Stop # 1 : The Stone Temple for Familia

Hey, look at that, it's Saturday and the evening's entertainment starts even earlier! Only in Vancouver, folks. The Stone Temple was getting things rolling just after 6pm, presumably to have things wrapped up before 10 so they could get the money-making club kids into the room. First up here was Familia, a band from the Fraser Valley that appears to have drawn a stunningly large crowd. Maybe that's just because the small, dark front room of the Stone Temple is the size of the average living room, or maybe it just seems crowded because everyone who's there is piled up into a big clump by the entrance instead of venturing near the stage. Anyways, the band... Okay I like these cats! The drummer is illuminated by the bright sunlight pouring in through the club's Bacardi bat cube glass wall. he's wearing a creepy shirt with Ronald McDonald posing with some tape-nippled burlesque chicks, the guitarist has a really neat looking guitar strap with a unicorn stitched onto it, and the bass player looks like Sondre Lerche. All this is fronted by an adorable and stylish girl who has fluid and easygoing moves, a warbly voice, and breathless moments. Kind of indie-pop, and the singer is pulling some moves that seem like an aerobics class is in session. The little group of brave souls who ventured to the front are going nuts over this. Definitely friends, one of them gets a hand-hold and swirl from the singer gal. I'm also amused that they seem to have a very diligent stage tech helping them change guitars and take care of any issues. And my note paper is stuck to the gross sticky bar. Ew.

















Stop # 2 : The Stone Temple for Splitting Adam

This early nothing else is going on in town, so here I am, still at the Stone Temple. Splitting Adam have been around for ages but this is my first time ever chancing to see them. They aren't anything what I expected - they actually are kind of danncey! Weird. They look a bit out of place considering the music they're playing, but hey, if it works, it works. Clearly they're having a good time. A fellow photographer taps me on the shoulder here and informs me someone's filming a Zipcar ad over by The Cellar at 7:20, and they're trying to round up as many photographers as they can to be in the ad as 'paparazzi.' I don't entirely know what Zipcar is - I think it's a sort of rideshare/car-rental type of thing - but they had been sponsoring the Cellar showcases all weekend, complete with an astroturf-green carpet leading into the venue. I tell him I will be there if I can make it in time.





Stop # 3 : Bar None for Blue Venus

Of course, this is running a bit late. I settle down at a table for a moment to wait for the first act to start up. For some reason I can't figure out, Bar None smells viciously of spicy mustard. It's like sticking your nose into a container of McDonald's hot mustard McNugget sauce and inhaling deeply. Yes, that's two McDonald's references in the space of one hour tonight. I also notice that, in the smallish space of Bar None, there are three bars (that I can see), and each one has just a ridiculous amount of alcohol stocked in it. The Yaletown yuppies know how to party.

Finally, Blue Venus quietly took the... well, the part of the floor that they sort of turn into a stage here. These two are very tiny people. This also ended up quite different from what I thought it would be, based on the bits I'd heard online earlier. The set was very stripped down and less *club-electronic* than I thought it would be. The gal has a strong voice, but dare I say, not a very good one. Maybe she was just warming up. She seemed a bit nervous, dropping her violin bow and then making a giggly joke about it. She does have a gorgeous and mournful violin sound, I will give this duo that. In general, it was lacking panache and style, and came across as clipped and clumsy. Too bad - the recordings have a lot of potential.









Stop # 4 : The Cellar for the 7 Year Old Poets

I maintain the utter-cuteness factor of these guys in all their unapologetic Beatles-esque, poptacular Hooo-hoo-ooo-ing glory. They have suits on, they are having so much fun, and really, isn't that what all this music stuff should be about? Jeez, some people take themselves to bloody seriously.





Stop # 5 : The Stone Temple for the February March

Well gee finally I get to see these guys. And this is where the 80's fitness video guy who I'd seen wandering around town earlier belongs. The guy with the creepy moustache, headband, and crazy shades is in the band. These guys also have their very-very-British guitar player, who has drapped a Union Jack over his amp, and speaks with such a charming lilt, I can't help but grin like a fool whenever he talks. He's also fucking feeeeeling his guitar playing, rolling about on his feet as he dishes out the licks. While I can't say their music utterly stuck in my mind at this point, I do declare they have a general energy about them that gives them an air of uber-competence with their instruments. I think this may be a simple case of 'The Stone Temple is just a crappy place to see a band for the first time.'











