Review of St. Paul & The Broken Bones at The Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver, BC 19/2/2015

St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Broken Bones & Pocket Change

A few months ago a good friend of mine was over and was really eager to show me this new band that he'd discovered. I obliged and he put on St. Paul & The Broken Bones live at KEXP Studio. For the next 20 minutes I was enthralled; hooked on every note as I listened with sheer excitement and wonder as one does when discovering something new for the very first time. From that moment I knew that these guys were something special. I quickly acquired their debut album, Half the City, and it has been on repeat ever since (in fact, every track has been played at least 15 times according to my iTunes). 

A couple months later I noticed that they were playing a show at the Electric Owl in Vancouver and tickets were only $16! I scooped up 3 tickets for my girlfriend, myself, and another buddy and told many others, including my pioneering friend, to get tickets soon. Unfortunately soon came too soon and the show was sold out; bummer for my other friends. Enter the Rickshaw Theatre. Luckily for most of them, this change to a larger venue allowed 5 more friends to get tickets. I was stoked that we now had a solid crew for what I anticipated to be a great performance. This was aided by the fact that it was clearly a hot ticket and the show completely sold out a few days later.

When the night of the big show finally arrived we all met at the London Pub for some food and drinks. After a nice meal, several jugs of cheap booze, and being serenaded by a bearded hipster doing acoustic covers by the likes of Foo Fighters and Kings of Leon we made our way up to the Rickshaw Theatre. Earlier in the night one final friend who had failed to get a ticket so far was attempting to do so out of desperation. He managed to find a guy selling 2 for $40 each but the guy would only sell the pair and that just didn't work for my friend and he finally gave up. Then as we were waiting in line at the theatre's entrance I realized that there were only 3 of us actually there (the others had held back to have a smoke) and I exclaimed "well I have an extra ticket", that of my friend who was smoking. Somehow the girls in front of us heard "extra ticket" and asked if we needed another ticket. Before I knew it they were handing us their other ticket, refusing to accept any payment and we were thanking them profusely. We instantly called our ticketless friend and told him to get his ass down here, he's got a free ticket. Talk about incredible luck! After that happened I knew that this was going to be a special night.

While we were in the coat check and beer lineups opener Sean Rowe was playing a cool solo set of classics by Bruce Springsteen and Howlin' Wolf, among others. You could immediately tell that this dude was a grizzled vet and his deep southern drawl gave away the likely fact that he was from the same region as the Alabama headliners. Right as he finished I discovered the beer and a shot for $9 deal (just take my money!) and then we made our way to the centre, back of the standing crowd and waited patiently with high anticipation.

Finally the crowd began to roar as the Broken Bones made their way on stage and began playing a funky instrumental. Two minutes later the crowd let out an even bigger roar as lead singer Paul Janeway stepped up to the mic. He exclaimed that this was the band's first time to Vancouver and how they were all so excited for this night before launching into the stomper "Don't Mean A Thing". Upon hearing St. Paul sing his first few lines I turned to my friends around me as we exchanged excited looks of "Holy Shit" and "Is this Real Life?" For a bigger, kinda geeky white guy he has an incredibly powerful and beautiful voice. During the breakdown in third song "Dixie Rothko" Janeway got down on one knee and belted out the "Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh, I'm tired..." refrain that caused goosebumps to run all over my body. This continued to happen for most of the night as he didn't miss a single note, low or high, loud or soft. Simply put, Paul Janeway is the greatest singer that I have ever seen live; he is, as my girlfriend so perfectly put it, "incredible, just incredible."

The set continued with the slow rolling album opener "I'm Torn Up", a cool version of a Sam Cooke classic and then my personal favourite and today's song, the heartbreaker "Broken Bones & Pocket Change". The lights dimmed way down for this one as St. Paul warned the crowd that he was going to be singing a sad song. This being the first track that he and the band ever wrote, and also part inspiration for the name of the band, they really let it all out on this one. For most normal bands this would be the showstopper that you end your set with and not something wedged right into the middle like it was here. The goosebumps continued when Janeway decided to take us to church, a place that is close to his heart and is where he grew up and learned to sing. The gospel number, "It's Midnight" had the crowd calling back loud "Amens" as lead singer became preacher for a brief moment.

