That's a wrap!

My Favourite Shows Of The Year

1) Matthew Good - Fri Aug.25 @ Matthew Good's Apartment Living Room
This is by far the most important show to me I've ever been a part of. Nothing can beat being invited by my favourite artist to attend a private show in his home, on his last night staying there. Just him, his voice, and his guitar....no mics, no amps....and more importantly, having the support of close friends and fans in the room as we laughed and shared stories about life....past, present, and future.

2) Matthew Good - Fri Apr.21 @ VECC
Matt's second night of a three night stand performing solo acoustic at the VECC. All three nights were fantastic, though the music and atmosphere on this night seemed extra special. From starting with House Of Smoke And Mirrors, to playing Born To Kill for the first time in nearly five years, to the standing ovation, to the jokes. One joke MG mentioned in particular involved Matt and 10 other guys touring in a converted ambulance....Ian Browne freaks out and gets them to pull over....then runs out screaming into the woods....and returns 30 minutes later. Classic stuff!

3) The Dears - Wed Nov.29 @ Richard's
The show was originally scheduled to be two days earlier, but was delayed due to the snow...which meant I had to forgo Cat Power in order to still catch this one. I've never seen The Dears sound tighter live than on this night. Their sound was huge, the venue was intimate, and everyone in the audience appreciated it.

4) Metric - Sat Apr.1 @ Commodore
Emily Haines and company took it to another level on this night, despite it being their third show within 24 hrs....having played the Commodore the previous night and in the afternoon on this day. The energy and music was incredible, leaving the Commodore floor literally bouncing the entire time. The 20 minute version of Dead Disco featured Emily Haines stage diving into the crowd while Josh Winstead's bassline pummeled through our bodies.

5) Pearl Jam - Sat July 22 @ Gorge Amphitheatre
It's always a treat watching one of the best live bands play at perhaps the best outdoor venue in North America on a fantastic summer night. Their set lasted close to 3hrs as they busted out a bunch of rare tracks. The sky even turned red at one point in the backdrop....as it overlooked the surrounding mountains and the Columbia River. It was absolutely gorgeous.

6) City And Colour - Sun Mar.26 @ Mesa Luna
I was superexcited for Dallas Green's first solo performance in Vancouver. The show sold out really fast, with a bunch of people scrambling hard to look for tickets. The venue was really small and intimate, insomuch that I ended up watching his performance while sitting on a guitar amp beside the stage. The songs were incredibly moving and very personal....yet everyone in the room felt it too.

7) Sufjan Stevens - Sat Oct.14 @ St. Andrews Wesley Church
My first time attending a rock show at a church. The acoustics in the venue were excellent. Sufjan and his 14 piece orchestra played a riveting set, with the music being very haunting at times. His storytelling was fantastic, in both his songs and when he worked the crowd with his banter.

8) Sarah Harmer - Sun Aug.20 @ Malkin Bowl
It amazes me how natural and perfect Sarah's voice is when you see her live. Her ability to make you feel the words in every song is incredible. Being front and centre to witness this was great. The fact that she plays with her best friends onstage really shows, as they sound so tight together.

9) Goo Goo Dolls, Counting Crows - Thurs June 22 @ White River Amphitheatre / Goo Goo Dolls Sun Nov.5 @ Orpheum
It's always a blast for me watching the Goos perform. Their energy when you see them live is insane....running all over the stage with guitars and basses in hand. The June show would have been better had they played when the sun was down....as the atmosphere...lighting...and emotion of their songs would have come across better. Still, they put on a fun set and the Counting Crows were awesome on that night as well. The November Goo show was their first time back in Vancouver in over four years. Meeting them before the show was great, and their lighting and performance on this night was fantastic and felt right.

10) The Decemberists - Wed Dec.13 @ Commodore
This show was originally scheduled for November, but was moved a month back due to Colin's illness. They certainly made up for it on this night....taking photos with someone's camera onstage, crowdsurfing the guitar, singing into someone's cell phone, dividing the crowd in half and having a singoff, getting the entire audience to sit down on the Commodore floor, then having guitarist Chris Funk sit down in the audience and play out the final song amongst the crowd. What a night!

