Blitzen Trapper

Was out last night at a venue aptly titled.. Venue.  The old plaza club on Granville.  I was with a couple of friends to see Blitzen Trapper, originally scheduled for Dick’s on Dicks.  Alas, that concert hall is no more.  ‘Venue’ was ok, but obviously set up for a more dance club type atmosphere.  The number of security/bouncers also would confirm this; rarely would you have even see more than a couple of these types at Richard’s, but they were all over the place last night.

Upon entering, we were patted down by one of these types, and he found a strange object in my pocket.  He asked me to produce it, and I brought out the fishing lure that is attached to my key chain.  A little symbol of my past career as a fishing guide.  He commented that he thought it was a fishing lure, and I asked him if many people brought them in, and he said no.  We had a little chuckle and I went in.

The show itself was pretty good.  Blitzen Trapper played a varied set, with some stompers, some quieter songs, and even a little sub set where one of the lead singers did the ole folk combo of harmonica, acoustic guitar and singing.  These guys had strong vocal harmonies.  As my friend Johnny Slapshot observed, the sound of the Pacific North West that is coming up right now is inspired by Neil Young, The Band, and the Beach Boys.  Good stuff.

After the first set finished, I decided to leave.  I was bagged from ultimate earlier that night; but upon leaving I realized I was missing my car key.  I had hired a car for the night, and had not attached it to my key set.  I didn’t panic, but calmly considered my options.  I wasn’t too worried about the outcome, though it would be a mild headache to take care of.  First things first though, I scanned where we had been sitting earlier, and then headed to the front to see if there was a lost and found.

Sure enough, the lost and found had a key.  The attendent was mildly perplexed when I responded to her question abou the type of car it was.  On the key itself is a GM stamp, but I told her it was a Pontiac.  Fortunately I was saved from explaining the relationship of Pontiac and GM as the bouncer who had patted me down earlier came forward and told her it was my key.  Obviously it had fallen out while I was being searched, and he had picked it up.  He recognized me immediately.  I thanked him and was on my way.  No panic necessary, and another instance of being friendly paying off with a quick resolution to the situation.

Oh, funny side note.  A bunch of Yankees (or really ironic Vancouverites), started chanting ‘USA, USA’ in the break between songs at one point.  A member of the band responded with, “Hey, we all live in cascadia man.”  Another moment was when this same man asked the crowd about a roller skating theme night and if we had them in Vancouver.  The crowd was a bit confused as to what to say, and I was too.  I can’t remember seeing a roller rink in Vancouver, ever.  The drummer stepped up and, with some vitriol, demanded an answer to his friend’s question, but nobody really knew.

Oregon/California Road Trip or Zinga Zinga Zinga

Shoud have finished this up about 10 days ago, but I got sidetracked.

Just returned from a great trip with my pal Steg.  The intention was to head to San Francisco, camping and enjoying our time along the way, sticking to the coast as much as possible.  The trip really began when we got through Washington and made it out to the Oregon coast.  It’s a beautiful spot with many awesome beaches and coastal scenery.  We camped out as much as possible in the Oregon state park system which was very affordable, well run with friendly and informative staff.  Tent sites were $14-$17, with yurts andcabins going for $25-$40 I think but you have to bookthese ahead of time.  Nothing but good things to say about Oregon’s state parks.  Check out Fort Stevens on the Columbia river if you get a chance.  A great beach with paved bike paths through the park.

After a couple of nights in Oregon, we entered California and found our way to the #1 and continued South; driving the #1 was a highlight of the trip for sure.  It’s everything you want out of a driving road, fantastic coastal scenery, lots of curvy bits and it’s well designed and maintained.  I’d say a standard transmission is required for enjoying this part of the trip, and if the car has some balls all the better.  Fortunately we were in Steg’s V6 Passat, and when Steg forced me into the driver’s seat, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  There was some evidence of wild fires in this portion of the trip, but nothing too big.  We eventually camped down near Montecito and then hit up the beach to watch some Mexicans throw a few red tailed perch into their buckets.  A little windy and cool this night.

Made it to San Fran the next day, and got our heads spun around at Fisherman’s Wharf.  It seemed like a good place to start, but heavily infested with tourists (like us!).  After being on camp time for a few days, it was a little much, and eventually we settled into a pub to gather our senses and come up with a plan.  Fortunately, that plan included checking out a Giants game!  The Dodgers were in town, and it was a 6 pm start.  After some wrangling, we managed to find a modest motel for the night that was a 15 minute walk away from the ball park.  Note to travellers, be prepared to pay through the nose for a bed on July 4th weekend.  Ouch.

So, we cruise up to the park, fully intent on heading to the box office to pick up whatever tickets we could, and the stream of scalpers started.  Probably the first pitch had already been thrown, and the guy we bumped into rapidly dropped his prices to a little over book.  We paid $40 for $37 tickets, and gave the guy a tip of $5.  The tickets turned out to be awesome as we were in the 2nd row, of the 2nd section in between 1st and home.  We had unobstructed views of the field withno net in front of us.  A great game, well pitched by both starters, a full stadium, and the Giants ended up with a crowd pleasing 5-2 victory, beating up on LA’s bullpen in the 7th.

