you may tire of me cause our december sun is setting

Death Cab For Cutie and Franz Ferdinand finished off their six week co-headlining tour at the Pacific Coliseum last night.

We arrived to only catch one song from The Cribs. When the show was first announced at the Coliseum, the upper level was scheduled to be closed off. By showtime when the two headliners took the stage, there were a fair amount of people that filled the whole upper blue sections.

Death Cab came on and opened with Passenger Seat and Different Names For The Same Thing. They followed that with great, energetic performances of The New Year and We Laugh Indoors. Their set design included trees in the middle and white houses on both sides of the stage. The houses contained some lights in them, making for some cool lighting effects throughout their performance.

Death Cab For Cutie shows are better suited to smaller venues such as the Commodore where the sound is tighter and the intimacy of their songs can be felt. For the Death Cab / Franz tour which is all ages, the demand for the shows certainly increase by quite a bit. Unfortunately, the city doesn't have a decent venue to hold a mid range capacity crowd of a few thousand (both the Plaza Of Nations and the PNE Forum have a history of producing horrible sound with a lot of echoes).

Never before had I not wanted to hear a song that I loved by a band at a show. However, as soon as the Coliseum was announced as the venue for the gig, I hoped that they wouldn't play Transatlanticism. That song means too much to me, and I knew the importance and meaning of the song would get lost in the vast space of the Coliseum and the all ages crowd.......so I'm pretty glad they didn't play it on this night.

I must say though that Death Cab still put on a good performance with the exception that since they weren't closing the show, there was no encore and their set lasted just over an hour. They did bust out some fine versions of Title and Registration, A Movie Script Ending, Crooked Teeth, What Sarah Said, President Of What, and Soul Meets Body. For We Looked Like Giants, Ben hopped on a second drumkit near the end and dueled with Jason for a bit. That was kind of neat.

Franz Ferdinand took the stage to the delight of the antzy teenagers and opened with The Boy, followed by Do You Want To. The Scottish pop-rock quartet played a fun and enjoyable set. It's interesting to witness how much their set differs from the Death Cab performance, and how there were people in the audience to see one band but not the other. For what Death Cab brings in the emotional, heartfelt, melodic department, Franz brings in the poppy and hook-laden riffs to the table.

All the guys in Franz were having fun and jumping around the stage to numbers such as Walk Away, Eleanor Put Your Boots On, and Take Me Out. Alex Kapranos did his long bit where he introduces all the band members during The Fallen.

This being the last show of the tour, Ben Gibbard came out dressed in a gorilla suit to dance around during one number. For the encore song Outsiders, all members of The Cribs and Death Cab came out and each person had a drum set in front of them. What followed next were 10 drummers going at it while Alex, Nick, and Robert played their guitars and bass up front on stage. They finished off their 1hr 10min set with This Fire.

Yesterday Never Tomorrows

The Stills and The Diableros played at Richard's last night. It was one of the premium shows offered this year at New Music West......a festival that no one seems to know anything about, not even the organizers. What? This band is playing? Let me check the schedule. Oh, it's not done yet? They're playing at which venue? What? The place is double booked? Does this go to eleven?



Nonetheless, the two bands playing on this night put on a fun show. The Diableros opened with a solid set that featured upbeat riffs and a solid rock sound.



They reminded me of that band Hep Alien that Lane on Gilmore Girls plays in....with the female asian drummer and the bass player wearing glasses and a vintage sweater. Too bad Gil wasn't there too. The singer/guitarist played a cool 12 string throughout their set.




The Stills played a rockin' set. The indie band from Montreal possesses a big sound on stage. They also bring a lot of energy to their performance and are able to pull out some nice jams.



They played a few new songs from their upcoming release Without Feathers. Some highlights from the 1hr 5min set included Still In Love Song, Love and Death, and Ready For It.

International Dateline

Went to see Ladytron last night at the Commodore.

