At one point during last night's show, Penelope Houston of the Avengers asked the audience what the drabbest, dullest suburb of Vancouver was. Standing up front -- since no one else was biting -- I shouted, "Maple Ridge," but she misheard me, asking confusedly from the stage, "Pimple Ridge?" Yeah, kinda! (I mean, it was where I spent my teen years). We eventually set her straight, and she dedicated "Desperation" to those of us from that town (turns out there were a few of us in the audience).
I have never before enjoyed being misunderstood quite this much: Pimple Ridge, indeed.
Throughout a generous set, and for sometime after at the merch area, Houston was personable, unpretentious and chatty, and had comments about almost every song, explaining that "Uh-Oh" went out to people who still don't know that no means no and, late in the night, dedicating "I Believe In Me" to Joe Keithley, who wasn't there, I don't think, but who was an inspirational figure to her, she explained. She also remarked on fallen friends (namechecking, in particular, Brad Kent, Zippy Pinhead, and Randy Rampage) and was generally sociable with people who knew her, wanted autographs, or wanted to tell their own stories about gigs (Bev showed a photo she took of the band in 1979).
Socializing was part of the point of things, I think, moreso than with some other gigs. A lot of people present in the room were first-gen Vancouver punks, many of them in bands themselves, and there was a bit of a punk-rock-high-school reunion going on, as people encountered people they may not have seen for some time. The audience was thick with musicians, photographers, and event organizers I've met and in some cases interviewed, including Jade Blade, Tony Balony, Grant McDonagh, Jack Keating, Phil Smith, and many others who date back to the early days of Vancouver punk. Emilor of Night Court was there, too, even though her band had had to cancel. There were a few other familiar younger faces as well (hi, Ford; yes, you count as a younger face in last night's room). For my part, I busied myself with a fannish project: "How many people can I get to sign my copy of the Complication?" I even got Tony Balony to indulge me; though he wasn't on the album proper, he was a pretty important part of the reissue gig (which I was also at). Given his lack of direct involvement, he signed black ink in the black area. Sure! Too bad it was just a reissue -- it's a fun cover to get covered with signatures. Kinda felt like a high school year book, actually, albeit for a grade I was not actually in (top to bottom - Ian Tiles, Bill Hemy, Phil Smith, Tony Bardach, Gord Nicholl, Nick Jones).
The cover is much cooler this way, methinks. Weirdly, Lynn W., Bev Davies, and Jade Blade all signed on the back of the record! (Lynn and Bev I get, since that's where you can see their photos, but why Jade?). Still to come: David M., Chris Arnett, Gerry Hannah... who else? (Was Colin Griffiths there last night? I missed my shot, if so; I wouldn't have recognized him, if he had been!).
I had been unsure what the Avengers would be like, having never seen them, and, y'know, having been around for nearly 50 years can take its toll on a band, but everyone had fun and was fun to watch; I don't have a strong connection to their catalogue, so it was down to the songs I knew ("Cheap Tragedies," the one I know best and like most, opened the night). I would have bought one of the reissues of their Steve Jones-produced 7" with "Uh-Oh," "Cheap Tragedies," and "The American in Me," but it was sold out before I realized it was present (they also had reissue copies of the pink album, which I guess they managed to wrestle away from CD Presents, but I didn't get to talk to them about that. I don't have that much else to say, though I liked that the bassist was wearing a Channel 3 t-shirt and that (weirdly) he seemed to be playing his bass upside-down (Tony Balony spotted that).
The Pointed Sticks were in fine form, too, and did plenty of new material to compliment the old (Nick Jones has said they're like sharks, they'd die if they stopped moving). I scribbled notes for a setlist: "I'm On Fire," "Pessimist's Son"... but I ran out of steam on that, choosing to get some video instead (when I upload them, I will post a link to "There's the Door" and "Anywhere," off their new LP; they also did "Pessimist's Son" off that album, as well as tunes from Three Lefts Make a Right ("Anytime" and "I'm On Fire") and their self-titled 2015 LP ("You're Not the One"). The band deserves tons of credit for not resting on their back catalogue, but the crowd, of course, got a bit more excited for songs they knew from back when ("Real Thing," "Part of the Noise," "Lies," "Somebody's Mom," "True Love," and their one-song encore -- "what you shout will have no bearing on what we play," Jones quipped, or words to that effect -- which proved to be "Out of Luck"). I was more enthusiastic than even Gerald (also present) in collecting signatures, this time, but I imagine he got the pink album signed; I'm saving up my merch money for the Art Bergmann gig on Friday, though.
Besides that, I have no massive critical insights. I chatted with Sticks' keyboardist Gord Nicholl about his song about filmmaker "Billy Wilder," but I told him I wouldn't quote him about what his favourite Billy Wilder movie was (John Armstrong had picked Sunset Boulevard, a still from which graces the front cover of View from the Bottom; that one is a bit closer to my heart that Gord's pick, though I'm kind of a Double Indemnity man, myself, or maybe The Apartment, depending on the mood I'm in at the moment).
Gord isn't much for interviews, it seems (I asked if he had any Los Popularos stories but he said he doesn't; he was friendly enough to chat with, though, and signed my copy of Born Free). I feel a bit better about the fact that I've never spoken to him at length, but he was perfectly happy to chat a bit int the lobby and scrawl his name on a few things. Did they sell all their remaining vinyl of Beautiful Future? Hope so!
By the way, Gord, Wilder-wise, the guy whose name we couldn't remember was Joe E. Brown. Nobody's perfect!
It was a pretty good gig, and maybe for the best that Night Court didn't play, since it was after midnight when I got home, and I do have to work this morning... the Avengers play Tacoma tonight... should be a great show. Glad I caught them, also stoked for Art, but... that's all I have the jam to write at the moment. Art Bergmann tomorrow!
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