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Friday, March 30, 2007
J.O'd If I were to be generous, I'd say there was about 30 people at Richard's tonight for the Jesse Sykes and Jennifer O'Connor show. Truth is, there might not even be that many. But it's par for the course, as two not-that-well-known acts playing a medium-sized club on a Thursday night in Vancouver usually spells trouble. And that's on top of the sold-out Paolo Nutella Nutini show at the Commodore on the same night. Perhaps they were lucky drawing more than two dozen.
I pretty much went for Jennifer O'Connor, as I only have a passing familiarity with the music of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter. I only found out that she was opening last week, as I couldn't believe somebody like her (i.e. barely known, little-buzzed, American, indie female singer-songwriter) would come to Vancouver. (Think Laura Cantrell, Maria Taylor, Haley Bonar, and even bigger ones like Patty Griffin and Laura Veirs, who have had exactly 0 Vancouver gigs between them.) Usually, they'll stop in Seattle and call it a day, so I wasn't exactly scouring the show listings, expecting to find her.
But I'm really glad she came. Jennifer played a nice set on guitar, backed by a drummer, consisting mostly of songs from her latest LP, her Matador-debut, Over the Mountain, Across the Valley and Back to the Stars. She took it quite well that so few people were in the room, simply playing on as if the audience were normally-sized. Sometimes, artists will make reference to the empty room, and there'd be a few seconds of awkwardness. She just sort of shrugged it off and did her thing. I'm probably the only person who went just to see her, but I'm pretty sure the few Jesse Sykes fans that showed up enjoyed her set as well.
For the headliner, we just sort of sat back by the railings and watched. I was pleasantly surprised that some of my friends actually came with me; Stacey and Alicja were both there to see Ms. Sykes and her Sweet Hereafter. Her set was chill, musical, and earthy, her husky voice really giving her music a unique sound. She'll be at Sasqutachin May, so I'll probably be seeing her then too.
Two shows in three nights. And (fake) Veruca Salt and Charlotte Martin will make it three in five on Saturday. Looks like the shows this year -- as well as my blogging -- us starting to pick up again!
And a show note to pass on: Architecture In Helsinki is back at Richard's on June 14th. Do a smell a new album?
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:45 AM
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Spring Training It's late March, which means fantasy baseball is right around the corner. This year, instead of doing my usual deep-bench rotisserie games, I'm in two head-to-head leagues. One is the quizbowl head-to-head league I was in a few years ago, while the other is Matt's ultra-deep keeper league. How deep? I drafted J.J. Hardy
In the keeper league, I inherited something I've rarely gotten playing fantasy sports -- a genuine ultra, mega, MVP-calibre star. His name: Albert Pujols. WTF? I've always been stuck drafting in the second half of the first round, so my first picks have always been guys like Nicklas Lidstrom or Vernon Wells. Not bad, but not jackpot. With my luck, Pujols will probably get injured a month into the season and have an off year.
And another strange turn of events -- for the quizbowl league I couldn't make the live draft, so I had to do a pre-ranking thing and let the computer draft for me. And it actually turned out pretty well! Jeter, A-Rod, Konerko, Abreu, Carlos Lee, et al. I even got some sleepers in Alex Gordon, Ryan Shealy, and Tim Lincecum.
I don't know how well I'll do this season. I haven't done head-to-head in a few years, so my strategy might not be right. But then again, I've probably got the most solid set of draftees I've ever gotten, so that's not a bad place to start. Hopefully, it'll turn out better than my hockey league this year, where I led for a good chunk of the time, only to fall to third place thanks to injuries to my goalies. Curses, Huet!
NP: Jennifer O'Connor - Century Estates
posted by Hanson |
1:53 AM
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Still Alright A month without new posts. Man, I get ridiculouser and ridiculouser with each passing day. I put the blame squarely on work, which has kept me more than busy.
So, what got me out of my blogging cave? Lily Allen blistering set tonight at the Commodore. Wearing an ultra-thin, oversized shirt-thing and oversized shorts, she pretty much owned the stage, which she shared with her brass-y, 7-piece band backing band. Surprising, she had no back-up singers, nor was her band mic'd up. So vocally, she was pretty much up there by herself. And she did a fantastic job.
Plowing through most of Alright, Still -- all except "Take What You Take" -- she threw in a couple of b-sides ("Nan You're Window Shopper" and "Cheryl Tweedy") as well as four covers ("Everybody's Changing", "Naive", "Oh My God", and "Heart of Glass"). That's 16 songs -- not bad at all for someone so new to the game.
Despite nursing a sore throat, she did her thing with a swagger of a seasoned pro. The banter was average, but her snarky public personae certainly shone through. So now at least I know it's (probably) not just a contrived marketing gimmick (but rather a genuine one). No public disses (Macy Gray and her new album are ripe for the picking), which I was a bit disappointing. No matter though -- it was a fun, fun show.
Now, I want me some Pipettes!
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
1:54 AM
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