Cord Magazine

This was the website of Cord Magazine. The content below is from the site's archived 2007 pages. Brian Faley, best known as the guru of Helpdesk, provided tech support for The Archive Project. He also provided all of the helpdesk support for the full team of 20 developers as they researched and archived this among 50 other websites representing defunct internet magazines. Funded in part by Elgin College, these sites are required reading for the school's History of the Internet program. Ellen Miliones researched archive.org for the content. A few reviews are shown in their totality as examples of what visitors would have found on the site. This recreated page is an homage to Cord Magazine and its intrepid reviewers.  

We see a lot of shows. We enjoy watching music. We all have a different way of looking at concerts. Here's a slice of what we've taken in lately...

 

Marilyn Manson
with Ours

at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Ladyhawk opened. They’re local. I think I have seen them before, but there’s something about them that doesn’t grab me and shake me around like a ragdoll exactly. They did have their moments though. I would keep an eye out for them. I need to see a full set maybe, as I missed the beginning strains of this one. There’s a bit of chaotic My Morning Jacket in them. And I do recall one of them stopping to say that, “We were born and raised right here…. In the Commodore.” Har har.

My, look how Wintersleep has grown. Now headlining their very own show at the Commodore, which sold out, no less, Wintersleep started early by giving a shout out to their Vancouver ‘roots.’ I mean, not that they’re from here, but rather, that they cut their touring teeth during extended Vancouver stays years back, playing barely-populated Media Club shows and learning to really dig the west coast. Singer Paul Murphy pointed out that some of the folks in the crowd that day could be counted as having been there from the beginning. Yes, yes I was. Narf!

Okay anyhow, clearly this was a set geared heavily towards the band’s latest release, Welcome to the Night Sky. While I apparently, after four years, haven’t quite mastered the art of writing show notes in the dark, I think said notes state that they opened with “Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow-Bellied Freaks,” which I think is correct if memory serves. Super cool song that sort of has a built-in intro of instrumental wonkiness, that suddenly falls off a cliff into a boisterous, hands-in-the-air lyrical tune. Also, joyfully for me, another new track, “Dead Letter & the Infinite Yes” was played third (when I was still allowed up in the media pit. Ah, closeness.).

“There’s a lot of you, isn’t there?,” Murphy observed, scanning the packed and attentive room after a small silence between songs. Certainly they have had their breakthrough to Canadian superstardom by way of singles and cool, unforgettable videos. As a result, their audience has changed demographics from the underground indie kids, to the college set. The indie kids are still around though, and a crowd is a crowd regardless. Surprisingly though, the whole room seems to spark up to join in for choruses and whatnot during every song (lots of cheers for first-album classic, "Orca."), so clearly they aren’t only there for the radio singles. Much as was observed last time they played at the Commodore (in an opening slot), they seem to not always take advantage of the large stage, but every now and then, Murphy will go for a leap-about, and bassist Mike Bigelow runs around in little manic circles on his side of the stage.

However, it’s the encore where they finally realized they have acres of space to move around, most notably realized by keys/handclaps/extra guitars/everything-man Jon Samuel, who spent the outro of favourite-encore song, “Nerves Normal, Breathe Normal,” jump-spinning about and clapping exuberantly. Now in the past, they have played this song mid-set instead of as an encore, and usually it consists of the song itself, along with a million-mile-long drum solo by Loel Campbell. Tonight was no different, although after Campbell was mostly through his spotlight moment, the entire band panned out the song for ages. I mean, ages. I hate to say it, but they might be going a little overboard with the outro, considering nothing really happens with it after, so my colleague and co-photographer friend pointed out the following evening, somewhere in the region of 114 big, deliberate, buzzy, feedbacky guitar thruummmms that ended the song without any huge payoff after said thrums. 114 is a little much, guys – the song absolutely killed with the rolling and interesting outro extended it to about 7 minutes, but approaching 10 is possibly excessive.

