Ben Kweller - February 16, 2007 at the Commodore in Vancouver

This was a double bill with Gomez so I'll break it up into two parts.
First up was Ben Kweller.

I've actually seen both Gomez and Ben Kweller before. Ben Kweller was about three years ago at Richards on Richards in support of "On My Way".

That was a great show. I love that album, and there was an element of danger due to the precarious balancing of the keyboard on the speaker. It felt like at any second that Kweller played the keyboard that he could tumble 4 feet to the floor.

This show was more stripped down with Kweller touring with just a bassist and drummer. Kweller arrived on stage with his eyes almost completely covered by the brim of his cap. The stage was set with a lovely Ben Kweller banner.

Highlights included a fun cover of an old timer Texas tune, the name of which I can't remember, but seemed to be on the set list as Chugg. (?) and an impromptu performance of the Nintendo Supermario game song.

Okay, real highlights were "Penny On The Train Track" and "I Gotta Move" from the new Ben Kweller self titled album and of course "Wasted And Ready". I was really sad he didn't play my favourite song from the new album, "This Is War".


One of the other things I love is when artists come out after the show to say hello and meet the fans. Happily, Kweller was amazingly nice while I rattled on and on as I am want to do.

Pete Yorn - February 8, 2007. The Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver

The last time I saw Pete Yorn was 4 years ago when he was touring in support of "Day I Forgot". According to him, the last time he was actually through Vancouver was as the opening act for the Foo Fighters, which is a double bill I just don't get.

Yorn did tell an interesting anecdote about that trip. As he was leaving a sushi restaurant he was overcome by a crowd of people swarming the streets in celebration. He asked what was going on, and it turned out that the Canucks had won a semi final game. "You've got to admire a city that celebrates the first game, of the first series.

The opening acts were Charlotte Martin, who had the most beautiful stage setup consisting of twisted christmas lights arranged to look like candelabras, and Aqualung.

Aqualung is Matt Hales, a Winston lookalike/soundalike from the UK who also sounds a lot like Travis. He sounds so much like Travis in fact that I had to google him when I got home to see if it was actually the Travis lead singer gone solo. Having these kinds of thoughtful distractions coupled with the fact that he was hidden on the side of the stage playing a grand piano out of my eyeline meant that I pretty much thought his set was pretty much forgettable. I say pretty much because he does have one remarkable song called "Better Then Sunshine" which I know I've heard but can't remember where.

Pete Yorn took the stage to great fanfare. The crowd was surprizingly mixed since the last time I'd seen him the crowd was probably 80% girls. This time was pretty even although his status as a sex symbol has not diminished judging by the amount of lingerie that was tossed his way.

His backing band is actually a band I well and truly love called Minibar. In Yorn's previous west coast tour, Minibar was the opening act as well as backing band, and I would have loved to see that, alas they only played as close as Seattle. Most memorable moments for Minibar would have to be the incredibly energetic drummer, Malcolm Cross, pictured above, and the multitalented bassist Sid Jordan who managed to 1) play bass 2) smoke a joint, all while 3) singing back up vocals! I wish I had gotten a photo of that.

Since I'm not a writer, and have a crappy memory, I'll just mention some thoughts and highlights about the actual show.

He had this gorgeous old decorated acoustic guitar that had it's strap held on with duct tape. I love to see things like that.

He told of how he'd awoken to hear that Anna Nicole Smith had been hospitalized and after he had finished showering heard that she'd died. He dedicated "Bandstand In The Sky" to her. A sample lyric is ...

You can take my life but I'll never die.
You can tell that's the way I'll survive.
Heading for the bandstand in the sky.

He also told about the soft spot he had in his heart for "Life On A Chain" because it was the song that got him his record contract. "Sing along if you know it" and sing along the crowd did. Sang along to pretty much everything in fact.

Particularly lovely was an almost acoustic version of "Come Back Home" played at 2/3 speed giving it a nice intimacy and a totally acoustic cover of the Grateful Dead song "Friend of the Devil".

The other cover he played was "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths. Pete had just seen Morrissey in L.A. and I guess he was a big influence on him.

