Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at Rogers Arena Vancouer BC on October 25, 2012

Bumbershoot 2010- KEXP Lounge

So, this year at Bumbershoot, quite by accident, I discovered the KEXP lounge. I mean, I'd read about it every year but never attended a show, however this year, The Raveonettes were one of the performers, so I knew I couldn't miss it.

Sharin Foo
We dutifully lined up a half an hour early at the booth, not realy knowing what to expect, but when we finally entered the venue, it was clear that we were in for something special. A nice small venue that sounded great for the live recording they were performing.

Sharin Foo
After the show, the band even broke down their own gear so we got to meet the band.

Glen and Sharin

Visqueen was a band I loved last year at Bumbershoot. I was just as happy to see them this year, except even happier to be sitting in the lovely KEXP lounge.

Rachel Flotard

Cristina Bautista

Rachel Flotard
They were charming and funny and I love them so check them out.

Another favourite, and oddly, someone I've never seen live before, was The Thermals. Pillar Of Salt is still one of my favourite songs and the new album has another potential all time fav in I Don't Believe You.
Here is a video I took of a different song. Awesome right??

We also saw The Engish Beat who are oldies but goodies from my youth. Tenderness (same guy but he was with Gneral Public at the time) is another of my all time favourite songs, even to this day.

Dave Wakeling

Antonee First

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros -May 31, 2010 at the Commodore Ballroom

One of my favourite bands. Alex Ebert can command a crowd wearing nothing but what looks like dirty pajamas. So much love in the crowd and on the stage. Magical
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Alex Ebert

Alex Ebert

Alex Ebert

Jade Castrinos

Manic Street Preachers- September 22, 2009 in Vancouver at the Commodore Ballroom

James Dean Bradfield

I think I've finally figured out why I like Twitter. It's like a search engine for everything you actually want to find. I like taking photos, but I don't particularly like writing reviews of the shows I go to. Mostly, you could say that at best, I write commentary. With that in mind, I am going to direct you readers to a review I found on Twitter. It's from an amazing website called Guttersnipe, and I urge you to check it out.

The review is HERE and I pretty much have nothing to add to it, except for a bit of personal commentary.

I saw the Manic Street Preachers when they came to Vancouver ten years ago. I don't remember that much about it except that every interview mentioned the disappearance of Richie Edwards. It's only now with the release of Journal For Plague Lovers, which features lyrics left behind by Edwards, that I can appreciate his contribution to the band.

My final commentary is that this show felt like the Goldilocks show. It had been a busy week with the Hold Steady, Arctic Monkeys, and Manic Street Preachers. If you read my thoughts on the other shows, then you'll understand why I felt this show was just right. Great music, amazing energy and genuine engagement with the crowd.
Nicky WIre

The Hold Steady - September 19, 2009 Vancouver at the Vogue Theatre

Craig Finn

Craig Finn shouldn't be cool. Receding hairline, late thirties, dance moves that consist of hyper speed hand claps and flailing arms. It all adds up to something strange, but from Craig Finn, it's most certainly cool. I was unable to find a single YouTube clip that captured that manic energy, but try, Stuck Between Stations for a great song.

The Hold Steady are a band that makes music that tell stories like Bruce Springsteen, but Craig Finn spits out those lyrics with a punk rock vibe more like Art Bergmann.

It seemed like the crowd sang along to every song, intoxicated by the energy of Craig Finn. This is despite the fact that the show was held at the Vogue Theatre, with reserved seating (which we had abandoned for our post at the stage. Hardly the best location for a show where you should be jumping around.

Check them out live if you get the chance. It should be a problem as they seem to tour continually.
Tad Kubler

Bumbershoot 2009- Monday Night, September 7, 2009

Monday Night.I'll go backwards this time because the highlight for me was Metric. Canadian band that is amazing. Check out Gimme Sympathy. Emily Haines is a dynamo with charisma to spare. See them if you get a chance.
Emily Haines

Joshua Winstead
Lenka. Adorable to behold with a captivating voice that really has you singing along. My favourite song is Trouble Is A Friend.
Lenka

Franz Ferdinand. My favourite band to play on "Rock Band" This isn't my favourite song but I do love this video for Ulysses.
Alex Kapranos

Paul Thomson

Bumbershoot 2009- Monday Day September 7, 2009

It rained. It poured. But for our troubles we made the front page of the Seattle Weekly's coverage!

First up was my most anticipated show, Visqueen. I love them so much. Check out their video for Crush On The Radio, although my favourite song is actually Vaxxine. It came as a huge disappointment to me when they played their new album in it's entirety with neither of songs I wanted to hear.
Rachel Flotard

Cristina Bautista

Tom Cummings

We went for one of our endless free Starbucks coffee's and still managed to catch The Minus 5. I'd seem them before when R.E.M. played a secret show with them. Peter Buck still plays with the band, which was cool to see. I'm going to link to a live performance of Lies Of The Living Dead because the song is a cool as the title.
Scott McCaughey

Peter Buck

Delhi 2 Dublin was an unexpected stop. As we were passing through the grounds, we were seduced by the sounds of Bangra music and had to stop. This is a truly a multicultural group with world wide influences, and you need to check this video out to see what I'm talking about.
Sanjay Seran

Delhi 2 Dublin

Ravi Binning

Next it was the Black Eyed Peas. This was for Sonia, so I braved life and limb to get up close.
Fergie

will.i.am

Taboo

Last for the day was Akron/Family. I was really looking forward to them and expected a dozen people on stage, but was surprized to see just two guys. Check out Ed Is A Portal.
Seth Olinsky

Bumbershoot 2009- Sunday, September 6, 2009

Started with The Black Whales. As in all my Bumbershoot, the song choice will be linked to a video. My choice for the Black Whales is Young Blood.

I have a pet peeve in watching bands, and singer Alex Robert was a big offender. He kept his eyes closed during the entire performance. You can not connect with an audience when you have your eyes closed. The performance is internal, and you lose us. For this reason, here is my photo of Alex tuning his guitar because nothing else is compelling.
Alex Robert

Davey Brozowski

Then it was off to the main stage for our first main stage show. I HATE the main stage because they have no video screens at all. It's ridiculous because you can't see anything unless you get up really close and you are basically taking your life into your own hands at that point. Bumbershoot, GET SOME GIANT VIDEO SCREENS!
Anyways, off to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who I adore. My favourite song is Zero which you can watch here.
Karen O

What's not to love. They were amazing. A highlight for sure. Also more giant confetti cannons which seem to be the new thing right now.

After an awesome Happy Hour at Twist (love the pomegranate ribs) it was off to Michael Franti and Spearhead. Say Hey is supposedly a hit although I don't know anyone else who knows it. I love it to death, but Sonia and Glen were not too impressed.

Michael Franti

Michael Franti and Jason Mraz

Last stop of the day was to see The Helio Sequence. My favourite song is Keep Your Eyes Ahead.

Brandon Summers with Benjamin Weikel