Rickshaw Anniversary Nights One and Four: Bison, Rong, Pet Blessings, Night Court, Pointed Sticks, Rich Hope... and more

Note the Pointed Sticks tag! All photos for this here thang are by Allan MacInnis and are not to be reused by anyone ever unless they ask nicely and I say yes. Unless you're in the photo, I guess, because some of my Emilor photos are already being used on Facebook (by Emilor). Which is fair.  

Okay, so: I already wrote most of what I had to write in the Straight article, apparently the number one thing on their website as I write this (yay!). First thing I've done for them in about a year. There's a complex backstory that I won't bother with here, but it's fun to have a well-received piece there; I miss doing stuff for the Straight! 

Love that War Baby/ Warner Brothers shirt, James! 

...speaking of which, it was mildly funny that, in the lineup to enter the Rickshaw, some guy in a Night Court Nervous Birds shirt basically quoted my own article back to me, about Night Court's unfortunate recent history with the Rickshaw, repeating the story about the last two times Night Court tried to play the Rickshaw. I said something like, "Yeah, I know," wondering if I'd got that fact right (and if he was correctly quoting me). But I said no more. 

It was strangely, if covertly, gratifying. You will understand, I don't get a lot of feedback from music fans about things I've written, because with the odd exception, I don't go around introducing myself as "the guy who wrote the article" or such. People I know (or the odd editor) say nice things but I'm basically just an unknown when I'm in the audience. So having someone quote back something I've written to me kinda counts as feedback. Occasionally I do then opt for the "yeah, I know, I wrote the thing you read that in," which, actually, happened with Bruce Stayloose (pictured below with me, earlier tonight) on the bus back from a Bison gig at the Astoria a few years ago. We were already chatting, recognizing each other as fellow Bison enthusiasts, and got to talking about where Matt had gotten to, when Bruce quoted James in a Straight thing I'd done, saying how Matt was on a "personal journey," and I kinda grinned. That time I outed myself, and I'm glad I did. I see Bruce now and then at shows, have swapped a bit of media with him, am Facebook friends with him, etc. I believe we once even met at a Skytrain wearing the same Bison shirt; it seemed a good sign.

Anyhoo, I didn't out myself to the guy in the Night Court shirt tonight, for some reason, but I was still amused. I mean, it IS a fun Straight story. I do like that people are reading it. Got some nice feedback on Facebook, too. Pity it didn't help with attendance! 

Johnny in the John: RIP Johnny Woggles

Some high points and a-sequential observations from last weekend and this one: 

1. Rong were great last time I saw them, of course, but I've grown to like them even more for having gotten to know their album and having seen Kristy-Lee with Dead Bob. Shot vid of "Same Team," last week, including a small bit of Kristy's playful introduction to guest bassist Emilor. I don't think this got linked in the Straight piece. I've heard Mark Bignell spin "Same Team," at LanaLou's, trivially, and felt happy for it; it kicks off their album Wurst, which people should go out and buy. 

2. Pet Blessings, who preceded Rong last weekend, are still all about Emilor's personality and exuberance, for me. I haven't been able to do justice to their songs. There are no recordings. I can't make out the lyrics. Homework is not an option. But I still have fun watching them (and find it interesting that I can hear sonic similarities in what they do with Night Court, which you wouldn't necessarily expect, despite the shared member; sometimes a drummer can actually be a really important ingredient in a band -- as anyone who has heard Mo Tucker's solo output might already realize). Even though I don't really have a sense of a single song, I loved Pet Blessings last week, because Emilor is so entertaining as a frontperson; she can't really bring the full force of her personality out when she's behind the drum kit but there's no holding her back when she's the lead vocalist.

3. I have already said all I have to say about Black Wizard in the Straight piece, and have no good photos, but I approve of any and all Blue Oyster Cult t-shirts, especially if they reference one of the first three albums, so I will share this one! 

4. Night Court tonight were fun, and I heard no trace of Emilor's injury in her playing. I ended up having to clear the video I shot, when I realized my storage was running out, but the best part of the set started with me standing up front in my NO FUN bat shirt, wondering if they would do "What Is It Like to Be a Bat, Man?" They did a bunch of tunes I know and like, including "Bela Lugosi's Not Dead," "Bride of Frankenstein," and "Not a Unicorn," among others, and I was entirely prepared for them not to play the bat tune, despite me being right there in the front row, wearing THIS SHIRT (referencing this song, which has lyrics by me)... I mean, they did play it for me, by request, at the Red Gate show in May, and I hadn't re-requested it last night. But I was also thinking that I would be kinda touched if they capped off the night with that song. 

