Indigo vs the Mysterious Brown Stains

CUT AND PASTED OFF FACEBOOK, because what the hell, let's keep social media evil:

Boy Indigo Metrotown sucks.

So I have time to kill before meeting Erika at the mall. I'm interested in this novel Angel Down -- a horror novel that won the Pulitzer. So I go to the Metrotown Indigo. But where is the horror section? For years it was to the back left, but now it has been moved, and it's been moved at least twice, because it's not where it last was, either. But I can't find it, then I can't find a staff member; the only ones in store seem to be at the till, so finally, having looped the store twice, I go to the till and bug someone. She first suggests she will call someone to help me, but then breaks down and gives me fast directions and I'm able to find it: unlike every other section in the store, which are labeled by genre (Fantasy, Romance, etc), Horror is tucked under the descriptor Fiction, with "horror" in small print, like they're embarrassed by it, and it's kind of hidden between the teen fiction and the romance novels, rather than next to Science Fiction and Mystery, which is where it belongs. Which is a bizarre place to put it, and a bizarre way to put signage up. Best yet, turns out the book is not in the section, but rather under fiction. Anyhow, I find it.

But in looping past the music section, I see they still have the book Keep Music Evil, about the Brian Jonestown Massacre, with my friend Bev's cover on the photo -- a somewhat infamous image, which I already have on a pin, but I would buy the book for the cover alone... EXCEPT, I open it and see a brown stain on the first page. Then I flip through it and there are brown stains throughout. Someone with a substance on their fingers -- WE HOPE CHOCOLATE -- has looked through the book and left smears everywhere. There is also a texturally lumpy big brown stain on the back cover and brown stains on the page ends. We can see why it is still on the shelf!

I was going to buy the book, but not at full price in this condition, so I bring it to the till. The staff member I show it to inspects it and says she will get a manager, because she has to get approval for a more-than-20-percent-off discount, which is something SHE brings up, not me. But I'm now not leaving the store with that book unless there is a more than 20 percent off discount. The young manager who comes over, however, shown the stains, sticks on 20%. So now I find myself in the undignified position of HAGGLING over a book that literally looks shit-smeared (I mean, yes, probably chocolate, but...).

I only realize after I walk away (with the book I came for, but not the brown-smeared BJM one) that I should have said, "Okay, if you are so sure that's just chocolate, tell you what: if you press your tongue to the big patch on the back cover, I'll pay full price."

At least it would be entertaining to see her hesitate.

Which idea I should probably not have mentioned in the "How Satisfied With Your Experience" email I just wrote, but fuckit, what would Anton do? I mention on the way out to the original clerk, who I think was embarrassed by her cheap-ass supervisor, that my friend took the cover photo. I wonder if they just put it back on the shelf?

Vancouver Metal Cruise 5: notes and photes

All photos for this post by Allan MacInnis

My first Metal Cruise last night. A fun experience! Wrote an advance article about it here, focusing on Egregore, the middle band of the night, who will soon be playing the Covenant festival at the Rickshaw. 

It was a very chill, pro-social event. I was mildly jealous of how many people I saw running into friends and how warmly and sincerely they hugged each other. Everyone knew everyone, it seemed, except me: I knew only Sonny Dean (of Little Guitar Army and Elf  fame). and Mayo and the members of the bands I'd interviewed (I'd also spoken to Space Queen a few months previous, which they did remember). None of the dozen familiar faces at the Invasives gig the night before, mentioned in my previous post, were present on board the Abitibi last night -- it's a different scene from the one I travel in, for the most part. But the social element of the experience was obviously a huge part of the draw for those that came. Metalheads are very welcoming and tolerant of each other; I felt a bit like a spy from the punk clubhouse next door, peeking through the slats, taking notes.

There are differences in style, demeanour and attitude from one subculture to the next, but not all of them were significant. In terms of fashion, there was everything from fishnet stockings with pentagrams sewn into them to metal-studded spiky dog collars to both homemade and storebought vests and jackets with dozens, maybe even hundreds of band names represented in some manner or other. I don't think I've seen the storebought variety at punk shows quite as often, where the vests have more of a sewed-the-patches-on-yourself variety, but punk is all around a bit lower-budget than metal, maybe?). A friend of Sonny's did a "you're never gonna guess where I got this" with me when I complimented his shirt, which was one such storebought multi-band extravaganza: turns out he was given it free by a guy at a show when he remarked in passing, "Nice shirt". The person wearing it stopped and said, "You like it, I'll give it to you, my girlfriend can't stand it." The guy then took the shirt off his back and handed it over! 

