Author Archives: Markus Warde

A Night of (The) Friends

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Sammy Rae and the Friends are hitting the stage at the Commodore on the 13th! Have you ever heard of them? They’re something of a band out of time, almost like they were pulled right from the mid 70’s and dropped into the modern day. They’re great, they’ve got a really jazzy vibe, but its fun and fast. I mean they are a jazz-pop band after all, it’d be weird if they weren’t those things. My favourite song of theirs is called Jackie Onassis, named after, well, Jackie Onassis the former first lady. It’s got a triumphant thing going on, but still keeps this kind of underlying sadness going throughout, its really good.

They actually have released a couple new singles recently, presumably to build hype as they tour throughout North America. But the singles are great, my personal favourite is Boogie All By Yourself. It’s just cool, I don’t know what to say, there’s an intangible quality to it. Give it a listen, you’ll see what I’m saying. Speaking of those singles, the covers for them are super sweet. They’re taken to look like retro album covers. The kind of grainy imagin, alongside this thick white border around them gives them a really cool aura, that quite frankly, I can’t get enough of, and hope they do more.

The band themselves hail from good old, New York, New York, where many a great jazz act have premiered, or stayed, or briefly laid over, you get my point. But something that immediately sticks out to me is the name of the band. It’s one thing for a band to be “Lead Name” + Friends, like the Earth, Wind, and Fire cover band Leonid & Friends, or for the band to have their own title, like Bob Marley and The Wailers, but for the band to be called ‘The Friends”? It leaves me with so many questions. Whose friends are they? Are they friends with Sammy Rae? Are they a family whose last name is Friends? Questions you and I may never hear the answer to. I guess the last one can be googled but where’s the fun in that?

Anywho, whatever their relationship to each other, the Commodore is the perfect spot for a band like that. With the kind of music they play? It truly will be the Fabulous Commodre Ballroom. Just that jam packed dance floor and those swinging grooves, nothing to focus on but the performance on stage? Sounds amazing. You gotta check it out, even if you aren’t normally that into jazz, you’ll forget that as you melt away into the swing of The Friends.

MOVE QUICK

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You better, RUSH, to get tickets to see… RUSH. Yeah I guess that’s not really my best work. But yeah RUSH is coming to town. If somehow, you don’t know who RUSH is, which honestly I don’t blame you for, they are not young men anymore. I’m gonna give you the lowdown on what’s happening, why, and where you can go.

So RUSH turned 50 this year, or last year, or a few years ago, I don’t know, I’m sure they stopped counting because they named the tour the “Fifty Something Tour”. Which is right in line with that sort of self deprecating attitude that Canadian rock bands do so well. You ever wonder why that is? Probably something to do with setting themselves apart from American bands who famously don’t have a sense of humour about themselves. But anyway, back on track, the Fifty Something tour is a celebration of what makes RUSH so great. I mean you listen to their greatest hits and you know why, but a reminder now and again isn’t so bad right? And I mean, we get the first RUSH shows in 10 years so what the hell, bring on the hits! But there’s still one wildcard in this whole thing. And I’m sure it’s the question on your mind too. Will they play Take Off?

I’m kidding, I’m probably the only guy wondering that. In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, Take Off was this song on the old Great White North album by Bob and Doug McKenzie. Now, if you’re under 50, you might be wondering who THEY are. Well on SCTV back in the day, there were these two brothers, portrayed by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. They were the typical “hoser” archetype which would later evolve into the Albertan, a la Pokémon. But they made an album, they had a song with Geddy Lee, its hilarious, check it out. But the actual question I’m sure you’re wondering, who is the person filling in for Neil Peart?

Neil Peart unfortunately passed away some years ago, and he was one of the main trio that was part of RUSH when they hit the big time. He’s a legendary drummer, so who could they possibly get to fill in? I’ll tell you, a German drummer by the name of Anika Nilles. I had no idea who she was but I listened to a little of her stuff, and I think she’s got what it takes. Her top hit Hiatus has a really interesting drum beat in it. I don’t even know where to being describing it, check it out for yourself, I like it.