So imagine my delight that they did just that. (Thanks, gang!). I danced, and  mouthed the lyrics, and was happy. High point of the two shows I caught, in terms of personal meaningfulness...

4. ... tho' dancin' to "Golden Clouds," the Flamin' Groovies/ Roy Loney cover, as realized joyously by Rich Hope, was pretty goddamn high up there, too. Note that that is the official video, not a live clip -- though coincidentally it includes some live footage shot by me at a past Rickshaw show, when Mack was still the drummer -- he just spliced it in. I am glad that, as with the bat song in the Night Court set, I put down my phone and DANCED for that song, y'know? It was too great an opportunity to waste -- though I did film the first two songs in Hope's set, if it's footage you crave. 

And speaking of Rich Hope, is it just me, or has he reached a next-level level? The last few times I've caught him -- at last year's Folk Fest, at Keithmas, and tonight -- I've been blown away in a way I just wasn't at any of the previous dozen shows I saw him play (where I enjoyed him, but not near as much as these last few).  Maybe he's the same Rich Hope he ever was, and it's just that *I* have been changed by something? COVID kinda made me realize that it's damned important to have FUN at shows, y'know, and Rich is pretty FUN... 

Anyhow, I didn't get many good pics of Rich tonight but gawdamn, I enjoyed his set -- especially him doing things like throwing a verse of "Radar Love" into a song. No one else in Vancouver could or would do that, I don't think. It is necessary that someone be able to. If you  haven't seen Rich lately, you should make a point of amending that! 

5. Like I say, some of you will realize that I am out of sequence, here -- and have been from the start, since Rong was the second-billed band after Pet Blessings last week; but I also enjoyed the Pointed Sticks a ton, tonight -- even "I'm On Fire." I still kinda have an un-processable, un-surmountable, YOU CANNOT GET AWAY WITH THAT-type objection to anyone other than Jim Morrison rhyming "fire" and "higher," if you see what I mean, but every time I see them do that song live, it grows on me a little more, until I realized, peeking at their setlist tonight, and seeing it ahead of us in the evening, that I was *looking forward to it* (egads!)... though the high points tonight for me were "There's the Door," "You're Not the One," and a cover of Polly's "Put a Little English On It." Even though my NO FUN shirt is from the period after Paul Leahy's tenure in NO FUN -- indeed, after his far-too-early-departure from this bardo -- it seemed a doubly appropriate shirt to be wearing when they did that song. A few people commented on it, through the night, in fact (hi, Dale), and it even got seen by Nick, who pointed to me as he was singing the word "fun" in one song. Sadly, my phone ran out of storage and stopped recording midway just before the Polly cover ended, so I don't have all of Bill Hemy's solo, but methinks they do a fine version of this tune. (Hear the Polly original here). 

Oh, and I talked to Tony Bardach about his solo album a bit. There are developments! I do not know if it is timely to break them here, but people who like Tony should pay attention over the next few weeks; wheels are in motion! Fans will be very, very pleased.  

6. But this brings us very close to the end of this blogpiece (it's past my bedtime). I have nothing to say about Dead Soft, really. They do a totally enjoyable 90s-flavour alt rock, and deserved more attention than they got in that Straight piece (I apologized to the main dude at the merch table for not even mentioning them: mea culpa!). They reminded me a bit of Carsick Cars, in fact (a Beijing band I am glad to have seen live once, who do a kind of jangle-pop-meets-Sonic-Youth thing). But I have NO MORE ROOM in my brain, record collection, or writing FOR ANOTHER LOCAL BAND THAT I MUST PAY ATTENTION TO. One must draw arbitrary boundaries sometimes out of sheer self-protection; sorry, Dead Soft! Your set was just fine, just fine. I have nothing else to say about it!

...tho' it was interesting to chat with the guy (the Dead Soft guy: I don't even have room for his name!) about how they ended up with an album cover that riffs on one of the British paperback editions of Robert Silverberg's Dying Inside. Turns out they were not aware of the book, just contracted a collage artist whose work they liked to make the cover, and he came up with something very close to the Silverbob book, which they learned about only after the record was out! Which must have been slightly startling.  The original cover of the paperback is by an artist named Tim White; incidentally, it is a terrific, character-driven SF novel about a psychic having to come to terms with the gradual loss of his powers as he ages. It contains the first description of an LSD trip I ever encountered, when I read it as a teenager. It's a fascinating read. 

