Author Archives: Lorena Sagastizado

Horror symphony drag at the VSO!

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Come See Drag like you’ve never seen it before!

Edwin Outwater is said to be conducting the most “frightening gig of his life” along side many ghouls and goblins of the world of drag. He will be accompanied by Peaches Christ, who is the most terrorizing and horror icon drag queen on the scene. They will be presenting “The Symphony of Terror” at the Orpheum theatre on October 25.

This will be no ordinary show as you get to dress up in costume and have your chance to win “Fan-BOO- lous” prizes, as said on the VSO website. “The Symphony of Terror” will be playing all things spooky from all your favourite classic horror films like, Carrie: The Musical, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Psycho, and many more. When coming to the show, you wont just be enjoying yourself, but you’ll also be contributing to an amazing cause, “The VSO is also partnering with Rainbow Refugee, a grassroots organization that helps refugees fleeing persecution due to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or HIV status, and welcoming them to Symphony of Terror!”, as stated on the VSO website. What an amazing way to bring people together to help such a wonderful organization to help people in the LGBTQ community.

So, who is Peaches Christ? Peaches, a cult leader, film maker and an event producer, hails from San Francisco. On Instagram Peaches states “I’m so excited to be coming out to Vancouver with Conductor Edwin Outwater to present our first ever “Symphony of Terror”.

I’ve never heard anything of the sort, bringing both drag and a symphony together, but I know for myself that I’m always up for a good scare and some awesome entertainment. I will be buying tickets for this show and embrace my scary and sassy self.

He’s Coming Back!

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The man who will only love you until you’re 70 is coming back!

This amazing singer and song writer is coming to Vancouver after six years to grace us with his amazing presence!

Ed Sheeran has announced his North American tour and added us to his list, but not until 2023… so we will have to be a little bit patient for this one.

His popular tour “+ – = ÷ x”, which is pronounced “The Mathematics Tour”, is said to be held at BC Place Stadium on September 2, 2023, with special guests Khalid and Masie Peters.

The last time Ed Sheeran performed in Vancouver was back in 2017 at Rogers Arena for his “÷” Tour, which is pronounced “Divide” … I think there is a little bit of a theme here. He must’ve wanted to be a mathematician at some point and settled for being a superstar instead. I got to say, I’ve never been to one of his concerts and if I arrived and there happened to be math equations upon arrival … I’m sorry, but I would have to leave. Fingers crossed that won’t be the case.

He must be doing something right because he has become one of the world’s best selling music artists with more than 150 million records sold worldwide. His biggest hits are “Shape of you”, “Perfect” and one of my personal favourites, “Thinking out Loud”. It has my favourite lyrics that gets me every time, “if your legs don’t work like they use to before”, and “I’ll love you until you’re 70”. God bless whoever is with this man till they are 70 and their legs don’t work as well like they used to before.

You can get presale tickets access by registering on Ticketmaster Verified Fan, which closes on October 9 at 10 pm ET.  Regular tickets go on sale at Tickmaster.com on Friday, October the 14 at 10 am PT.

 

On this day …

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What do Nickleback and Janis Joplin have in common with October 4th?

Janis Joplin unfortunately passed away on October 4th, 1970, and joined the 27 club due to a drug overdose. Janis Joplin rose to fame in the late 1960’s with her blues inspired vocals. She is the most popular and widely known rock star of her time due to her powerful and unique voice. Her first album in 1969, “I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!”, received mixed reviews. It wasn’t until after her death that her second album, “Pearl”, in 1971 was a major success. Although, her career was cut short, she did perform in Vancouver at the Pacific Coliseum in 1967 with the band “Big Brother”.

I listened to Janis Joplin as a child and was entranced by her unique voice right from the get-go. I was obsessed with the songs “Me and Bobby Mcgee” and “Mercedes Benz”. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone come close to the talent that Janis had. I have to say, most of the people in the 27 club have left such a big and lasting impression on music scene, that it’s a shame they died at such a young age.

Now, don’t give me a hard time because I am proud to say I’m a Nickleback lover. I know a lot of people have their opinions, but just keep them to yourselves. I have to represent my rockstar homies that come from Vancouver.

On this day October 4th, 2005, Nickleback released their fifth and most popular album, “All The Right Reasons”. It went on to be #1 in Canada and the US, where it sold over 10 million copies. This album had hits like  “Photograph”, “Far Away” and “Rockstar”.

Honouring Queens Spirit!

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On this day on October 4th Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” goes #1 in America, where it held the spot for three weeks! For one night only, you can see Queen like never before.

Tomorrow, October 5th, The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Presents “The Music of Queen” at The Orpheum Theatre. The show starts at 8pm. This powerful, high-energy tribute will keep you on your feet, dancing and clapping your hands all the way through as you sing along to Queen’s timeless hits! Such songs include: Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody to Love, and We Will Rock You!

