Archive for ‘March, 2009‘

Sorry for the hiatus, folks. The last couple weeks have been crazy, but a hell of a lot of fun. Let’s dive in with Twittervision on.

Friday, March 20th was a good night for electronic dance music. Blake Jarell, Menno de Jong and Gareth Emery rocked the party at Richards on Richards. Geek highlight of the night: Menno closed his set with Lisa Miskovsky’s ‘Still Alive‘; he was also celebrating his birthday.

Sunday, March 22nd was all sorts of photo awesome. Camera guru Mikey Valdes invited me out to a shoot to meet a handful of other super-talented shutterbugs. There was CDJ action and it was awesome. Met someone who looks better in my headphones than I do and I got jealous.

Sunday, March 22nd continues the photo trend with some long-exposure goodness. Not much success, but the company rocked and we got a trance session in at the end.

Tuesday, March 24th brought Pete Tong to town. A very tech-heavy set; I swear the man kept this one song going for over ten minutes. Not a very animated character, but definitely knows how to work that laptop.

Wednesday, March 25th was my first gig ever. Spun top 40 at the Convocation Mall in Simon Fraser University from 11AM-3:30PM for ‘Balding for Dollars’. Kudos to the organizers, volunteers and shaved heads for raising over $5,000 for kids with cancer. Post-event Subway grub brought up some very mature views on life; much respect for the company I was with for they are decades beyond their years.

Wednesday, March 25th was also my first time at Chambar out in Gastown. Mussels were fantastic. Same goes for the service and the ambiance. You know what was the best part though? (Besides the company, naturally.) The fries. Awesome. Now, to get a review together for Yum! Vancouver …

Thursday, March 26th was a nice break from unh-tss unh-tss. DJ Muggs, Rahzel, MC Supernatural, DJ JS1 and DJ QBert came to town to rock the smallest party I have ever seen at Gossip. Came to see QBert, but got blown away by the entire lineup. Much new found respect for hip-hop.

Saturday, March 28th had my heart pounding at 200 beats per minute; I got called in as an alternate trance DJ at Effin’ Party, a rave out in Langley. Rocked a near-empty room from 4-6:30AM, but loved every minute of it. No monitors and bleed from the main room made things tricky, but things pulled through and those who were there enjoyed the show.

Sunday, March 29th was one very long continuation on Saturday. Riding on Red Bull from the night before, I decided to say to hell with sleep and went photowalking instead. Chased sunrise and seagulls, and managed to get a session of Mario 3 in. Met someone who didn’t know who Pikachu was; need to start a Pokemon outreach.

First things first, let me say THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to vote. Thanks to you, I took a strong lead straight from the get go and stayed on top all the way to the end.

For those of you just tuning in, I was voted in the winner in the Digital Art category (with the image above) for the Illuminate Yaletown photo contest. The prize ($50 and a year’s PRO membership to Flickr) should be on the way shortly and is eagerly anticipated.

Again, thank you for feeding my passion. I’m blessed to have so much continued support from my peers, family, and friends.

We all knew pop music was formulaic, but The Axis of Awesome (lulz) came out swinging with a medley of greatest hits – all played with four unchanging chords: E, B, C#m, and A. Still, even knowing this, I can’t help but love what I’m hearing. It’s like fastfood: it’s everywhere, and though it’s probably not the best for you to be eating it all the time, it’s just so good.

The secret’s out, folks! Get writing!

I’ve been a huge fan of Pendulum since the moment I discovered them in 2005, so in a way, you can say I’ve been waiting four years for this concert. Originally a drum and bass act (consisting of Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, and Paul Harding), Pendulum has evolved dramatically over the years; the trio – now a sextuplet with the additions of with the additions of guitarist Perry ap Gwynedd, drummer Kodish, and emcee Verse – have meshed rock and pop elements with their drum and bass roots to create a sound all their own.

By 10:30, the Commodore was already bustling. Guest DJ Excision kicked the night off hard with an earth-shattering dubstep set and secured his place in my list of favourite local acts; by the time Pendulum hit the stage, the crowd was ready to go.

For long-time Pendulum fans wondering about this tour, you’re looking at an entirely live set, but that doesn’t mean you won’t hear a fair share of material from their debut album ‘Hold Your Colour’. Highlights from that era included a wicked mashup of Master of Puppets and Slam, Tarantula, Another Planet, and an appropriately mellowed (but not mellow) iteration of Hold Your Colour. On the ‘In Silico’ side, there wasn’t as much that moved me with the exception of Propane Nightmares; I can’t say enough good things about that song.

Musically, Pendulum haven’t slacked in their transition to live music. Each musician was tight and did a remarkable job at recreating their signature sound. That being said, I do think Verse is a little distracting at times. He held some tracks (particularly Tarantula) together really well, but at other times, it felt like he was just yelling at the crowd to no real benefit.

In closing, if you love Pendulum, drum and bass, all of this new electronic-and-other-genre mashup stuff, or are looking to get into any of the above, come out to the next show. I didn’t leave liking everything, but I liked an awful lot, more than enough to give them another whirl. Propane Nightmares, baby. Propane Nightmares.

P.S. You know what’s funny? The most memorable part was when Verse yelled out, “You’re the fucking shit crowd.” What does that even mean?

Stop. Before you continue, play this. Is it on? Cool, go for it.

It’s been awful quiet around here lately (I blame Twitter), but if there’s anything worth blogging about, there’s none more deserving than Above & Beyond, trance legends and my favourite UK export.

Arriving close to midnight, Celebrities was packed, especially for a Thursday (February 26th, 2009) show. Vancouver-native Danny Taylor did a fantastic job warming up the crowd; by the time Tony McGuinness and Paavo Siljamäki hit the stage, hands were up, and we were ready for what has become of my favourite sets to date.

Above & Beyond pounded out favourite after favourite all night long; from Sirens Of The Sea to Amsterdam, the energy never stopped, and when it did, it came down BIG with Satellite (video).

Given the chance, I wouldn’t change a thing about the night. Amazing music, amazing company. Couldn’t help but think they played a similar set list to my own, but I guess that shows my influences (and hopefully that I’m on the right track).

And now for some gushing: I love you, Above & Beyond! I’m kicking myself for not getting an autograph. Seriously. Damnit. Gaaaah. I can’t express how much I admire these guys. Oh well. I’ll just have to see them at the top. Time to spin me a set!

For more photos of the night, swing by the Flickr set.