...but of course, Dead Soft are not the only band to play the Rickshaw 15th anniversary shows that I have written nothing about! I am particularly sad to have missed Beau Wheeler's set on Friday, but there's only so much show-going I can do. Tonight was, for me, even more enjoyable than last week, so it sucks that tonight was so poorly attended. On the plus side, I'm sure glad that Straight piece made it into the world and is doing so well, because otherwise -- if that article had not gotten published, or merely got stuck here on my backwater blog -- I would probably be blaming myself for how few people were in the room! 

So attendance kind of sucked tonight, but I absolve myself of this! I did my bit! (There must have been some other big gig around town).  

Anyhow: Happy anniversary, Rickshaw! (And nice chatting with you, Mo; Thanks for putting together these terrific bills). Looking forward to seeing Gustaf open for DEHD at the Rickshaw in November (their second time there, after touring through with Yard Act, awhile back. It ain't on the posters yet, but it will be). Will also be on hand to see Art Bergmann next month, and already have an angle on an article, though it's slightly indirect. 

More to come! Happy Rickshawversary. 

PS: The Bison hot sauce is fucking awesome. 

Show Me Where It Hurts: Rickshaw Fifteenth Anniversary vs. Emilor Jayne's pinky!

Emilor's busted digit threatened to derail her appearances with THREE BANDS at the Rickshaw 15th anniversary celebrations, but she's soldiering ahead and will play there with Night Court tomorrow! See here for more (thanks, Mike!).

Anju Singh interview: Turning A Page of Madness (and Touring Japan with The Nausea's Requiem): LIVE SCORE TONIGHT at the VIFF Centre

EDIT: This will be in two parts: a BEFORE and an AFTER, reflecting a correction and a couple of observations about this evening's screening:

1. BEFORE

Disclaimer: as of writing this, I have not seen A Page of Madness, the silent Japanese film being live-scored by (local avant-gardist and metal musician) Anju Singh tonight at the VIFF Centre. I looked at a few minutes of it, went "Holy hell, what IS this?" -- because it is a film I had not heard about prior to the announcement of this screening, and because it is as remarkable and formally ambitious, perhaps even more so, than much better known (and much more frequently live-scored) silent films, such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (which has bonkers set design but a fairly conventional narrative exposition, which does not seem to be the case for A Page of Madness, which fractures standard cinematic logic to convey mental illness). I decided that a) I needed to see it; that b) I wanted to see it theatrically, with Anju scoring it; and that c) the film would be best appreciated if I knew as little of it as possible. Besides, I don't have to give spoiler alerts for a film I have not seen! 

The good news is: I know Anju (not well) and have seen her perform in a few different contexts, from all-female avant garde improvisation with the Her Jazz Noise Collective and other projects to drumming with the metal band AHNA. I first met Anju -- 20 years ago, in the storied Fake Jazz Wednesdays scene, where she was a co-organizer and frequent performer. There is a very, very interesting article to be written about Anju Singh, I think, doing a deep dive into her background. This is not that article -- it is focused almost entirely on the live score tonight and Anju's recent Japanese tour with her project The Nausea. Who Singh is aside from all that -- perhaps come to the VIFF Centre tonight with the old Christian maxim in mind that we can know a tree by its fruits? 

Anju promotional image for The Nausea, 

photography is Dani Osborne, collage is by Anju Singh

HOWEVER, given that I know the film -- based on a treatment written by Yasunari Kawabata, I gather -- even-less-well than I know Anju, I wanted to give some options to readers, before reading the interview below, or for further reference later: there is an interesting feature article which can be found here, giving some history and speaking with an expert in Japanese cinema about the film, the filmmaker, and its original context of reception. The whole film, with what I presume is its 1971 score -- added when the film, long thought lost, was re-discovered in the filmmaker's garden shed -- can be seen here. And Anju's website and musical history can be found here. (The website of Harlow Macfarlane, who contributes to tonight's project and who is discussed below as well, can be found here). 

Oh, and Anju assures me, "Yes there will be merch." (Please sign and save me an LP!)

End introduction; let's get to it.

Allan: How did you hear of this very odd film? Where did the idea of scoring it come from? How did you connect with the VIFF...?

Anju: I came across the film a couple years ago when I was researching specifically experimental, silent films so that I could practice scoring to film without worrying about copyright issues in case I came up with something I really liked and wanted to release it. I love experimental film and so coming across this was exciting. While I didn’t finish a score for this film when I came across it at first, I did end up using sections of the film, specifically the abstract parts, for my video art work, which I was also developing at the time.