The Presets opened the show. The duo from Sydney, Australia presented an interesting mix of new wave and electronica beats. They had a few people dancing to their numbers. It was pretty funny when the singer asked us to buy their shirts so they won't be harassed when crossing the US border the next day with all their merchandise.

Ladytron came onto the stage and played a set filled with synthesizers and swirling tones. They had a video display in the backdrop of their set that showcased some unique images throughout the show.



The quartet from Liverpool is currently in the midst of a North American tour in support of their 2005 release, Witching Hour, and their just released remix EP. They'll be playing the Coachella Festival this weekend.

Vocalist and keyboardist Helen Marnie has the ability to captivate the audience in yet a very subtle way with her on stage mannerisms. It was interesting to watch co-vocalist Mira Aroyo phase out and work away on her vintage Korg synthesizers. Set ran 1hr 25mins with one encore.

which way to happy

The Magic Numbers were back in town to play at Richard's last night.

Willy Mason opened the show along with his cousin Zack on mandolin and friend Nina on violin. I saw him open for Jenny Lewis last month and thought he did a decent job. I noticed that Willy's Gibson guitar looks much like the one I scored at the Salvation Army 2 weeks ago, from the fret inlays straight down to the unique pick guard...though I'm sure he spent more than $50 on his.



The Magic Numbers played a terrific and entertaining set. The last time they played here, they received a great ovation from the audience. The atmosphere in the venue was no different last night. It's neat when you can clearly see that the band is enjoying themselves on stage because of the overwhelming welcome of the crowd.



The band's infectious hooks and insane harmonies are so fun to hear. Some highlights from the 1hr 40min set included Forever Lost, Love's A Game, Love Me Like You, and Mornings Eleven. They also played a few new songs for us, as well as the song Close Your Eyes, which they collaborated on with The Chemical Brothers.



During the encore, they brought out Willy Mason and company to sing a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released".



The show ended with Romeo calling people to come up on stage to rock out with them.





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The new Goo Goo Dolls album came out today. Hooray! It's been four years since their last record.



The new Pilate and Feist remix albums were also released today. Hmmmm.....which version of Mushaboom should I listen to?

Must have lost my mind when I lost your heart key

Went to see Matthew Good play last night at the VECC for the last show on his solo acoustic tour. It was my third night in a row, and MG Show #23 for me.

Melissa McClelland did a great job opening once again. Her forthcoming album will be released next month on May 23.




Matt kicked off the set with another crazy performance of Avalanche. Songs back in the setlist for night #3 that were not played the night before included: Tripoli, Can't Get Shot, Life Beyond, Prime Time, Hurt, and The Boy Come Home. Matt also played another new song, Breath Of A Nation.



The possessed guitar from the night before returned as Matt strummed the opening chords to So Long Mrs. Smith. He then switched guitars before continuing on with the song.

Mr. Good was quite the comedian as usual, singing a song about how Poco girls like to get laid in the woods. He also joked about the sex tape once again and said it would be called "Taking It To The Matt".



Matt mentioned that The Boy Come Home was written about an Iraqi War soldier Chris Taylor. He talked about the difficulties of those soldiers coming home after their deployment and having to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.



Favourites of the night included Avalanche, Tripoli, Breath Of A Nation, Catastrophe, Protest Song, Life Beyond, Prime Time, and Fine Art.

Set lasted 2hrs.

Setlist:

Avalanche
Tripoli
Generation X-Wing
So Long Mrs. Smith
Breath Of A Nation
In A World Called Catastrophe
Hopeless
She's In It For The Money / Sort Of A Protest Song
Can't Get Shot In The Back If You Don't Run
Strange Days
Fated
Life Beyond The Minimum Safe Distance
Prime Time Deliverance
Load Me Up
Apparitions

Hurt (with Melissa McClelland)
The Fine Art Of Falling Apart
Alert Status Red
The Boy Come Home
Empty Road
Indestructible
Symbolistic White Walls



Matt signed my copy of Lo-Fi B-Sides. I didn't have a silver marker on me so he signed the inside cover of the EP.