Indeed, I would not have guessed that. 

There was also a dude in an Orca costume, but seeing only black and white patches (and missing the fins) I at first wondered if he was dressed as a cow, which made no fucking sense at all. 

The T-shirts ranged from newly-minted AC/DC shirts to a somewhat out-of-place Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt to many Christophe Szpajdel-style black metal designs, mostly unreadable to me. There were plenty of familiar names represented, though: Sepultura, Cannibal Corpse, Bolt Thrower, System of a Down; almost everyone had a metal shirt on, making me regret that I hadn't taken the time to dig out my Auroch t-shirt. (I actually reviewed their debut in the Straight back in 2012). 

There was a sole girl sporting punk patches, including one for Clit .45, who I looked up later; I was disappointed to learn were not all women, as well as a t-shirt for Cheap Sex (also unknown to me). She definitely stood out as being someone I might have seen once at Funkys. 

It is hard to put one's finger on exactly where the boundaries between fashion choices lie, but another notable one, offered for what it is worth: I don't think many women on the punk scene would sport a hat as confrontational as one that read Black Out With Your Rack Out, for example. Eek! 

Another significant difference: there was a guy -- dude maybe a couple years older than I am, with long grey hair and a Bat Child t-shirt, and pretty drunk -- who had a very unusual moshing style, which was essentially careening in a stagger backwards around the pit, colliding into people, trusting that they would break his fall or propel him forward. It was kinda like that "I trust you" bonding exercise you see in team-building contexts, where you fall backwards into people's arms, except he was falling backwards into whatever unexpecting part of their body was in his path, and doing it multiple times per minute, with the aim not of being caught but of being bounced back forward so he could continue (and not crack his head on the deck). It was clear from the odd grimace he received that not everyone wanted to play that game, but most people still just smiled indulgently and pushed him back into the pit, and a couple of other people actively moshed theatrically back into him. He also clapped along to some songs, slightly outa synch with the band: what can ya do about a guy like that?

I think at a punk show the guy's behaviour would have drawn commentary from the others, some stiff-necked "cool it" or worse: punks are maybe a bit more inclined to play cop on others fun than headbangers? But if that happened last night, I did not see it.  You could see that the guy was having the time of his life, that however bonkers his pit manner was, he was a die-hard enthusiast (he even had the doorpeople stamp him for admission on his forehead instead of his inner wrist). So, uh, the more power to him, I guess: if he ever actually fell on his ass, it didn't happen while I was looking. 

I got to dance right up front for Space Queen, though, which, as Mayo predicted in the Straight preview https://www.straight.com/music/egregore-that-is-egregore-brings-its-evil-to-high-seas-for-vancouver-metal-cruise-5 for the cruise, was kind of the high point of the show, as we were departing Vancouver by daylight-- coming down False Creek from the Plaza of Nations, past various West End beaches and under the Granville and Burrard bridges -- spirits were highest. Shot some video, though didn't get the name of the track and can't find it on their bandcamp. Space Queen is more polished and confident since I first saw them a couple of years ago at Green Auto, and have multiple recordings under their belt, including one on vinyl that they had on their merch table. It was only the second time I'd seen them doing originals (my last experience of them, they were covering Black Sabbath stuff); it seemed like had moved a more towards Om territory, a bit more drony and Spartan than that dimly-remembered early set, though of course with abundant guitar solos. They ended their set with the drummer coming to front-of-stage to do a folky tune involving pirates that had a sea-shanty-like chorus, which they dedicated to Mayo, who was right up front in an Anciients shirt; he'd recently celebrated his birthday.  

As the sun started to set, things got darker musically, too, with Egregore leading us deeper into the serious "cult" of metal. I had enjoyed chatting with Egregore below decks and got them to sign their vinyl, but actually missed much of both of Egregore's and Mvlgrave's sets, as I had grown tired of being jostled, no longer had a good view--the space at the stern, where the stage was set, was kind of narrow; I didn't get an overhead shot of it, but you can extrapolate from the shot of the bow above. Plus I had gotten peckish: contrary to my own advance reports, there was food, in the form of mediocre Jamaican patties and superb potato salad (I tried a my-compliments-to-the-chef thing but the guy thought it might have come from Cotsco), which together were $8 a plate. I hung out in the green room, which was the ship's dining area, also being used for gear storage and merch tables; I could still close my eyes and listen to Egregore, as the music was being piped in on speakers. 