The reason I was interested in scoring a film in the first place was that every time I played a set with The Nausea live, people would approach me and say “hey, you should compose for film!” and I suppose one day I was like, 'Ya maybe I should! So I started teaching myself by practicing scoring to films I found on Archive.org that were before 1925 or whatever the copyright cut off was at the time. Since then, I’ve been doing composing mentorships with experienced film composers so my skills have grown a lot.

Allan: Does your doing this score or your interest in this film connect to The Nausea's April tour of Japan? I know almost nothing of Japanese silent cinema -- is it something you've explored much of?

Anju: It is actually totally just coincidence that these things aligned but as you know, the Japanese noise and experimental music scene is vibrant and I knew a little bit about Japanese experimental film, but most recently I discovered 1970s experimental Japanese theatre through another project. I just love experimental art and really admire the risks that artists who work in these genres take, so I was really excited all around. But I love experimental art from all over the world, Korea has so much cool video art, and I’m learning about India’s underground extreme metal scene, and the experimental electronic music I’ve been checking out from Mexico is amazing too. Basically, I’m interested in what people are doing in other places because in niche genres like noise or experimental art, you have a limited audience or community in one place. Globally, it’s a huge movement.

Allan: Have you collaborated with Harlow before? (Do you have a favourite recording or project of his? Mine is Funerary's Call's Nightside Emanations). His musical instruments make him a perfect fit, but I don't know what you may have done together...? What precisely are his contributions (they're recorded, and you're improvising around them, or...?). (Did you see any of his past silent film score stuff? I caught his Haxan live score...).

Anju: I have never collaborated with Harlow but we have performed on the same bills for many years, well over a decade! I like all of his projects. I am using his pre-recorded sounds and composing around them, and then I also have some pre-recorded sounds too. Sadly, he works in film and had to work so can’t do this live, but I’m just really happy we got to collaborate because I respect him artistically very much.

Allan: I know (though I have made too much of this in a past feature) that Harlow has an interest in the occult, which connects with his ideas about where music comes from (I am possibly oversimplifying). Is that a topic you've talked about? Do you have an interest in the occult/ spiritualism/ etc?

Anju: I don’t know if I’m a spiritual person, and I often feel like something is wrong with me because I’m not, haha. I mean maybe I’m spiritual? I have no idea. I’m definitely obsessive and go deep into my art forms. I suppose my spirituality is making art and music from a place deep within that is honest and real for me and in defiance of what I’m told is the norm. I read about spirituality, religion, the occult, and mythology a lot and I actually write my own mythologies for my art through lyrics or in screenplays, but I don’t follow something specific. I think I’m far too skeptical and wary of things to follow something closely. You should have heard me in temple when they tried to tell me who god was as a kid! I follow my inner intuition most of all. Oh and maybe if anything, I fall into existentialist camps because I’m constantly agonizing about existence and meaning...

Allan: I sort of lost touch with your music around AHNA. Bring me up to date? What bands have you been in since then? Did you ever tour Japan with any of them?

Anju: I plays drums in a death metal band called GRAVE INFESTATION touring Japan in November, I also drum for CEREMONIAL BLOODBATH and TEMPLE OF ABANDONMENT, I play guitar in ENCOFFINATE and bass in DEATHWINDS, and I do synth and vocals in DARK RECOLLECTION, a synth/dark wave project. And then I have an active personal art practice which is a bunch of things under my name ANJU SINGH. 

Anju Singh by Chelsea Mandziuk

Allan: Who/ what is The Nausea, exactly? That's you on violin? Tell me about Requiem?

Anju: I’m not going to limit myself to instrumentation or members, but to date; it’s me doing experimental violin, doom, and harsh noise on violin. Requiem is my first LP and it has been in the works for like 10 years and I am so glad it’s out because I’m ready to move on to the next phase of material, which may or may not include violin.

I don’t know why I am so drawn to violin, I’ve been playing forever but it’s not even my strongest instrument, though sometimes to experiment openly and freely you need less rigid structures around you.

I’m happy with Requiem and actually listened to it twice today after not listening to it for a bit after submitting the masters for vinyl pressing. I think it’s solid. I am excited to do the next stuff. I am feeling more confident in performing with an emphasis on my love of harsh noise, extreme volumes, and challenging sound environments. The next material will push ahead in that direction. But at the same time, I’m also naturally a person who likes some things to be musical sometimes so that will always show up. 