A couple more covers were up next, including a rockin' Wilson Pickett track and, oddly enough, "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead. I was so stoked that they were playing this but unfortunately, other than the lyrics, you simply couldn't tell that it was a Radiohead song. It still sounded great though and the crowd certainly respected the attempt. St. Paul & The Broken Bones finished the set with the soft, piano-led "Grass Is Greener" followed by the loud, horn-led "Like A Mighty River". Janeway did his best James Brown shimmy dance attempt and did extremely well for a big white boy. They then left the stage for an encore and the crowd went ballistic.

When they arrived back on stage St. Paul continued to tell the crowd how much fun he and the band were having and how they love Vancouver. He then kept saying that they only had time for one more which seemed very fair as we had already gotten our money's worth and then some. Then right before they launched into the next song he exclaimed, "Nah I'm kidding, we've got four more for y'all!" What a bonus! "That Glow" kicked things off with just the guitarist and Janeway for the first bit before the rest of the band joined in. What followed was a personal highlight of mine as Janeway told the crowd he'd be taking us to outer space before launching into an incredible cover of my favourite David Bowie song "Moonage Daydream". He absolutely nailed the vocals, the guitarist crushed the solo at the end and the keyboard breakdown during the middle of the original was replaced by horns that sounded even better. I took a video of this performance although I am unable to upload it at the moment (I'll see what I can do in the future). For now you can check out a great version here:

http://frontrowboston.wgbh.org/watch-st-paul-broken-bones-moonage-daydream-live/

The hit single "Call Me" came next. The band was absolutely humming at this point and Janeway continued to shimmy around and cause even more goosebumps and chills throughout the crowd. Finally St. Paul said that they were coming to the last song of the night and that he wanted to end with his personal favourite, a cover of the Otis Redding masterpiece "Try A Little Tenderness". This was a true showstopper moment as St. Paul & The Broken Bones gave it absolutely everything that they had left. And every time it seemed like it was finally over, Janeway kept getting back up to the mic to lead the "Squeeze her, tease her, love her..." section over and over again. He ultimately ended the show with "Thank you, we are St. Paul & The Broken Bones from Birmingham, Alabama!"

I hope that my review gave you a good idea of how incredible this show truly was. It's only February yet I somehow doubt that I'll see a better show all year. My words can only describe and say so much so I urge you to check out the video below which is a professionally shot entire show from Boston last October. However, just watching it on YouTube still isn't enough and I strongly recommend that you go out and see this band live the next chance you can, I promise you won't be disappointed. I'm already pumped and crossing my fingers for a Commodore Ballroom show.

Today's beer is the Blue Buck Ale that I had at the show that night. It is brewed by Phillips Brewery which is located on Vancouver Island. Blue Buck is a classic amber ale that has a crisp finish and mild hopiness. Just a good ol' Canadian brewskie.

Grammy Awards Review & Valentine's Day

Glass Animals - Gooey

Last Sunday the biggest and most glamorous event on the musical calendar occurred as just over 25 million people tuned in to watch several thrilling performances and a few "prestigious" awards handed out. The 57th Annual Grammy Awards featured a little bit of everything, from aging veterans rocking out to some Spanish band you've never heard of to Kanye West technically not interrupting the best album award in vintage Yeezy douche bag fashion. 

By this point you're probably sick of all the analysis and opinions of this incident so I'll just offer this: Thank You Grammy's for picking the most chilled out, stonerific bro to win the award over Kanye's beloved Beyonce. For if Sam Smith, the odds on favourite, had actually won I can guarantee you this would have been a much bigger deal. Either Sam's tears would've flooded the Staples Center or the rays from his death stare would've burned the house down. And, although I do like Kanye West, I felt that his seemingly complete lack of knowledge of Beck's 20+ year long career quite frustrating and ignorant. A more in depth analysis of the musical genius douche bag sideshow that is Kanye West will occur in the future.

Now most people would agree that the actual Grammy awards are just completely ridiculous. I mean, how can anyone really pick between the albums by Beyonce (R&B), Smith (Pop) and Beck (Soft Indie Rock) when they are so unique and good in their own ways? Quick, name the album that has won the most Grammy's ever... nope not Thriller, not anything by The Beatles... but Santana's Supernatural, the one with that "Smooth" song on it. Surprised? Well you shouldn't be as these awards seem to be mattering less and less every year (I feel like only 6 or 7 were even given out during the broadcast this year), which is why the performances have become the main attraction of the event. In fact, the songs performed that night earned an average 44% sales boost the following week (source: Billboard). There were plenty of great performances this year and here are my top 5:

5.) Eric Church - "Give Me Back My Hometown"

Yes he's country and I'm not the biggest fan of his singing voice but he's an excellent lyricist, great performer and the dude can shred on that guitar. My girlfriend recently got me into him and I'd recommend checking out the album The Outsiders which rocks a lot more than you'd expect.

