Wednesday 29 October 2014

October 29 ~ 'tis the season for spookiness and spectres

First up in things to do with self-promotion:

My most recent 4YE recap of Supernatural
Season 10 / Episode 4 "Paper Moon"
And here I thought I was being original by referring to 'the family business'. Nope.


Music! I love that George Ezra song "Budapest" - under the category of Something completely different, he and Sir Ian McKellen got together for musical hijinks. Thank you, YouTube!


Oh, jeepers, I almost forgot: Paddington has a trailer now! And Ben Whishaw sounds every bit as perfect as I imagined he would.
Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, and that Peter Capaldi guy do alright as well. ;p
StudioCanal - you're awesome!  November 28, people! The film's Twitter handle is @paddingtonbear for all the latest.



Interested in etymology? Who isn't?
Mental Floss with seasonal words with spooky origins. 



I cannot hope to catch you up on all things Marvel-tastic. Sam Maggs (@SamMaggs) from The Mary Sue, on the other hand, can, and does. Props to her for finding the gif as well. I have so much to learn!

Marvel's Phase 3 plans and what they mean



Speaking of Marvel-tasticness: AGENT CARTER!!!!! Did you see the first teaser trailer? Did you? If not or you just want to see it again and again (see above gif for appropriate yet thoroughly unsafe reaction), even if it is only 15 seconds long - but you've been really REALLY great to the fans, Marvel, especially this week, so no grumblings here. Nope, nope, nope.




Something else for the brain cells - given only 3 letters, figure out the name of the European country. I found this a real challenge - some are more obvious than others.
Mental Floss & Sporcle quiz co-production.



I leave you with more Marvel. It was high time I liked this FB page. "Texts from Superheroes" never fails to make me chuckle. This one's even got my theme du jour. It's kismet, I'm sure.

Happy Hallowe'en / All Hallows Eve - whatever you call it, stay safe out there and look out for one another.

Wednesday 22 October 2014

Online notables from the last week

Things that tickled my fancy over the course of the last week - perhaps they'll tickle yours as well.

A reader comment passed on by @GreyLondon on Twitter. Fair point, I say.




(c) Empire Magazine


Okay, this isn't a normal for me, but can I help it if there are great Tom Mison as Sleepy Hollow's Ichabod Crane pics out there? Where I can easily come across them without employing the use of a search engine? Not quite as 'up there' as the latte-stache, but, how about tree pose? I genuinely applaud the balance. That's one end of the can-do spectrum. Then there's me: I can hold that pose - with one foot right above my ankle, for approx. four seconds, on a really good day.
Thank you, The Mary Sue, for sharing!


I also felt the urge to write about it for 4 Y E. I hope you feel the urge to read about it.
Yoga and Travel Mugs on Sleepy Hollow



The nerdiness is strong in this one - and I love it. Thank you, "Everything Nerdy and Anything in Between" Facebook group for this!




I wrote another Supernatural episode recap - complete with philosophical musings - which didn't get edited out! I love 4 Y E - and not just for that!
Supernatural Season 10 / Ep 03 Recap: Soul Survivor



This could happen, right? Thank you,"One more miracle, Sherlock, for me. Don't. Be. Dead. - Watson" Facebook group.



I also wrote about Dean Stockwell being cast in a November sweeps episode of NCIS: New Orleans. You know, that show that has Scott Bakula as the sage of the investigative team. Quantum Leap, you were an amazing show.
Sam and Al: Reunited and it feels so good!






Take care of each other, people!

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Changing the lens

So, the deep and meaningfuls are few in number - and when I do have something to share, I tend to not bother. In an effort to combat this self-publishing malaise, I'm switching gears to whatever's on the internet that is leaving an impression on me - for whatever reason. Feels, inspiration, motivation, joy of sharing a nifty find, and good ole self-promotion. If it needs a name, The Daily Scroll? Things that cannot be unseen?

