—— APS & PNbCPGOINMeb

 

 

CONCERT REVIEW:

Wake West 2004

- The Plaza Of Nations
Vancouver, BC
August 28, 2004
Trevor Hargreaves

 

Bif Naked

Jealous Vancouverites have spent years
watching TV coverage of the annual
Wakestock event at Wasaga Beach,
Ontario. This year, a few bright minds
decided to create a West Coast version
and stage the event in downtown
Vancouver. Billed as Wake West 2004,
the combination of cutting-edge sport
and Canadian rock is a great addition
to the local summer event calendar.
Shocore frontman Cory White volun-
teered his expertise and considerable
contacts to set up a three-day festival
that played out like a who’s who of
Canadian bands. The event’s three days
included headliners like Sum 41, The
Black Halos, Shocore and Swollen
Members. Here’s what I saw.

Things got off to a great start with
Vancouver band The Solution taking
the mainstage. As it was early after-

18 | OUnEPPPeSs

noon on a rainy Saturday, the crowd
was a little sparse at this point, but
the band played their set as if it was a
sold-out performance in Wembley
Arena. For an unsigned local band,
these guys are playing plenty of high-
profile opening spots. Their buzz has
multiple labels interested and I pre-
dict you'll be hearing big things from
them soon.

Next up was Yukon ex-pat James
Murdoch. His pop-laden set bounced
around the venue as the crowd final-
ly began to arrive. The light, relaxed
style of Murdoch’s music set the per-
fect vibe to get people grooving,
Around this time I discovered the
beer tents sold only Coors Light.
This is a beer for John Tesh concerts,
not rock. As
Murdoch finished up his set, I sipped

Canadian James

my near beer and enjoyed the show.

 
 
  
  
  
  
  
     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
       
     
   
  

Hugh Dillon

Next up was the newly reformed
Limblifter. As the band has a new album
coming out this week, the majority of
their set was made up of new material. I
noticed Ryan Dahle incorporated a few
songs from his other project, Alarm Bell,
into the Limblifter set. Dahle’s attempts
at funny stage banter came off rather
inept, and overall their set was pretty
mediocre. Limblifter are best kept
indoors. In the confines of an indoor
venue, their sound is bigger and more
compelling. Sadly, the acoustics of the
Plaza Of Nations just seemed to rob
them of any real impact. Better luck next
time.

Next came a high-energy set of wild
MCing by Vancouver’s own Kyprios.
Stylistically, this was a nice change from
an afternoon of rock. The crowd quick-
ly got into the music and heads began to
bob in unison. Kyprios’ music is a weird
combination of mic skills and a live
back-up band. Kyprios himself comes
off as a mad whiteboy rapper that falls
somewhere between Vanilla Ice and
Everlast. All told, this was a highly enter-

taining performance by a _ rising
performer.
epee? — 8/2001