the other press

>>> CULTURE

 

the Luvafair stage with glam-influenced
metal. Not only did they dress the part, but
their heavy power chords and loud raucous
rawk, fit perfectly in at Luvafair, with it’s
steel fence and cheap drinks.

Lone Wolf rating: 6/10

8:00pm @ The Pic — The Organ

This five piece all-girl-group, played a tight
set of moody 80’s pop that you'd expect to
hear in a “cool” Molly Ringwald movie.
Super catchy and layered with the melodi-
ous backing of — surprise! — the organ.

Lone Wolf rating: 7/10

8:30pm @ The Roxy — The Ashes

Have you ever wondered what Train would
sound like if Pat Monahan had a bad voice?
Me neither, but | got to hear it anyway with
The Ashes. There cheesy 80's ballad influ-
enced modern rock seemed to be primed
for A&R reps and CFOX alike.

Lone Wolf rating: 3/10

8:45pm @ The Royal — Stabilio Boss

Arriving mid set, Stabilio Boss seemed to
have a packed early crowd in the palm of
their hand with their rhythm driven acoustic
pop-rock. Judging by the number of crowd
members singing along they must have a
hit on X-FM or something.

Lone Wolf rating: 7/10

9:00pm @ Luvafair — Hot Hot Heat

Damn! The boys of Hot Hot Heat put on a,
well, hot show at the Luvafair. Even if their
songs are a little manic depressive at times,
their beat driven art-rock sure was getting
the crowd sweating, especially when they
kicked into ‘5 times out of 100’. Hot Hot
Heat. You’re damn right.

Lone Wolf rating: 9/10

9:30pm @ The Pic — The Waking Eyes

| sprinted the whole length of Seymour
Street from Drake to Pender and just
caught the last two songs by Winnipeg
natives, The Waking Eyes. And Rusty and
the boys had the crowd surfing with their
Pet Sounds era Beach Boys rock.

Lone Wolf rating: 8/10

9:45pm @ The Vogue — Puffy Ami Yumi

There was not a show more hyped than
this on the New Music West bill and you
know what kids, this band deserved all that
hype and then some. Puffy Ami Yumi proved
that there are still rock stars and not the
leather pants poseurs you see everywhere,
but honest to goodness artists who can
send the whole crowd into a frenzy. The
seven piece from Japan play a version of
pop that’s equal parts The New

Pornographers, Abba and Sum 41. While
the sold out crowd was mainly Japanese,
the NMW delegates and media at the back
of the venue were in complete shock at how
frenetic the show turned out to be.

Lone Wolf rating: 10/10

10:20pm @ Luvafair — The Spitfires
“...Thanks and goodnight.” Damn Puffy
Ami Yumi made me miss one of my
favourite Vancouver acts. Oh well, The
Spitfires play again May 18 at the Pic.

10:30pm @ The Penthouse - Billy the
Kid and the Lost Boys

The female fronted punk trio played a fast
honest set of generic punk at everyone’s
favourite strip club, the Penthouse.

Lone Wolf rating: 6/10

11:00pm @ The Pic — Moneen

Honest Mr. Bouncer, I’m media. Toronto
emo-core hype Moneen played to an over
capacity (and very sweaty and squishy)
Piccadilly Pub. Their feedback drenched
visceral rock was great, but the shoe-gazer
crowd was a bit mystifying.

Lone Wolf rating: 8/10

11:30pm @ Ms. T’s — Lo-Fi Love

Funky grooves, but emotionless rhymes
made for a bit of a disappointing show from
Lo-Fi Love who apparently rock it out in the
valley pretty regularly, but couldn’t even get
the crowd off their ass at Ms. T’s.

Lone Wolf rating: 5/10

Midnight @ The Brickyard — Las Vegas
Crypt Keepers

og

Sweet harmonies withYoung and Sexy

Cool name. Too bad the lead singer was
absent for 30 minutes and most of the del-
egates and media left. Talking to the band
the next day, apparently he did show up
eventually and they had a good set. Too bad
no one was there to see it.

Lone Wolf rating: 0/10

1:00am @ The Penthouse — Radiogram

Like a gorgeous goodnight lullaby,
Vancouver's premier roots/alt. country act,
radiogram played a beautiful set of tunes
mostly drawing from their recent album All
the Way Home. The exhausted crowd was
appreciative of the sleepy tunes and lead
singer Ken Beatie’s pole dancing antics.

Lone Wolf rating: 9/10

Friday, May 10

| really wish | could give better reviews for
Friday night’s shows, but | was pretty shit-
faced, so this is as good as | can make out
from my Notebook.

8:00pm @ The Pic — The Ewoks

Sigh, | love Zsofi, the Ewoks lead singer,
but this trio is, uhh, well at least they were
having fun up there, and they did get The
Nasty On lead singer Jason Grimmer up for
a quick Happy Birthday if nothing else.

Lone Wolf rating: 6/10

9:00pm @ The Pic — The Cinch
Mmm...Catchy rock and roll. I’m sold.
Lone Wolf rating: 8/10

9:30pm @ The Cobalt — One Nine
Hundred

 

>>>otherpress 17