As exciting as it was to depart from Vancouver through False Creek, the later views got a bit less exciting past sunset, since out in the waters past UBC, it started to feel not unlike a BC Ferries ride. But I'd also swigged a couple of (reasonably priced) beer, which, combined with a mix of edibles I'd noshed on before, had me more than happy to just hang out below decks for the last portion of the cruise. I chatted with the bassist of Space Queen and reaffirmed that their name comes not as a pun on Ice Queen or Drama Queen, to note excessively indulgent space-consuming behaviour (like you might say to someone hogging a Skytrain seat, "Shove over you space queen"), but from a strain of weed, which makes much more sense. They are working on a follow up to their album, apparently. Egregore tried real hard to just comp me a record, but I insisted ("I'm already being comped onto the cruise!").

It was interesting how lax people were, how chill. There were security people present, but had clearly been directed to stand down unless there was an actual problem. It was nice to see the scene being allowed to regulate itself a bit.  Apparently at a past cruise, maybe the one where the Dayglo Abortions headlined, things got a bit too rowdy and the captain made the decision to turn back early ("I don't blame him, people were acting like idiots" the woman in the black-out-with-your-rack-out hat commented). But there was none of that during this year's cruise: unlike what you'd get at most venues, I never had anyone tell me "you can't do that here." Someone who had had a drink too much, maybe, took a nap on one of the dining area benches; if that had happened at an actual venue, there would have been three security people telling her she couldn't sleep there, but no one disturbed her (though her friends hung out with her to make sure all was well). When a random moshpit incident led to someone's phone going flying during Mvlgrave, it was promptly retrieved and returned to the owner. 

Speaking of phones, I had forgotten to charge mine at work, so my battery died before I could shoot photos of anyone. I also missed out on the amazing, apocalyptic red sun that we could see after Space Queen finished--you can see hints of it in my later photos, but it only got redder as it got lower in the sky, so much so that you could see people pointing it out to their friends. Due to forest fire smoke, sure, but still amazing to see in the sky, and, y'know, metal as fuck. 

Invasives Against the Odds: Live at the Cobalt Last Night

Invasives by Allan MacInnis, Aug. 14, 2026

Invasives nearly prevented me from seeing Invasives tonight. 

I mean, it is not that I wasn't welcome. Hell, Byron gave me a free surveillance-themed tie-dyed t-shirt as thanks for my Straight piece (which you see here -- the piece that is, not the shirt, but see the last photo in this post. Apparently the child or children of Hans Anus made these. I wonder if his kids know his stage name?). 

No, Invasives were happy to see me. The problem is, the writing of the article very nearly sapped my will go out. I very nearly made excuses and begged off, because, y'see, at midnight last night, I discovered something I did not realize about Gmail drafts. 

I need a minute to lay this out:

1. Because Word is due for an update, it does not make sense for me to pay for Office (which I intend to do at some point) and buy a soon-to-be-obsolete version that I will need to upgrade anyhow, somewhere down the line. Nor do I care about using a free trial version. I can find other ways of getting by until the update is out; it's not like I'm Word-dependent or anything. 

2. So because most of my writing these days is done for articles that I've been emailing to my editors, and because Google docs never "took" for me, I've just been using Gmail, storing works in development in my "drafts" folder. I mean, why not? Whatever I do with a piece when it is done, odds are good that it will involve emailing it to someone, so all I have to do with a draft is add an address and subject line. Easy! 

3. However, there is no "save draft" button that I can see on the Gmail page, and what I discovered last night (which is not the big discovery; that one is yet pending) things getting saved in the drafts folder is not in fact a sure bet. About two hours of work I'd put in on my Invasives feature in the morning had not gotten saved to the draft folder, I discovered in sitting down last night. There were big chunks of transcription missing. Stuff I was going to have to re-do, which is annoying, because I'm a bit behind in general and... there were other things I wanted to do with my day. 

Maybe I'd left the draft open and the cat had walked across the keyboard or such and hit the "back" button or something. Multiple times? Or maybe the draft I was working on on my computer got synched to an earlier version on my Gmail phone app, instead of the other way round. No idea, just definitely there was material that got lost.  

4. So I had tthe bright idea that it would be wise to try to trigger a save by closing the file. 

5. But as I was tinkering with the draft at midnight, and moved to close it, I accidentally hit the "delete" button. The trash can, like. Oops!