One would think that I grew up listening to Queen because of my parents or another older family member. I discovered them by watching the cult classic, “Wayne’s World” and imitating that famous head banging car scene. I remember playing “Bohemian Rhapsody” over and over again because I simply couldn’t get enough of that song. I would actually imitate Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, whenever the song would come on in the car and head bang my heart out. It wasn’t soon after that I noticed “Queen” had a lot of other famous songs, I dove down that rabbit hole and have been hooked ever since.

It’s opportunities like these where you have the chance to relive an experience as though it was the 70’s and 80’s, with Freddie and the rest of Queen on stage belting their songs loudly and proudly. Thank God for tribute bands!

For tickets, please visit The Vancouver Symphony’s website with prices starting as low as $31. Surprise a loved one, or simply treat yourself, and take a few hours out of your weekly routine and rock out! What Freddie Mercury and Queen did for the rock musical landscape will never be forgotten!

Come Celebrate Blueprints 25th Anniversary!

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Are you ready to rave your hearts out Vancouver?

This weekend Blueprint presents BP25 to celebrate their 25th anniversary from October 7th to the 9th. This 3-day event will be jam packed with popular EDM artist that will have you dancing till your feet hurt, so make sure you wear comfortable shoes.

https://twitter.com/Blueprintevents/status/1552063347155030018

Before the pandemic, Blueprint hosted genre specific festivals separately but this year they will be hosting Stacked and Seasons. This will be the first-year hosting both events in celebration of their anniversary.  Although, BP25 is presented as one festival, each day has a genre specific lineup and artists will be Dj’ing at different venues and stages. So I highly suggest you double check where your favourite artists are performing so you don’t go to the wrong stage.

Posted by Stacked World on Wednesday, 27 July 2022

On Friday, Blueprints line up will be at the main stage at the Pacific Coliseum, with performances with Arman Van Buuren, Kaskade and more. On Saturday, Stacked will be presented at the bass stage at the PNE, with acts with Black Tiger Sex Machine, Netsky, Rusko and more. Sunday, Seasons will be at the house stage at the PNE, hosting Fisher, Artbat and more.

Posted by Seasons Festival on Sunday, 2 October 2022

I’ve been to many rave festivals and have seen many of these artists and I can tell you this weekend will be the one that you wont want to miss. This will be an all-ages event, so please be responsible, keep hydrated and stay safe!

Sarah Made Me Cry!

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Have you ever stayed up late watching television for whatever reason? Then you just happened to come across that sad, heartbreaking commercial where all the animals are in cages. The Music starts playing with the familiar lyrics of “In the arms of an angel”, then you proceed to cry yourself to sleep because you want to rescue you all those animals and you’re forever traumatized. No?… Well, I was.

That song is called “Angel” by West Vancouver resident, Sarah McLachlan. I can attest to being one of the many audience members that would be sad and want to have all those dogs and cats removed from those cages, so they wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. I would shut off the TV and that commercial would be ingrained in my mind for days.

With an interview with cinemablend.com, McLachlan would go on saying how difficult doing those commercials were for her,” it was brutal doing those ads. It was like, ‘Can you just be a little sadder and a little more this and little more that.’ [And now] I can’t watch them, it kills me.”

The commercial was a smashing success, and it opened the avenue of a newfound audience and fanbase for McLachlan. She would constantly get stopped at grocery stores by old women who would tell her that they donated to their local animal charity because of her commercial.

Music can work in so many ways and be the symbolisation for so many things. Whenever I listen to “Angel”, I will always picture my younger self, staying up way past my bedtime, and seeing sad animals on my tv screen. Maybe it’s one of the reasons why I jumped at the opportunity to get my beautiful rescue cat Kaleo. Thank you Sarah McLachlan for teaching me to love and rescue animals… I’m going to go cry now!

If you would like to donate to any local animal charties, here’s a list to choose from:

Paws with a cause

BCSPCA

Paws for hope

From Promiscuous to Mysterious

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Whatever happened to our promiscuous girl, Nelly Furtado?

In doing some deep dives towards researching on local and Canadian artists, I realized that she hadn’t released any new music since 2017. I was first introduced to her over the radio where they would play her two biggest singles, “Turn off the Lights” and “Like a Bird” off her debut album, “Whoa Nelly”.

I fell in love with these songs so much that my parents ended up buying me her album in 2000; which also happened to be my very first album I ever owned.

The release of her third album, “Loose” in 2006 coincided with my grade 8 year of high school. I remember going to parties for the first time where “Promiscuous Girl” or “Maneater” were always being played at some point during the night. Whenever someone heard me playing Nelly Furtado, they knew I was in the mood to sing and dance. I guess you can say she accomapanied me through the stages of my crazy adolescence.