Allan: What I saw of A Page of Madness -- I only looked at the first few minutes, because I'm saving myself for your score -- it seemed to have a unique, idiosyncratic film language -- there was a lot of looking. Is is particularly difficult to follow the story? How much preparation do you recommend? I worry I may be distracted from your score by just trying to figure out what's going on! Any preparatory notes are welcome -- what is the film about, to you?

Interesting questions.. but I do think the filmmakers intended to allow us to feel and experience the film rather than try to control how it is represented or how the storyline shows up. There is a very clear storyline that I can follow, but on first watch, it was the expression of the inner mind and emotions that I found most intriguing. I’d say don’t prepare just watch it, but also there no title cards the way that most silent films have so maybe we do need context. I’m not sure, I’m going to ask people before the screening if they want me to tell them a synopsis or not. I can see both sides.

To me, the film is actually about the shared experiences of mental illness and mental health struggles. While we put some people into cells in institutions, everyone struggles with mental health battles probably at some point in their lives. I mean I could be wrong, but I’d like to meet someone who is in perfect mental health “shape” all the time. I think the film for me describes shared experiences and empathy with those in the asylum. I feel it’s showing how similar, not different we are. I also think the film is about the weight of guilt and responsibility when you’ve made “a mistake”. Guilt and shame are both very interesting concepts to me because they seem so unproductive yet are so valued.

Allan: I gather the director of A Page of Madness was a non-female kabuki actor -- the VIFF guide describes him as a "female impersonator." but again, in terms of things I don't know much about, Gender and Japanese Kabuki is way up there. The Japanese term is apparently onnagata. Are Japanese concepts of gender of interest or relevant here?

Anju: I don’t have much to say about this because I honestly don’t know, sorry! I think asking an expert is better.

Allan: Anything else people should know about upcoming performances, music, the film, etc?

Anju: I will be sharing a composition I wrote for a video at CINEWORKS on August 19th. [This involves cut-up scenes from a popular science fiction series, the name of which is omitted for purposes of avoiding copyright hassles!]

Allan: Anything to report about the April tour of Japan? Did you visit any particular temples? Take in a public bath? See Keiji Haino in his native setting? Are there any must-dos on the itinerary for the upcoming tour?

Anju: We went to a lot of temples, saw some of the best noise in my life, and really enjoyed the train system. I just want to most of all soak in the culture so we didn’t stay in touristy areas and that was perfect, even if we couldn’t read any menus and I often was confused about what I ordered.

2. AFTER: 

I have corrected a misunderstanding in the above: Anju's tour of Japan was in April -- it is not forthcoming. Oops. I presume no one in Japan has been led on by this (my reach does not extend so far). When you write in a rush, you make mistakes. 

Anyhoo: Anju's score was remarkable, as was the film, but I had some difficulty following the various passages in and out of reality offered by the film, and was relieved to bond in that difficulty with programmer Tom Charity, who was on hand to conduct the Q&A. Anju was charmingly unpretentious, funny, and direct -- which can be rare qualities at relatively highbrow arts events, which (I felt) the very-decent-sized audience truly appreciated. But it's not an easy film to make sense of the first time through: for instance, there is a scene where the protagonist murders a doctor, which, we gather, was a fantasy, but the film deliberately makes the line between fantasy and reality quite thin, to impart the experience of mental illness, so you can't be blamed if you find yourself confused when said doctor re-appears. There are scenes, especially early on, where it is easier to follow the shifts between reality and delusion, but as the delusions accumulate, I think it would take someone far more perceptive than I am to keep track of it all. Even Anju -- forthright and funny -- copped to still being puzzled by a few things in the film.  

Anyhow, it's not an easy movie to fully take in... especially if, aided by a somewhat trance-inducing score and exhausted by the effort of concentration, you fall asleep a couple of times.  

Sorry, folks. Rest assured that I only snored twice, and they were small snorts, which woke me up (Shaun of the Cinematheque was sitting immediately behind me and reassured me when I asked afterwards that he could not tell where the snort -- he only heard one of them -- came from: "That was you!").

But even though I struggled to stay awake and make sense of the narrative, I very much enjoyed the evening, as did the audience (and I did buy a copy of The Nausea's Requiem, which I am looking forward to spinning). It's nice to have such a successful event before the break in VIFF programming: for those who do not know, the VIFF Centre will be closing for awhile for renovations, including improved projection and sound. The seats are being re-upholstered, as well; there is one you can sit on in the lobby if you want to test them out -- but do not worry, the seats are not being replaced, as I initially said; they simply have a different kind of seat in the lobby, for upholstery-testing purposes, which will NOT be used to replace the seats in the theatre (because that's not going to confuse anyone!). If you want to try the new upholstery out, I would hurry, there aren't many shows left before they close for renovations. More about the refurbishments here. 