Here's what caught my attention today (or earlier): Wednesday, October 15, 2014

 My mantra, if ever I had one. Thank you, Sam Maggs (@sammaggs), for verbalising it so very well.  I look forward to more of her verbalising WHEN HER BOOK COMES OUT IN 2015!


In related news,
A film made 25 years ago that set me on the path to 'it's okay to be me'.
Dead Poets Society, I owe you.
15 facts about Dead Poets Society




Ben Whishaw as Richard II - a study in vedantic thought This is Richard's final monologue in the play (just under 3 minutes in length). Whishaw's delivery is incredibly moving (forget the Judeo-Christian imagery that you are being assaulted by if you can) and just think about those thoughts he is expressing. 




Buzzfeed did a little bit of an 'ode to Kirk' from Gilmore Girls. Some of this I can actually relate to. Most of it is just, "Oh. Kirk." If you can think of more, please feel free to share.
20 times Kirk from Gilmore Girls was incredibly awesome





This hatred for equal representation in gaming has to stop. I'm not a gamer and I don't pretend to be (although there is this one Portal T-shirt I REALLY want), but threatening to KILL someone?
Other than the criminality of it, when did gaming stop being, you know, a game?? As in fun?
It's not a treehouse for nine-year-old boys to nail a sign to the door saying "NO GIRLS ALLOWED" - it's an industry, a multi-BILLION dollar industry, and guess what, girls have money too:
to develop games, to own studios, to purchase games, to purchase merch, to purchase all the toys needed/wanted in order to play, to have intelligent (and utterly superfan) conversations about their likes and dislikes, to attend cons. Who'd have thunk it? It's like, girls are PEOPLE!
Sarkeesian cancels talk at US university after massacre threat

 
And now for something lighter:
From Season 2 episode: "Go Where I Send Thee"
(c) Fox / From the Season 2 Sleepy Hollow ep "Go Where I Send Thee"


 Without actually saying so in this post, I think the Mary Sue might be campaigning for Charlize Theron to be Ms Marvel/Carol Danvers. Hmmmm.



Me want. Me (and you) can order it from the
ConsultingFanGeeks Etsy store 

 

A little music - why not hear Lorde's Royals a capella.
Thanks, Eric Alper, for the link. 



Something closer to home: "Perth built highways. Vancouver did not." Guess which one has insane traffic congestion, compounded by the fact that everything goes through water-influenced bottlenecks: tunnels and bridges. Hard to get anywhere - irrespective of destination.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/24846192/a-tale-of-two-cities/



An argument against MCU Civil War from Twitter's @nevesytrof:


Do you need more proof of Neil Gaiman's amazing human-ness?
The Mary Sue: Neil Gaiman has no truck with any of that fake geek nonsense



 I'm the official Supernatural recapper for 4YE now!
Season 10 - episode 2 (Reichenbach) recap here



Like Tim Roth? Who doesn't? Want news?
He's going to be in the upcoming rom-com Mr Right!



As they said in the Mary Sue tweet "It's the time of year when a lot of Hocus Pocus pops up on Tumblr"




Tuesday 25 February 2014

Why the Paralympics matter



I retweeted this retweet above last night and CTV's Tom Popyk contacted me via Twitter wanting to know how I was involved with the Paralympics. I said that I wasn't, that I was just a supporter who had volunteered at Vancouver 2010 and seen a couple of games and just wanted to continue spreading the good word. He asked permission to pass my details on to the CTV news desk, to which I assented, and in the meantime, I got to thinking. 

Why do we cheer on the Jamaican bobsled team? Canada, in particular, is a nation that loves to cheer on the underdog (and they're not the only ones). It’s an empathy thing. As a non-athlete, I can appreciate the efforts the team made to even get to the Olympic Games – the hard work, the determination, the fundraising. So, now that the Olympics are over, let’s shift that focus to the Paralympics, and lose the empathy, these athletes don’t need it. They need the support of their nation.

