Oh my what a collection of people in this room tonight! It's another one of those nights where it sort of feels like it's 2003, only now everyone's in different bands... nice to see everyone again though.







Anyhow, the first band on was called Marble Rye. This is a new crew for me, and what I heard initially was a pretty harsh, grating rock sound, slightly reminiscent of Incubus. It turns out it's quite the band of jokers too, as early on, they started quipping that they wanted everyone to boo them. "As soon as this song is over - and it ends quickly - I want you all to boo us as hard as you can. As if the Leafs just won the Cup, Tucker's mooning GM Place... so people will walk in and think 'yeah, they aiight,' and then you all boo and they're like, 'huh?'" And you know, the crowd actually did it. It was a big and into-it crowd for them anyhow. The last line of the song they sang then went something like, don't forget to boo. And boom... the crowd boo'd. A surprising amount. If I were the band members, I'd almost have gotten a complex from it.









Continuing the comedy, a bit later on as some guitar tuning was happening or something, one of the boys in the band launched into his own monologue. "How much did you guys pay tonight to get in here? $10? Wow, that's a lot. Well, we definitely play $10 worth of music. Maybe $10.25. $11 is pushing it." Following this, in the next song's outro, the same guy was so involved in his one-leg-up crazy metal wanky guitar solo, he nearly fell clear off the front of the stage. Really amusing band to watch - the metal riffs are out of control. "Get your dancing shoes on! Or dancing arms [starts waving arms around]."









While the lead singer fella was getting his shiny saxophone out of hiding, the guitarist entertained us with a little musical interlude. "This is a song I grew up with, that I used to listen to every time when I'd go out clubbing..." It was the Inspector Gadget theme song. Very funky version thereof. Then with the sax at the ready, we were treated to a bit of the Simpsons theme song.







At this point in the night, another show was just getting into high gear. A couple who had been sitting at a table at the back with a bottle of champagne on ice, who had been pretty touchy feely there, had stood up and moved to the back of the room, where there were viciously, grossly, and drunkenly making out and groping each other. Much hilarity ensued. The enormous Luna Riot contingent, who were hanging out in the back of the room like the cool kids in high school, had no end of witty banter and antics about this revolting pair.







Grossssss.



Okay so Stereobuss was next. Another band I never heard before this date, they were quite a cross between being wonderfully ambient/sweet and fairly dull. Run-of-the-mill is probably more appropriate. A bit of a Jeff Buckley thing going on if you give it some grace (I've heard it recorded - this is more apparent there). The guitarist's arms kind of scare me. He looks like he could break some tables. The drummer also has the shortest kit in creation. Also, compared to the first band, the audience thinned considerably. Maybe because I was distracted by the gross making-out couple, who were busy knocking shit off the walls at this point, or maybe because of unexpected visitors, but I stopped being overly engaged in that band at this point. Background noise - they were competent. I wouldn't mind checking them out again some time just to see if I missed anything.







To end the night... The Luna Riot. A dazzling, somewhat-new band to the Vancouver(ish - also Victoria. They manage this city-adultery somehow) scene, these guys absolutely rock the fucking marvelous oldschool sound. Dirty, sexy, thick grrrrrrr guitars. How else can I explain that? It sounds like danger. Like danger! Good, enticing, orgasmic danger. That sort of adrenaline rush, drug-haze danger. Sadly, it was to be Luke Renshaw's last show drumming with the band. His duties with Victoria favourites Jets Overhead were getting to be too much to keep with these guys. We wish him well (and we'll of course see lots more of him with JO), and on we go to a new chapter in the Luna Riot's brief history.









Sweet 60's-style harmonies going on here too. There's a lot of energy on the stage. Lead dude Jamison Prystay is one ferocious clapper/tambourinerer, let me tell you... and jumper. I mean, really, can you shake the tambourine any harder? Can you? I don't think you're trying hard enough. Travis Smyth works the guitar in this measured cool kind of way. Up, down, up, down, guitar up, head down, head left, guitar down, head way down, up, over... Like Britain just walked into the room. The manly-cool is tempered by soft and pretty Louise Burns on bass. Yeah, this is a great band. You know what makes them extra-great? They all snootily kind of trashed the stage after the set. But it was this great chaotic event, with lots of noise and a random deconstruction of limited parts of the stage. Just careful enough to know that they can't really afford to go buy new instruments after every show, but bonkers enough to ... just to be cool. Don't believe me? Here, have a look... (video courtesy of the band's Myspace. The sound sucks, deal with it. I swear they sound much better in person.)

You're cool!

Elsewhere

By Andy Scheffler
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : March, 2007.