6. Whereby (because I missed any brief Undo option that might have flickered), I discovered that Gmail DOES NOT PUT DELETED DRAFTS into the trash folder. It just scraps them, pretty much irreversably, especially if you are not immediately aware of what you've done (I honestly just went over to the Trash folder, expecting to find it, but by that point, the damage had been done). THIS is the big discovery. It gets described online as a known bug of Gmail's, but it was news to me. Delete a draft, however accidentally, and it takes the big sleep. 

Which means that because I'd lost two hours of work the night before, and made a mistake as to which key I hit, I lost all six hours I'd put in on the article thus far. I was back to square nearly-zero. 

Yes, folks, that Invasives feature you see is a REBUILD. Bits got lost, forgotten, or in some cases, deliberately left out, as I rewrote the ENTIRE FUCKING ARTICLE AGAIN, some of it from scratch and some from dim memories of how I'd put it together the first time, how I'd arranged Byron's quotes, etc, which I did from midnight to 4:30 AM. I was finally in bed by 4:40. Then I was up by nine, to get ready for work. Four hours sleep if I was lucky? Probably less, because Erika woke me to kiss me goodbye -- she was off on a jaunt (I have been flying solo). 

I worked a full shift, even did some heavy lifting sorting boxes, and as I told Byron's bandmate Ford, whose paths I crossed at Red Cat, I was very close to bailing on the show tonight, despite a guestlisting (thanks, Byron, for that and the shirt!). But when I saw Ford was clearly beginning to doubt my commitment to Sparkle Motion, I came upon a solution: I would come home after work, feed the cat, hang out with him a little, and take an hour long power nap before heading back out to the Cobalt.

Which is what I did. I also microdosed with some cubensis to help my brain along to a functional place (not enough to get high, that I noticed, though it was enough that Hans Anus' drumsticks had streamers the whole time. Or were other people seeing that, too?). It wasn't quite strong enough, in fact, hence the cannabis root beer (from just across the street!) that I added to the mix (and the Saturday morning dope hangover I now edit this in). But it probably helped me to get into dancing, too. 'Shrooms are good that way. Amusingly, my camera seemed to capture the streamer effect, but I was seeing this with my naked eye, too:

In any case: Invasives was/ were terrific. They played pert near every one of my favourite Invasives songs: "Living Your Life Like It's Somebody Else'", "Stop and Breathe," "Abstract World" "Just Another Under the Sun". I am also really fond of "Borderline Music", which they did not do, but they played what could become my next-favourite Invasives song, "Help Is On the Way", which is a song off Feel Good Live Forever that I kinda didn't remember but sure should (I have to listen to side two of that again a few more times, clearly). They're actually an odd band for me: their catalogue is evenly divided between songs I love and songs I find are a bit too Spartan and angular to properly grab onto, and I had a bad habit of putting the songs of theirs that I really like -- basically all the ones I mentioned -- onto mixed playlists, kinda greatest-hitsing them. Or else, like, opening Robot Stink on my phone and then going right to my two faves on it. Trivially, I do this with Ford Pier, too; like, I enjoy Huzzah! but 85% of the time I listen to anything off it, it's "Lions and Tigers and Bears", because it's just so fucking great, a song that totally belongs on a playlist adjacent to Nomeansno's "Victory".

Anyhow, because of my nap I missed Kettle Black, and because I am trying not to invest too much in new musics, lest I feel the need to nuy records, I kinda tried *not* to get into Wax Mannequin, though a couple of songs near the end made headway into me, regardless. It was a pretty good crowd, hip and sizeable, and I knew a half-dozen people to say hi to. Hamm, Russian Tim, Kristy-Lee, Ford, Mark Bignell, Noelle Chaos. I'm pretty sure Jodie Ponto was there, too! There was a guy in a cat/ pyramid/ UFO-themed t-shirt that I took to coveting, and many balloons bouncing around the dance area. Had my article helped get a few people out? Again, we think: maybe! 

I was reminded that live, one of my favourite things about an Invasives show is watching how happy Hans is to drum; I like an expressive drummer and he just has a very sincere smile while he's pounding away -- not in any deranged way, though; he's not Animal, he's not even Matt Wood, he's clearly just enjoying playing his instrument! 

I really enjoyed both of the Slacks' playing, too -- some killer basslines in there from Adam!

I shot two videos but am only posting one: "Abstract World". And I briefly got confused, thinking "Just Another Under the Sun", which Byron said made him always think of Ford Pier, was surely a Dead Bob cover... no? Nope, it's just an Invasives song I love from seeing live, but on a CD of theirs I barely know. 