I am inspired by the drive, the passion, the commitment, the never-say-die attitude, the courage, the skill, the sheer physical strength these athletes possess and display every day. I ‘can’t’ even get my somewhat corpulent body to yoga on a regular basis and there are men and women doing biathlon (that’s the one with a distance cross-country skiing and a sharpshooting component) in three different ways: sitting, standing, visually impaired! You don't want to watch me curl. Well, you might for the sheer comedic value.

Did you know there are Super G, Slalom Combined, Downhill Combined events for the visually impaired (as well as standing and sitting)? These folks have the chutzpah to hurtle themselves off a mountain and slalom around gates feeling only the wind on their faces and the roar of the crowd without the ability to see but have absolute trust in their skiing guide to turn on a dime when needed. If you haven’t had enough of hockey or curling – Canada has a team in both wheelchair curling and sledge hockey. I saw Canada play Italy at Vancouver 2010 – Canada’s got game. Actually, Canada will have game in all six Paralympic disciplines: para-snowboard, para-alpine skiing, para-Nordic skiing, biathlon, sledge hockey and wheelchair curling.

The National Paralympic Committee has it 100% correct when they say focus on what’s there, not what is missing (http://paralympic.ca/news-and-events/press-releases/canadian-paralympic-committee-launches-sochi-2014-campaign-to-build). When I first saw the ads, I thought they were brilliant.  

Paralympians are athletes, full stop. Athletes exhibiting all the same qualities we admire so much in Olympic athletes; what they are limited by are the limitations outsiders place upon them. These are elite-level athletes who have already proven that they can do whatever they set their minds to. WE are the ones with the limits, so let us not just continue to marvel at what they do ‘despite’ – they achieve the so-called impossible on a regular basis. Let us be inspired by what these superb athletes can do ‘with’ - and with their nation behind them. Every single one of them has earned our respect and then some. 

March 7-16, 2014 – be there. 

Photo credits: Canadian Paralympic Committee / Matthew Murnaghan

4YE Cross Post: What To Listen To - Kongos and The Zolas

This article was written for and originally published by 4YE News here on February 17, 2014.

Photo courtesy of The Kongos
Photo courtesy of The Kongos

Hello again readers! Are you ready for another Music Monday?

A song I simply MUST introduce you to is “Come With Me Now” by Kongos. With this song, the outfit of four brothers from South Africa, now based in Phoenix, AZ, have managed to answer the question of ‘what would Seether* sound like if they fell in with a Cajun-style accordion player?’. The result? THIS song: "Come With Me Now".

If you watch the CW show The Originals, you will have heard the song on the episode entitled “Crescent City”. The video just SCREAMS the opportunity to talk about male/female representations, so, why don't we?

There are two females in the video: one is a Barbie-doll lookalike young woman in a skimpy dress more suited for the bedroom than a dance club getting ready to go out (she is also the video’s signature still but isn’t actually the first shot of the video) and the other is a young brunette woman in workout wear – a cropped, midriff-baring top like a sports bra and short shorts. She skips rope for a second or two twice during the video and pretends to cycle on a stationary bike as if to justify her presence.

Men, also two. A young man with stubbly facial hair wearing a cap, pipe, T-shirt and cardigan at a round café table and the other is a white middle-aged man in an office, wearing that uniform: white dress shirt, tie and suit, minus the jacket. Each of the four is also filmed in black and white in a dark swimming pool contorting individually in the water. While the cap and cardi guy has had a change of clothes, everyone else is still in the same ones.

The dry land and in water snippets are interspersed with the rest of the song’s performance video components (which also demonstrate the need for some band members to work on their lip syncing). The video has no overarching theme tying everything together, certainly no narrative, so I'm a little confused as to why it was an artistic requirement to feature the lithe young women in states of 'leaves little to the imagination' other than woman as object, to be ogled by the over half a million views this video has had alone on YouTube, when the men were not only fully dressed, moreover, the band members themselves display very little sense of occasion either, sporting T-shirts and jeans.