The last three nights have been absolutely amazing and unforgettable.

I used to think I'd get over everything, but everything just got over me

Back for Round 2 last night with MG at the Van East Cultural Centre.

Melissa played a solid opening set once again. Her songs are really growing on me. For her last song, she brought out Luke Doucet and his 9yr old daughter Chloe to help sing a Tom Waits cover. Chloe did a great job and her voice sounds quite mature.

Matt's set was awesome. It was also very different from the previous night. He came on stage and opened with an amazing and tearful performance of House Of Smoke And Mirrors. The first four songs of the night were not played the night before. His guitar arrangement on Indestructible is quite different from the version off Underdogs.

Throughout the set, there were people yelling out requests. One of them was for In Love With A Bad Idea. Matt said he's never played it acoustically before but he'll give it a try. It sounded good for his first attempt, though he didn't play the rockin' lead in riff to the chorus for the song. Matt mentioned afterwards that he didn't play the lead in part because he couldn't remember it. Throughout the song, he was thinking of how he was gonna transition from the verse to the chorus.



Matt shared some comical stories with us such as during the recent Toronto show at the Mod Club, there was a scalper outside the venue trying to sell Matt a ticket to his own show. He also talked about tearing his groin during Edgefest '98 in Barrie and getting rushed to the hospital after the show. In addition, he laughed about the past infighting of the Matthew Good Band such as when Ian once punched Dave in the face before they boarded a plane to Germany, and how Ian would throw drumsticks at Rich while they were onstage.

Avalanche once again sounded fantastic last night, as did Catastrophe. I love the last vocal notes in Fated where Matt's voice echoes at the end. The final chorus in Apparitions where he sings without the guitar is awesome too. Sort Of A Protest Song sounded solid, though one of Matt's guitars started getting some unwanted feedback during the song. The remaining songs played on that guitar for the night were done with a bit more caution. Matt was able to adjust his strumming and picking accordingly so it didn't take away from the performance.

At the end of Apparitions, everyone stood up from their seats and gave Matt a loud standing ovation as he walked off the stage. For the first time on this tour, he didn't open the encore with Hurt. Instead, he played a fantastic showing of The Fine Art Of Falling Apart. Matt also played one new song for us, When Hollywood Runs Out Of Indians.



My jaw dropped as I heard the opening chords to Born To Kill. It was the first time this song has been played live since the last ever MGB show at Snow Jam '01. In fact, this was the last song they ever played live together as a band. Matt performed the first verse and chorus of the song before transitioning into It's Been A While to end off a wonderful night.

Set lasted 1hr 55mins.

Setlist:

House Of Smoke And Mirrors
Generation X-Wing
Indestructible
Symbolistic White Walls
In A World Called Catastrophe
In Love With A Bad Idea
Fated
She's In It For The Money / Sort Of A Protest Song
Hopeless
Buffalo Seven
So Long Mrs. Smith
Load Me Up
Strange Days
Avalanche
Apparitions

The Fine Art Of Falling Apart
Alert Status Red
When Hollywood Runs Out Of Indians
Empty Road
Born To Kill / It's Been A While Since I Was Your Man

I'm just a boat on the ocean.....and I'm just a ship lost at sea

Matthew Good played the first of his three shows at the Van East Cultural Centre last night.



For awhile, there were hopes of an upcoming acoustic tour. Last September at the CFOX Uninvited Guest show, I asked Matt about this possibility. Fast forward a few months later and he's now wrapping up that tour in his hometown with three sold out nights.

The Usual Suspects:





When the acoustic shows were first announced, I thought the VECC would be the perfect location. It's a seated, intimate venue with a capacity under 300 people. In addition, the acoustics in the room are excellent and no one talks during songs.

Melissa McClelland opened the show with a nice 30min set. Her vocals were solid and she had some good guitar work. For one song, she had a beat machine playing in the background that she said was purchased from Value Village.