That said – they are brilliant musicians and engaging performers. It was definitely a great show. A lot of people I talked to claim it was the best they’d seen the band. I was a little more impressed by the last show they played here in the fall, however in hindsight, I realize the show might have been so stimulating due to a bit of location/audience frustration on the band’s part. Nothing like a bit of strife to fire up your showmanship skills, right?
 

 

Marilyn Manson
with Ours

at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Who came up with this pairing? Way to go for Marilyn Manson picking up genius artists to bring on tour with him. I didn’t know how well someone like Ours would work with a Manson crowd, and to be sure, no one anywhere around me while I was making my way to the doors had the foggiest clue who was opening at all, let alone that it was Ours, and let alone that they in turn knew who the hell Ours was. Not in a mood to be pushy, I joined the queue to get in to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for the show, which ran down to the plaza, switchbacked through the plaza, to the corner, around the corner, down to the next block, around another corner, and past the doors of an establishment entirely around the block from the venue. It was cold. People in line sent runners to pick up beer and wine gums. Everyone was really good-natured, happy, and surprisingly not highly-populated with really goth-looking fans. It would seem that much of the crowd consisted of people like me to some degree – people who got into Manson in high school and maybe were Goths then (I wasn’t, but I was definitely weird), but at some point realized they wanted a house and something that isn't Kraft DInner, and to do that, had to get an executive job and figured maybe they had to get rid of the vampire make-up and buy a suit. Maybe that’s a little sad, but such is life, right? 

Fast forward forty minutes and I’m finally inside the building. I go way way up to the top section, where my seat for the night is located. I get there in time to take in merely two songs from Ours, but my heart bled a little at the sound of it all. A large array of musicians were present on stage, and the most impact was driven by the dual toms that were camped out on opposite sides of the stage. The fervor with which the actual drummer and the random percussionist guy beat the hell out of those things was fantastic. Singer Jimmy Gnecco (who basically is Ours anyways)was surprisingly all for touring in Canada, stating that he really enjoyed being here because we treat him better than his own country does (that would be the US). After his last Vancouver show, which I think may have been as far back as 2000, he seemed dismayed at the small turnout (I believe Tool and Spiritualized were also playing their own shows that night, so it’s no surprise really), and I wasn’t sure we’d ever see him up this way again. Time heals all wounds, right? 

Performing with an intensity rarely seen and a voice that nearly shatters the building, Gnecco finished his set howling out the first song off his self-titled debut album, “Fallen Angels.” I think my heart just fell out of my chest during his signature wail. Nothing like feeling that vocal in a live environment. Ahhh. 

Now comes the rush. The moments between the two sets were somewhat tense. The audience was crushing frontward in the odd ‘general admission’ pit front and chanting Manson’s name over and over. As photographers, we had to meet up and sign things and then get shuffled off into the media pit, which was thankfully quite large. Eleven photogs scattered themselves around the stage front and the walkway that jutted out from the middle of the stage. After waiting around for twenty minutes or so, this big burly dude comes in and yells at us all to gather around him. As the security director, he was there to debrief us. It soon became apparent this was Manson’s personal security guy. We got the normal stuff about not leaning on the stage, not swapping sides once we pick a spot, staying out of the security guards’ way because they might be dealing with a spike-laden crowd surfer or something… and then he ended with, “And don’t stand too close to the walkway (which is exactly where I was standing) because he has a microphone with a knife on it that he swings around and he’s not too aware of his surroundings.” This takes photographer risk to a whole new level. Stolen gear and a kick on the head from a crowdsurfer is one thing… beheading-by-singer’s-knife-o-phone?? That’s a little more significant. 