Stop # 6 : The Buffalo Club for Rayzing Sons

Holy shit!

First, there's a lot of people here. A lot. Second, there's also quite a few people on stage. Okay it's like 6 people, but they take up a lot of space. The peripheral guitarists and bass player are enormous metal dudes with lots and lots of hair and goatees and stuff. And there's there two comparitively small dudes bouncing violently around the stage, doing a series of dual vocals that, despite being more 'metal' than 'weenie-emo' (ween-mo?? Weemo???), makes me think of Alexisonfire for its combination of fluid harmonies and raging off-kilter growl-yelling. Throw in a bit of Rage Against The Machine and Prodigy and you've got an idea of what these fellows are like.



















Stop # 7 : Bar None for Amy Space

Wow, powerful voice on this gal. Very lounge, she's reminding me of Kim Kuzma to some degree vocally. One of those voices that was really born to be. It's a liiiittle bit of a change from Rayzing Sons. If I ran a country music label, I'd sign Amy Space in a heartbeat.







Stop # 8 : The Penthouse for UTS

Now tonight, people seem to be gravitating towards the Penthouse. This feels like a proper NMW finally! UTS is uber-danceaholica. They are also all wearing matching shirts, but with different stripe patterns.





Stop # 9 : The Stone Temple for ???

This was supposed to be Bush League in this time slot, but when this band finished a song, they announced themselves as something else, but I don't know what. Who the hell is this? Anyhow, their performance reminds me of what my companion (missing this night due to unexpected work) had told me two days earlier when he observed me walking into near-empty rooms and watching how the lacklustre bands on stage perked up and performed all crazy-like as soon as they saw a photographer in front of them, then went back to ho-hum after I left. This guy peers down at me while singing, does an obvious eyebrow raise and looks quickly away as though pretending he didn't actually just see me, and suddenly starts getting into some intense rock poses on stage. Hah. Nice. The music here is sort of a peculiar Ameri-rock bumpkin-y thing, with a bit of lewd blues tossed in.





Stop # 10 : The Cellar for Five AM

I think this would have been fun, but I only saw about 30 seconds of it. Dang.





Stop # 11 : The Buffalo Club for David Anthony

Now I see what all those candles that were sitting around every available shelf in the bar earlier were for. They are all lined up at the front of the stage, lit, at the feet of a bunch of dudes on bar stools with acoustic instruments, and a gal as well. This is so mellow, I begin to wonder what kind of line-up the bar intends tonight, putting this on after Rayzing Sons. Also, I think Tommy Lee is in this band, cleverly disguised in a grey suit and hat. Anyhow... the room is filled with gothy kids. Also, the roof exploded near the entrance, or a pipe near the roof or something. Water is pouring into a garbage can placed right in the entranceway.





Stop # 12 : Bar None for Greenlaw.

There's a lot of motorcycles around town tonight. Hmm. I also watch some guy in a truck try to pull away from the curb on the steep road half a block from Bar None, and not hit the gas quite enough - with a crunch, he rolls right into the car behind him. Bahaha. So in Bar None, Greenlaw is lounging it up with a very ethereal, delicate and rich groove. Very gentle flute involved here too. It's pleasant.





Stop # 13 : The Cellar for Retrograde

Only their second show back in Vancouver in a very long time, Retrograde sounds great in the tiny Cellar, but their freakishly-bright light show barely fits in the room. Lead vocalist Toby Hulse nearly scrapes the ceiling for his height, but he's raging. It's just plain good to see them again. Also, drummer Ben Hulse killed a cymbal. On my way back across town, I think I may be hearing Bush League finally leaking out of the Stone Temple, but I don't go back in. They sound all right.





