RUSH will be in BC at Rogers Arena in December. I mean, where else would they be. It’s RUSH for crying out loud.

Good For Her!

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If you’re anything like I was a couple weeks ago, you probably don’t know that much about Olivia Rodrigo. She had a few hits you might’ve heard on the radio, you might even be able to name one or two. But chances are, her music is an enigma to you, but she’s released an album not too long ago, which my sister introduced me to. And I have to say, it rocks.

But why am I telling you this, why should you care about Olivia Rodrigo? Well, good thing I had the foresight to write this article because she is coming to town! She’s playing Rogers Arena in December and she’s got some crazy stuff going on. At one point, her dress dissolves into a new outfit, its crazy. But before then, let’s get you caught up on who she is, and what she might be playing.

In case you literally have no idea who she is, she comes from the “Disney child actor – International superstar” pipeline. She had some starring roles on the Disney channel back when and used that to launch her music career, much like compatriots Sabrina Carpenter and Miley Cyrus. She did that same thing the two I just mentioned have done where they tried to completely reinvent themselves after Disney, and much like Carpenter and Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo definitely pulled it off.

Her music is a reflection of this, with “good 4 u” just dripping with that young adult angst that always hits well with that age group. It’s got some of that early 2000’s rock influence in there, like its something you’d hear on, well, the Disney channel. But only at the part where the female lead finally breaks out of her shell and becomes who she’s meant to be, and not a second before. You get what I’m saying?

But that rebellious spirit is a little quieter in her newest showing. “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” keeps that intensity but increases it by slowing down, if that makes sense. There’s a song on the album “stupid song’ that’s about not writing a love song kinda? It’s about how intensely she feels for this mystery person, and that she feels more than any stupid song could ever say. Check it out when you have the chance I was listening to it just a little bit ago, its great.

I don’t know what is in the water at the Disney channel production offices, but if it keeps giving us musicians of this quality, they gotta up the dose.

Metallurgy

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Picture something with me here, would you? Alright, you’re packed into a stadium, it’s decently lit coming from the stage in the middle when suddenly, darkness. You sit there, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, cheers erupt from the people closest to the stage, you can’t see what’s happening but you already know. Then, that rocking nonsense comes from the stage as Enter Sandman rings out. I say rocking nonsense because I mean come on, that’s not any discernible language. “Gimme fuel, gimme fie, gimme dabujabazai”. But even while being completely indecipherable you know its good stuff.

If not of that made any sense to you because you don’t know Metallica, that’s my bad, I’ll take responsibility for that. But Metallica is coming to Vancouver! The tickets opened up not long ago but they’re going quick, if that’s something you want to do, I’d get on that. They’re playing at BC place, and if you’re looking to get some food before the show, there’s a place nearby called The Devil’s Elbow, they’ve got really good stuff, and its usually not too busy so you don’t have to worry about getting a table or a long wait for food. I’m not being paid to tell you about that, I just really like their stuff. I mean if they see this and want to pay me, I’m all for that, but maybe we ought to get back to Metallica now.

Now, I’m going to be completely candid with you for a minute. I don’t particularly care for Metallica. That’s not to say I don’t like them, I do, I just don’t look for them. If they’re on I’ll listen and jam along, but I wouldn’t eve think to play them on my own. “But Markus!” I hear you cry “Then why, prey tell, are you writing about them?” and to that I say, first of all, prey tell? What year is it 1785? But second and more importantly, my girlfriend loves Metallica, and she’s really excited about them coming, and so I’m really excited about them coming. So I wanted to share with you, in case you might also be really excited about Metallica coming to town.

If you are, try and get tickets as soon as you can, they are getting very expensive, last I checked they were over a thousand bucks. If that’s out of budget, then hope and prey that the bell tolls for someone, and their family sells the tickets cheap as part of handling their estate.

All Hallow’s Eve Show! Technically, 2 weeks before but whatever get off my back.

