ke

n the night of February 26, there

shall be bloodshed in Vancouver.

The war zone is the Rio Theatre,
and the event is Hysteria, a battle...of the
bands! Our favourite little indie theatre is
once again giving local artists a chance to
show BC what they’ ve got.

The purpose of these annual free-for-
all concerts is just that— to provide up
and coming groups with eager listeners.
Prizes are awarded to bands that can
manage to strike up the biggest (positive)
reaction out of the audience. The groups
range vastly in genre and style—from
folk, blues, punk, and more—which
allows the show to be more audibly
accessible to the average attendee.

With a current line-up of roughly

eee Bands

 

twenty bands, and tickets priced at

only $10, it’s looking to be quite the
turn out. Keep in mind that each of

the bands playing has been provided a
select number of tickets to sell to family,
friends, and fans alike, so a sold-out
show is a likely possibility. If you know
someone who may be performing, or are
just generally interested, take the time out
to show your support, and be sure to get
your tickets early.

Now as a special treat, I got the
chance to sit down and talk with one of
the bands in competition. Chilling in
their makeshift recording studio, three of
Atria’s five members— guitarist Patrick
Mihan, bassist Nick Allen, and drummer
Nick Rusby— recently took the time to

speak to The Other Press.

Angela Espinoza: You guys formed
pretty recently, how did Atria start?
Atria: We’re actually the remainders of
a previous band called Rise of Dawn.
Our old sound just wasn’t clicking for us
anymore; we wanted to start over with
good, clean rock music.

AE: Generally speaking, what
influences Atria’s sound?

Atria: There’s some Queens of the Stone
Age in there, definitely. I think for guitar,
Jack White, not so much as a guitar ©
player, but as an artist. He’s [formed] his
own technique, and I try to play off that.
AE: How’s Atria feeling about the Rio
show?

Atria: Nervous; this is our first live show
[as Atria]. The three of us have been
together for a while, but our new group
is still a work in progress. Sure, we
know our songs inside and out, but we’re
always [susceptible] to changes during a
live show. It’s all very experimental right
now.

AE: What do you think of the Rio?
Atria: Love the venue; it looks like an old
80s, maybe 70s-—style movie theatre.

What you need to know:

Who — Supernova.com (Indie Music
Community)

What — Hysteria: Battle of the Bands
Where — Rio Theatre 1660 East Broadway
When — Feb 26 @ 5:00pm

 

An adventurous ride

 

By Tim Drake

with Shia LaBeouf, D.J. Caruso has begun to

establish himself as one of the go-to directors
on teen targeted action films. Following Disturbia,
Caruso teamed up with LaBeouf again on 2008’s
Eagle Eye and now he’s the man at the helm of J
Am Number Four, the first film of what is sure to be
the next big teen franchise.

I Am Number Four, which was released on
Friday, stars Alex Pettyfer as the human-looking-
but-secretly-alien John Smith, one of the last nine
beings of a dying race from the planet Lorien,
marooned here on Earth with his ever-cautious
protector Henri (played by Timothy Olyphant of
Deadwood) while trying to avoid the Mogadorians,
members of a vicious, tattoo-and-gill covered
species who decimated John and Henri’s home
world and have arrived on Earth to hunt down John
and the other eight remaining Lorien’s.

John is number four of the nine, a group of
teenaged aliens with superpowers. The trouble
is that John’s powers haven’t fully developed
yet, and because of the relentless pursuit of the
Mogadorians, Henri shuttles John around small-
town America while he masters and learns to
harness his gifts.

This lands the two of them in Paradise, Ohio,
where John enrols in the local high school, takes in

S ince his 2007 directorial efforts on Disturbia

an always adorable beagle (who has a few secrets
of his own), becomes friends with Sam, the science
kid who is a target for the school’s quarterback
Mark James, and of course meets and falls for the
smoking hot Sarah Hart (played by Glee’s Diana
Agron).

While at first glance it would be easy to write
off the clichés in the movie, of which there are a
few, I Am Number Four isn’t anything to discard.
Pettyfer does a superb job in the leading role, and
Agron, who somehow manages to seem hotter then
she is as Quinn in Glee, couldn’t be better in role
as John’s love interest. All of the characters, but
particularly Pettyfer and Agron, succeed in making
the viewer care about their respective fates.

Meanwhile, Caruso is equally successful in
creating a superb new villain for the franchise. The
Mogadorians certainly look the part; unnaturally
tall with classic monster like teeth, tattooed skulls,
long, black trench coats and super-charged weapons
that wreck a whole lot of havoc in the movie’s
climax. Presuming that a batch of sequels is in
store, as they probably will be, the Mogadorians
have the potential be a villain that we remember for
a long time to come.

The movie isn’t perfect, and like a lot of films
of its ilk, there isn’t a whole lot of complexity to
the plot and the depth of it can feel a little thin at
times, but on the whole J Am Number Four is a
really fun ride.