Meantime, I think that Anju's next performances will probably have a few slightly out-of-place onlookers as a result of her smashing success tonight; that will be interesting to see. There was a very civilized Japanese woman whom I helped with the reading of some black metal fonts. Ceremonial Bloodbath will apparently be playing the Cobalt on June 29th (this is not entirely online yet that I can see, but Anju had handbills). Following that, The Nausea will be playing a metal show at Green Auto, which doesn't entirely make sense -- The Nausea is NOT a metal project, and Green Auto is a bit of an odd space for them, methinks (The Nausea would better fit a room with seats, where you can close your eyes and lose yourself in the music). But I think I might check that out, too...

I would tell you what the other bands on the bill are, but fucked if I can read'em. (Actually I gather the top-billed band at the Cobalt show is Phrenelith, from Copenhagen, Bandcamp here, and the other band is Noroth, also called Norothovcascadia; I am not even going to try with the Green Auto gig.  

There were other people who one usually does not see at metal and noise events checking out Anju's merch, which seemed to sell quite well. A European woman was asking at the table about the merch before the movie, if the bandname was a reference to Sartre's La Nausee (Anju confirmed later that it was). But the prize for interesting customers goes to these two, whom you might recognize: 

That's Joyce and Jacqueline Robbins, who by way of introducing themselves will let you know that they act presently in A Series of Unfortunate Events, on Netflix -- the Lemony Snicket adaptations. I wonder if this is because they figure that people these days are most likely to know of them through a current popular series, or if it is because they have learned from experience that if they tell film geeks that they worked with Robert Altman in the 1970s, they'll be deluged with questions?

I suspect the former; these were two very chatty, articulate, intimidatingly intelligent twins, who took turns finishing each other's sentences, even: certainly the most intense twins I've been around (the Soskas have nothing on them). So I doubt they'd be shy talking about Altman or anything else in their filmography. Maybe they'll make it out to a Ceremonial Bloodbath show, too?

You could ask them about Altman. (They have their own Wikipedia page, which probably doesn't cover half of what they've done -- they recounted some of their career as we milled about by the merch table -- but I cannot do it justice.)

Oh, and they're also in The Reflecting Skin. I guess I have to watch that again, because I don't remember them in it at all! From 1990:

...so all told, that was a pretty interesting night at the movies! 

See you at Ceremonial Bloodbath, maybe? 

Hmm.

The Damned and the Avengers: True Confessons, plus RIP Grant Shankaruk

There are bands that I "do wrong," you know? Where my opinions are not the popular ones. Wrong (see previous post) is not my favourite Nomeansno album by a long shot. The first few Ramones albums, the ones that are kept in print and are considered essential, do very little for me -- the lyrics are kinda dumb, the song structures simple, and there's way too much that is musically same-same; give me Howling at the Moon and Animal Boy any day. And as for the Damned...

Look, don't hate me, but I have never entirely gotten some really classic punk bands, y'know? I kind of alluded to this previously when I was bitching a few weeks ago about watching Danny of the Spores cover Stiff Little Fingers or the Stranglers; I prefer the Spores to either of those bands!!! (And to the Damned, too, Danny; sorry! I know you love the Damned -- nice to see ya last night -- and I know that it is wrong of me to think/ say/ feel this, but YOUR LYRICS ARE WITTIER THAN ANY OF THE ONES THE DAMNED EVER WROTE. I don't think the Damned have ever made me want to sit down with a lyric sheet, y'know? I like witty wordplay with a window on the world, and will take "House of Frankenstein" over "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" any day, even if the former wouldn't exist without the latter). In no way am I saying the Spores are more important than these bands, but importance is relative where a band sits in musical history: like, the Sex Pistols are more important than the Fall, but I'd rather listen to the Fall, y'see? And then you add personal tastes to the mix and I'd generally prefer the New Model Army to either of those bands (because of the lyrics). 

The green mist as the Damned's set begins, photo by me

And though some people do not get this, personal tastes are allowed to be personal (It's why I'm still Facebook friends with Ferdy Belland despite his not thinking much of the Clash, and his insisting I listen to Rush and Budgie. I mean, no thanks, Ferdy, but on the other hand, who wants to live in an echo chamber?).