Stop # 14 : The Penthouse for Another Cynthia

Okay I dig this. One more reason to head to Portland - clearly they are a fantastic music resource over there. There's this odd dynamic amongst them - they look a bit mismatched, but not in a very obvious way. They have a definitive frontman, even though he seems to share lead vocals alot with the guitarist. But the one guy is quite showboaty, with a stylish haircut, slick Britrockstar togs, cuffs, make-up... he's very mobile too, doing his darndest to engage an audience that seems a bit uncertain about anything new. Lots of hands. There's a guitar propped up on a stand near the drums that refuses to stay upright. The music supplies the room with some great blips and bloops, despite having a keyboardist that looks the most misplaced in the band than any of the rest of them. I don't mean that in a bad way, just that he was more jeans-and-tshirt than the other dudes. At the end of the set, I take a look down at my camera for a moment and am startled by a dull thudding noise, which I look up and see is a result of the bass player (who moments before was perched on top of a speaker) absolutely annihilating his bass by smashing it violently to the ground repeatedly. I had to take a couple of steps back, as I wasn't sure if he was honest-to-goodness pissed off for some reason.















Since these guys were from out of town and I had some spare time later in the evening, I took a chance to go have a chit-chat with them and discovered some of their thoughts on the show, and a general frustration based on set-related promises that didn't happen and other band politics that are fairly normal in band-life, but they ain't none of your damn business. To them, they felt they hadn't put on their best effort, but they pushed a copy of their album at me and claimed I would enjoy this vastly more, especially if I enjoyed their set. So I have listened to that recording now, and you know what? I don't agree. There was a power behind the live show that I suspect was partially due to a bit of band stress. They had conviction. They threw their all in. There was genuine emotion there. I'm way more into the live set I saw than the album, which sounds a bit forced at times. But anyhow, this isn't an album review... back to the live stuff!















Stop # 15 : The Commodore for Murder By Death

Suddenly I remember I am supposed to go see Murder By Death, yet another non-NMW show happening through the weekend. I run up there and find out I have just missed the media rendez-vous, but shhhh I snuck two photos from the balcony during what I understand was the 4th song. Please don't blackball me. Anyhow... what can I say but, rockabilly? What? Check out that guitar!!! Rowrrr.



Stop # 16 : The Penthouse for Volcanoless in Canada

These guys rock surprisingly lots for a pile of dudes with acoustice guitars. Acoustic! This is so weird. They're from Saskatoon, and claim that they're the only people from there, everything else is just bales and cows. They have brought with them a giant throng of fans. How? Who? How do people know these guys? The folks from Ninjaspy are here, freaking out in the crowd, kicking and leaping and dancing. This is much like they were on stage at NMW last year, and likely how they were onstage at NMW this year, as they played like an hour earlier across town. The ViC folks have impressive kicking abilities. Also, I don't know who that guy is in the last photo making the V symbol in front of the stage. He just asked me to take a photo of him, so I did. Mystery dude, if you see this, please be in touch.









Stop # 17 : The back alley behind the Penthouse for conversation and the Thermasses.

As I get to know my new pals from Portland in Another Cynthia out back for a while, we are serenaded by the Thermasses from inside the Penthouse. As far as I can tell, they have no vocals in their music. Decent background noise.

Stop # 18 : Two Parrots for terrible food

Since Wings was too loud for the Portland crew, we end up, with my warning, at Two Parrots. The food sucks, the beer is more expensive on special than it should be regular price, and it's just as damn loud in here.

Stop # 19 : The Ramada Inn and a bit of The Morrissey

The last 5 minutes of open Morrissey time is ours, and then everyone jives up to Another Cynthia's hotel room to ... make coffee... some guys go out in search of Vancouver goods (ahem), and somehow it's suddenly 5am and we're watching Blow on someone's laptop. Around 6, I decide to hightail it outta there before I actually fall asleep, since I don't want to end up having to wake up after a 2-hour nap when these guys get themselves packed up to leave town.

Stop # 20 : McDonald's for breakfast

I'm sure I indeed look like I've been out all night, and I'm sure McD's is a dumb idea after no sleep (and not even alcohol to make it justifiable... for those who lost count, that's 3 McDonald's references in this review). There's a guy in line in front of me asking for the morning paper. Oh my god I need my bed.

On to NMW Sunday! Which is really just Memphis and Apostle of Hustle!

Elsewhere

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