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The Sheffield four still look good on the dance floor

Arctic Monkeys stop by Vancouver for a night of flaunting and fun

By Dylan Hackett

orth England’s indie-rock legends
N= Arctic Monkeys rocked
Vancouver last Wednesday
night and had the all-ages crowd put on
their dancing shoes. Playing to a packed
Orpheum Theatre with Pitchfork favourites
Smith Westerns, the lads mulled through
a set list rich with their early popular

fast-tempo “Pretty Visitors,” aptly warming

up the crowd for the rest of the sweaty,

fast-paced eve. Drummer and agile beast

Matthew J. Helders took up lead vocals

on the catchy and architectural “Brick by

Brick,” a brilliant new track that sounds

like it belongs more on a garage-rock

compilation than an Arctic Monkeys record.
The crowd went ballistic at the sound

of their breakout hit, “I Bet You Look

“The lads opened with the keyboard-backed fast-tempo “Pretty
Visitors,” aptly warming up the crowd for the rest of the sweaty,
fast-paced eve.”

singles like sing-a-long “When The Sun
Goes Down,” breakneck live essential
“Brianstorm,” and equally pleasing tracks
from their latest album, Suck It And See
(2011).

Lead singer and guitarist Alex Turner,
sporting a pompadour greased so proper it
could make Elvis blush, held the crowd’s
eyes for most of the show, unabashed and
pulling no punches with a series of stage
leaps and rock n’ roll struts and poses. The
lads opened with the keyboard-backed

Good On The Dance Floor,” the track that
propelled their debut album to be the fastest
selling debut in UK history. Preceding the
track was the equally ruckus-filled “View
From The Afternoon.” The suite carried the
momentum of the concert quite well.

The light show employed heavy use
of strobe, especially on their more hectic
numbers. The boys finally slowed down the
show with the closing track, “S05” from
their sophomore record, Favourite Worst
Nightmare (2007). Once again the keys

 

 

Arctic en Ces

returned (the key riff in “505” is borrowed
from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) and
the jingly guitars crescendo’d the set as an
eager fan jumped on the stage, put his arm

around Alex Turner, and was hauled away
by security.

If I were that kid, I would’ ve at least
grabbed the set list while up there.

 

A hair for the arts— Part two: Electric boogaloo

We continue our interview with comedian Graham Clark

 

 

ere Clark

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

| ast week, you may have read part

one of my interview with the half-

beard, half-man creature by the name
of Graham Clark. This week we bring you
the second half of that interview, where
Graham delves further into the topic of
beards, teamwork, and his Vancouver-based
podcast, Stop Podcasting Yourself.

What is Stop Podcasting Yourself?
Graham Clark: It’s a podcast based out
of Vancouver—I don’t know how many

[of those] there are... I’m gonna say not

a lot. It’s comedy based, but it’s not about
comedy. It’s like, if [you] and a couple of friends

got together and had drinks and were just chatting
for an hour and a half, that’s the gist of it.

How did you meet co-host Dave
[Shumka]? And I have Dave’s name in a
heart.

GC: [Laughing] I met Dave doing
standup comedy. I used to run a show on
Commercial Drive, and Dave and his now
wife Abby used to come every week. He
started doing some stand up—I think he
may have started at that show, I’m not
exactly for sure on that—but he was so
funny the first time out, we just became
friends. Then it was his idea to do the
podcast maybe a year after that or so, and
everything just kind of went from there.

Do you have any other projects together?
GC: We were trying to write sketch
comedy, but we weren’t very good at it, so
we ended up doing the podcast instead. But
we wanna work on something else, maybe
for radio or something like that, so [we’re]
kind of throwing ideas [around]. We’re in
the “you know, we should do that” phase.

What’s it like to be a part of [podcasting
community,] Maximum Fun?

GC: Great. It’s really great, and it was
really great to go to the Max Fun Con and
actually meet the people that support that
network—that group—because the cool
thing about [Maximum Fun] is it was just
a guy who decided to make his thing, you
know. He found an audience through the
Internet, and-it’s very inspiring, that if you
have an idea for something, you can find the
audience for that thing, as long as you’re
willing to put in the work to do it. Jessie
Thorn, who started Maximum Fun, really
has put in the work, and it’s nice to meet
people that support that kind of thing. It’s
really great to be a part of something like
that.

Going in a different direction, what
inspired you to start growing your beard?
GC: I had a job working for [CBC’s] The
Debaters, and I didn’t have to shave my
beard for a long time, and I didn’t have

to keep it trim or anything, so I just let it

happen. That was around the time [of] the
Stanley Cup run, so it didn’t look super
out of place to have a giant beard; it was
absolute opportunity. I just let it grow,
and nobody really said anything. People
say things now, but it’s too late—now, it’s
already here. So I was lucky that I had a
little private growing time.

Do you have any advice for those who
wish to grow their own beards?

GC: Yeah, you know what, if you’re gonna
grow a beard anywhere beyond regular
beard size, you gotta clean it extensively.
A guy that I met like a year ago—a Sikh
gentleman—told me that the key to having
a longer beard [is] olive oil. Olive oil is
supposed to be incredibly good. It may
work for people’s [other] hair too, but all I
know is beards.

Finally, beard beard beard beard?
GC: Beard beard, beard beard beard...
moustache.

Don’t forget to see Graham Clark’s first
ever live beard painting this Wednesday!
The completed painting will be auctioned
off for charity at the show.

What: Paul Anthony’s Talent Time
Where: Biltmore Cabaret, 395 Kingsway
When: Wednesday, October 5 @ 9 p.m.
Cost: $8