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Summer School Pleasure Principle

By ben

Friday June 3, 2005

If you go the Railway Club regularly, you probably know Dana and understand how she makes visiting the bar a little bit more worthwhile. Funny and always having a good story to tell, she is a favorite among bar patrons and the bands alike. Obviously I have to stop by the Railway last Sunday for Dana’s final shift, jut to ordered my last Guinness from her and wished her luck with her new career (a daytime promotion job—she gets an office and client and such, sounds pretty sweet).

After the Railway, I headed over to the Lamplighter and walked into a performance by Edmonton’s litterbug. A pop rock band, I managed to catch a couple of songs, but they didn’t leave an impression with me, good or bad. Ida Neilson’s project Great Aunt Ida came on stage next, and they were great. I’ve seen them a few times now and I enjoyed their pretty crafty tunes each time. Ida’s got such a beautiful voice and had a nice presence on stage, which worked very well with the rest of the band. Last band that night was P:ano, and they performed a quiet and minimalistic show, much different than the last time I saw them where they did a full-on pop rock show. It was a show that probably fits better in the small mellow spaces of the Butchershop or the old Sugar Refinery than the giant-sized (relatively) Lamplighter. The atmosphere was a bit off, but musically it was still very enjoyable.

This Friday there’re several good shows you can check out, starting with The Approach, All Purpose Voltage Heroes, Immaculate Machine and Fun 100 at the Lamplighter. All four of those bands are pretty good and definitely worth a look see. Over at the Marine Club (man, I almost forgot about this place) there’s The Weather, The Parallels and The Quiet Numbers—three relatively new but promising acts. Carolyn Mark and Geoff Berner are back from tour and will play with Hank Pine & Lily Fawn at the Railway Club. And don’t forget about New Years Resolution at the Pic.

I’ve never been to the Candy Bar, but I’m thinking this Saturday night might be a perfect time to check out the place. It’s Down The Lees’s (LL from New Years Resolution) CD Release Party. Opening up the show is Clover Honey, which is special since they haven’t played in months. With a baby coming, this might be their last show for the next little while. Also on the bill is Joel and the Last of the Neighbours. It’ll be a good show, trust me.

Finally, a little bit of a public service. You might have heard that Alberta bands the Vertical Struts and Fake Cops got their tour van and all their gear stolen a couple weeks ago, shortly after their Music Waste show. They parked their vehicle in front of the well-lit BC Hydro building on Dunsmuir, which many people mistakenly assume to be a safe and secure place. Needlessly to say their van disappeared within the hour, along with about 18,000 bucks in equipment. The van had seen been recovered, but not much of the equipment. If you want to help these guys out, visit their site for photos and a list of the stolen items.

That’s it for this week. Feel free to email me any news worthy items to