Matt opened the show strong with great performances of Avalanche, Tripoli, Life Beyond..., and Prime Time Deliverance. Despite having a flu virus the last few days, he seemed in good spirits.



Matt talked and joked a lot throughout the whole show, mentioning the Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook and the Ann Coulter book and doll. He joked about making a sex tape just so he could wear night vision goggles. In addition, he discussed the thought of touring with a huge MG sign in flames hanging at the back of the stage that would run four stories high. His idea would be to hold the show at BC Place and only have around 50 people in the audience, charging $200 each in order to just cover production costs and break even.

This show was quite special for me as there were a few songs played that I'd never heard live before throughout the years of seeing him perform. These songs included Fated, Sort Of A Protest Song, and So Long Mrs. Smith. I also heard two new songs at the show: She's In It For The Money and The Boy Come Home.



Some other highlights during his 1hr 50min set included his amazing vocals on In A World Called Catastrophe, the emotion displayed in The Fine Art Of Falling Apart, and his duet with Melissa on Hurt.

Setlist:

Avalanche
Tripoli
Life Beyond The Minimum Safe Distance
Prime Time Deliverance
In A World Called Catastrophe
Hopeless
Fated
She's In It For The Money / Sort Of A Protest Song
Can't Get Shot In The Back If You Don't Run
Strange Days
Advertising On Police Cars
So Long Mrs. Smith
Load Me Up
Apparitions

Hurt (with Melissa McClelland)
The Fine Art Of Falling Apart
Alert Status Red
The Boy Come Home
It's Been A While Since I Was Your Man

you can make me fall apart so softly

You Were Here

Sarah Harmer played a terrific show at the Stanley Theatre last night. It was just an evening with Ms. Harmer, her five piece backing band, and their lovely display of music. No openers on this night.

They came on and started the show with I Am Aglow. For the evening, everyone stayed seated and was respectful by keeping silent during the performance. There was also quite a broad range of audience in attendance, showing that Sarah's music appeals to all ages.

The backing band sounded very tight. They were people that Sarah grew up with, and so their stage connection was great. Stand-up bass player and backing vocalist Jason Euringer used to play with Sarah during their Weeping Tile days. Guitarist Joey Wright ripped it up on his bluegrass riffs and solos. I was quite impressed. Each band member had solos during a couple extended jams throughout the set.

The stage setup was really nice, complete with clouds and a moon hovering in the background. In addition, there was this giant ball of hay sitting atop a wooden pole. Sarah mentioned the setup was in place for the ongoing play, Waiting For Godot.

Sarah looked radiant on this evening, and all the band members were dressed up nicely. Booooourns to the no camera policy in effect at the show.



I think I saw some camera trolls watching us from the side stage just in case.

Ms. Harmer's voice sounded wonderful. It was filled with energy, and also a lot of emotion when needed. Dandelions In Bullet Holes, The Hideout, and Goin' Out were definite highlights. She also had some good stories to tell while tuning her Gibson acoustic in between songs. What I found interesting was their choice of drinking red wine on stage as opposed to the usual beer.

Many instruments were used by her band during the show: guitars, stand-up bass, keyboards, violin, clarinet, harmonica, accordion, flute, and mandolin. There was no drummer for the night, though Sarah did play drums on Lodestar.

The setlist for the show was interesting and enjoyable. They played every song off I'm A Mountain, and left off singles such as Basement Apt, Don't Get Your Back Up, Open Windows and Silver Road. I'm glad as they didn't need them to put on a spectacular show.

Some other highlights during the 2hr 5min set included Pendulums, The Ring, and Around This Corner.

For the last song of the evening, How Deep In The Valley, Sarah and company played and sang unplugged from their microphones as everyone stood in enjoyment of the night.

Setlist:



Encore:
I'm A Mountain
How Deep In The Valley

Protecting Escarpment Rural Land

Does this go to eleven?

