White Lung/Abe Vigoda/Vivian Girls
Biltmore Cabaret
April 29th 2009
One unassuming day last summer, I went to the Astoria to see a girl band that was on a label I really love – In The Red. They were called the Vivian Girls, and they ...
Royal Unicorn Cabaret
April 25th, 2008
A pointless evening, overall; I came for Black Betty – Black Betty did not come! Ana was sick. They were replaced by the comparable, admirable Hezzakya, with huge double-stacks of amps-amps-amps ...
Sleep and Black Wizard, Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver February 7th 2015
While there has been much to enjoy with the spate of band reunions in recent years, (how many fans have had the renewed opportunity to witness performances by Carcas...
This is the Sleep Factory, Trish Shwart’s exhibition at Martin Batchelor Gallery that opened on November 7th, with a persuasive performance by the artist as a marketeer, and continues with a visual smorgasbord of parodies that explore the commodificatio
Top-notch performances from all five bands at the Rickshaw Theatre for the final BC round of Wacken Metal Battle 2015 on Friday. The winners of Vancouver’s first four qualifying rounds (Bushwhacker, Unbeheld, Medevil, and Resurgence) performed along wit
Saturday November 15th 2008
What was supposed to be a review of one show has been altered by restless feet and a desire to see a couple of shows if possible in one night. Canucklehead punk veterans SNFU pinned the audience to the mat at...
The Railway Club, May 15th, 2009
The signature choo choo train circled the ceiling of the Railway Club as Sun Wizard took the stage on May 15th. The first of four Vancouver bands, Sun Wizard warmed up the crowd in their third performanc...
The ceramic sculpture of Samantha Dickie conveys both mystery and metaphor. The intriguing textural forms of her multi-component installations invite investigation. What are the structures made from? What do they contain? Why are some surfaces channelled,
As I Lay Dying / Misery Signals / August Burns Red / Evergreen Terrace
Croatian Cultural Centre, Tuesday April 29th
Until this impeccably brutal show, I believed the Croatian Cultural Centre was to be avoided at all costs, but the na...
Perhaps more so than any other artist of his generation, Beck is a master of mutation, reinventing himself with each tour and album. Recent Beck tours have featured lavish, gimmicky stage shows, including life-size marionettes and kitchen t...
Review of Ensemble Laude's Winter concert, 2014.
With the Christmas and New Year festivities well and truly over it’s time to shake off the January blues and for our first gig of the year we are once again heading off to The Underworld in Camden. On tonight’s bill there are death metal acts from thr
October 27th 2009, the Rickshaw
After braving the absurd line-up of punks with little choice but to chain smoke furiously in an attempt to keep warm, I finally made it inside the Rickshaw Theatre---after an hour and a half. I guess...