Of Cherry Pick, Shearing Pinx, Tranzmitors, and attempted Oi!

Notice: The Tranzmitors (above) All photos by me.

The issue spoken about in the original blogpost has been resolved. Went to see an Oi! show. Left before the main band went on. Had some complaints. They seem to have been dealt with, so why leave them up? But here are some photos:

Ultra Sect

Part Two: Shearing Pinx, Cherry Pick

[I just left the second half of this blogpost mostly unchanged]:

Luckily, I DID have a great time at a show last night, but it was at (sorry, Wendy) the Cobalt, which is being booked by new people (Gang of Three -- not sure who they are, exactly, but I hope some of the bad karma that place has will be washed away by the change; last night's was only the second show I've paid to see there since Wendy's heartbreaking and underhanded ouster circa 2010 -- tho' I've been comped in a couple times). There are never problems with sound there! My understanding is that -- besides the building owners, who I assume have not changed -- there was a single character behind-the-scenes that made people think twice about putting on or going to shows there, but I have no idea if this person is still involved somewhere -- I hope not, because it's a venue I'd like to feel able to go back to without guilt.  I didn't get to see the headliner there (Tamaryn), either, in fact, but I was really going for Shearing Pinx, anyhow, who I have not seen in ages, and never as a four piece (now with Izzy of Earthball and Crotch, and Nyssa, I think it is, of Hag Face). I am not sure how often they have played in this incarnation, and thought some things they did last night worked better than others -- they seem to be in a period of transformation, maybe? I have seen them tighter, but also looser -- but I was really glad to see them again, one way or another, and shot video of their song "Love Jesse," which is supposed to have a heart icon instead of the word "love;" I have no idea how to make my keyboard do that. If the Jesse they're loving is the guy from Twin Crystals, who was on at least one of their albums (Rituals), I actually think I saw him on the Skytrain home last night, by amazing coincidence. Maybe he'd been there, too?

But the truth is, through their set, I was distracted by thoughts of a band I enjoyed even more, whom I'd had no expectations of at all, having never heard previously: the evening's openers, Cherry Pick, who, against the odds, turned out to have been the high point of the night, both venues combined (I mean, the Tranzmitors are way more seasoned and sharper, the best band overall, but I'm taking in the sound, here...). Cherry Pick is quite young, female-fronted, and their debt to Sonic Youth is quite pronounced -- they even did a cover of "Kool Thing" -- but though one senses that they're a unit in their early days of playing live, who are going to only get better with experience and encouragement -- they were totally delightful and engaging. 

I visited the merch table after the singer said she had three t-shirts left for sale, and said hello, blurted something enthusiastic, and asked if she'd been able to catch Kim Gordon last week (she had not, which makes me sad, but I didn't ask why...). I found out that the name of the song I shot was "Pretty Thing," an original which you can also hear in demo form here, and noticed to my amazement that they had exactly one t-shirt left and it was my size (and has a snake on it, albeit in skeletal form, done with bleach -- a handmade work of art for a mere $20, which I simply could not resist and have worn all day).

I hope that Cherry Pick keep going, they're onto something (and now that the Winks are gone from this coast, we NEED a band who brings some Sonic Youthfulness into play). I don't know when Cherry Pick plays next, but incidentally, there is another chance coming up to see Shearing Pinx at the Cobalt as part of a mini-festival celebrating the change of operators. I will definitely be considering that show, if my schedule allows it...