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No Debbie Travis

By ben

Friday July 8, 2005

I feel lame – last weekend was the first time I’ve been to the Candy Bar. I’ve been meaning to go for a while but every time there’s a good gig there I seem to be busy somewhere else, whether it be a friend’s wedding or a radio show I have to fill in. Frank Rumbletone has been hyping the place quite a bit and it was nice to finally check it out. A description of the place follows, please note however that even though I’ve seen a few episodes of Restaurant Makeover, I’m no Debbie Travis so please take my comments with a grain of salt. As soon as I walked into the Candy Bar I was treated to a restaurant the style of a 70’s café – with booths along one side of the wall, a counter/bar on the other, and two black couches in between. It seems like a good cozy place to hang out. The stage area, the place where the bands play, is in a separate room down a hallway in the back of the restaurant. This backroom resembles a mini basement rec room with a small stage. This two room setup is unheard of in Vancouver but very common in Toronto and apparently Portland as well (or so I was told). It certain works well and makes it a marvellous place to check out bands.
The first act to play that night at the Candy Bar were the Abbott Street Racket, with some familiar faces in the lineup, such as Henri Sangalang (The Flashing Lights) on bass and Ryan Ogg (Mach III/Prints) on drums. Their retro 60’s Brit Pop songs were toetappingly enjoyable and refreshing. If I’m not mistaken, they also threw in a couple of well-done cover songs, such as Shocking Blue’s Send Me A Postcard. The second band of the night was The Basement Sweets, and they played a perfect mix of old and new songs. There were some minor sound issues in the beginning but it all was swell by the third song. The Parallels ended the night with a great rock show that left the audience wanting more. Even after telling the crowd that they got no more songs left on their repertoire, people were still chanting for an encore.
You have plenty of options this upcoming Friday night. Calgary’s Falconhawk stops by the Anza Club – their lead singer Kara Keith is quite flashy behind the keyboard (in a good way) and a treat to watch. They’ll be with Bend Sinister and Immaculate Machine. Over at the Railway Herald Nix is sharing a stage with Amy Honey and friends. Rich Hope, Beladeans and the Tranzmitors are at the Marine Club. And down at the Pic it’s Parlour Steps with Transylvanian Polka.
Quite possibly the hardest working local band in Vancouver, The Feminists are having their CD release party at the Pic this Saturday. It should be a good disc; their new songs are catchy as hell. They are joined by Mongoose and The Notes From Underground. For those who like the out-of-town bands, Toronto’s Uncut is at the Media Club with Regina’s Sylvie and Halifax’s Wintersleep. If nothing else Sylvie should be worth the price of admission – they feature some of the guys from Despistado and rocks royally.