Anyways, after some more delay, on with the show. The space behind the giant MM curtains covering the stage teased the audience, as an array of cathedral-style prayer candles lit up and figures began walking around the stage. Eventually, the curtain dropped, and out came Manson, with a slash of make-up drawn across his eyes (not unlike Michael Stipe’s recent tour make-up blue slash, but more sinister). I notice for the first time that he's wearing a number of sterling silver rings, several on each hand. I know he has a thing for silver, so this is not a huge surprise other than that I never noticed before. One of the rings on the hand holding the mic has a diamond (later told it was a cz crystal) that throws a brilliant flash every now and then. Very impressive addition to his unusual act! I found out from his manager that he buys all his rings from one store - SterlingForever, and they use him in their promotions. I’ve always been quite fond of Marilyn Manson as a person for his intelligence and ideals and boundary-pushing within the realms of what is acceptably popular music. He’s an infinitely interesting man, and to boot, really knows how to work his adoring crowd. People seriously worship him. It’s odd – it’s like the way people would act at a Britney Spears show (well, maybe not so much these days… you know what I mean), only in black instead of… I guess baby pink or whatever. Absolute pop. I know the goth kids would draw and quarter me for saying that, but these people were like fainting and reaching mightily to the point of nearly dislocating shoulders just to touch Manson’s outstretched hand. And he eats it up. The majority of the show was spent crouched at the end of that walkway, just as close he could possibly get to the crowd. 

While us upper-levelers were kept in the dark most of the time, there was a huge amount of time where the main floor of the audience was bathed in house lights. I’m unclear whether this was so Manson could see the crowd, or if it was to discourage rowdy audience behaviour, but the only skirmishes I ever saw were over the water bottles Manson periodically pitched into the crowd. No fights, no crowd surfing at all… these people may be a bit nuts at times, but they’re definitely fans, and it’s hard to imagine Manson being the reason behind anyone’s flip-out that causes any sort of destruction or massacre. These people all seemed quite genuine. I mean the guy in the seat (well, not that he was actually in the seat) on the other side of the girl who was beside me was steadying himself with one hand on the railing behind him, rattling it mercilessly as he thrashed around madly. On the upside, his shampoo sure smelled nice, since I got good whiffs of it as he flung his long hair around in giant circles. But that's hardly destructive (except maybe to the railing). 

Lots of songs off of latest album Eat Me, Drink Me were showcased, but this show was immense and long and any time he cranked out an older song, particularly anything pre-1998-mainstreamifying, the audience went completely horseshit. Those were the seriously messed up songs – loud, obnoxious, chaotic, alternative. This is the core of what Marilyn Manson is all about. I can’t say it’s my personal favourite, but I get why the die-hards are so excited to hear some of these songs live. Manson himself is definitely the performer. The theatrics never ended for the two hours or so that the concert lasted. He did come off his walkway from time to time to cavort about, slipping in and out and between recently-reinstated bassist Twiggy Ramirez’s legs, or to run off to do a costume change. All the while, the room alternated between house lights, and mystical and intricate light shows by this big sparkly backdrop of light modules that covered the entire back of the theatre stage. The popular tune “Mobscene” really brought out the backdrop light shot in full effect. Manson plays up the drugs and sex like crazy, definitely to the point of it sounding absurdly contrived sometimes, but hey, it is a show. Between costume changes from tanks to shirtless to circus ringleader and on, his ever-present leather pants were nearly taken off of him (of his own accord) a number of times as he rolled around the stage, in some strange strip-tease show. Oh how scandalous. People in the crowd around me are dancing so hard to this, I’m surprised they don’t tumble off the balcony. 

