Goat Boys Revenge

Goat Boys Revenge

September 25, 2010

… My fiance and I had gone to the Biltmore in Vancouver to see Yukon Blonde perform and were definitely not disappointed.  However, the headlining act that night was not the boys from Kelowna.  The Wooden Sky headlined the show.

Having never heard The Wooden Sky before, we weren’t exactly sure what to expect.  Everything we had heard about the band suggested they were on the folk side of the equation.  A kind of Canadian “Mumford & Sons”.

Well things didn’t go exactly as planned for the opening night of The Wooden Sky’s cross Canada tour.  Whether it was a technical glitch or nerves, we may never know, but seconds into the first note and the band hit the brakes. 

Now I’m writing this, a week later with a smidgen of retrospect.  That night I was ready to walk out three songs into their set.  Yukon Blonde had just demolished their set and The Wooden Sky was just, well to be honest they were simply floundering.  The vocals were atrocious.  The lead singer, Gavin Gardiner, has an amazing voice.  But on this night he sounded like “Goat Boy”.  Now I don’t have time to explain the Goat Boy reference, if you don’t get it, google it.  That’s why Al Gore invented the internet.   And as for the rest of the band, it all just felt uncomfortable.     

Having now purchased The Wooden Sky’s album and seen a documentary of the band playing everywhere from grandma’s kitchen to a gondola dangling in mid air, I have to admit I love their sound.  And I’d love to see them again, despite what I have said about the Biltmore performance.

The next time I see The Wooden Sky, I just hope the stay true to their sound, cause if they do it will be one hell of a show.

Life lived out loud

Distraught with the utter lack of reviews for the concerts in Vancouver I attend, I have decided to publish my musings. 

If you choose to partake you will soon come to terms with the fact that I struggle to write favourable reviews.  Never heeding the words of my mother, I have an easier time tearing apart shitty performances then I do praising those acts which aspire for greatness. 

Stay tuned…

Lost at the Biltmore

September 25, 2010

"No band playing here tonight!"  Not exactly the words we wanted to hear as we pushed our way through the doors of what we believed was the Biltmore.   It was drizzling that night, so perhaps my eyes had deceived me as I glanced up at the faded red awning with the words “The Biltmore” peeking out from decades of filth and grim.  Confused by what the woman in the tavern said we walked back out into the night.  No it definitely said “The Biltmore”.  Our acompatriots from Seattle were just as puzzled.  We parted ways, as they wandered around the corner into the dark, in hopes of finding the right locale.   We, on the other hand sauntered across the street after being seemingly saved by a quick “Google” search on our handy dandy crackberry. 

The Biltmore Cabaret is on 2755 Prince Edward Street in Vancouver, not 395 Kingsway as we had believed when we started the night.  It’s located behind the HO JO's (Howard Johnson), which is in serious need of a makeover.  The Biltmore is a log cabin of a club, with walls adorn with antlers.

We however, didn’t go immediately to 2755 Prince Edward Street.  No we decided to take a detour.  Actually in all reality we just went right when we should have gone left. 

We had never done “Will Call” before, so we approached the entrance with a deer in the headlights look plastered on our collective faces. 

You've got to love bouncers.  Not sure why they all look like Nazi storm troopers (the bald brigade), but anyways, one of them yelled, “Ticket holders and Will Call, this way.”  And with that we had found our way in.

We got there late, thanks of course to the nights earlier confusion.  So we never did catch the name of the opening act.   On top of that, weary from a full day of work we were in no mood to stand and so we headed for the first available booth.  Two double rye's later and we were enjoying the opening acts set.   A combination of early Dylon mixed with the Broken Social Scene, the open act impressed.

However, we had come for Yukon Blonde.  And the local talent did not disappoint.

I have to admit I’m not the biggest fan of their self titled album.  I recognize the catchy nature of tracks such as “Loyal Man” and “Wind Blows”.  But as a whole, the album just feels too repetitive after just a few listens.

Yukon Blonde live, now that’s another matter.  The band originally from Kelowna, BC, looks like they’d be more at home playing in a farmer’s field in upstate NY circa 1969, then they do a Vancouver Bar in 2010.

Retro hair and scraggly beards aside, Yukon Blondes’ 30 minute set was pure unadulterated alt rock.  High energy and high impact the band tore through its song catalogue like an orangutan on meth.  Jeff Innes vocals were impeccable and the rest of the band was just as tight.  Live, Yukon Blonde’s songs sounded raw, pure and essentially rock.  Much unlike the studio tracks, which now seemed over produced and water down.

Mid way through Yukon’s set we caught a glimpse of our new found neighbours to the south, whose fist pumping cemented our feeling that despite the rocky start to our night, Yukon Blonde’s performance had made it all worth while.