I may have to do something about that. I have been too selective in my Invasives listening. I need to delve into the depths a bit; I am sure I will pull out a fish or two. Or possibly a geoduck. 

Obscure Nomeansno reference, there, for those who get it (actually, Hansons, but...). 

All told, a great set, and people who read my article seemed to enjoy it. I stole a setlist but not for a souvenir: I had to figure out a song title and it was easier than asking anybody! 

Ford tells me Byron had a whole bunch of moustache one liners he would resort to on the road, not just the ones he offered me. It was nice to see Ford having fun, dancing as much as anyone, but not quite as enthusiastically as he does onstage with Dead Bob, thank god! 

Me, I danced only to the songs I loved, and mostly just stood there watching and listening for the ones I don't know so well. So about 50/50 on the dancin'. I got my shroom caplet's worth out of it, anyhow. 

Great night! (And a cool shirt).

Deep Purple: What They Will Probably Play in Abbotsford ...and what they (most likely) won't

News flash: huge and unexpected breaking news, encountered AFTER I posted this: Ritchie Blackmore has joined Deep Purple onstage for the first time in decades!!! The following piece does not reflect that. Footage here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/1UXzjDQNUF/

I've been perusing the Deep Purple setlists for 2026 in advance of their September Abbotsford show. Spoiler alert for this post -- I'm going to spill some possible secrets; but I needed to know what new songs I need to know before I see them, to get maximum effect of the live performance (and to not spend the whole set hoping they'll do this-or-that song; best work my way through any disappointments before the concert even begins. Of course, things change, so we cannot set any expectations in stone, so disappointments might change into pleasant surprises if the band actually decides to do a hoped-for song). Anyhow, reader beware: If you don't want to know what they (probably) will or won't be playing, that's your perogative, but I personally like going to big shows having done a little homework.

Needless to say, most of the expected must-plays are all there ("Highway Star" trumps "Smoke on the Water" for me, but I grew up with all those songs and am very excited to see them played live; and "Space Truckin'" will be a hoot to see. "Lazy" is being played often of late, too!). My history with this stuff dates back to a legendary find in the dumpster of the Maple Ridge condo that I grew up in, of about fifty LPs, including Deep Purple's Made in Japan; I was maybe nine or ten years old, and it was my first exposure not just to Deep Purple, but also Aerosmith, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and Nazareth, as I recall. One of my most formative musical experiences began in a dumpster!!! Delighted that I'm going to hear four songs off that album played live.

However, in terms of classic live Purple cuts, there's no "Child in Time", and it sure looks like they've dropped "Black Night" off recent setlists -- it does pop up at the very end of a few shows of late, but only a few, so we will be lucky to get it. Have grown very fond of that song -- even bought a greatest hits comp because that's the only way to get the studio version, since it was released as a non-album single; but it's on every live Purple album I've heard, so I'm mildly surprised it's not gettin' the love.

And they likely won't be doing my favourite deep cut, "Pictures of Home", off Machine Head, on this tour, which is no big surprise, because they seldom do it; ditto my second-favourite Deep Purple deep cut, "Mary Long", which is hands-down the funniest song inspired in part by Mary Whitehouse (whose name is cross-cut with that of another moral crusader of yore, Lord Longford). Whitehouse is also one of the pigs in Pink Floyd's "Pigs (Three Different Kinds)" -- the "house proud town mouse" -- and the subject of the Adicts' delightful "Mary Whitehouse". But the line in "Mary Long" directed at Whitehouse about how the band "never knew you had it in you" is a kind of genius-level bit of rude wordplay. If I got to chat with Gillan (fat chance), that's what I'd ask him about: did she ever respond to that lyric?

There's an interesting article about that song here, but again, we won't be hearing it, so don't pay it any mind if prep is what you are after.

But "Into the Fire", the sole song off Deep Purple In Rock, will be VERY fun to see live -- that is a link to superb footage of the band playing that from TWO YEARS BEFORE ERIKA WAS BORN (!). (The band actually formed in March of 1968, which was my birth month; she came along in August of 1973). I'm still working with "When a Blind Man Cries," another tune on recent setlists and a b-side deep cut from the Machine Head sessions that, like "Pictures of Home", never got played back in the day because Richie Blackmore disliked it, apparently. It's the perfect example of why I like to do some homework, so I can work my way around to grokking the tune before I'm seeing it played live; not quite sure it has sunk its hook yet.