In addition to the education in gender relations, I now know that what I hear at the 2’28” mark is a slide guitar, which has been bugging me since the first time I heard the song a few months ago. How deplorably it is visually represented aside, the song has fantastic energy, a kick-butt accordion, and that is what I choose to take from it.

If you want to view the official video to get my point, you can view it on YouTube.

If you’d prefer to let the song speak for itself, hear it at Kongos’s Soundcloud page.

*FWIW, I made the Seether comparison before I found out Kongos were from South Africa as well.

Photo courtesy of Spill Magazine
Photo courtesy of Spill Magazine

CANadian
    CONnection
There is so much good stuff coming out of this country and here’s a band I have only discovered in the past year or so, but am excited to share with you: Vancouver, BC’s own The Zolas. In essence, The Zolas are Zachary Gray and Tom Dobrzanski, with other musicians recruited as needed for touring and recording. With their tuneful brand of indie rock which features guitar and piano keyboard, they produce soulful melodies and emotive lyrics. They released their second full-length CD Ancient Mars in 2012 which had the gorgeous songs “Ancient Mars” and “Knot in My Heart” on it. 2013 saw the release of an EP titled Invisible, and its title track is the one I want to feature. It has a soul groove that dusty parts of my memory associate with the Philosopher Kings, an infectious and danceable beat, and at under 3 minutes in length, it’s shockingly short. All the more reason to press Repeat. Repeatedly.

The Zolas are fully plugged in with a presence on Facebook and Twitter, you can hear them on Bandcamp, iTunes, or via the band’s website. And also content on YouTube.

Monday 24 February 2014

4YE Cross Post: Look who's becoming a Suffragette! What IS a Suffragette?

This piece was originally written for and posted at 4YENews on February 21, 2014. The always insightful Clare Sidoti edited and co-wrote this.

Meryl Streep
Photo courtesy of Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP
Meryl Streep has obviously impressed the producers of the Ruby Films period drama, Suffragette with her rant last month at the National Board of Review awards when she called Walt Disney a "gender bigot" when presenting Emma Thompson an award for her work in Saving Mr Banks. During the presentation she railed against Disney and declared that Thompson was "a rabid, man eating feminist, like I am". It's that man eating feminism no doubt that has endeared her to the producers as she's in final talks to appear as Emmeline Pankhurst in the upcoming film starring Carey Mulligan, alongside other notable actors such as Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai, and Samuel West, according to ScreenDaily.

Though only slated to play a minor role in the film, it is a vital role in which she is said to deliver a "'tour de force' speech on women’s rights during a political rally".

Abi Morgan, who wrote The Iron Lady (in which Streep played the former British PM Margaret Thatcher and earned her another Academy Award), is also writing this film’s script. Sarah Gavron has signed on to direct and shooting will begin in the UK next week.

So who was Emmeline Pankhurst and why is she so important? If you are a woman and live in the UK, the freedoms and rights you have under the law, are a direct result of her efforts. If you are a woman and you live in Canada, the freedoms and rights you have under the law, are a direct result of her efforts. If you are woman and live in the USA, the freedoms and rights you have under the law can be attributed to an entirely different set of heroes. Bear with me as I backtrack a bit.
Person_Emmeline-Pankhurst-sufragette-who-fought-for-the-right-for-women-to-vote-1916136
Photo courtesy of The Mirror
Born Emmeline Goulden in 1858, she was raised by politically active parents. During the 19th century, England had a number of Reform Acts pass through Parliament, and the big ones had to do with the vote. If you’ve ever heard the term ‘rotten boroughs’, the Reform Act of 1832 sought to eliminate irregularities of voting. In a nutshell, in order to have the vote (= suffrage), you had to own land. If you owned land in more than one area, you had a vote in all of those areas. Further, although there had been some discussion about including women in the Reform Act, the law specifically had wording about enfranchising “male persons”, which literally disenfranchised women. And how many more men got the vote? Well, Wiki (source of all knowledge) says approximately 500,000 adult men had the vote before the Act became law. Afterwards, ca. 813,000. That’s 1 in 6 adult men with the vote. Total population at the time: 12 million.