4.) Beyonce - "Take My Hand, Precious Lord"

She sang the fuck out of this one, period. Opting for the gospel song and personal favourite of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. over last year's extremely sexy "Drunk In Love" with hubby Jay-Z, Bey showed her true range and was true class and beauty.

3.) AC/DC - "Highway To Hell"

The rock Gods are back and rockin' hard. Definitely one of the all time great beer drinkin' and air guitarin' tunes out there and they delivered just how you'd want 'em to. Kinda sloppy, kinda pitchy, but certainly didn't give a fuck and rocked hard. Bonus points for the message to the crowd after the performance that will likely never be used ever again: "The Devil horns are yours to keep, but please put them away for the rest of the show. Thank You."

2.) Beck & Chris Martin - "Heart Is A Drum"

This was just a beautiful performance by two guys who seemed like they were genuinely enjoying the moment and each others' company. I smell a potential future collaboration in the studio.

1.) Hozier & Annie Lennox - "I Put A Spell On You"

Hozie-who? That's sure what I was thinking when the stunning and talented Annie Lennox took the stage part way through his hit "Take Me To Church." From that point on she completely stole the performance, turning in a possessed yet soulful rendition of the Screamin' Jay Hawkins classic "I Put A Spell On You." In just over 3 minutes Annie played the air harmonica, danced with sexy-scary rolling hips and finished eyes ablaze and lungs belting, putting a spell over the entire audience. I sure hope she tours soon because I would pay big money to watch more of that. If not, you can always rewatch that legendary performance below.

Well tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I hope that all the couples out there have something romantic planned. Yes it's a fake holiday invented by a greeting card company in order to increase their profits but so what? A little extra romance never hurts and it's a great chance to do something special for your special someone. The song that I picked for this week, "Gooey" by Glass Animals is an incredibly sexy, lush track. Lead singer Dave Bayley practically whispers the chorus, which becomes sexier and catchier with each listen. The soundscape features sultry keyboard tones, soothing background vocals and trippy drip effects. I recommend checking out their debut album, Zaba, which features more of the same and is brilliant from start to finish.

This week's beer continues with the Valentine's Day theme and is a delicious double chocolate stout from Rogue Ales in Oregon. It oozes sexy with it's use of the lover's candy, chocolate, and has an all red bottle. The beer uses imported Dutch bittersweet chocolate and can be paired well with dessert or any beef if you can't wait.

 

My Top 5 Sasquatch Moments

Sasquatch Festival at The Gorge Amphitheater

Yesterday the lineup was announced for the 2015 Sasquatch Music Festival at The Gorge in George, Washington. This is one of the premier fests in the Cascadia region and my personal favourite of the 4 different ones I have been to within reasonable driving distance of Lower Mainland, BC.

For those who have never been, The Gorge Amphitheater is a massive stage that literally is sitting on the edge of a massive gorge that contains the mighty Columbia River. There is a large "floor" standing section right in front of the stage that gradually slopes up and away from the stage until it reaches the giant grass hill. This is the ultimate place to take in the full beauty of this venue. Whether laying back on a sunny day listening to some chill tunes or standing up and rocking out it is the spot to be at the Gorge. This year's lineup is amazing as usual, highlighted by Kendrick Lamar, Robert Plant, Modest Mouse and Lana Del Rey. You can check out the full lineup and poster here: http://www.kelownanow.com/the_bin/lifestyle/news/Entertainment_News/15/02/04/2015_Sasquatch_Line_Up_is_Unreal?fb_action_ids=10155171281520646&fb_action_types=og.shares

This announcement got me thinking about the many incredibly ridiculous and fun memories that I have from the 4 times in which I visited the Gorge Amphitheater for Sasquatch Festival. Here are my top 5 moments and, of course, a song for each:

5.) First time seeing the Gorge in all her beauty (2008)