Tried one of those Vera Burgers for the first time. I thought it was alright. I've heard so much hype around these that it's kind of hard to live up to expectations.....either that or because my burger was burnt. Anyways, Moderne Burger still rules.

Found this guitar today at the Salvation Army Thrift Store.



I've always wanted to go into a secondhand store, find a sweet abandoned guitar there, and give it a home. I guess today was the right day.


Those Spinal Tap guys have the craziest guitar amps.

DIBERGI: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?

TUFNEL: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

DIBERGI: I don't know.

TUFNEL: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?

DIBERGI: Put it up to eleven.

TUFNEL: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

DIBERGI: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?

TUFNEL: (Extremely long pause) These go to eleven.

Tourist in your town

Went to see Pink Mountaintops play at Richard's last night.



Amber and Josh were the first openers. The two are also part of Black Mountain. Amber was on guitar and Josh played keyboards while they both shared vocal duties. Their set was quite mellow.

Frog Eyes played next. The experimental rock quartet from Victoria played an interesting set. Their setup was solely on the right side of the stage, leaving the left side completely open. Vocalist and guitarist Carey Mercer sings with intensity and urgency at times, blasting through his lyrics. He also reminded me of Chris Farley from Beverly Hills Ninja, complete with his sweet headband. That movie was awesome.

Pink Mountaintops played a solid set to a packed Richard's crowd. Stephen McBean, founder and singer/guitarist of Black Mountain and Pink Mountaintops, sports a really cool beard. There were seven of them on stage including Amber and Josh who played earlier. They sounded tight for a seven piece, and their 70's rock feel was nicely layered with a keyboardist, drummer, and percussionist.




During the set, they had a smoke machine that would go off periodically. A bubble blowing machine was also placed to the side of the stage. It was kind of neat at first, but got distracting after awhile.

They played for 1hr15mins with one encore. Some highlights included performances of Cold Criminals, I (Fuck) Mountains, and Slaves.

Buy this car to drive to work...drive to work to pay for this car

Metric played a rocking show last night to a sold out crowd at the Commodore.

Panurge opened the evening. The local five piece band had some interesting spacey pop beats.

Islands played next. All seven members came out dressed in white uniforms. Two of the guys, Nick and Jamie, used to be in the band The Unicorns. The Montreal based performers presented an upbeat and energetic 40min set that included strings and a clarinet to their sound. In one of their songs, the violinist was strumming his violin with a pick. That was pretty neat. Rough Gem sounded really good. I was quite impressed with their performance, as was the rest of the crowd.




Metric took the stage for the third time in just 24hrs at the Commodore. Despite the conditions, they played a fantastic set. As always, their energy is unmatched. They opened with Live It Out, and sounded very tight throughout the whole 1hr 35min set.



Emily was her usual charming self, captivating and full of energy. She has such a commanding stage presence, and had us mesmerized with every move the entire night. It was awesome watching her zone out and bounce while playing the keyboards during solid showings of Hustle Rose and Handshakes. I've noticed she has a more controlled intensity now, and doesn't need to kick and jump around the entire stage to present the emotion in their songs.




Joshua's bass tone sounded great. It has such a unique feel and plays a key role to their sound. His performances during the extended versions of Hustle Rose and Dead Disco were outstanding. He also had one of the best bass performances I've witnessed in a long time.



Joules' drumming was spot-on, and his beat during the Police and The Private really stood out. James' guitar work was excellent, from presenting the intensity in Monster Hospital, to the calmness in On A Slow Night.




They started the encore with Empty. We were also treated to Emily's awesome head-twisting dance during this one. Dead Disco was unbelievable and went 20 minutes long!!! Emily also stage dived into the crowd during the song. When she got back on stage, a fan who also got up there decided to do the same thing and dove into the crowd.......Unfortunately for him, everyone moved out of the way and I saw him fall into a big hole.....Ouch! that must have hurt.



They ended with Love Is A Place, while Joshua laid on the stage exhausted, punching and kicking the air. It was hilarious. Wow.....such an incredible show!!!