Airborne Toxic Event - Feb 18,2009 at Richards on Richards

So, Richards on Richards is moving to the old A&B Sound location on Seymour! I'm so excited that Vancouver isn't losing a live music venue to condo development.

Airborne Toxic Event, indie darlings from L.A., brought their show to Vancouver on Wednesday despite a toxic throat infection being suffered by leader Mikel Jollett.
Mikel Jollett


It was a sold out crowd but the poor sound quality, and lackluster performance (perhaps due to the illness) led to a generally unappreciative audience.
Anna Bulbrook

I'd just been about to mention to the couple next to me that I could hear their conversation more then I could hear the band when Mikel berated the audience about the excessive chatter.
Daren Taylor

The throat definitely caused some problems with the show. Mikel had a problem with any high range vocals which led to an unsatisfactory rendition of some of the songs. Gasoline probably suffered the most from that loss.

Overall though, the sound and show got better as the night progressed. Mikel became more lively and he and Anna roamed through the bar and the crowd during one number. Of other notable mention was guitarist Steven Chen. An actual live Asian rock star! Other then James Iha, the only one I've seen in anything but a local band. I'm half Japanese, so I was all over that.
Steven Chen

The encore was a generally raucous affair where Mikel tried to make up for his earlier bad attitude by inviting everyone who wanted to, onto the stage.


Check out Airborne ToxicEvent and especially check out the video for the amazing song, Somewhere Around Midnight.

Opening act The Henry Clay People where notable for the energy and fun they brought to the night. Opening with a sing-a-long count out and generally wrapping the crowd around their fingers with their youthful hijinks, brothers Joey and Andy Siara made the most of the opening slot.
Andy and Joey Siara

Dandy Warhols- Richards On Richards June 18, 2008

Finally a really great Dandy's show!

I've seen the Dandy Warhols probably a dozen times. They are one of my favourite bands, and I would never miss them, but it's been awhile since I saw them put on a truly memorable show. In fact, they've been so consistently unmemorable that I didn't even right anything about the last show I saw.

This show was a pretty short notice practice show in anticipation of festival season across the pond. The entire "tour" consisted of only 4 shows, and Vancouver was one of the lucky cities.

One of the VERY lucky cities, because this show was the best I've ever seen them. What was different? Maybe the fact that they'd "Practiced a lot" which Courtney jokingly told the crowd when someone yelled out how great they sounded. Maybe the fact that they seemed to be genuinely having fun. Maybe the long stretch off the road had made them hungry for it again.


Maybe it was that the new material they played off the new album, Earth To The Dandy Warhols may be the strongest songs they've released in years.

Courtney definitely brought his "A" game, being very dramatic with his performance both with his instrumentation and with body. They sounded amazing and except for a few dropped lyrics that I'm sure only Glen noticed, they were all I could have hoped for.

They'll be back in September and so will I!

Vietnam - May 25, 2007 at Richards On Richards

Michael Gerner

We actually wanted to check out this show for the Black Angels who were headlining. We weren't sure we'd get tickets as it was a last minute decision, so we hung out outside the club waiting for the doors to open.

While we were waiting a van pulls up, and out pour four grubby souls who would have looked like homeless were it not for the confidence they exuded. Even relaxing with a smoke while crouching beside the club, Michael Gerner looked more like George Harrison then a a bum.

In the end, it was Vietnam who stole the show for me with their intense thoughtful lyrics, and compelling songs.

The Black Angels sound pretty good in recordings, but live felt like a mess to me. Lead singer Alex Mass sounded like he was singing through cotton candy and not a single lyric could be heard. Despite a compelling dynamic within the group which include a girl drummer, the lights were kept low and a looped video ran behind the band. I'd have way rather seen Alex sing since perhaps I could have read his lips.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - May 12, 2007 at Richards On Ricards

Peter Hayes

So as promised, here's more photos and thoughts from the show.

We arrived right at 7:00 because I'd heard that there was going to be no opening act and I wanted a place to sit for a change. The room was already smoky with fog which was weird since the show was over an hour away from starting.

The Fratellis WERE to have opened the show, which was I'm sure part of why it was such a fast sell out. I mean, to be honest, despite the unrelenting run of the IPOD commercial with Flathead featured in it, Costello Music is an awesome CD and a lot of fun to boot. They probably would have blown BRMC away.

The show itself reminded me a lot of The Secret Machines show from last year. Another great band that sounded great live but with no personality whatsoever. Copious use of the smoke machine and lights were meant to disguise this fact, but in the end, there was really no connection with the audience. I don't believe that either Peter Hayes or Robert Levon Been said a grand total of 50 words between them.
Robert Levon Been

Also, all that smoke made it almost impossible to take a photo that didn't suck.

Baby 81 is a great CD and I was actually pretty sad that they skipped so many of my favourite songs from the album. One of the highlights of the show for me was when Peter and Robert came out for the encore and each played acoustic numbers, which felt quite intimate. This was especially surprizing considering that Robert's number was entirely in the dark.

David Usher - April 13, 2007 at Richards On Richards

I've been lucky enough to actually hang out with David Usher in New York. It included a fun bar hop through the East Village for which I'll always be thankful to Barb.

I was a fan before those days, but appreciated him so much more after that.

After being sick for a number of days, David Usher played a fabulous sold out show at Richards on Richards in support of his new album "Strange Birds". To protect his voice, he hadn't spoken in 4 days. It was worth it as he was in amazing voice, and played a fabulous set. One thrilling highlight was a cover of Crazy which culminated in a spastic dance in front of strobe light.

I have no better shots of the show as it was pretty dark and so these are both with a flash, but I did get to see him again after the show where he communicated via gestures an sign language to protect his voice for the next nights show.

The Subways - March 29, 2006 Richards On Richards

I will go on record as saying that although it's still March, The Subways were the best show I'll see this year.
The Subways




I love the album Young For Eternity. It mixes up Ramones like Punk/Pop like Holiday with subtle emotional pop gems like With You. They've also got the whole youthful rockstar thing down to an art and it seemed genuine to me. It was one of those shows where you see someone just on the cusp of greatness. They were having a great time and were so happy to be there. They closed the show with the Oasis epic lik Rock and Roll Queen (of course) that saw Billy Lunn jump from the drum kit, climb the railings to the upper level of Richards, climb
over the bar, and finally end with a stage dive.
Charlotte Copper


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