One of the highlight moments was the performance of new single, “Heart-Shaped Glasses.” A wee ways into the tune, which has a hipstery sound that seems like it would make most of his early fans cringe if it were sung by anyone else, a girl very staidly and deliberately walked out onto the stage, wearing a saucy red maid’s uniform and pushing a cart with a bottle and glasses on it. She looked nearly mechanical. Manson settled in on the other side of the cart and took a swig of the liquid as he continued to sing. Then he defiantly strolled about to her backside, kneeled down, lifted her skirt and proceeded to basically sing into her scantily clad butt. Moments later, back up he got, walked around to her side, and ripped her head off. Yes, ripped the poor girl’s head clear off, sang to it, and then threw it across the stage. All the while as the girl continues to stand there headless, she keeps slowly raising one foot up from the knee and putting it back down again. She was motionless. Is this some incredible remote control robot? Did they hire Disney Imagineers for this show? The headless girl soon easily departed the stage. Not to spoil the magic for you, but I hear it’s a girl bent over double with her torso actually under the cart, and the visible top half is a mannequin. It was a pretty amazing effect though. 

Manson pulls out the rockstarish “Vaaaaaaaaaaaancouvahhhh!” a bit too much for my liking, but then totally justifies it later by making fun of himself for doing so. That’s great. Other rock-brattery was provided by Ramirez, who would, as soon as a stage tech would come out and upright the mic stand that Manson had toppled over, kick it right back down again. During another big single, “The Dope Show,” which was played at an exceedingly ploddy pace, the graphics coursing over the light module screen at the back reminded me of that old Mario RX video game. Drugs drugs drugs. Manson placidly seems to encourage heavy drug use. Oh what a jerk, ruining our youth. Confetti canons were shot off a few times late in the show. That confetti’s got some staying power. And Manson will thoughtfully rub one of his towels over his ass or crotch before throwing it into the crowd for them to fight over. There were oodles of interesting tidbits going on all show that I could write about forever. Basically, you should just go see a Marilyn Manson show, even if you hate him. It’s such a spectacle. 

“Antichrist Superstar” was one of the encore songs, and out he came on a giant podium with the mock-Nazi/electric shock symbol flags all over the place, flopping himself around on the podium like a wonky jack-in-the-box and holding aloft a bible that burst into flames seemingly by itself (and momentarily after he flung it to the ground, the stage crew had a bit of a hard time actually removing the fire from the stage). And in a moment that I might actually classify as cute, when Manson decided to get off his walkway and go for a stroll around into the crowd (kind of), he had the assistance of the head of security who had earlier briefed us on the photography. The sight of this big, tall, muscly black guy carrying around this tiny, pasty-white skinny creature in black leather pants like a baby was, I must say, quite amusing. 

All right – to sum up : Ours is beautiful. Manson is entertaining. Both I would recommend seeing, whether or not they’re your cup of tea. 

 

  The Editors
with Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV

at the Commodore
I cannot believe it’s been three entire years since I’ve seen two of these three bands play. Some of you may recall my run-in with Louis XIV on their inaugural Vancouver stint with local uber-faves Hot Hot Heat. Well the two of them are back, at a sold-out show headlined by the Editors. The sold-outness is likely a result of Hot Hot Heat’s involvement, but The Editors are picking up speed as well in town. Louis XIV still has a bit of work to do to truly make an impact here, but I suspect they have popularity in other parts of the world enough that it barely matters what we think.

So anyhow, Louis XIV was on first. In sharper suits and significantly hairier than their last trip through, they’ve shown changes not only in appearance, but clearly in sound as well. They did jam out the old mainstays, predominantly the slutty ones, from “The Best Little Secrets Are Kept.” They appear a lot calmer, more refined, and largely less make-uppy on stage. I do believe we have entered a new era for this band. The new songs are drifty and flowing, somewhat spacey. Where Jason Hill once flew about the stage in a fit, he now stays pretty close to his mic and sings calmly and saunters elegantly. From where I was, this is a nice progression. I was pleased to see the full turn in sound, and I also know what they are capable of, but unfortunately, general consensus from Louis XIV virgins was that they seemed a bit lackluster. I just think they’ve matured somewhat (and to boot, those polled were largely in a state of Editor-phoria and just wanted everything else over with so they could swoon... but more on that later) and are really finding their niche as a serious band with a cheeky side, rather than a cheeky band that can just sling some guitar when needed. They appear to be working to get away from the 100% sex image that they were semi-mistakenly pigeon-holed into from their earlier work. Good on 'em. The new "Slick Dogs And Ponies" tunes are great.