And as important as they are, I very seldom listen to the Damned. Truth is, there's only one Damned record that I love, and that's Damned Damned Damned. There are also a couple of individual songs I dig, especially "Wait for the Blackout" or "Love Song," but they're on albums that are a bit less "even." I have owned AND SOLD in my day vinyl of Music for Pleasure, Machine Gun Etiquette, The Black Album, and Strawberries -- and unless I still have a CD of Machine Gun Etiquette tucked away somewhere -- I don't even know for sure! -- the Damned in my collection is now (I believe) solely represented by Damned Damned Damned and Phantasmagoria, both of which I have on CD only, having picked them up cheap. 

Oh, and I have a sampler that Danny made me of his favourite Damned songs. That's it! 

I remember buying The Black Album, in the less-appealing one-LP variant, as one of my first ever punk albums when I was 15 or so. I lived in Maple Ridge (once mis-heard by Penelope of the Avengers as "Pimple Ridge;" I'll get to that later. maybe). When I was 15, I would buy basically ANYTHING punk I could find, because -- in 1983, in Maple Ridge -- there wasn't much; punk rock records that were not on major labels were not IN the one record store in Maple Ridge, and I didn't KNOW where the good stores were in Vancouver (or go there very often). I was able to get Never Mind the Bollocks pretty quickly, and the Cramps' Psychedelic Jungle; but - thanks to my friend Greg - I was searching for the Dead Kennedys, DOA, and the Subhumans (the Vancouver band) for MONTHS before I found them. Two of them were Vancouver bands, but they weren't for sale at Kellys, which was the main shop I knew in the city, back then. I remember coming across In God We Trust Inc. and Triumph of the Ignoroids in a small record shop by Kootenay Loop (there's a story there, but skip it if you don't want a digression: I'd had my copy of the former damaged in the coat-check at the Coliseum so I wouldn't put my Ignoroids there when I went to see the Clash. and I'd seen how rowdy a mosh pit could get, having LOST MY SHOE in the pit at a Dead Kennedys show, so -- carrying my Ignoroids, only just purchased, for ten bucks, when I was on the way to the venue, I refused to leave our terrible seats up in the rafters and come down to the floor, despite Joe's urgings and teasings about those of us watching the band from afar. Heck with you, Joe: if people are moshing, I'm not bringing this record down there, do you know how hard this was to FIND?). 

...but despite being desperate for punk, I didn't much care about The Black Album, It was maybe the fifth punk record I stumbled across, and the first I was ever disappointed by. I knew (from Greg, who had read about punk rock in a BOOK!) that the Damned were one of the most important punk bands out there, and I even adored "Wait for the Blackout," but to my mind, THAT WAS THE ONLY GOOD SONG ON THE RECORD.

Or so I thought then; I haven't owned the album since I was a kid. It surely was one of the very first of my records I sold at Collector's RPM, which was the first "real" record store I found (see here) and the first reliable place I could get punk rock. Maybe it's time for me to reinvestigate it...?

Digression: Rob Frith posted that Grant Shankaruk died the other day. Grant was the friendliest guy at any of the early record stores I went to. He once taped me Iggy Pop's New Values when I couldn't find that album anywhere. When I was a kid, he was the only guy  I enjoyed chatting with at RPM, and then later the only guy I enjoyed chatting with at Track; as an adult, I have come to enjoy interacting with a couple of other employees of those stores (hi Phil, hi Dale) but Grant (and later Ty Scammell at the Flea Market, also RIP) was one of the only people who was actively nice to a know-nothing teenager from the suburbs. He didn't judge my ignorance. And he turned me onto lots of great records, I'm sure, though it was long enough ago that I don't recall which, exactly. I guess Grant hadn't been well -- I haven't seen him at a show since COVID, I don't think. Thanks to being nice to me when I had no clue, Grant. 

Grant Shankaruk by Rob Frith, I'm guessing

Anyhow, back to the Damned. I don't have much to say about last night's show! I spent a ton of it wandering the Commodore. I had previously caught the Avengers at the Rickshaw. (The "Pimple Ridge" story is included there. I reminded Penelope later at the merch table of it; by way of introducing "Desperation," she had -- unable to poll the Commodore audience as efficiently as the Rickshaw one -- used "Blaine" as last night's shitty small town, in place of "Maple Ridge," but no one was at the Commodore from Blaine!). I spent at least fifteen minutes on the merch experience, discovering that the Commodore is now back to allowing cash sales at the merch table, AFTER HAVING TAKEN OUT THEIR ATM; I wanted to buy the friend who got me into the show a t-shirt (thanks, Bob! Looks like I'm writing about it after all), so I had to ask the security staff to let me out so I could run down the street to take money out of one of those shitty stand-alone ATMs at the fucking bong shop on the corner (because, you know, you WANT to do your banking in bong shops, right?). Merch acquired, I shot, then accidentally deleted, some Avengers material last night, but missed my favourite song of theirs ("Uh Oh!") because Bev wanted me to hold her seat while she took photos, materializing just as that song ended. I got no decent photos of the band, so I'm bugging Bev (I will add a photo if she contributes one). 

