @ Commodore Ballroom
This song haunts me everytime I hear it. When played live, Jeff adds an awesome solo and the emotion is so strong.

this is the sound of settling

The last two days have been fun. Had some nice family dinners on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Saw some relatives I haven't seen in a while. Stories were shared and laughter filled the air.

Did some Boxing Day shopping online this morning. So much easier than having to wake up early, search for parking, and wait in lineups that feel like they span the ocean.

Reflections from the shore

So 2005 has been pretty good to me for the most part. I've had some highs and lows along the way, but I wouldn't take back anything that's happened.....otherwise I wouldn't be where I am.

The year in music has been awesome for me. I've been very fortunate to attend so many great concerts this year. Here's a list of the shows that I've seen in 2005.

1) Sat Feb.5 - Cherrybomb, Pepper Sands @ Media Club
2) Sat Mar.26 - Low, Pedro The Lion @ Richard's
3) Thurs Mar.31 - Velvet Revolver @ Pacific Coliseum
4) Wed Apr.6 - The Dears, The Soundtrack of our Lives @ Commodore
5) Thurs Apr.7 - David Usher @ Richard's
6) Fri Apr.8 - Arts County Fair: Matthew Good @ Thunderbird Stadium
7) Mon Apr.11 - Wil @ Railway Club
8) Wed Apr.20 - The Tea Party @ Commodore
9) Fri Apr.22 - The Killers, Tegan and Sara @ Vogue Theatre
10) Sun Apr.24 - Puffy AmiYumi @ Vogue Theatre
11) Thurs Apr.28 - U2, Kings Of Leon @ GM Place
12) Fri Apr.29 - The Weakerthans, The Constantines @ Richard's
13) Thurs May 5 - The Raveonettes, Autolux @ Richard's
14) Tues May 10 - Keane, Brendan Benson @ QE Theatre
15) Fri May 20 - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, International Noise Conspiracy @ Commodore
16) Tues May 24 - Collective Soul, The Waking Eyes @ Commodore
17) Thurs June 9 - The Doves @ Commodore
18) Thurs June 16 - Rilo Kiley, The Brunettes @ Richard's
19) Thurs June 30 - Second, Hejira, The Februarys @ Backstage Lounge
20) Tues July 12 - Ben Harper, Tom Freund @ Commodore
21) Fri July 22 - Ian M. @ Southarm
22) Fri July 29 - Mariana's Trench @ Backstage Lounge
23) Sun Aug.7 - Rain @ QE Theatre
24) Fri Aug.19 - Wil @ Grouse Mountain
25) Fri Aug.26 - David Usher @ Commodore
26) Sat Aug.27 - Minus The Bear @ Media Club
27) Thurs Sep.1 - Pearl Jam @ Gorge Amphitheatre
28) Fri Sep.2 - Pearl Jam, Supersuckers @ GM Place
29) Thurs Sep.8 - Oasis, Jet @ GM Place
30) Tues Sep.13 - Matthew Good CFOX Uninvited Guest @ Armoury Studios
31) Thurs Sep.15 - Pepper Sands @ Media Club
32) Sat Sep.17 - System Of A Down, Mars Volta @ Pacific Coliseum
33) Fri Sep.23 - New Pornographers, Immaculate Machine @ Commodore
34) Mon Sep.26 - Nine Inch Nails, Queens Of The Stonge Age @ Pacific Coliseum
35) Thurs Sep.29 - Audioslave @ GM Place
36) Fri Sep.30 - The Exit @ Media Club
37) Mon Oct.3 - Death Cab For Cutie, Youth Group @ Commodore
38) Tues Oct.4 - Franz Ferdinand, Cut Copy @ Orpheum
39) Wed Oct.5 - Feist, Jason Collett, New Buffalo @ Commodore
40) Fri Oct.7 - The Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Bell Orchestre @ PNE Forum
41) Thurs Oct.13 - The Killers @ Pacific Coliseum
42) Fri Oct.28 - Cherrybomb @ Backstage Lounge
43) Sun Oct.30 - Metric, Most Serene Republic @ Commodore
44) Fri Nov.4 - Matthew Good @ Commodore
45) Sat Nov.5 - Matthew Good @ Commodore
46) Sun Nov.6 - The Magic Numbers @ Richard's
47) Fri Nov.11 - Ben Lee, New Buffalo @ Richard's
48) Sat Nov.12 - Elias, Bontempi @ Lamplighter
49) Sun Nov.13 - Broken Social Scene, Most Serene Republic @ Commodore
50) Sun Nov.20 - Sarah Slean, Jean Paul Maurice @ Van East Cultural Centre
51) Fri Nov.25 - The Organ, Bella @ Richard's
52) Wed Nov.30 - Pretty Girls Make Graves, You Say Party! We Say Die! @ Red Room
53) Sat Dec.3 - Ian M. @ West Richmond
54) Wed Dec.7 - The Like, Giant Drag @ Richard's
55) Fri Dec.9 - The Organ, Immaculate Machine, Young And Sexy @ Cambrian Hall
56) Sat Dec.10 - International Noise Conspiracy @ Red Room
57) Tues Dec.13 - You Say Party! We Say Die! @ Richard's

57 shows in one year. That's gotta be some kind of personal best.

The Album Leaf

Here are my 10 favourite albums of 2005..........from A to Z.

Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene

City And Colour - Sometimes

Coldplay - X and Y

Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

Dishwalla - Dishwalla

Sarah Harmer - I'm A Mountain

The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers

Metric - Live It Out

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

small figures in a vast expanse

Scored this sweet harmonica a couple days ago. Now I'm gonna be rocking out on it Tom Cochrane Life Is A Highway style. One time, I told my Dad that I'm gonna grow my hair out like Tom Cochrane in that video. Cochrane was standing on some rocks and busting out the solo on the harmonica. It was the coolest thing.....Yeah, in hindsight that turned out to be a bad choice.


I even played my newly acquired harmonica skills for an audience.


I'm sure they dig it.

Hit The Floor!

Went to Richard's last night for possibly my last concert of 2005. It's been like a super long field trip of shows for me this year. Too bad I don't get to drive one of those yellow school buses that we used for field trips.


Earlier in the night, local music labels and fashion designers were selling their products at the venue. When the first band Bontempi took the stage, the tables were still there on the dance floor. It felt kind of weird trying to rock out at the show while people were shopping 5ft behind us. Bontempi played a tight set with some good harmonies.


Cadeaux was the second opener and had a sound similar to the headliners of the evening. They started to grow on me after a couple of songs. Looks like Rafe from Survivor also plays drums.


There was this guy in the audience that we called "A Night at the Roxbury" because of his similar dance moves to Steve and Doug Butabi. He would constantly dance right into people all night. He also smelled pretty bad and did this side shuffle move that you would normally do in basketball practice.

You Say Party! We Say Die! rocked the house. Before their set, they had a nice group stretch session on stage.


Everyone was dancing during their set and getting into the show. Becky was wearing this cool Christmas gift costume during part of the performance. They also threw out some Christmas gifts filled with CDs into the crowd. Set lasted 40mins.

Survivor action

So we had our little Survivor Finale party yesterday. I thought both Danni and Stephenie were deserving to be in the final two.

This season of Survivor may be over, but the adventure continues for one man...


Go check out the awesome site HERE and sign the petition HERE.

Capitalism stole my virginity

Back at the Red Room last night to catch The (International) Noise Conspiracy. I like how the backstage area is so easily accessible at the venue. Take one turn before the washroom and you're there. Take another turn and you're on stage behind the drum kit. I think I accidentally sat in for the Noise Conspiracy's pre-show group huddle.


We got there to find out the first opener, Nightmare Of You, was cancelled. Apparently, they weren't allowed over the border for some reason. This also happened when I went to see AC/DC a few years back. Slash's Snakepit was supposed to open but they couldn't get the snakes across the border. Wide Mouth Mason opened instead that night and was heavily booed off the stage by the unreceptive hard rock crowd.

These Arms Are Snakes did come on to open and had quite an energetic set. The singer was jumping all over the place and it looked like he fell on his back a couple times. To the guy in the pit who jumped off the stage, crowd surfed for 5 seconds, then landed on his head...hope you're okay.

I wish I had earplugs for them. Not a big fan of the feeling you get when you think your eardrums are gonna burst.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy came on to entertain a completely packed crowd at The Red Room. The political rock quintet from Sweden is currently on a North American tour for their latest album, Armed Love. With the limited size on the dance floor, people still managed to get a decent circle going. This one guy was doing some kind of monkey dance, hunched over and arms flailing, before he got rocked by another buddy.

At one point, singer Dennis Lyxzen climbed into the crowd and was singing while standing up on the hands of the audience. That was some pretty good balance. The set lasted 1hr with one encore. Really solid effort and tons of energy.

i've been cutting moons

The Mint Records Xmas Party show was last night at the Cambrian Hall. The show was sold out and there were quite a few people turned away at the door. The capacity was around 200 people.


It was an interesting crowd, which consisted of mostly band members early on. Everyone playing last night mingled freely on the floor and good times were had in celebration of the Christmas season.

Onto the show.

Young and Sexy were great. Loved the harmonies.


The Choir Practice sang some Christmas songs.


Carolyn Mark and her band were quite entertaining.


The drummer of The Buttless Chaps was rocking out with these blue glowing drumsticks on a drumset with mainly pre-recorded beats.


The Organ put on a great set. No major sound problems on this night.


Huge props to Brooke from Immaculate Machine for playing the show on crutches while nursing a broken foot. What a trooper.



Everyone's set was around 40mins each. The entire show was pretty long, lasting around 5hrs. There were lots of prizes given away such as paintings and gift certificates. Overall, a super fun night.

under the paving stones

Went to see The Like last night at Richard's. It was the smallest crowd I've seen at the venue. Around 100 people. The balcony was closed off and they didn't have a coatcheck for the evening.

We arrived to only catch half a song from Catlow.

Giant Drag was the next opener. The LA duo has been getting some good reviews lately.


Annie was very funny throughout the set with some quirky comments and stories. They had a nice raw sound and played a good version of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game.


Micah was rocking it on drums with one hand and keyboards/bass with the other hand at times. Their set lasted 30mins.

The Like consists of three girls, all with musical families. They have dads that are musicians and producers.

The LA based trio features music filled catchy pop-rock riffs and also some good harmonies along the way. Tennessee was hammering it out pretty hard on drums during the performance. Set time was 35mins.

They're definitely a band to look out for, and I see big things happening for them over the next few years.