As for Hot Hot Heat – they are playing the same shows they always have. This isn’t to say they aren’t immensely entertaining or delightful musicians, but it’s just to say that I’ve seen them a darn lot of times. Steven Bays’ stylish keyboard still sits front and centre, Paul Hawley’s drum kit still seems way too small for him. There’s boundless energy and the crowd loves it all to pieces. And check ot Hawley's drummer faces! No wonder the planet loves to see these guys. 

Singer Steve Bays is sick. He claims it, and you can hear it easily. His voice isn’t up to par at all, but he’s making a valiant effort croaking his way through it and limiting his vocal range. Seems like it was a short set, or maybe I’m just in a time warp. It probably was truncated due to the illness. No matter, the audience still loves the locals (sort of locals) and they’re eating it alive.

The Editors are clearly the headliners here, even though most of the crowd seems to have been in attendance for Hot Hot Heat’s sake. The Editors were commanding, in spite of an audience that had turned their attention to more important things (…drinking). They get up on stage and showcase consummate performerisms. Vocalist Tom Smith does overshadow the rest of the band significantly. Not that that’s unexpected or anything, but the rift here is huge. This isn’t just spotlight-on-singer because he’s the guy in the middle of the stage. He’s tall, for one thing. Extremely tall. He’s limber and lanky. And he moves like crazy. All tense hands and twittering motions, like the lyrics are strangling him with their significance and taking over his body for him, and as I've mentioned before, he flutters his hands about his face life nervous birds. It’s incredible to watch. This band definitely knows how to perform beautifully, they sound amazing to boot, and it’s only a matter of time before North America catches on that Britrock doesn’t have to be Coldplay.
  Wilco
at Malkin Bowl
Wilco is such a feelgood band. I'm pretty sure everyone in attendance was just filled with glee over the show. It was long, it was fun, it was personable, it was cute, it was apt, and it was outdoors. All right, so the summer in Vancouver hasn't been exactly beach weather, and the audience here was covered in sweaters and jackets and blankets. ..more
 
The Cribs
with Sean Na Na 
at Richards
Now this was a far more rambunctious show than I'd anticipated. With Sean Na Na opening and nearly done their set when I arrived, I nonetheless was there in time to see them bring out The Cribs for a massive sing along....more
 
  Maximo Park
with Monsters Are Waiting and the Ooh-La's
at Richards
Monday is the new Saturday at Richards! I was surprised by the opening bands for Maximo Park tonight. I'm sure in hindsight I'd seen both names in passing, but until they were right in front of me, I forgot that both the Ooh-La's and Monsters Are Waiting were performing.....more
 
  Silverchair
at the Commodore
It's been a long day already even for me. After a mild interview time snafu and a lot of listening to soundchecking crew goofing off on various keyboards and drums, a small pile of fans were herded in - contest winners for a soundcheck party....more
 
Stars of Track and Field
with Mother Mother and the Cary Brothers 
at Richards
Ah, how I've waited for this! The chance to see a proper club-ish Stars of Track and Field show. Any of you folks who've kept up with Cord over recent months will know we've become rather fond of this live-bass-free, aura-laden trio....more
 