The Avengers are another one of those historically epochal bands -- they opened for the Pistols at Winterland, along with the Nuns (with Alejandro Escovedo, who is playing Vancouver in July) -- who (don't hate me) I don't entirely go wild for. In fact, I gave my copy of the pink album to Gerry Hannah, a few years ago (he was very happy to receive it). They have six or seven great songs, by me (In order: "Uh-Oh!" "Cheap Tragedies," "We Are the One," "I Believe in Me" -- which they continue to dedicate to Joe Keithley when they play it here -- "The American in Me," "Desperation,"and maybe "Car Crash") and... well, look, they put on a good show, they're nice people, and, like I say, epochal historical importance, especially for a female-fronted band, but it's a bit of a slim catalogue, you know?

The Avengers by bev davies, June 14, 2024, not to be reused without permission

Which might leave some of you wondering: fuck, Al, why did you even go to the show last night? And the answer is very simple: Bob Hanham. He had family stuff, couldn't come, and gave me a ticket, which I insisted on paying for in the form of merch, because, you know, I had THOUGHT about seeing the show, if mostly just because I fucking love "Wait for the Blackout," and it's on their setlist. 

And "Neat Neat Neat." (Those wondering about the setlist, I believe it was the same as Seattle's setlist the other day). 

Boy am I glad I went!

The Damned by Allan MacInnis, not to be reused without permission

Here are my takeaways from the Damned's set. 

1. Goddamn, what a great live band. I still don't care about a lot of their songs and they didn't play very much off their first album -- but I was totally won over by Dave Vanian as frontman and Captain Sensible as prankster guitarist (and yay that Rat Scabies is back in the band -- I remember when I got The Black Album at age 15 or so that I absolutely loved his name -- because scabies were a thing in my elementary school! -- but now I love his drumming, too. He even whipped out something kinda rockabillyish for "Shadow of Love," which I wasn't expecting at all). I don't have any striking observations about Paul or Monty (bass-keyboards), but Vanian was suave, self-possessed, in fine voice, and quite tireless, through a very fullsome set. 

2.  Sometimes it takes a live performance to help you connect with a song. Last night's performance of "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" was spectacular. I don't remember really caring about it much previously! 

3. The band really, really understands how to structure a setlist. Kick off with a bang ("Ignite" and "Wait for the Blackout"), do deep cuts and new stuff for the body, then as you round the clubhouse turn, break out the show-stoppers. That happened with a one-two punch of "Love Song" and "Machine Gun Etiquette," AKA "Second Time Around," which I happened to catch on video. I'm not sure about the wisdom of playing "Curtain Call" before "New Rose," but in fact, duty called there (Bev wanted to leave early, and my wife, not present, tends to appreciate an early bedtime).  

4. When I bungled my vid for "Wait for the Blackout," I was happy enough to put my phone away and just bounce around to it for a bit (and "Neat Neat Neat," which I didn't even try to capture. I did, however, get vid of Bob's favourite Damned song, "Eloise." Ford Pier, meanwhile -- in the house last night, having returned from a successful Dead Bob jaunt into the USA -- offers on Facebook that this is his fave ("not that I was asked, but...") (he told me at Red Cat later that he was particularly partial to Strawberries, album-wise). 

5. Finally, what was really a surprise was, I like the Darkadelic stuff a lot ("Beware the Clown," "The Invisible Man"). Bev joked that one of the least favourite things she likes to hear at a storied band's show is "Here's a song off our new album," but... these are great! Sadly, the album appears to be at zero stores, locally. 

Also by me! All the rest of these are... 

I am still not the biggest Damned fan in the world, but there's no denying that that was a great show (thanks, Bob!). And I'm really glad Rat Scabies is back in the band and in such good form. Glad to see so many friends and fellow music fans in the audience! 

And now it's time for the first of the Rickshaw Anniversary shows! Come with Kristy-Lee a happy return from her tour with Dead Bob! See how well Emilor has recovered from her blossom-slipping mishap! See a RARE BLACK WIZARD REUNION! And see Bison again! Yay Bison!