In terms of stuff NOT being played: there's nothing off the Steve Morse studio albums, which spanned a very long time in the band's career; he joined in 1995 and recorded his last album with them in 2021. I only know a few songs from that span anyhow -- mostly I know Morse from live recordings -- though I do quite like Whoosh! (which dovetails with SPLAT! as an onomatopoetic album title). So we won't get "Nothing At All," say -- my favourite of the Morse studio output -- but we didn't expect that one so whatevs. Ditto "Vincent Price", which is the Purple song that most reminds me of the Blue Oyster Cult (specifically "Joan Crawford", for obvious reasons). It's kind of a shame the band has just dropped all that material off their setlists, since they've been on a very productive streak since they started working with Bob Ezrin in 2012 (not all of which do I know, but everything I've heard is totally solid and worthy of their legacy). But there's basically a black hole in their live setlist from 1972 (after Machine Head) to 2024 (with another weirdly-titled but solid album, =1, which was their first with current guitarist Stuart McBride).

But =1 is great! "Lazy Sod" dovetails with "Lazy" and touches on global warming. "A Bit on the Side" is another good one that has followed "Highway Star" on recent sets. My own favourite on =1 is "Portable Door", which I don't think they'll do, but I like both those songs just fine. (Fun intro to the song from Gillan in that linked clip, though the audience is pretty shouty).

Then there's SPLAT!, which, again, I need to spend more time with, though I like it just fine. They have three songs on recent setlists off that,"Arrogant Boy", "Diablo", and "Scriblin Gib'rish". There is also one instrumental outtake from the album that they've been using live with a portmanteau title between "Guinness" and "Genesis", "Guinnesis".

I assume Gillan is the band's resident punster and the man who comes up with titles like Whoosh! and SPLAT! My own creativity has never been much stoked by Guinness, if that' what I presume "Guinesis" is referring to, but it's one of those few alcoholic beverages that I still allow myself, occasionally, post-tongue cancer. (It does seem to be a great digestive aid but I don't think that's the kind of creativity the band is thinking of!).

I'm pretty excited about this show, really. I've seen very few of the BIG rockers of the 60s: Neil Young, Black Sabbath, and now Deep Purple. Their live stuff has been in heavy rotation with me for a few months now and my respect for them has grown immeasurably -- one realizes that for an epochal band, they're kind of under-rated, and have a catalogue of really cool material behind them -- it's not all "Smoke". 

Still seem to be plenty of tickets, too. 

As for the openers, Jefferson Starship only includes one member of Jefferson Airplane, David Freiberg, who joined the band in 1974, which is after the period of the band that I have paid mind to previously. Donny Baldwin goes back to an early incarnation of Starship, having started in 1982, though he had time away from the band in-between. There will definitely be some Jefferson Airplane material, as well as Starship material, in their set. It is hard to imagine songs like "White Rabbit", "Volunteers" and "Somebody to Love" (all enduring rock classics, if not particular favourites of mine) alongside 80s cheese like "We Built This City", shoehorned into the same setlist, but that does seem to be what we will be hearing, plus maybe a new song (nothing off 2020's Mother of the Sun, though, their most recent studio venture). I think that's all I'm going to say there -- I do not want to pre-judge them, will go with an open mind (can one have both an open mind and low expectations?). "We Built This City" was a song I remember finding incredibly annoying when it was on the radio, back when it first came out, but maybe a warm glow of nostalgia will surround it now?

On the other hand, I might pick up a Best of Kansas LP (or a copy of Leftoverture?) if one can be had cheaply. Of course, I know "Dust in the Wind" and "Carry on Wayward Son" from classic rock radio, and neither embrace them nor reject them: they aren't favourites, have never prompted me to buy a Kansas record, but nor do I switch stations if they come on in the car (or ask Erika to... it's her car!). I think of them as good songs in a genre ("mildy proggy 70s soft rock") that I tend to ignore. In fact, other songs like "Miracles Out of Nowhere" that I'm hearing now for the first time, based on my setlist peek, are kinda appealing: check out the instrumental break mid-way through that song! I hadn't realized until just now that they'd carried on (heh) to record cheesy 80s anthems like "Fight Fire With Fire," and tend to spend even less time on that sort of mass-appeal arena rock, but maybe it will be fun live?

