Backstage Lounge
Vancouver, BC
Cool bands. Cool Venue. Cool Weather. Cool Drinks. Cool People.
Way To Go Einstein
http://www.myspace.com/waytogoeinstein
Way To Go Einstein's new album Pseudonym is out on Submerged Records, home of local greats Hinterland & Windows '78, and I have heard the name bandied around town a bit lately. With a name like Way To Go Einstein, it's hard to forget. I pictured a Thomas Dolby "You Blinded Me With Science" kind of vibe, but here's what I saw onstage: a pink handbag, stuffed unicorns, and some other stuffed animal I can't recall. What else can I say? You gotta give props to the props. Covering Tears for Fears 'Head Over Heels' caught me a bit off-guard. WTGE is no TFF, but WTF? It sounds good, it's nostalgic, and most of the crowd, myself included, seems to be children of the 80's. Dig it.
I like what I'm hearing. This is my first taste of Way To Go. Sometimes it's good to go in cold y'know? I clearly need to go see them again, because this set went by way too quickly. Here's one thing I can tell you: the 3-part vocal harmonies, animated bass playing, seasoned drummer, and a list of influences that includes both hot pockets and Sigur Ros left me very intrigued. Way to go, Way To Go Einstein! You just solved the theory of a relatively solid opening act tonight. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other.
Stride Elementary
http://www.myspace.com/strideelementary
This is the first time I've ever seen Stride Elementary. I love firsts. I also love lasts. Speaking of lasts, Stride's most recent gig was THE last gig at Richards on Richards (Last Call). They opened the night kinda early, so I missed them. You might say they kicked off the long goodbye for one of this city's most storied live music venues. I heard they kicked ass. That 4-song set will go down in infamy.
Now, on to tonight's music. There is a lot going on to whet your whistle in Stride. If you have a mind like mine, you've got a zillion things going on inside your head, that somehow get all sorted out beautifully in the end. The music is kind of like that. It's not just one riff for 3 1/2 minutes. One second you're all-entranced by their ambient sounds, sweet melodies and harmonies, but then the ROCK wakes you up & grabs you by the doodads. They build it up and burn it down. I specifically liked how musical jack-of-all-trades and altogether classy guy Greg Williams was controlling the more 'spacy' elements like big, bendy synth leads and ivory tickling, yet, he was grounded enough to throw some nice, crunchy bass at you too. 6-string picker and composer Glenn Garnis hit me with some elegant riffs on the guitar, drummer Michael Nathanson was a force, and frontman/guitarist/sometimes bassist Kevin Titcomb's gentle precision and friendly vocals connected all the dots.
There's a really BIG element to Stride Elementary. Not quite a jam band but they're definitely testing themselves and exploring what is humanly possible with endless creativity and a backline that would clearly indicate some sort of hook-up/employee discount-connection at Long & McQuade. (Hook me up!) It's kind of like a rock symphony, with these 4 guys killing it for kicks. I was glad to see them get some dancers out, albeit for their last song. Fuckin eh. The boys joked that their last song was chosen (by themselves) as the unofficial themesong for the 2010 Olympics - except they'd have to change the verses, and the chorus, and oh well, just leave it as-is. It definitely hit the spot, and unlike the Olympics, didn't cause my rent to go up. Nicely done guys. 'Lookin For Something' was my track of the night. Stay Tuned.
Waltz Darling
http://www.myspace.com/waltzdarling
Hailing from Eastern Vancouver, their mission in life is simple: "DRINK... DANCE... FUCK!!" A handful of zany banter officially opened the show tonight, followed by some zany banging on the zany drums by none other than Michael Nathanson again, pulling double duty with back-to-back bands. A 4-piece with plenty of chutzpah, I got the sense right away that these guys are a lot of fun. If the Violent Femmes were from Hungary, you'd pretty much get the jist of Waltz Darling's more lively numbers. Well, at least that's what it reminds me of. With a twist of cowpunk/cabaret and upbeat folk, me likey very much.
I didn't expect the night to end so crazily. It was kind of like when you buy a bag of salt & vinegar chips, you eat a few, and there is one ketchup chip at the bottom of the bag. You eat it. You are shocked and surprised, but you like ketchup chips, so you consider yourself lucky.
'Angel Affection' is my favourite track. It's about "Driving, drinking lots of booze, rolling the car over, and not dying." With a nice jangly-to-spacy guitar sound, it's sure to cure your Thursday blues. If Waltz Darling can cure the Thursday Blues, what can't they cure? The answer is nothing. Waltz Darling single-handedly cured the Black Plague as far as I'm concerned. If you don't believe me, well I guess you're the antichrist.
These are perfect drinking tunes. Or maybe 'already drunk, getting drunker by the minute' tunes. Here's a quote to tell you just how classy these guys really are:
Bassist Rich Katynski:
"We don't know the rules. Is the cocaine allowed in Canada? Can we have some? No? Okay, we make the music then."
What a treat. So different from most bands around here, well, because they're apparently not from around here. 3/4 of them aren't anyway. I really dug singer Atila Breti's shoes. Now, if those babies don't scream rock n roll, what does?
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