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If you’ve been waiting to check out Vancouver’s indie music scene, now’s your chance! There’s a Halloween show happening at Lana Lou’s Rock ‘n Roll Eatery on the 17th of October. Now, here’s the really cool part, the bands performing are going as other bands. The band Good Goin’ will be Weezer, The Sweet Tarts are going as The Strokes, Woman is going as Black Sabbath, and The Extravagant Idiots will be performing as Radiohead. It’s fitting that a place called the Rock ‘n Roll eatery would have, well, rock bands playing. All of these bands come out of Vancouver, or the Vancouver area, but who are they?

To start, Good Goin’ are a good old, classic rock band. Listening to them is like listening to any great acts of the late 20th century. Of course, this doesn’t mean they don’t have identity, each influence comes through in way that combines into something new. I enjoyed the little bit I’ve listened to. But them going as Weezer is a good pick for sure, you can definitely hear that influence in their music.

Next up, Woman. Made up of 4 dudes and no women, but if the Barenaked Ladies can get away with it, so too can these guys. But they describe themselves as psychedelic rock, which makes sense, listening to a little bit of their stuff felt like falling backwards into a kaleidoscope. But it kicked too, it was like if Rob Zombie performed Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds, very cool stuff, and they’ve definitely got the intensity to match Black Sabbath, at least for a night.

Next up you’ve got The Sweet Tarts who I had a hard time finding stuff about. They’re a folk-rock band from Vancouver is about as far as I got. However, I did learn that they play Saturday nights at Donnellan’s pub, so they have to be doing something right. They’re the only wildcard for me, but if I’m being totally honest, I don’t know much about the Strokes either, so that’s pretty fitting.

And now, last but not least, The Extravagant Idiots. I think what would paint the clearest picture of who they are is simply reiterating that they are going as Radiohead for Halloween. I actually know these guys, I went to school with them. While they may be young, certainly younger than the other bands in the show, they are absolutely talented enough to fit in.

This’ll be a rocking show I’m sure of it, if that’s the kind of music you go in for. And this is just such a cool idea for a show isn’t it? I mean cover bands have existed as long as bands, but taking non-cover bands and making them cover bands for a night is something that seems so obvious I’m shocked I hadn’t heard it before.

Certainly a Mouthful

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Did you ever watch those Descendants movies? Or maybe the Zombies ones? I remember when those movies were coming out. I wasn’t necessarily the target demographic for those movies but my sister definitely was. And, I’ll be honest, they aren’t bad. I watched the first Descendants movie a couple years back and it’s not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it was much more fun than I anticipated. Can you believe that movie is over 10 years old now? Just an awful terrible fact, but if you’re looking to relive the nostalgia of those movies, or just want to hear the music. I’ve got the event for you.

The Descendants, Zombies, Camp Rock Worlds Collide tour is coming to Vancouver. Its actually coming to Rogers Arena, on the 8th, so hurry and get those tickets!

They actually ran this thing last year did you know that? But it just had Zombies and Descendants. They tacked on Camp Rock because the new one just came out. I guess the Jonas Brothers ran out of money and needed some of that sweet, sweet, mouse money. Cynicism aside, I think this is a really cool event. If you’re into musical theatre, I’m sure this is an event that’ll just knock your socks off. I can’t imagine the acting will be very good, but the acting in the movies was bad too. So really it could be quite a faithful adaptation. I’d just be prepared to run into a lot of teenage girls.

You know how I mentioned my sister was the target demographic? I meant that, she’s nuts about this stuff. She and her friends got together and bedazzled jerseys to wear to the concert, so look out for them if you see them. You’ll probably hear them first. You know how the Beatles eventually stopped touring because they couldn’t hear their music over the crowd? Yeah, picture that, but the people onstage are green, and you’ve nailed it. Although, the zombies aren’t actually green, they’re just kinda pale. Anywho, off topic, lets get back to the show.