As for the band's roster, while 70s drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Rich Williams are still listed as members, they apparently either don't tour or tour infrequently, both having had health issues. The longest-lasting member in the band we'll be seeing seems to be Ronnie Platt, who has been keyboardist and vocalist since 2014. I don't know. Again, I will set my expectations to the none-to-slight range and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Given both those bands multiple member-replacements, it makes it all the more impressive that 3/5ths of the lineup of Deep Purple that we'll be seeing goes back to the Mach II days, with Gillan, Glover, and Paice all on board (drummer Paice is from the first version of the band, founded in 1968, while Gillan and Glover go back to 1969). Jon Lord has a great excuse for missing this show; his replacement, keyboardist Don Airey, goes back to 2002 and is very able. The only LIVING-but-missing member from the classic Mach II lineup is, of course, Ritchie Blackmore, but he's been on the outs with the band since 1993, and, I mean, you need say no more than that the hated "Pictures of Home" and refused to do it live to convince me that the dude is difficult to work with. When a certain nameless punk of repute in Vancouver has griped to me about the daft, juvenile aspect of Deep Purple's lyrics ("Highway Star", "Space Truckin'" -- like rock lyrics aren't ever allowed to be daft or juvenile!), "Pictures of Home" has been my retort. It's the most Nietzschean rock song ever written: we Hyperboreans understand!

Tickets to the show here. Gonna see Deep Purple! Whee!

Quick roundup of fun stuff goin' on

Joe was soliciting campaign contributions and I had no money for him but offered to do another article, and so I did!

I am saddened to learn (from my article with Clay, but now reaffirmed by other peeps) that the Cobalt remains controversial as a venue among old Cobes loyalists; I thought the karma was cleansed? But I'm probably going back for Invasives this Friday, and am working on something about that show. Will investigate. I wish there were a way to heal some of these old wounds -- the new space is superb. 

Gonna check out the Metal Cruise this weekend, too -- Space Queen, Egregore, and Mvlgrave. Feature pending. 

Sunday there's a Rob Frith thing (I have lotsa writing to do today! Feature coming on that as well) at Neptoon if you are following the History of Vancouver Rock 'n Roll series. There's a 5th volume! Side one is a bit light/ commercial but other side has the Hydroelectric Streetcar, unheard Collectors, and other cool (but more obscure) stuff. Volume 5 doesn't appear to be online but Volume 4 is! 

Also, I won't be doin' it myself, but didja realize that Guns 'n Roses now also includes Slash and Duff, back in the band? That actually makes it kinda interesting. They're playing Vancouver at the end of August. I would go just to see Duff! 

Actually, Duff comes up in that D.O.A/ Joe thing previously linked. His tracks on that D.O.A. tribute are the best ones, kinda! Especially "The Prisoner."

Have a good weekend, folks. 

Scars of Dracula: Fear and Cleavage (and that godawful bat)

Admittedly, Scars of Dracula is not a very good Hammer Dracula film. It's hampered by a repetitive plot structure, for one thing: different groups of people go back and forth from the tavern to the church to the castle until you start to realize that these are the only sets the filmmakers had and they're trying to maximize them. There's also a horrible bat puppet which, in fact, one grows rather fond of, particularly given that -- while it never seems convincing -- it still is used to kill a priest (!) and to steal a crucifix from around Jenny Hanley's neck, leaving her heaving cleavage smeared with blood. However terrible the effect is, they are committed to it, and make the utmost of it, so you start to be impressed by the things they do make it do convincingly, like when it flies almost in a realistic circle, even as you guffaw at the glowing red eyes, gigantic size, or ability to hover in midair by slowly, stiffly flapping. It is maybe the worst bat effect of its kind ever witnessed in a vampire movie, but it is also somehow the best bad bat effect of its kind that I've seen; if it had just appeared in the first few minutes of the film, it would have been risible, but once you understand that the bat is kind of a main character (at least as important as the dingo in The Road Warrior) and that they are doing the best they can to realize it and make it look cool (and I mean what else were they going to do, train an attack bat?), you sort of come to terms with it as a viewer, and end up cheering for it and chuckling at it in equal measure: Go, fake bat, go! 

Then there's Klove. Nevermind Renfield, I would love to see a contemporary remake of this film written entirely around the character of Klove. It is a different Klove than one gets in Dracula: Prince of Darkness, played here by onetime Dr. Who Patrick Troughton (I think fans of Dr. Who would very much enjoy Scars of Dracula). And it doesn't hurt that with his bushy facial hair, he reminds one rather of Derek Smalls. 