I didn’t find out until researching for this article that she had a nervous breakdown on stage while on tour back in 2007. She cited that being a mother and trying to portray this image of being a popstar artist simply became too much to handle for herself. She’s taken a big step back and put her career on hiatus.

I do hope that she finds the time and desire to release music again, because she is a beautiful and an amazing artist. Putting one’s mental and physical health is also very important. If she wants to go from being the “Promiscuous Girl” to the “Mysterious Girl”, I think we as fans should all respect that and let her fly like a bird.

I Remember the Days…

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So, I have been feeling nostalgic these past few days and listening to old songs that used to be my go-to back when I was in high school many moons ago. Little did I know that some of my favourite songs growing up were by artists that are from right in our backyard here in Vancouver!

Growing up, I very much had my metal/emo phase that I went through. Enter Theory of a Deadman and Billy Talent. I still remember hanging out with my friends and watching Much Music or listening to the latest CDs that would first come out. From there, we would all huddle around the stereo and learn the songs from listening to these bands repeatedly.

I distinctly remember when Theory of a Deadman released their second album, “Gasoline”, and their single “Santa Monica” came out. I will never forget the beginning gentle guitar riff right off the bat and his deep, rough voice as he would sing “ I remember the daaay, when you left for Santa Monicaaa.”

When Billy Talent’s second album, “Billy Talent II” first released, I loved their song, “Fallen Leaves”. Maybe I have a thing with men and guitar riffs because this song also begins with one that I will never forget. Billy’s distinct vocals jumps off the speakers immediately with his opening lyric of, “In a crooked little town, they were lost and never found”. I only recently found out that “Fallen Leaves” was about Vancouver itself! Crazy!

I definitely look forward to going back and listening to all the music that got me through my formative years and into adulthood. Here’s to many more days of nostalgia and going down the rabbit hole of memories!

 

Don’t Miss Rocking Out with The Nova Twins

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The Nova Twins plan to take you to another galaxy tonight at The Biltmore Cabaret, performing songs from their new album “Supernova”.

If you haven’t heard of the Nova Twins, I highly suggest you do!

This English rock duo girl band have a unique style blending all things electronic with a side of grungy punk and heavy metal. Although Amy Love and Georgia South aren’t actually twins, these two bomb shell musicians have been close childhood friends who have always wanted to push the barrier in the music industry.  As two black female artists, they’ve strived to make a name for themselves in the rock and metal scene.

Amy Love and Georgia South feel that people of colour are unrepresented in a typically white dominated space. In an article written in Nylon, Georgia states “Our music is for the underdogs, we want people to celebrate their uniqueness and come out the other side feeling so powerful they can take on anything”. The Nova Twins style have also turned heads as they love to dress in hyper feminine and colourful aesthetic to change the narrative of what a “heavy – metal band” is supposed to look like.

Their unique edge and growing platform have brought them to an international level of stardom and are grabbing the attention of not just me, but many people across the UK and America. My favourite song from their Supernova album is “Cleopatra”.  This song is perfect for when you wake up in the morning and look into the mirror and say, “I’m a boss ass bitch”. It’s a powerful and motivational anthem to get anyone in the mood to tackle anything. You don’t want to miss these two powerhouses in action! Tickets are available at The Biltmore Cabaret website.

Homelessness Clouds Local Music Venue

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Did you think shows would be cancelled due to homelessness? Think again. This past week, The Imperial Theatre announced that any and all upcoming shows are cancelled.

The Imperial Theatre, located near East Hastings and Main Street, have had on going concerns due to the homelessness and violence that has been evolving the past few years. It has gotten so bad, that The Imperial Theatre isn’t confident that they can maintain the safety of their employees, the paying customers, and the bands that are highlighting these shows.

Its crazy to think that it won’t be long until other venues along the downtown east side will be facing a similar dilemma. Think about the terrible message this is sending to the people of Vancouver knowing that venues can’t keep running because they can’t guarantee the safety of staff, customers or the artists.

NOTICE The Imperial has informed us that they are no longer able to host events, due to the rise of violence, and over…

Posted by Soulstream on Friday, 23 September 2022

Soulstream, a local funk band, was said to perform on October 8TH and are now rescheduling and refunding tickets to their fans. What a horrible feeling knowing that you must refund tickets due to the safety of where you’re performing. Usually, tickets are refunded due to emergencies, such as covid but nothing like this.

Homelessness is really starting to come to the forefront on areas where we never thought it would affect someone’s routine or places of relaxation and sanctuary. If this issue continues to be ignored, Imperial isn’t the only venue that is going to start directing business elsewhere. I hope that the city council and provincial government can really start to tackle this issue and provide real solutions, so that we can not only enjoy our artists at all these cool venues, but enjoy our city as a whole also.