I don’t have to tell you that Disney puts on a good show. I’m certain you’ve seen enough Disney movies to put that together. But with how much my sister has been talking about this show, I figured you might want to hear about it too. Check it out, and uh, watch out for errant poison apples.

Which Chris?

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Chris Murphy is coming to town! In case you have no idea who that is, no he’s not an accountant, or carnival ride operator like his name suggests, he is ¼ of Sloan. He’s by far the most prolific performer in the group as he not only tours with Sloan, but on his own, and with the supergroup The Trans Canada Highwaymen, who also came to Vancouver just in June. So it’s been a huge year for guys in their mid fifties. I’m kidding, I was actually at the Trans Canada Highwaymen show and there was a shocking amount of people my age it was pretty cool.

Anyway, back on topic, Chris Murphy is playing a solo acoustic show in conjunction with Peter Elkas, a member of the aptly named Peter Elkas Band. His acoustic shows are him on stage playing some of Sloan’s greatest hits alone in a pretty intimate setting.

The Fox Cabaret is where he can be found on October 28, so just one month away! I’ve never been myself, but from the pictures it looks like a pretty nice spot, not too big but for a show like this, that’ll be fine. Ticket prices aren’t bad either, at 44 bucks each that’s not bad value, especially for fans.

He actually released a solo album that goes over a bunch of hits in a stripped-down acoustic style, it’s a great listen. Some of the songs are unrecognizable musically even as a big fan of Sloan myself. Although there’s an interesting bug, at least on Apple Music. For some reason, it combined the album with a different Chris Murphy’s catalogue, which I find to be very strange. The other Chris Murphy makes good stuff as well its just a bit of jump. It’s more of an Irish Folk feel as opposed to, well, rock and roll. The whole page is really just all messed up.

Now about his guest, Peter Elkas is also a Canadian rock musician, he was actually part of that Joel Plaskett birthday album last year where he sang Beyond, Beyond, Beyond in what I thought was a tribute to a late friend, but actually was just a bunch of covers because they like the guy. So a little bit of egg on my face there.

But Elkas has been making music for around 20 years, and his stuff is good, check it out if you like a bit of a slow burn. But he’s a total wildcard for me so I’m excited to see how it goes.

Call Her Day-be! (This pun’ll make sense in like, a paragraph)

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Did you know Carly Rae Jepson still makes music? Yeah! I figured you make Call Me Maybe and then take that money and run for the hills, but she released an album like, 2 weeks ago. And listening to it is bizarre. It’s really good, at least the bits I listened to but it’s nothing like the one other song of hers I know. If you listened to this album without knowing it was her, and then someone said “Yeah that’s the Call Me Maybe girl” you’d call them a liar.

First of all, it’s a very long album. It’s an hour and half long, with two discs as part of it. But the second part to why it caught me off guard is that each disc is a wildly different feel, hence the name of the album, Day and Night. The day side is much softer. There’s an almost soothing quality to the melodies that lets you listen nice and easy. On Wires is one I really enjoyed from that side. It stays pretty consistent, but the thing it does, it does well, even if there isn’t more to it. But night time, that’s when it jumps. There are some songs that borderline on techno-dance music. The aptly titled “Don’t Leave Me on the Dance Floor” is one such example.

This is really cool to me, irregardless of how you feel about Call Me Maybe, an artist reinventing themselves and coming out stronger on the other side is always awesome. I recommend checking the new album out. At the very least, you can say you know two Carly Rae Jepson songs, if you don’t already.

Anyway, why do I bring this up? I mean sure it’s interesting, but “one hit wonders” do their best work after that all the time. Well, Carly Rae Jepson is coming to BC! Or, well, she might just be making the drive from Mission to Vancouver. Yeah she’s from mission! Who would’ve thought? But yeah she’s playing the Orpheum in April. Imagine what that show must be like? I went to Bryan Adams a year ago, and you could feel the whole room waiting for Summer of ’69 so I wonder if everyone at this show will just be holding their breath and and their phone open to the number dial? Or if her fans are fans beyond her most famous song. I’m almost certain that’s the case because she’s been putting out hits every couple years since she started making music. Even just researching for the show, I’ve gotten really excited about it, and I hope you are too.