VirginFest 2007
at Thunderbird Stadium
Virgin Festival! Finally, Vancouver gets to be part of a multi-day musicfest. Okay, so it's not quite at the level of camp-out-in-the-boons-with-100,000-people, but it's still cooler than yet-another-Warped Tour or the somewhat strangely-run affair that is Arts County...more
  Cancer Bats
with Bleeding Through and The End
at The Plaza
Leaving the Arcade Fire show at Deer Lake Park, I could still hear the music even quite far from the venue. After a small stop for some Tim Horton's soup and annoying youth shenanigans at the neighbouring table, I found myself back at the Plaza Club for good old-fashioned hardcore....more
Harry Connick Jr.
at The Centre
Harry Connick Jr. put on the best show I think I have ever seen. HCJ isn't my favourite musician of all time by any means, and while I like vocal jazz, it's most certainly not my top genre choice of music. But this show was top top top notch....more
New Music West 2007 - Thursday
at various venues
New Music West! Another year has come and gone, baby, and I'm still here with all you indie bands trying to find the next few to fixate on. Really, that's the joy of this festival - it's no longer the media/label circus it once was....more
 
New Music West 2007 - Friday
at various venues
Okay first of all, it's Friday! Weekend! Tonight's surely gonna pick up, right? Right? One thing I must mention - where was the Big Bus in all this? It was there last year, and I heard it was supposed to be there this year, but I didn't see the fancy double-decker bus....more
 
New Music West 2007 - Saturday
at various venues
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....more
 
New Music West 2007 - Sunday 
featuring Apostle of Hustle and Memphis

at The Red Room
I wonder on this night (though I wasn't actually clever enough to ask anybody) if the opening band tonight actually played. I didn't think I arrived too late into the evening, but Memphis was just hitting the stage when I got there.....more
  Electric 6
at Richards
Oh my what a night. On the eve that our Vancouver Canucks NHL team scrambled their way into the second round of the playoffs, the city was in sufficient first-round mayhem as I trundled my way down to the bar where Electric 6 was playing....more
Mew
at Richards

Mew gets creepier all the time. Perhaps just because this was their own show instead of an opening slot, we got a chance to see more of the weird and spooky visuals than before.....more
Lily Allen
and Badly Drawn Boy

at the Commodore and Richards
Look, people are going to shoot me for this I'm sure. But Lily Allen? Okay, she's adorable. I get that. And I get that she's personable...[more]
 
Moneen
with Sparta and Attack In Black

at the Commodore
Attack in Black is one of my surprise new favourite of the year. I'm pretty sure I have an album or EP of theirs or something kicking about, but I didn't know they were this in-the-flesh neat. Killer, killer drumming...[more]
 
  David Usher with NLX
at Richards
and Ben Sigston with the Parlour Steps and The Painted Birds
at The Red Room
After a pleasant interview with Natasha Alexandra of NLX, I settled in and hung about for an hour or so while the club doors opened and Alexandra got herself ready for her opening slot on this night. She deftly climbed the stage and settled in behind her piano....more
 
  Arts County Fair with Sam Roberts Band
at Thunderbird Stadium, UBC
and The Frames with Jets Overhead
at The Red Room
One of these days, I swear I will watch an entire Arts County Fair day. As it stands, the event generally happens on a Thursday, the last day of classes for the University year at UBC.....more
 
HelloGoodbye
at The Croatian Cultural Centre
Back to high school we go... a show at the CCC is an all-ages affair, and after catching the last 30 seconds of Hush Sound (enough to figure out they have neat haircuts and can be classified as 'popmo'....more
 
Bacardi B-Live Concert Series
with The Crystal Method
at The Commodore
I didn't see much of this gig, and most of the time I was there, I have to be honest, I was consuming white grape juice and rum concoctions...more
 
Pat Watson
with Dan Mangan
at The Gallery
What an unusual venue for a touring gig. The teeny little Gallery bar at UBC was a full house by the time I arrived. I'd like to say that meant a massive crowd, but it really didn't....more
 
  120 Days
with Ratatat and Despot
at Richards
Mostly, this one's up as a gallery for 120 Days, but since this was a very highly-anticipated show for me, I will speak about it to a degree....more
 
The Thermals
at the Media Club
Painfully average. It pains me to say it, but there is no description more apt for the The Thermals first ever Canadian show....more
 