Klove is by far the most interesting character here. He is immensely conflicted: he's groveling and servile to his master, but betrays him more than once, possibly because he gets masochistic pleasure out of being punished (which he is shown rather graphically receiving). He appears to flagellate himself, as well. He fixates on a small image of Jenny Hanley, the innocent (but cleavagey) heroine of the film, but it's not clear if he's transfixed by her innocent beauty and inspired by it to seek redemption, or masturbating frenetically while looking at it; perhaps both (Klove contains multitudes). He is the same man who provides one of the protagonists a rope to Dracula's secret lair, enabling him to scale the walls of the castle, as the one who then cuts the rope, a few minutes later (doing late enough in the climb that our hero makes it to the window ledge nonetheless. Maybe Klove just wanted to make sure he couldn't climb back up? There's no way of knowing. Klove himself may not know!).  

But the other nice thing about the film is that Christopher Lee is given a fair bit to do, compared, to, say, Dracula: Prince of Darkness where his only dialogue takes the form of hissing. Not only does Lee punish Klove, he scales walls, directs bat attacks, and plays welcoming host to visitors to his castle. His grin during the transaction with Klove, as he burns the open flagellation wounds on his back with a heated sword, was another laugh-aloud moment for me, as it's maybe the single most sadistic image of Lee I've seen? This is some kinky shit: 

There is also a rather startling knife murder that takes place where my wife Erika noted that you could see the rubber blade bending (but I was too busy being startled by the violence of it and suspending what disbelief I had, but I could detect a certain floppiness. Never really explained why, given his usual penchant for biting, he chooses a knife for this kill, but Lee convincingly conveys that Dracula is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore). 

And there's a very, very satisfying and surprising "death" for Dracula, one I did not at all see coming. I'll say no more about it but where almost every death for Dracula in other Hammer films involves some careful set up (lure him out to the Hawthorne bushes, stuff like that), here, it isn't even intentional: the film's protagonist throws a metal pipe at him, which pierces him but doesn't harm him; Dracula removes it, and you figure he will throw it back and the struggle will go on for another five minutes at least, but... no.

And then there's the cleavage. The chests of both Hanley's virtuous protagonist and the innkeeper's sultry daughter (Wendy Hamilton) are displayed consistently and unsubtly, which is interesting, since the films never tip to Russ Meyer breast fetishism; plausible deniability is maintained. Hammer horror films simply do cleavage better than any other studio has ever done or will ever do again. To pander to the desires of 14 year old boys and yet still do so in a kind of sweetly innocent way... it's a good trick. Fun that there are no good screengrabs online of Dracula plunging a dagger into someone, for instance, but there are definitely shots like this: 

Incidentally, see also Anouska Hempel (the knife-victim) and Delia Lindsay (whose scenes I forgot to note, above; I guess there were actually four sets used for the film, not three! She's two images below and the nakedest of the women in the film). 

All the other hallmarks of Hammer are present, from superb set-decoration to Hammer regular Michael Ripper (whom Sir Christopher describes in the commentary as the soul of Hammer, even more than himself or Peter Cushing) and semi-regular Michael Gwynn (the one being eaten by a bat puppet, above).

The real charm of the film, however, lies in its storytelling. Precisely because it strains a bit, compared to more inspired Hammer fare like Taste the Blood of Dracula, to pull everything together, and doesn't entirely work, you can kind of see the craft of the storytelling laid bare, like the strings on a mediocre puppet (you never do see the strings on the bat, note; cheesy as it is, I'm not entirely sure how they did it!). You can imagine a clutch of people in pre-production, discussing what should happen next, throwing out ideas in a roundtable, and trying to make whatever choices they opt for entertaining ones. In that, in its overt determination to tell you a story, it actually resembles a vintage Dr. Who episode; it has a similar innocent charm, even if there's no Tardis (and no Peter Cushing) in sight. 

It's not a very good Hammer film, but it was very entertaining no less. Beats watching Lee hiss his way through Dracula: Prince of Darkness. He complains on the commentary about how he wishes the film had been made around Stoker's character, not a plot involving other characters that Dracula is then wedged into, and one can see his point, but this is still a very entertaining role for him, compared to some. Incidentally, in the same commentary -- recorded in 1999, I believe -- while he complains about all the unsubtle, no-imagination-required gore of contemporary horror, he gives props to Alien and John Hurt's big death scene, as being very effective and startling. This is somehow very nice to hear).  

And credit where it's due, Erika was the one who came up with the phrase "Fear and Cleavage."