The next day Steg and I parted ways for the afternoon after visiting with Alexandra in Oakland.  I went to visit my dad’s ex, Stevie, who lives just north of San Fran and Steg was hoofing it around SF.  Hadn’t seen her in over 10 years, but we had a nice time and caught up quite a bit, and I happily got some insight into the old man.  Stevie is doing really well too which makes me happy.  After departing from Stevie’s and picking up Steg, we headed south towards Monterey to find some lodging/camping, but campsites had filled up or were ridiculously expensive (boo Koa!).  After I refused to sleep on the side of the road, we eventually settled on a reasonable motel for the 2nd night in a row.  The budget was under strain, but we took advantage and set up an early start to the morning, heading to the Monterey Aquarium.

At the Aquaurium I was mesmerized by the 3 chinook salmon in the tidal water tank.  They cruised around pretty quietly, and I even saw one dig it’s back into the sand as if to scratch it.  Not what I expected; I assumed they would be more active but I suppose they can get into a feeding frenzy at times.  The rest of the aquarium was pretty interesting, but it got busy really quickly so we were happy to have arrived first thing in the morning when it was a little quieter.  After this, we headed to Santa Cruz to check out the beach.  For some reason, I really enjoyed SC when I was a kid.  These days, not so much!  The beach was ok, but definitely for a younger crowd and/or families.  Next!

So, we had officially made the turn heading North by now, and our next stop was the amazing camp site called Costenoa.  Although a little biased against Koa based on the previous night’s attempt at finding a campground, this one was affordable and awesome.  I highly recommend stopping at this one for a visit if you are Northof Santa Cruz on the #1, with some of the most impressive bathroom facilities on the entire trip.  Here I managed to do about 5 minutes or so of swimming.  But after ducking under three waves in a row, I got a massive brain freeze and packed it in.  The water was very cold.

The next day, with a tear in our eyes, we left Costenoa and got off the #1 and into wine country, after a brief stop at the whiskey shop in SF.  The difference in heat was amazing after heading  in land.  I think the gauge on the car read between 42C and 45C.  Reminds me why I like living on the coast.  Stopped at a vineyard after some trouble in locating a suitable one, and got tried various wines.  My  palette is not yet refined enough except to say.. “I like it” or “I like this one less” or maybe even “I like this one more”.  Anyway, our host was pleasant enough, and she poured big tasting portions!

Continuing North, we stopped beside a river campsite and bedded down for the night.  The next day we were going to be camping near the Oregon sand dunes, and we did.  Steg got directions to the beach, with the attendant looking at him kind of funny.  Apparently not many people hike over the dunes to the beach, preferring to use motorized vehicles, which is too bad, cause hiking the dunes with the wind howling and sand flying was a ton of fun.  Felt like I could have been in the desert.  Got up bright and early the next day for some ATV’ing on the dunes, which was a blast!  1 hour was about right though; I was getting a little bored by the end of it.  This is where my camera packed it in as well.  Oh well.

This day we made it up to the aforementioned Fort Stevens and got out for a nice long jog along the bike paths, and then returning on the beach.  The trip was rapidly winding down, so it was nice to get out for some exercise, followed by finishing off our liquor supplies.  A noble mission.  The next day was going to be a long day of driving home, which we were both just about ready for.  Musical highlights for me included the new Coldplay, MGMT, and I was happy to introduce a good friend to the great music of the Cardigans.  Till next time.

Wolf Parade

Went to a rock concert last night at the Commodore, and both bands were great.  The opening act was Listening Party who had something good going on in terms of their musicianship and vibe, but the headliner Wolf Parade knocked it out of the park.  Easily the best concert I have seen in a few years.  Every music fan in Vancouver who was not at the concert last night missed out was blowing it.

I was introduced to this band when I attended The Arcade Fire show at the forum a few years ago.  Wolf Parade were the opening act at that time, and the energy that they brought to the their music was obvious and powerful.  If it was a different band as the main act, WP would have blown them off the stage.  I hadn’t heard about them prior and didn’t get the chance to do any research on them, but I became a fan during that concert.  There are two singers who share the vocal duties, and they both bring a unique and interesting style to their lyrics.  And I’ve never seen a keyboard played with such vigor. 

After that concert, I went out and bought their first wide release, ’Apologies To The Queen Mary’, and fell in love with it.  If you are looking for a standout track from that album, check out I’ll Believe In Anything, a stinging and joyful criticism of the pre packaged individuality of consumer culture.  Their current release, ‘At Mount Zoomer’, has toned down the rocking aspect by bringing out more synth sounds.  It is different enough that I started as pretty tepid on this one, but I am getting to like it more and more.  Last night sealed the deal for me though, as the new songs really came together on stage.

Those curious about my whereabouts, my departure got pushed back to Monday, which was a relief, so I can relax a bit today and put my ear drums back in place.  For those involved in the CD collective, I will be inserting ‘At Mount Zoomer’ as my next selection, and I can pass around their first album for anyone who is interested, though I’m hesitant to clutter up the box.

Matt