Also:
11) Jeff Tweedy solo acoustic - Tues Jan.31 @ Commodore
12) Coldplay - Thurs Jan.26 @ GM Place
13) Foo Fighters acoustic - Mon July 10 @ Orpheum
14) The National - Thurs Oct.5 @ Richard's
15) The Magic Numbers - Mon Apr.24 @ Richard's

Top Live Opening Acts I Discovered

1) The Grates - opening for We Are Scientists, Wed Mar.29 @ Red Room
2) Islands - opening for Metric, Sat Apr.1 @ Commodore
3) Psapp - opening for Jose Gonzalez, Tues June 20 @ Richard's
4) In-Flight Safety - opening for Raising The Fawn, Thurs Nov.23 @ Lamplighter
5) Wintersleep - opening for Pilate, Wed June 7 @ Commodore
6) Augustana - opening for Goo Goo Dolls and Counting Crows, Thurs June 22 @ White River Amphitheatre
7) Windows 78 - opening for The Album Leaf, Fri Nov.17 @ Plaza Club
8) Glenn Kotche - opening for Jeff Tweedy, Tues Jan.31 @ Commodore
9) Melissa McClelland - opening for Matthew Good, Thurs Apr.20 - Sat Apr.22 @ VECC
10) Talkdemonic - opening for The Decemberists, Wed Dec.13 @ Commodore

My Favourite Song Performances Of The Year

1) Day Old Hate by City and Colour - Sun Mar.26 @ Mesa Luna
2) House Of Smoke And Mirrors by Matthew Good - Fri Apr.21 @ VECC
3) The Fine Art Of Falling Apart by Matthew Good - Fri Apr.21 @ VECC
4) Dead Disco (20 min version) by Metric - Sat Apr.1 @ Commodore
5) The Geese Of Beverly Road by The National - Thurs Oct.5 @ Richard's

Rearviewmirror

Looking back, 2006 has been a really great year for me. I've definitely had my highs and lows along the way throughout the past 12 months....still, I wouldn't change a thing....knowing how each of these experiences have shaped me.

I've been very fortunate to have attended many great concerts this year, including some that I'll remember for a lifetime. These are the shows that I had an opportunity to be a part of this year.