The Reform Act of 1867 resulted in approximately doubling those numbers in the electorate. In broad strokes, professionals and men with regular (minimum) incomes now had the vote; also, men with over 50 pounds in savings now had the vote. Although there was a movement for universal suffrage, the priorities of various organisations were to get all men the vote, not necessarily all citizens. In 1870, 1886, and 1897, suffrage bills were put before the House, but were never passed. The goal for all men to get the vote was achieved in 1918. Women were included in that one, but only those over the age of 30 and with further strings attached: a woman had to be married to someone registered with the local government authority or had to be registered herself, be a property owner, or be a university graduate. A separate woman’s suffrage bill went before the House in 1905; it was filibustered.

In the UK, equal voting rights were not granted to women until 1928. In Canada (except Quebec), equal voting rights were granted in 1920. Women in Quebec waited until 1940. People of First Nations descent had to wait until 1960, but that’s a whole other topic of discussion. In the USA, the magic number for women was also 1920. Yes, women have had the vote in the UK, USA, and Canada, for fewer than 100 years.

To be clear, Emmeline Pankhurst did not initiate the movement for women's suffrage, but she (with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia, and many, MANY more) was instrumental in gaining significant ground for the movement in England. Why? One reason was so they could affect social justice such as protecting the poor, the elderly, orphans, widows, improve conditions in workhouses, improve education and access to it - the many demographics dependent on the public purse for their well being - and shape future social policy on a political level.

Pankhurst founded the Women’s Franchise League in 1889, but it only lasted a year. She founded the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union) in 1903. They worked tirelessly and their methods were non violent in the beginning, attending and conducting meetings, dialogues with politicians, pamphleteering, standing on street corners. She and her sisters in the movement endured social ostracisation, public humiliation, imprisonment, physical violence, force feeding (as a way to counter hunger strikes), and Emily Wilding Davison publicly committed suicide in 1913 by stepping onto the racecourse at Epsom mid-race. WSPU methods would later include advocating arson and damage to property, such as breaking windows.

For the vote. Something many of us take for granted. In a time when voter turnouts for federal elections are in the 60% range and municipal elections in Vancouver, for instance, are in the 30-35% range (in Toronto, Canada’s most populous city, that number was 53% in their last municipal election).

Ironically, women (certainly not all) were allowed to stand as candidates for election before they even got the vote. The first woman elected mayor was a medical doctor by the name of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson who became mayor of Aldeburgh, Suffolk in 1908. Emmeline also stood for election and was in the process of campaigning for a seat when she fell ill and died on June 14, 1928. On July 2, 1928, Royal Assent for the Act enfranchising women (Representation of the People Act 1928) became law. Emmeline Pankhurst never saw the victory.

In 1999, Time magazine included Emmeline Pankhurst in their list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. In 2002, the BBC conducted a poll on the 100 Greatest Britons. Emmeline Pankhurst ranked 27th.

The WSPU motto was Deeds Not Words. That is the badge I wear.
Suffragette emblem and motto
Suffragette emblem and motto

Sunday 16 February 2014

4YE Cross Post: Neil Gaiman's American Gods may be coming to a TV near you


As my blog is supposed to be the central place for all I write to appear, here's a piece I did for 4YE News on February 4. You can view it and many more interesting articles by a host of talented contributors at this link.

It’s funny how stories stay with you long after you’ve read them. It was 2007, and I was on a beach in Costa Rica volunteering at a turtle sanctuary (long story) with some downtime between shifts. The camp had a collection of books previous volunteers had left behind...and American Gods by Neil Gaiman was one of them. I read it in mere days – it was thoroughly engrossing. The idea of Old Gods (from various cultural mythologies) versus the New Gods (representing the internet, computers, media) seemed especially poignant in that place, at that time. These gods existed in America (USA, to be exact) because people believed in them. It was that simple, but the novel itself was anything but. Never mind that this book was also the Best Novel winner in 2002 at the Hugo Awards, Nebula Awards, Locus, as well as Bram Stoker awards – this is a proper GOOD book. Even if I thought the sex scenes served no purpose other than narrative punctuation, but I digress.