The Luna Riot
with Stereobuss and Marble Rye
at the Buffalo Club
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.....more
 
  Sweetheart with The Sessions, Elias and 7 Year Old Poets
at the Media Club
Seven Year Old Poets were on stage when I arrived. A smart-looking bunch.....more
 
  Ryan McMahon with Cory Woodward and Kerry ODonovan
at the Backstage Lounge
Clearly, this was meant to be a comedic night. On the tail of leaving the ridiculous Tenacious D concert, I ended up at the Backstage Lounge on Granville Island for a night of pretty acoustic type music.....more
 
Wolfmother
at the PNE Forum
Even more than the band and whatever it was doing on stage (when they finally got there), the most striking thing about this show was the audience! Am I just this out of touch?....more
 
  The Shins with Viva Voce
at the Commodore
Viva Voce opened this show - the gal in the band would appear later onstage with the Shins, but in the meantime, this loud, boisterous duo from Portland was here to mildly ammend the White Stripes 2-person band configuration....more
 
Gomez with Ben Kweller
at the Commodore
Ooh boy, here we go! Ben Kweller! Having been absolutely titillated by the guy's last performance in Vancouver, I was really looking forward to this one....more
  Sparklehorse with Attics and Cellars
at Richards
Approaching Richards this night, there's a scribbled green sharpie marker sign that states the original openers would not be here for this show, and instead, local openers would be taking their place....more
 
  Pete Yorn with Aqualung
at the Commodore
I'll say right off the bat; I kind of have a little nostalgic love affair with Pete Yorn...more
Matt Mays with Museum Pieces
at Richards
I came into this not knowing what to imagine or expect. In the days preceding the show, I started to get little tidbits of information about it....more
 
Ladytron with CSS
at the Commodore
Someone told me this show would be boring as hell. That was on second-hand information, but I was inclined to possibly believe him anyhow....more
 
  The Tragically Hip
at the Commodore
Anyone tired of the Hip yet? If you said yes, I'm going to personally come over there and kick your ass. The Tragically Hip, Canada's legendary, nation-defining rock band...[more]
 
The Decemberists
at the Commodore
Two days of Decemberists! After a disappointing cancellation a month earlier, the Decemberists returned to Vancouver to make up those dates.....more
 
We Are Scientists with Art Brut
at the Commodore
Oh Art Brut is so ridiculous, I love it. Getting there a bit too late to take photos, they had the audience energized like mad .....more
 
Sasquatch! Festival
at the Gorge at George
Holy moly moly. So much happened this weekend, I barely remember what I saw or how it went. Every year in George, Washington (yeah, that's George comma Washington), there's a wide-ranging spring/summer cusp festival called Sasquatch!...more
 
  The Boy Least Likely To
at the Plaza of Nations
How can I possibly express how much joy seeing this band play a show brings? There's absolutely no way - you just have to go see them...more
 
  The Cult
at the Plaza of Nations
The Cult have come a long way from white spandex and pirate shirts. A long long way. It's astounding how seeing a show like this can somehow restore your faith in the campy, outrageous world of rock..more
 
New Music West Day 1 coverage
at various venues
Running all over town....more
 
  New Music West Day 2 coverage
at various venues
Again running all over town....more
 
  New Music West Day 3 coverage
at various venues
Guess what? Running all over town...more
 
New Music West Day 4 coverage
at various venues
More running all over town....more
 
  New Music West Day 5 coverage
at various venues
Still running all over town....more
 
New Music West Day 6 coverage
at various venues
Will I ever stop running all over town?....more

An Aside: It's been almost ten years since I left Cord Magazine. Haven't stayed in touch with anyone. Many of the bands we reviewed have disappeared. Some are still out there playing their music and entertaining the crowds. I feel like an old man saying that those were the good old days.

This site was a nostagic walk back in time to another stage in my life. Where are all you Cord Magazine visitors now? Chillin' I hope and still listening to music.

CordMag.com