1) Fri Jan.13 - Elias @ Southarm
2) Sun Jan.15 - Constantines, Crystal Skulls @ Media Club
3) Thurs Jan.26 - Coldplay, Fiona Apple @ GM Place
4) Fri Jan.27 - Coldplay, Fiona Apple @ GM Place
5) Tues Jan.31 - Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche @ Commodore
6) Tues Feb.7 - Stars @ Croatian Cultural Centre
7) Thurs Feb.9 - Shaun Verreault, Wil @ UBC Pit Pub
8) Wed Mar.1 - Animal Collective, First Nation, Barr @ Commodore
9) Thurs Mar.2 - Matt Pond PA, Youth Group @ Red Room
10) Fri Mar.3 - Controller.Controller, You Say Party! We Say Die! @ Richard's
11) Tues Mar.7 - Jenny Lewis, Willy Mason @ Richard's
12) Wed Mar.8 - Low, Lavender Diamond @ Richard's
13) Fri Mar.10 - Isobel Campbell, Bontempi @ Richard's
14) Thurs Mar.23 - Elias @ Red Room
15) Fri Mar.24 - Belle & Sebastian, Rose Melberg @ Commodore
16) Sun Mar.26 - City And Colour, The Februarys @ Mesa Luna
17) Mon Mar.27 - Jason Collett, Paso Mino @ Richard's
18) Wed Mar.29 - We Are Scientists, The Grates, Foreign Born @ Red Room
19) Fri Mar.31 - Rob Thomas, Anna Nalick @ QE Theatre
20) Sat Apr.1 - Metric, Islands, Panurge @ Commodore
21) Wed Apr.5 - Pink Mountaintops, Frog Eyes @ Richard's
22) Mon Apr.10 - Sarah Harmer @ Stanley Theatre
23) Thurs Apr.20 - Matthew Good, Melissa McClelland @ VECC
24) Fri Apr.21 - Matthew Good, Melissa McClelland @ VECC
25) Sat Apr.22 - Matthew Good, Melissa McClelland @ VECC
26) Mon Apr.24 - The Magic Numbers, Willy Mason @ Richard's
27) Tues Apr.25 - Ladytron, The Presets @ Commodore
28) Wed Apr.26 - The Stills, The Diableros @ Richard's
29) Fri Apr.28 - Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab For Cutie @ Pacific Coliseum
30) Sat May 6 - Jeff Martin, Sonic City @ Commodore
31) Wed May 17 - The Strokes, The Most Serene Republic @ Plaza Of Nations
32) Wed May 24 - Mogwai @ Commodore
33) Fri May 26 to Sun May 28 - Sasquatch! Music Festival @ Gorge Amphitheatre
34) Fri June 2 - Xavier Rudd @ Malkin Bowl
35) Sun June 4 - Bright Eyes, Gruff Rhys @ Malkin Bowl
36) Wed June 7 - Pilate, Wintersleep @ Commodore
37) Fri June 9 - Yoko Casionos, Elias @ Media Club
38) Sat Jun 10 - The Walkmen, Mazarin @ Richard's
39) Thurs Jun 15 - Melanie Dekker @ Malones
40) Tues June 20 - Jose Gonzalez, Juana Molina, Psapp @ Richard's
41) Thurs June 22 - Goo Goo Dolls, Counting Crows, Augustana @ White River Amphitheatre
42) Fri June 30 - The Grates @ Limerick Junction
43) Sun July 9 - Dashboard Confessional, John Ralston @ Plaza Of Nations
44) Mon July 10 - Foo Fighters, Tim Curran @ Orpheum
45) Thurs July 20 - Wil, Kevin Mackenzie @ Buffalo Club
46) Sat July 22 - Pearl Jam @ Gorge Amphitheatre
47) Sun July 23 - Pearl Jam @ Gorge Amphitheatre
48) Tues July 25 - Sam Roberts Band, Broken Social Scene, The Stills @ Deer Lake Park
49) Wed Aug.16 - Silver Mt. Zion, Carla Bozulich @ Richard's
50) Sat Aug.19 - City And Colour, Black Lungs @ Malkin Bowl
51) Sun Aug.20 - Sarah Harmer, Carolyn Mark @ Malkin Bowl
52) Tues Aug.22 - Tool, Isis @ GM Place
53) Fri Aug.25 - Matthew Good @ MG's Living Room
54) Thurs Aug.31 - Marianas Trench @ Buffalo Club
55) Thurs Sep.14 - Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Mars Volta @ GM Place
56) Wed Sep.20 - Amy Millan, Mayor McCa @ Richard's
57) Fri Sep.22 - John Mayer, Sheryl Crow @ Pacific Coliseum
58) Tues Oct.3 - Jason Collett, Ridley Bent @ VECC
59) Thurs Oct.5 - The National, The Fall Collection @ Richard's
60) Fri Oct.6 - We Are Scientists, Art Brut @ Commodore
61) Wed Oct.11 - The Killers @ Orpheum
62) Sat Oct.14 - Sufjan Stevens, My Brightest Diamond @ St. Andrews Wesley Church
63) Sat Oct.21 - The New Pornographers, Immaculate Machine @ Plaza Club
64) Sun Nov.5 - Goo Goo Dolls, Tomi Swick @ Orpheum
65) Tues Nov.7 - The Tragically Hip @ Commodore
66) Fri Nov.17 - The Album Leaf, Windows 78 @ Plaza Club
67) Thurs Nov.23 - Raising The Fawn, In-Flight Safety @ Lamplighter
68) Wed Nov.29 - The Dears, The Bloodlines @ Richard's
69) Tues Dec.5 - Joanna Newsom, Bill Callahan @ St. Andrews Wesley Church
70) Wed Dec.13 - The Decemberists, Talkdemonic @ Commodore
71) Mon Dec.18 - Sarah Slean @ Stanley Theatre
72) Sat Dec.23 - Ian M. @ West Richmond Community

So 72 + 18 other shows I attended through booking and promoting = 90

90 shows / 365 days = about 1 show in every 4 days.

Wow...I'm tired. I need sleep. Sleeping is good.

I like music

My 10 favourite albums of the year, from A to Z.

Gunther Christmas Party

We had our Gunther Christmas Party last night and filmed the final installment of the Gunther Trilogy. It was crazy good times!

Blue Parade

Sarah Slean played at the Stanley Theatre Monday night.

