NOTES FROM VIVACE: (15) Days of Summer
The Upfront. Yes, I’m playing off of (500) Days of Summer,but we here at TRAffIK really liked that movie.
What’s going on here. Now TRAffIK did technically kill off summer with the following blog, but hey, I had a nice summer and wish to do my own summer exit. This blog is going to take a trip from Highland Park to the Sunset Strip and various other locations between these two music spots.
Aaron Beaumont. So my (15) Days of Summer launched with seeing my friend playing at Life on Wilshire. There was a nice group of supporters there, many being mutual friends of ours. This was my first time at Life on Wilshire. Life on Wilshire has a nice set-up that for some reason reminded me of the set-up at Cinespace, but a bit classier. His set included various friends joining him on stage such as Shane Alexander. This was the kick-off for his tour, which ends Oct 8th at Hotel Café.
Diane Birch
Upfront: Religion isn’t something that is mentioned on this website very often. I think I’ve read a couple passing references to religion, but nothing where the topic infused the whole column. This column deals with religion in a more direct way due to the musician I’m writing about, Diane Birch. It would probably be a disservice to her if I ignored the topic. If you’re offended by this topic of discussion, you’ve been warned and should stop reading . . .
I got an e-mail from a friend during the middle of the day about Diane Birch having an 8 p.m. set at Hotel Café. She was a must see he told us all on the e-mail. Now recent work hours had ramped up, but I was still game to go. When I walked out of the office at around 6:45 p.m., I felt a tinge of guilt when a VP of Finance came walking down the hall with a stack of binders, but the guilt wasn’t great enough to prevent me from continuing my walk towards the elevator. (more…)
Part 2: Looking for the Music Scene in Vancouver
In part 1, I totally struck out in my search to final the local music scene in Vancouver – well, not a total strike out, I just didn’t have the necessary funds. That night might have qualified as a music strike out, but it was fun just walking around the city. On Tuesday, I found one of Vancouver’s local weeklies, WE. I scanned the nightclubs section and this led to some success on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Overheard conversation one: I was eating at an Indian restaurant. There were only two other customers in the restaurant. I couldn’t help but over-hear their conversation. One guy was talking about his marital problems with the other. He talked about how he now had different interests in life compared to his wife’s interests. He liked going out to various Goth Nights around Vancouver. He’d head out once a week, but his wife never liked going to these nights. If he had another try at life, he’d have married someone with similar interests instead of marrying an opposite. Goth equals knowledge of the music scene, I thought. I almost went up to him to ask him about the music scene in Vancouver, but I just didn’t have the guts to admit that I had listened in on his conversation.
Tuesday night. Media Club. Cover $10 CND. I’d say that this is Vancouver’s version of Hotel Café. Folks sat on ottomans spread around the floor. It was a singer-songwriter night. Now doesn’t that sound like Hotel Café? Okay, so Hotel Café doesn’t have ottomans, but benches. A guy named Rick Waines was the main singer-songwriter of the night. My interesting find of the night was seeing a poster for an upcoming night – June 12th. Who was playing there on June 12th? No other than Kate Voegele. Who is Kate Voegele? Before leaving for Vancouver, she was highlighted like crazy on Myspace. I even noticed that she was signing CDs at the Borders located on Vine and Sunset.
Overheard conversation two: I was taking a bus to one of Vancouver’s parks. A young lady was on the phone having an argument with her current/ex-boyfriend. “This is such a double standard. We were broken up.” Hmm, sounded like a Rachel and Ross moment from Friends except for the fact that Rachel was the one who cheated.
Wednesday night. Railway. Cover $10 CND. It was another singer-songwriter night. When I got there a guy named Wil was in the middle of his set. The place was rather crowded. After awhile, I was able to maneuver my way to the front. The highlight of his set: his last song. He broke the two middle strings on his guitar and played a four string song. Next up were a couple ladies from . . . the good old USA. First up was Lauren Zettler from New York. From her myspace page, it indicates she’s played Hotel Café and has a live album from that night. Next up was Allison Weiss from Atlanta. (more…)