I'm sure I forgot a lot but I can say it was a great show. Love him, not JUST because he's cute.

Lukas Rossi in Ottawa, Ontario - Nov 24 and 25, 2006

I love Lukas Rossi. I loved him before I ever saw him or even knew who he was. Sounds weird? Well, not really when you know that I was with Barb when she called Lukas from SXSW and convinced him to go audition for Rockstar Supernova. I was so excited because I had someone to actually root for on the show.


Fast forward 8 months and the world knows that Lukas actually won the whole thing. I was really excited to be going to Ottawa to see him play.

He played to shows on Saturday. One was part of a larger show with Josh and Phil from the show. Lukas played with two members of his old band, Rise Electric, Jay and Dom. They'd rehearsed for the first time on Friday night, and it was a really great set which included a solo performance by Lukas of "Living On A Prayer" which he'd done on the show.

This photo was from that Friday night rehearsal. Lukas may be all rockstar in public, and was pretty much a spoiled brat at the VIP party, but in person he was amazingly nice. Much taller then I imagined, maybe 5'10", and very warm.

Of course, his actual quote upon seeing this photo was "I look like a crack whore....COOL!"

Ok Go - November 5, 2006 at Neumo's Crystal Ball Reading Room, Seattle

Ok Go are my favourite band. I don't think I've said that anywhere else on this rather long blog, so you know it's the truth. Sure I have many other bands I love and adore, but I love and adore none more then Ok Go.

The very first time I ever saw them was opening for The Vines at Richards On Richards. They totally stole the show with humour and music and yes, dancing. Damian Kulash, in surprizing marketing savvy, hung out after the show handing out stickers and selling CD's.

Fast forward a couple of years, and now they are brinked on NEXT BIG THING success. Unless you living in a cave, Ok Go has become famous for the dances. The Backyard Dance and the Treadmill Dance to be specific. Hell, even my MOM sent the video, so I don't need to see the actual statistics.

The show at Neumo's was an amazing. Damian Kulash has a real rapport with the audience, making everyone feel like they are part of a big party but never letting them forget that it's his show. After a rousing, accidently bassless version of "Here It Goes Again" he commented that they weren't going to play the "big hit" again then followed with a bit about Seattles music history and Kurt Cobain's status as music wealtiest dead rock star. When a woman in the audience yelled out that Kurt would have played the song again, Damian never missed a beat and shot back mischievously, "Weren't you listening to me bitch? I said we weren't playing the song again!" Then with boyish insincerity apologized for saying bitch and vowed to not say it again.


Never one to miss big moments in a show, Damian spent a couple of songs singing from the audience floor.

After one such jaunt, he was stopped in his tracks by the presence of young boy. "Dude! I have to say you are one seriously small dude. I'm not used to seeing little people at our shows." then he invited the boy onto the stage, where he put him on his shoulders and introduced him to the crowd!

That's an Ok Go Backyard Dance teeshirt the boy is wearing by the way.

Other highlights included a short acoustic set at the back of the room featuring "A Million Ways To Be Cruel" and an amazing punk rock cover of the Damned's "Neat Neat Neat!


When they came back fot the encore, Damian mentioned that it must have been a surprize to anyone who'd seen them before because he'd always expressed disdain for the encore. "I'm a fucking hypocrite!"

He mentioned at one of the shows I saw that that was one of the reasons they'd started doing a dance in the first place.

The first encore song was what I'm sure was a new song. The sound at that point was awful, so I can't really make a good judgement call at all. Maybe someone reading this can tell me more about it. The very last song was the "Do What You Want" which was exactly what the crowd wanted to do at that point. The insane jumping around by the crowd reminded me of the days of the springy Commodore floor except I don't think Neumo's have springs in their floors!

Last but not least, I can happily report that although they didn't bring the treadmills "We brought my backyard"! A still photo of THE backyard was the new backdrop to the infamous Backyard Dance which I can also happily say, still looks as fresh and as fun as the first time I saw it live at SXSW.
I'm also happy to report that Damian still puts the fans first by coming out after the show to meet the fans!
Here he is with Deb and Glen! I am so happy right now.