Chris Smith opened the show. He played a solo acoustic set which was somewhat unorganized. He had a setlist with him, but mentioned he was switching up the order of the songs and got kinda lost in what we was gonna play next. He also made a few mistakes on the guitar, which lead him to stopping the song at times and starting back up again during the song.

Sarah Slean played an intimate set accompanied with just a piano onstage.....and a castle in the backdrop. The Stanley Theatre is currently playing host to the ongoing Beauty And The Beast play, hence the inclusion of a castle....which I must say added nicely to the aesthetics of the stage and mood of the performance. When I saw Sarah Harmer at the venue back in April, the theatre was showing Waiting For Godot at the time and they also had an interesting backdrop for the show.

Sarah started off her set with a cover of Drive by The Cars. She followed that up with strong showings of Out In The Park and Lucky Me. Her vocals as always were soaring and completely haunting at times. The atmosphere in the Stanley Theatre was silent during songs....insomuch that you could hear pin drops.

Before going into California, Sarah mentioned that she played this song on an episode of Canada AM one day. Being that it's a morning show, someone asked if she had something more upbeat and catchy to play instead, and Sarah said No.

Ms. Slean made several jokes throughout the night about the castle onstage. She also talked about living in Paris for the last few months and wrote a new song about stupid ex-boyfriend #27, called Looking For Someone. She said it was her attempt to write a sad song in C Major....which is quite hard.

Sarah took a couple song requests during the set. She also agreed to an email request to play Madeline, which she hadn't played in about five years. Some other highlights from the 1hr 30min set included Eliot and Sweet Ones.

Setlist:

Drive (The Cars cover)
Out In The Park
Lucky Me
Eliot
California
I'm Your Man (Leonard Cohen cover)
Sweet Ones
Parosol
Looking For Someone
Little London Night
Madeline
Bank Accounts
Somebody's Arms
Book Smart Street Stupid
Wake Up

Me And Jerome
Drastic Measures
Pilgrim

Life Beyond The Minimum Safe Distance

Heart > Head

Castaways And Cutouts

Went to see The Decemberists play at the Commodore last night. The show was originally scheduled for November 17, but the date was postponed as Colin Meloy was ill at the time and needed to rest his voice. They made sure to put in an extra effort on this night to make up for the postponed show.

Talkdemonic opened the evening. The instrumental duo from Portland consists of Lisa Molinaro on violin and Kevin O’Connor on drums. The combination of their instruments, along with the keyboard and bass samples, were both sweeping and beautiful. I was really impressed with their music and performance.

The Decemberists took the stage and opened with The Crane Wife 3. I've been looking forward to this show for quite awhile now, as their new album is one of my favourites of the year. The Portland six piece have also been playing with Lisa from Talkdemonic on violin in the lineup for their live shows.



Colin Meloy made it clear that they wanted to put on a great performance for us to make up for the show postponement, and they did just that. During The Perfect Crime 2, Meloy grabbed a camera from someone in the audience and then started taking pictures onstage of the band members and the crowd. Later in the song, he took his Gibson Les Paul and decided to crowd surf his guitar! It was funny watching the guitar sail right over my head while being held up by those in the audience...it was absolute craziness!

They also played a song called Culling Of The Fold, which Colin mentioned was a track cut from The Crane Wife album because it was too violent and offended Jenny, the keyboardist and accordion player. Partway through the song, Colin took someone's cell phone from the crowd, dialed a number in their address book, and started singing into the phone.

Sixteen Military Wives featured an interlude in the performance where Colin divided the crowd in half. He then got each half to turn and face off against each other. We then proceeded to have a battle to see which side could sing the loudest. Colin turned himself into a musical conductor directing the crowd.

For the final number of the evening, A Cautionary Song, Colin and Chris had an impromptu guitar faceoff...with Chris on an electric and Colin on an acoustic. At one time, they were both doing some behind-the-neck soloing action. Shortly later, they got the entire Commodore crowd to sit on the floor...much like at Sasquatch this year.



Guitarist Chris Funk then jumped into the crowd and sat down amongst the audience. Colin said Chris would read us a Christmas story. He also handed Chris his guitar so he could play for us. They then finished off the song and their wonderful performance for the evening.



Aside from the Commodore being extremely warm inside, I really enjoyed the show overall. Colin was very entertaining throughout the whole set and the band sounded super tight together. Set lasted 1hr 50mins.