Fleet Foxes - Sun It Rises

There truly is no experience quite like seeing The Gorge on a beautiful sunny day for the first time. It is something that I will always remember and cherish. Fleet Foxes were the very first band to play the main stage that year; they only had their Sun Giant EP out at this point. I knew and liked a few of their songs, along with only one other person from our crew, so just the two of us headed down, shortly after noon. The rest of the crowd apparently shared the sentiments as the rest of our crew, leaving the whole amphitheater and band to ourselves and a few others. Fleet Foxes opened with "Sun It Rises"; its sweeping harmonies, strummy acoustic guitar and gorgeous melody were the perfect ingredients for a perfect moment. The Washington outfit were on point that afternoon, so good in fact that they got an encore performance later that night when The National's bus broke down, causing them to be late. They were excellent once again and I was glad that the rest of my friends and the crowd got to see them after all, although they didn't quite have the same magic as their earlier performance.

4.) Supnet and Keelan go H.A.A.M. (2009)

King Khan & The Shrines - Land of the Freak

After an absolutely insane night out and very little sleep my friend Supnet and I were still somehow going hard and were ready for a hectic day. After a quick shotgun and some afternoon lettuce at the campsite we all headed into the main grounds to catch the day's action. Up first on the main stage was Gogol Bordello, an international band of gypsy punks based out of Brooklyn. Supnet and I quickly left the rest of our crew on the hill and went straight for the mosh pit up front. Gogol Bordello know exactly how to throw a riotous, bombastic party. Their upbeat, lighting fast renditions of punk and dub sent us and the rest of the pit into a frenzy for the entire set. They even got the entire hill up on its feet for the classic anthem "Start Wearing Purple", which was quite a sight to behold. 

Immediately after Gogol we made our way up to the second biggest stage for King Khan & The Shrines. Supnet is a huge fan and promoter of King Khan, a crazy Indian guy from Montreal who fronts the Shrines, a wild group of German musicians that put on one helluva show. Just as we made our way to the middle front of the crowd the band and King Khan blasted onto the stage at 110%. They opened with "Land of the Freak", a high-energy, brass heavy number that evokes 50's surf music with a 21st century punk edge. Like Gogol Bordello these guys know how to work a crowd and put on a wild show that included go-go dancers, wacky costumes, stage dives and good ol' European nudity. Somewhere in the middle of the show Supnet somehow managed to roll a doob amidst all the chaos and madness, which was quite legendary indeed. Such a great show and it completely drained us of all our energy. By the time we made it back to our friends on the hill we both passed out through the entirety of, ironically, Fleet Foxes.

3.) The Killer Crew and Convoy (2012)

Wolfgang Gartner - Illmerica

In 2012 I had originally planned to go with just two other friends, but when one backed out last minute we were forced to make different arrangements. Enter the Killer Crew from Kits. My buddy knew two girls who needed a ride and were going up with a bunch of their friends so we said "why not?" and suddenly my vehicle had joined a 7 car convoy down to The Gorge. This group was incredibly well prepared, much better than any festival I had been to up until that point. They had everything from felts to draw all over the vehicles, to a massive canopy complete with Christmas lights, to even an entire DJ mixing board and loud ass speakers, manned by the awesomely named Wolf each night as our campsite turned into an after hours rave. We had an epic leader who was incredible at getting shit done, especially when it came to getting into the site as he sweet-talked all 7 vehicles into skipping a 2 hour plus lineup to get into the campground. He also managed to find even more of their friends, making our crew 30 people strong.

This gang loved their EDM, something that I have always enjoyed to a certain extent and when in the right mood or frame of mind. The majority of them lived in the dance tent that weekend, soaking up every molly-infused, glowstick-chucking drop. Wolfgang Gartner headlined the tent on the second night to what was apparently the best crowd of his career (I was at the main stage watching Jack White...). But this particular song, "Illmerica", became something of an anthem for that weekend. I remember blaring it in my car when we had finally arrived at the campsite, creating our own mini-rave, as well as several other times while hanging at the tents. Definitely a badass track that will always get you pumped up; it has been on high rotation in my car on the way to soccer games ever since. I had a total blast with this crew and would be more than happy to accompany them on another Sasquatch adventure if they'd be so kind to bring along this goof.