Fast forward almost 7 years to the recent announcement by Neil Gaiman himself (and Deadline) that Fremantle Media (North America division) have acquired the rights to adapt this story into a television series. More good news, Escapist Magazine reports that Gaiman will also serve as executive producer on the show. Perhaps Fremantle will have more success bringing this project to fruition than HBO did. For fans of Gaiman’s Anansi Boys, that one’s rights have been snapped up by RED who plan to make a TV mini-series of it for the BBC. And if and when they come to a TV screen near me, I’ll be a-watchin’! 

Photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gods 

Biffy Clyro - The Commodore Ballroom - Saturday, February 8, 2014


This review was written for and first published by www.concertaddicts.com. You can read the review on their website by following this link. Photos, including the one below, are by Jamie Taylor.

The evening’s opening act, Morning Parade, began promptly at half past 9. This was their first time in Vancouver (it was a chilly February evening, but at least it was dry out). The first song was introduced as Headlights and I rather liked it. Their sound has a nice mix of guitar-centric structure with an appreciation for the change in dynamics keyboards can bring to the equation. They are a 5-piece of 2 guitarists, bass, drums, and a keyboardist who also mans the MacBook. They are in the pop/rock vein for sure – not terribly unique in their brand of music, but they do a good job all around. Further, their songs are listenable, danceable, and songs like Headlines are definitely remixable for the club scene. The participation of the crowd waned the further away you got from the stage, but Morning Parade garnered good applause after every song, and I saw many a foot tapping or a head nodding along to the band’s nine-song, 40-minute set. I liked how dynamic the bass line was in Sharing Cigarettes. After about 7 songs, they seemed to properly get going, and it was Under the Stars that seemed to do it. It was introduced as their first ever single, which, quite frankly, sounded impressive and was accompanied by a light show and electronica beats. If that’s what they were doing in 2011, no wonder they got signed. All told, well done for them – they looked very comfortable performing and at the microphone. What surprised me was where they were from: Essex. I’ve heard a fair bit of Essex in my time, and if you’ve ever heard Alan Davies, Jessie J, Russell Tovey, Russell Brand talk, so have you. Talk about getting out – you’re well on your way.

And then we have ‘the Biffy’. The whistles really started to get loud at about quarter to 11, as did the Sister Sledge song We are Family. Showtime! I knew this was the song Biffy Clyro comes on stage to, there was more of it than I would’ve thought (about ¾ of it) before the band were on the stage and at their instruments. The first song was Different People, the lead-off track on the CD currently being toured, Opposites, one of my personal favourite releases of 2013. Biffy Clyro make it visually easy for the newbies: they are a three-piece and perform shirtless, but tour as a four-piece (those extra guitars have to come from somewhere, and they come from the only person with clothing on his upper body). The song was fully rocked out, amped up, and perhaps a fraction faster. By contrast, a bearded Simon Neil’s vocals sounded almost identical to the studio version, not strained, even gentle at times. That all was contrasted with a furious rendition, and lyrically virtually unintelligible, of That Golden Rule which followed. I was amazed at the speed and hard rock edge of the guitars on this one, seriously would not have been out of place at a Pantera show. After the bridge when songs tend to wind down, Biffy Clyro naturally, provide a proper headbanger and jump-tastic finish right through to the end. For Who’s Got A Match the audience sings along full voice to the chorus.

Sounds like Balloons, one of my favourite songs from Opposites came next –the additional power and energy of a live performance made this song come alive, and it was kind of awesome, I’d say. Biblical was next and it was another one the audience really enjoyed – arms were raised high, swinging side-to-side for the anthemic whoa-oh-ohs. As ‘magical’ and ‘wonderful’ as any fan might have wished.