Bridges And Balloons

Went to see Joanna Newsom perform a sold out show Tuesday night at St. Andrews Wesley Church.



Bill Callahan opened the show. He played a set with just him and his acoustic. The artist known as Smog had some nice stucture to his songs. Some people seemed to be getting either restless or sleepy during his mellow set, which was filled with long numbers. My feet were falling asleep on me and the pews were a bit unforgiving. As Bill saw some audience members leaving their seats, he joked about how he only had 40 songs left to go.

Joanna Newsom came on and started off her set with Bridges And Balloons. She played her first three songs solo, accompanied only by her harp and that captivating voice. Wow, her vocals are so powerful and the great venue acoustics only enhanced this feature.

She then introduced her 5 piece accompanying band and said they are now gonna perform the new album for us. Joanna then launched into Emily and they played the latest acclaimed release Ys in it's entirety, from front to back. That's the first time I've seen an artist do that at a show.

For the encore, she returned to play three more songs solo off her previous release, The Milk-Eyed Mender. Overall, I was quite impressed with her harp playing abilities along with that unique and sensational voice of hers.

Set lasted 1hr 35mins.

Setlist:

Bridges And Balloons
The Book Of Right-On
Ca' The Yowes To The Knowes (traditional Scottish song)
Emily
Monkey And Bear
Sawdust And Diamonds
Only Skin
Cosmia

Sadie
Peach, Plum, Pear
Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie

***

Spent the better half of yesterday afternoon listening to the mixes of a friend's new album. It's sounding really good. We also spent some time working on the track listing for his 15 song album. He's about to send it off to New Jersey to get it mastered by the same guy that mastered the Sufjan Stevens albums. We're currently looking at a February release.

You and I are on the outside of almost everything

Went to see The Dears play a fantastic show Wednesday night at Richard's. They were originally scheduled to play here on Monday, but it was postponed due to the snow. This kind of put me in a tough spot as I also had a ticket to the Cat Power show scheduled on Wednesday as well. Even though I've never seen Cat Power before, and as much as I wanted to watch her perform with the Memphis Rhythm Band.....there's no way I would have missed one of my favourite bands touring for their amazing Gang Of Losers album and playing their first and probably only time at Richard's.

The Blood Lines opened the show. The four piece from Saskatoon played a set that displayed some nice harmonies and catchy pop-rock riffs in their songs.

The band was only formed this year, and have already been getting some good exposure...from opening for the Constantines, to playing at the CMJ Music Marathon, to touring with The Dears. I quite enjoyed their set musically.



Near the end of their performance, they decided to invite a girl from the audience onto the stage to dance. Unfortunately, the girl was drunk and fell off the stage backwards onto the floor on her attempt getting on. After she was helped onto the stage, she aimlessly wandered around trying to somewhat interact with each band member for the song. It was kind of interesting and funny to watch...

The Dears came on to Sinthtro, which lead straight into Ticket To Immortality. This was my 6th time seeing them perform live. The Montreal natives have gone through quite a few lineup changes since their existence, but these six current members seem to fit so well together onstage. On this night, they sounded as tight as ever.



Frontman Murray Lightburn plays with so much passion and energy, as does his wife Natalia on keyboards and vox. The new songs translated well live, especially Death Or Life We Want You, and You And I Are A Gang Of Losers.



Whites Only Party and We Can Have It featured pounding basslines courtesy of Martin Pelland. He and Valerie Jodoin-Keaton, (on keyboards, flute, and vox), are also married. With Martin positioned beside Valerie onstage, it was cute to watch the two have their little moments together during songs.



The Dears also added their own extra set of stage lights, which enhanced their performance nicely. They finished off the main set with Hate Then Love, before coming back with a soaring 13min version of Postcard From Purgatory for the encore. I Fell Deep followed, then the band said their goodbyes. With an overwhelming applause and show of appreciation from the crowd, The Dears came back and played one final song for a second encore...the name of it escapes me.



Set lasted 1hr 50mins with 2 encores. Wow.....I'm really happy with my decision to forgo the Cat Power show in favour of seeing The Dears once more. It's definitely been one of my favourite shows this year.



Notes:
-Die Die Die on the setlist = Never Destroy Us
-2nd encore song not listed on the setlist, as they've been mainly ending their shows with I Fell Deep.