2.) The Eight Hour Extravaganza (2011)

Gayngs - Faded High

The 2011Sasquatch Festival for me and my friends was marred by incredibly long lineups and disorganization, sickness due to lack of preparation for the extreme weather changes and a late entrance and early exit due to half of us not being able to get the full time off of work. But of course we couldn't let these hardships completely ruin the weekend and on day 3 quite possibly the greatest lineup of back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back concerts ever was laid out for us:

Beach House kicked things off at around 5pm on the mainstage. Chilling on the hill and listening to Victoria Legrand's gorgeous voice was the perfect way to start the night. Tracks such as "Zebra" and "Take Care" swept up over the hill as we were engulfed by beautiful melodies and sultry keyboards. Up next on the second biggest stage was the true surprise of the weekend, Minneapolis' Gayngs. A mix of 80's soft-core electronica (yes they did a George Michael cover and nailed it!) and 21st century dance music. Gayngs put on an incredible show complete with trippy light shows, sexy smoke machines, and even sexier saxophone solos. "Faded High" was the standout for me that had everyone dancing their ass off at the end of the set; a beautiful mix of keyboards, electric guitar and male and female lead vocals.

Now it was time to head to the dance tent for the guy that all of us collectively were the most stoked for, Flying Lotus. We were all humming at this point and Flylo delivered a killer set that featured some of his staples like "Melt!" and "Do The Astral Plane" plus a mind-melting remix of Tyler, the Creator's "Yonkers". Unfortunately in order to catch everything we had to ditch the last few songs and head back to #2 stage for Yeasayer. They put on an unforgettable set, highlighted by a psychedelic "Wait For The Summer" and dance party inducing "O.N.E.".

Finally it was time to head back to the hill at the main stage where we could sit down to take in the night's headliner, Modest Mouse. They did a great set of classics like "Doin' the Cockroach" and "Float On" but my favourite had to be an awesome, slowed down rendition of "Bukowski". Ratatat were the final band of the night, headlining the #2 stage. However, they started before Modest Mouse was over and, by some divine act of wizardry, during the lengthy encore break we got to hear the entirety of Ratatat's "Wildcat" clear as a bell behind us. One of those amazing music moments that can only happen at a festival. It was an incredible way to end an incredible night; I'm not sure I'll ever get to see 6 concerts in a row like that ever again.

1.) The Epic Van and Sunrise (2009)

Action Bronson - Actin Crazy

After an amazing day of shows and some crazy after hours partying, myself and 2 friends decided to continue on after after hours. We roamed around with beers in hand meeting many merry party people along the way. Our quest featured a shot-gun challenge that was bravely won by my friend, for which we received a chocolate prize pack, a rowdy game of flip cup, and a tour of an insanely pimped out bus. But then we found the holy Sasquatch grail: Epic Van. Inside the van were 3 cool chicks from Spokane and the greatest and loudest sound system I have ever heard. We spent what seemed like hours in there in a drunken, cloudy haze, listening to the coolest music that I simply have no idea what it was. 

By the time we finally emerged it was starting to get light out, but we were by no means ready to turn in. For starters we were completely lost and spent a little while just stumbling around, giggling in our fucked up stupor. Then we ran into the guy that had sold my buddy chocolate... let's call them turnips. He was even more goobered than us, shrtless and long straggly hair going everywhere. He was carrying a massive zip-loc of turnips from which my friend offered him $50 for a handful. After getting the green light he dug in with both hands and retrieved a massive amount and then proceeded to tell the guy he only had $20. Like I said before, dude was mucked and thankfully did not seem to care as he stumbled off into the morning. We ate some turnips and headed out to the edge of the gorge to watch the sunrise. Words cannot truly describe what it was like; I'll just say that it was awesome and that I highly recommend it.

There was no specific song from this moment so I went with the obvious title of "Actin Crazy" by Action Bronson, who will be at Sasquatch this year. This latest single, off his forthcoming debut album Mr. Wonderful, is one of the best rap songs I've heard in a while. It features production by Canadian wunderkid and Drake pal 40, a trippy beackbeat with horn blasts, and Action's clever wordplay and rhyming as always. Be sure to check this guy out if you're unfamiliar and if hip-hop isn't your cup of tea then I would recommend his excellent VICE Munchies web series, Fuck, That's Delicious.

This weekend's beer is, for me anyways, an American staple: Rolling Rock. When it comes to cheaper than comprehension booze from the states, this simple, refreshing lager takes the cake. Shout out to Miller High Life as a close second; Fuck Bud and Busch Light, unless you're going for a personal best in beer drinking that day and just want alcohol-flavoured water. Anyways I've yammered on for way too much for one day, guess I really love Sasquatch Festival. Kudos to you for making it to the end and now get out there and enjoy your weekend!