The rest of Vancouver is still buzzing from seeing the Hives, or moaning about having missed them, but here at Alienated, where we're just starting to get over a week of heavy John Otway/ Clearcut action, we're looking forward to seeing some local bands, especially if they involve (fellow Otwayphile) Ed Hurrell, Sex Bomb EddyD, and Bert Man (currently of Crummy and the Imperial, but also Strugglers and LGA alum), whose bands will be doing a gig tonight at the Princeton. Lulu Lisa Lloyd tells me that the Lulu's will will be the opening act, doing a set of Lou Reed cover tunes (including some new additions to their mostly-Transformer-centric repertoire); Ed informed me at a recent Rocket #9 gig that the Lulu's regular drummer, whom Tony Lee filled in for last time I saw them, will now be behind the kit, and apparently bringing a real Mo Tucker vibe to the night.
I assume the next band up after the Lulu's will be Crummy (see here, where my favourite tune remains this terrific re-imagining of David Bowie's "Andy Warhol," and here, where I am partial to "Fucken Disaster" and of course "Ransack"). I might be ducking out a bit early to catch Night Court at Green Auto (more on which here) so I dunno how much of the Me Bats (AKA Stab'em in the Abdomen) that I'm going to see, but maybe I will catch a bit? Depends when they start!
By the way, non-drinkers who still like the taste of beer should note that the Princeton has Phillips Iota, which for some dumb reason isn't at any grocery store and liquor store that I've explored; it is, for my money, the best-tasting non-alcoholic beer on the market. The Rickshaw is stocking it, too!
Meantime, here's an interesting one for Saturday afternoon: the Mike Van Eyes Jamboree -- showcasing the boogie-woogie piano flourishes of Mike van Eyes, of course -- will be joined by guitarist Jimmy Roy (of Jimmy Roy's Five Star Cowboys, Ray Condo, and Petunia and the Vipers fame) and vocalist Dennis Brock, the whole of whose CV I do not know, but who sings in the Rocket Revellers, which also features Mike van Eyes and Jimmy Roy!
I reached out to get some background on the shared history between Jimmy Roy and Mike Van Eyes and while the initial plan was to interact with Mike, it just did not happen. But Richard Chapman of Northern Electric filled in a few gaps, explaining that Roy and van Eyes "were bandmates in The Yo-dells (Herald Nix supergroup that also included Stephen Nikleva, Ian Tiles, Steve Taylor, Ronnie Hayward, Howard Rix, Daniel Lapp, Gary Comeau etc.) as well as a couple decades with The Stingin’ Hornets."
Jesus: Herald Nix and Howard Rix were in the same band?
Jimmy Roy and Herald Nix came to Vancouver together as high school friends from Salmon Arm in early 70s and went to Art School (now Emily Carr). Mike, several years younger, asked to play with them and Herald incorporated him into his rockabilly band along with Reno Jack the Bear on bass and Russ the Bus on on drums.
At this point Mike was a guitar player and Herald encouraged him to pick another instrument! That’s when he switched to piano.
Another Fun Fact: Mike Thomas was getting frustrated with his nickname “Bugs” so Herald gave him a new name Mike Van Eyes (the eyes of Vancouver!). These guys, the Herald Nix band, would end up touring with The Clash as openers for Western Canadian dates along with transitioning away from rockabilly (due to success of Stray Cats which Herald wanted nothing to do with) to the countrified roots rock sound of their Fugitive Kind album (co-produced by Mike and Herald on Record Records), cited as the influence for Blue Rodeo, who followed Herald’s lead also transitioning from their rockabilly roots (The Hi Fi's) to their Blue Rodeo sound. (They played the entire Fugitive Kind album at The Roots n’ Blues Festival while they setup on Main Stage expressing to the crowd that this is what made them become Blue Rodeo).
Also of note, as mentioned the other week - Mike, Herald and Ian played and recorded as The Undertakin’ Daddies (as heard on It Came From Canada Vol 2). Jimmy Roy and Mike have also played together in a number of other musical units - Kelly Haigh & The Murderbirds, Steve Taylor’s Drum Boogie, Jimmy Roy’s Five Star Hillbillies and many many more.
Apparently Herald did some woodcut gig posters for shows. This one, Richard explains, is "Mike re-imagined from a late night photo of Mike playing in a Edmonton hotel room":
So it sounds like it's going to be a really fun time, made even more fun by the surprising number of older locals who make it down to Lana's for these things to take their cowboy boots for a spin on the dance floor. Of course, not everyone will be able to make it out on a Saturday afternoon; so here's some good news -- if you can't make it out tomorrow, there's always TODAY, at the Terminal pub in New West, with no cover charge!
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