God & Satan was introduced next, with perhaps a Machiavellian flavour to it. The crowd loved it and sang along from the beginning until around the second verse or so when the instrumentation kicked things up a bit and the audience shifted focus. I didn’t know the next song, turns out it was Glitter and Trauma from the 2004 release Infinity Land and I loved the time changes in this one as well as the changes in dynamics. The screeching at the end, not so much, but that’s just my preference. Bubbles gave the audience a great opportunity to jump along to. In a way, this one epitomises the Biffy Clyro style and structure of music in my eyes (well, ears, actually), as they tend to not do ‘predictable’. I really enjoyed the syncopation into the end of the song and afterwards, the band received the loudest applause of the night (so far).
 
Spanish Riddle – ah, the impossible time signature. I cannot figure it out and it’s just another reason to love it. I’m also pretty sure the audience would agree with me. The screeching in the repeated chorus, again, not my favourite, but there the audience would likely disagree.

The Rain – a gorgeous song, performed acoustically, which, in Vancouver terms means people talk, a lot, and loudly. There was a bit of rhythmic clapping from the fans near the front, but not enough to drown out the chatter all around me. This lack of respect always irks me, and I’m sure this is not the last time I’ll have to mention it. So what if it’s not a loud song with searing riffs? There’s still an artist you supposedly like up there, so why not extend him/them the courtesy of shutting up so you can get your money’s worth on a show?

Living is a Problem because Everything Dies – has a lovely piano keyboard intro and then spotlights were timed to the percussion and guitar staccato notes. A great way to give the audience more of a show. I couldn’t make out much of the lyrics but rhythmically and instrumentally, this was a truly great song. Fake ending – probably a full 5-second rest before the song picked up again but it was 57 instead – a very hard rock intro, quieter verses, full on, alt-rock chorus. To some degree, it has echoes of a Nirvana flavour. And the screams of appreciation afterwards lasted longer than the applause did.

Many of Horror has a special place in my heart. This was the first song I ever heard by Biffy Clyro, before I knew who they were or anything, but they already had me. As they had the audience; the first time the chorus came around, they sang it solo, and the band ‘helped out’ on the others. The arms were up were the non-verbal oh-oh-ohs. I couldn’t help getting the sense of an ending as the song ended, but the band weren’t done yet. Modern Magic Formula proved that – as energetic and with breakneck speed as if they hadn’t already been on stage for the better part of an hour. Singer, guitarist, chief songwriter Simon Neil told the audience that it had been 5 weeks since their last performance, one of the longest performance breaks they’ve had and offered a quasi-disclaimer: “Sorry if we’re shit. If not, you’re welcome.”

Time for Black Chandelier. This was completely in line with the rock-focus of the majority of the set. At this point, they must’ve not had a choice because Neil’s voice was starting to show the odd crack, but he made the most of consonants, over-enunciating a number of them over the course of the song - relaxxx.  

For people who only know Black Chandelier, this show must have been a bit of a shock. If they’d bought Opposites, they would’ve gotten an inkling as to how more into the rock genre, proper hard rock, this band can get. I would estimate the first 1/3 to first ½ of the floor were there for the full Biffy Clyro experience. In volume alone, they beat the average 4-piece by a great many decibels and stylistically they provide a bit of a mind-opening experience because they can only be defined and pigeonholed so much.

Right, enough with the gushing. Woo Woo had a few cases of feedback in the early part of the song. Some great syncopation and tempo changes – a bit Tool-like, in a way. It’s short when compared to other songs this evening, but the audience was very appreciative. It was the same with The Captain – fist punches for the woohs and loud singing along for the chorus. Actually, there was a lot of singing along, full stop. Nice hard rock finish, triple forte on the power chords, and the band left the stage while the amps were still processing the reverb at just gone midnight.