The Man From Mars (Maybe, I mean that’s what his name suggests)

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Bruno Mars has been on a generational run. He released an album, and went on tour? That’s more in 10 years than most artists get done in like, 8 months. But I mean with the quality he puts out, can you blame him taking so long? I think I’m yet to hear a Bruno Mars song I don’t like. But I say all this because he’s coming to Vancouver in a couple weeks! For the first time in almost ten years. Which is just crazy to me, how is it possible to not go to one of the largest cities in Canada and perform music for ten years? Especially as one of the biggest music artists in the world, consistently, for all ten of those years.

But here’s what you need to know about his new album, before going to see him. I found while listening, that its got a more laidback vibe then some of his previous work. Not in the sense that he’s become Jimmy Buffet, but more of an aging pop star thing. Not that he’s super old or anything like that, but he’s been making music for a while now and it feels like its maturing. There’s still some of that infectious energy he had when he became a hit, but there’s a bunch of stuff that isn’t afraid to take its time and let the music breathe. It’s kind of like being undercover on a rainy day. Does that make any sense? Rain slows any day down, but there’s an underlying urgency when you’re only just covered by it.

Even with the slower music, I’m certain it’ll be electric in there. When one of his songs appear on my for you pages, they don’t leave. I’m still getting APT music video clips.

Anyhow, he’s playing BC place from the 14 – 21 on various days in between. So at least he’s got lots of seats available, since y’know, the next time we see him could be 2 prime ministers away, yet simultaneously, 93 snap elections away. That aside, you better hurry and get tickets if you want them, not just because the show is soon, but because currently tickets cost somewhere around 400 dollars, and they aren’t gonna get cheaper. But if you can get them, he’ll Uptown Funk you up! Well, no, he’s not gonna fight you, he’ll sing, but that didn’t work as well for the sentence I wanted to end on.

Not Just The Fans Age Range

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54-40 or fight, a particularly sore sentiment in the times we live in, what with the semi-constant threat of a southern invasion. But you do get some great music out of the old slogan at least. 54-40 is coming to town! Well, back to town, since they’re from here. I guess if you want to get really granular, they’re from Delta, and so going to Vancouver is coming to town.

Anywho, enough rambling, maybe you don’t know who these guys are and would like me to get to the point sometime. At first glance, 54-40 are another of those classic rock bands of the 90’s. One of those bands your dad listens to and you just kind of passively consume. Well that would be the case, if it weren’t for Friends. Now if you’ve watched Friends you may remember the Hootie and the Blowfish song, I Go Blind.

Turns out, I Go Blind is actually originally written and performed by 54-40, meaning they made buckets of cash. I mean for a Canadian rock band to make pretty much any money in the American market? Amazing, incredible, but especially for a band like 54-40 whose name spits in the face of manifest destiny and all the principles the U.S. was founded upon.

In case you aren’t familiar with American expansionist phrases from the mid 19th century, 54-40 or fight was a rallying cry brought about by the president at the time James Polk. He had decided that stealing from the Indigenous peoples there wasn’t enough and went “Yeah let’s take everything up to Alaska, that’ll be good.” Which obviously was not received well by Great Britain and so they came to the agreement we have now at the 49th parallel. That’s the brief history lesson done with, but bringing that up is important to note because in the times we live in, having a band like 54-40 who isn’t afraid to stand on their beliefs is incredibly important. Especially a band who spits right in the face of American exceptionalism.

I gotta say, nothing makes me more proud to be Canadian, than Canadians showing the world what makes us unique. And 54-40 is a big part of that, so is music in general. But I’ve gotten off track now, 54-40, they put on an awesome show (At least that’s what my parents tell me), and if you like bands that stand up for what they believe in, and deliver a kick-ass show at the same time, check them out this week at the commodore on the 9th!