Letting Go

Went to see In-Flight Safety last night at The Lamp. It was kinda weird, though relaxing to be at the venue and not have to worry about running a show and everything that goes along with it.

The first band was called Mico. They had one nice instrumental song that featured a violin. At the end of their set, they piled up their instruments near the front of the stage. I used to do that too....except it was with lego pieces....and it didn't involve damaging over a thousand dollars in equipment.

In-Flight Safety put on a solid set filled with catchy pop-rock melodies and atmospheric tones. I was quite impressed with their performance and can see them getting big in the future.

Raising The Fawn closed out the night. They had some sound issues during their set with the floor monitors and mics. The three piece tried to stay positive throughout it and displayed some good energy with their edgy riffs. For the last song, they had two bass players going as they called the bassist from Mico to jam out with them at the end. Nice finish.

***

cardio + yoga + breakdancing = tired legs.

note to self: good luck doing squats and legs day tomorrow.

The Engine Driver

Congratulations to the Lions.
I've completed my first FOG.
Hip Hop class was fun.
Borat is the funniest movie I've seen since Anchorman.
My heart is still an idiot.

An Orchestrated Rise To Fall

The Album Leaf played The Plaza Club Friday Night.



Windows 78 opened the show. The local Vancouver four-piece played a solid set featuring rich musical layers along with a progessive and ambient tone. I was impressed with their performance and picked up their cd. Looking forward to doing a show with them in the future.

The Album Leaf came onstage and put on a solid set. Jimmy LaValle is pretty much The Album Leaf.....having recorded all the parts on his records himself. In a live setting, he is accompanied by a few other players to help bring his music to fruition. There wasn't much stage banter at all during the 1hr 15min set, just some beautiful texture provided by the violin and 4+ keyboards in use. There was a bit of a sound issue with the vocals and violin at points, but everything was resolved.

***

After The Plaza show, I ran off to do another show that night for FOG at the Pub 340. It went quite well. We sold out the venue and the bands and audience had a good time.

FOG Night 1

Kick-Off Party at The Plaza Club.

I'm Going To WRESTLEMANIA!!!

Purchased my WrestleMania 23 ticket this morning at 7am.....thanks to the Eastern Time Zone difference. I scored Ringside Row 3!!! It's gonna be a fantastic weekend!

This will be my 3rd WrestleMania. I previously attended:
1) WrestleMania 18 @ Skydome, Toronto - Hollywood Hogan vs. The Rock
2) WrestleMania 19 @ Safeco Field, Seattle - Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle

This is the biggest stage for everyone involved in the business and I can't wait to step inside Ford Field next April.

Fully Completely

Went to see The Tragically Hip perform Tuesday night at the Commodore. It was the last show of their four night stand in Vancouver promoting their new album, World Container. No opener on this night, just an evening with The Hip.

The Tragically Hip came onstage to a great ovation and kicked things off with Yer Not The Ocean. They followed that up with New Orleans Is Sinking, to an enthusiastic crowd response. The Kingston natives covered many songs off the new album, along with some greats from their nine previous LPs.

Gord Downie is quite an interesting performer to watch. He has such a great stage presence and his mannerisms, from the way he sings, to the way he moves, to his interaction with the audience, really draws everyone into the show. During the set, he broke a few mic stands and even started spinning one around his hand like a baton.

Complete with a spring-loaded dance floor, the surface of the Commodore Ballroom was literally bouncing as The Hip rocked out to Fully Completely and Blow At High Dough. During Chagrin Falls, Gord forgot the words for a bit and was about to stop the song before coming to with the lyrics. He joked afterwards about how he ended up using a teleprompter in order to sing the lyrics of the song.

Some other highlights during the 1hr 50min set included Family Band, Ahead By A Century, At The Hundredth Meridian, Grace Too, and Little Bones. Overall, it was a fun night and a really special show as it's not everyday you get to see The Hip play at such an intimate venue.

Setlist:

Yer Not The Ocean
New Orleans Is Sinking
Family Band
Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park
The Drop-Off
Ahead By A Century
Fly
Fully Completely
Sherpa
World Container
Luv (Sic)
At The Hundredth Meridian
Chagrin Falls
The Kids Don't Get It
Grace, Too
Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man
In View
Blow At High Dough
The Lonely End Of The Rink

Putting Down
Pretend
Little Bones

You Wait, Wanting This World To Let You In

The Goo Goo Dolls played the Orpheum last night. Before the show started, I had a meet and greet with Johnny, Robby, and Mike. It was great to finally meet these guys since their music has had such a big impact on me over the years.



Tomi Swick opened the show with his four piece band. The Hamilton native played a 40min set consisting of some catchy pop-rock songs off his debut album. Tomi has a big voice and did a solid job opening the evening. In addition, his guitarist kinda resembled Hyde from That 70's Show...no Led Zeppelin shirt though.

The Goo Goo Dolls came on with their usual explosiveness, running onto the stage and starting off with Stay With You. It was their first time playing Vancouver in over four years and the crowd gave them a great welcome. The last time I saw them was back in June when they were touring with the Counting Crows.

Everytime I see them live, I'm blown away by the sheer number of guitars in Johnny Rzeznik's collection. He had one rack of eight acoustics all tuned differently, plus another rack of electrics also in different tunings. Watching him switch to different guitars after every song is pretty much a show within itself.

Robby is one of the funnest bass players I've seen live. He moves around the stage so freely, pounding on his bass and rocking out....and he does so with the biggest smile on his face while also playing barefooted. His energy during Tucked Away is tremendous.



We had some black balloons floating in the audience when they performed Black Balloon. Naked featured a really nice intro, which the Goos said they have been practicing lately and performed for the first time last night. Name and Iris also had their sweet sing-along moments.

Some other highlights for me during the 1hr 15min set included Feel The Silence, Without You Here, Better Days, and Let Love In. Korel's sax solo during Broadway and Give A Lil Bit were also very enjoyable. It's such a blast to watch one of my favourite bands perform, and especially to see them so happy onstage doing what they love.

cause = time

Did my first breakdancing class yesterday. It was a lot of fun and something I've wanted to do for awhile.

Went home, got ready, then headed back out shortly afterwards to run a rock show. Promoting 3 shows in 1 night can be quite tiring.