The assembled didn’t have long to wait, Biffy Clyro were back within 2 minutes or so and the first song of the encore was Opposite. It was virtually identical to the album cut, and it was more than perfect. If you want devastating lyrics, you don’t have to look much further than this song. To bring an end to any potential sadness, Stingin’ Belle was next and I really miss the bagpipes for this one. One of the guitars did play the part so it wasn’t absent altogether. However, during the parts that Simon Neil isn’t singing, I was blown away by how insane Ben Johnston’s drum part is for this song. He doesn’t generally have a low-key time of it, but for this one, the words tour de force definitely came to mind.

Before and after the final song, Mountain, Simon Neil extended his thanks to everyone for coming, very very very very very very much. He had said earlier that Vancouver was a special place for the band and that they always enjoyed their time here. It was only later that I figured out they had recorded Puzzle here in 2006. Despite any ironic dancing and the chatterboxes, I hope this was the kind of “welcome back” they were hoping for.

Sadly for the audience, after 20 songs, this hold-on-to-your-toques sonic barrage came to an end at just past quarter past midnight.

Setlist:
Different People
That Golden Rule
Who's Got a Match?
Sounds Like Balloons
Biblical
God & Satan
Glitter and Trauma
Bubbles
Spanish Radio
The Rain
Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies
57
Many of Horror
Modern Magic Formula
Black Chandelier
Woo Woo
The Captain


Encore:
Opposite
Stingin' Belle
Mountains

Launch of "Music Mondays" at 4YE: Monday, February 3, 2014

A collection of likeminded pop culture enthusiasts I 'met' through my association with Popwrapped.com have created what they hope will be a digital empire (well, not really, but they wouldn't mind success and recognition) in 4 Your Excitement (to be found at www.4YE.co.uk) and a few days after it launched, I contributed the piece below (which you can also find here).

Hello readers! Welcome to the inaugural Music Mondays! What I want to do with this column is introduce you to interesting stuff, or, if it’s already familiar, perhaps explore something new with it, whether it’s an album, a video, or a stand-alone song.

For my first contribution, I thought the video to "We’re All In This Together" by Sam Roberts Band would be a cool selection. First the song: I LOVE the guitar part that Montreal’s Sam Roberts put together for this. Sonically, the way that wonderful riff just dances is memorable. It’s the earworm part of the song that stays with you long after the song has ended. Since it was released in October of 2013, it’s gained some decent traction on modern rock/pop music stations.

For the video, the band did something more, or rather, something less – and it’s so much more than a performance video in my eyes, because it gives the viewer and music fan more of an insight into the recording process; by making it ‘homestyle’ (and if your screen is big enough), you get a sense of being not just front and centre, but also in the thick of things during a band meeting. It’s intimate and it’s a little educational as well: you get some of the instrumentals isolated for a spell, plus, you hear the tracks as the engineer does  – but only for the first half. After the bridge the feel is much more trippy (as suggested by the band earlier in the video) and you get more of a sense that it’s a produced performance video, rather than the off-the-cuff, fly-on-the-wall quasi-documentary performance we started out with.

On a lyrical level, I completely identified with “tongue tied a fire inside, caught like a deer in the headlights.” We’ve all been there, right? It’s not just me? Thankfully, Sam’s got a solution “keep moving don't stop, keep moving just go, go, go.” Not away from it, but also not frozen in place, like a really bad case of stagefright when your mind goes completely blank. I interpret it as working through it, using your words, even if they make absolutely no sense. I need to remember that.

The song "We’re All In This Together" is the lead-off single for the upcoming CD Lo-Fantasy, to be released on Tuesday, February 11 domestically and internationally. It is the 5th studio album for the band, after 2011’s Collider.

Want to see what I've been talking about? Check out the video for yourself via the SamRobertsVEVO channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VojforS6qFM

Image from:
http://www.kt8merch.com/store/pages/22160/_PRE_ORDER_-_AUTOGRAPHED_Sam_Roberts_Band_-Lo_Fantasy-_Double_Gatefold_White_Vinyl_LP.htm