Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard: Rickshaw Sept. 28th

Wow... lotta concerts this weekend. Haven't decided about The Jolts/SNFU/DOA at the Commodore on the 25th, but it seems like it shouldn't be missed. The Subhumans at The Cobalt on the 26th is a definite yes, mostly to say goodbye to the 'balt and check in with Chris Walter, whose very entertaining new novel, Punch The Boss - his equivalent of Buk's Factotum - is being launched. It's technically not the last gig to happen there, but it will be the last loud one; there will also be a Fake Jazz Wednesday in the subsequent week, tho' apparently the place will be a bit of an hull by that point. Sunday it's the Pack AD and Pink Mountaintops at the Rickshaw - a cool-sounding gig, but I dunno if I'll have the cash for that... Monday the 28th, however, I will be definitely heading to the Rickshaw to see...

...yes, folks, the Vancouver return of Jeffrey Lewis!

I've been a fan of Jeffrey Lewis since Peter Stampfel, of the Holy Modal Rounders, pointed him out to me a few years ago when I interviewed him. My old interview with Jeffrey is here. There are also tons of delightful videos of Jeffrey on Youtube - his history of the evolution of punk rock on NY's downtown eastside is a delighful place to start, and his video for "The Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror" is priceless. And then there are his folked-up covers of Crass songs, my favourite of which is "Systematic Death." He tends to do "low budget videos" using his comic art to illustrate songs; when last here, it was "Creeping Brain," which Femke documented as best she could in the dark of the Media Club:

Photographs by Femke Van Delft; not to be used without persimmons.

...which you can see performed on Youtube; but you'll get a better taste of his art by looking at "The Legend Of The Fall," or this history of Rough Trade records. The newest video, "To Be Objectified," is actually cooler than the song, methinks - but there's great stuff all throughout Jeffrey's catalogue and I highly recommend attending his show on Monday. While you're there, Jeffrey will probably be packing issues of his comic book, Fuff, with him, and these are as fun and cool as his songs. Issue #1 comes with a bonus mini-CD! Opening acts at the Rickshaw will be Ora Cogan and Certain Breeds. Hope to see y'all there!