Virgin Fest and Lightning – Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park

Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park is one of the best sites around for outdoor shows with its rolling green hills and a main stage that backs on to water. So the setting for Day One of the Virgin Fest was postcard perfect until sometime around 7 p.m. when black clouds rolled in, tropical rain spilled forth and lightning clapped around the entire park which meant Brody Dalle’s band Spinnerette had to cut its set short and the festival was done for the evening. Security rushed the mostly shirtless and drunk crowd out while lightning struck dangerously close (we felt the electric heat on our faces from one strike as we were walking to my car). Mike Usinger’s Georgia Straight review is here.

Main photo: Spinnerette. Sidebar photos: Broken Social Scene. Below photos: Plants and Animals, Mute Math and light strike.

 

Richard’s on Richards: Last Night Standing

If Richard’s on Richards closed out with Five Alarm Funk, hey – why not bring out the gorillas, too? Four gorillas invaded the dance floor with the smaller and most raggedy one shrieking and thrusting an Oxford English dictionary into everybody’s faces. He then ran up to the beer girl and stole two bottles and sprinted away, leaving his two gorilla-suited cohorts to face the beer girl’s wrath. It was evident that they felt bad as their shoulders slumped a little as their gorilla friend disappeared into the crowd but one of them eventually dug into the depths of his fur to pull out his wallet to pay up. The gorillas are all right!
The scenesters were few and far between on the last night (replaced instead with the dance/college/Delta crowd) but, aside from ticker tape whirling down from the ceiling during FAF’s last song, bar security took a page from the Town Pump’s closing time protocol (anybody remember Tony Seaver’s booming “OUT!!!!! NOW!!!!” the second the lights went on? You didn’t want to mess with that guy. Even though he was really a big softie.) and the place vacated in a hurry. And that was that.

Photographed is the beautiful Ms. Candy Ass from the upstairs bar at Richard’s on Richards.

 

Richard’s Gross Washroom

Since almost every story written about the closing of Richard’s mentioned the washrooms, I thought it would be worthwhile to venture past the washroom closed signs to take a photo of the one everybody remembers. And, boy, the place was even worse than I remembered. The air was toxic and the bubbled ceiling looked like it was moments away from bursting with a plague of watery mold and rats the size of chickens. My friend, Math Genius, whom I dragged in with me, got surprisingly angry: “And WHY did I have to see this?” she demanded through hands cupped over her mouth. Then, unbelievably, one of the doors to the stalls opened and a fellow walked out. He did look rather sheepish.

The last night of Richard’s on Richards was Sunday, June 19, 2009. Travis Lupick posted video of the evening on the Georgia Straight website.

 

No Doubt at the Town Pump (1994)

I’m posting this photo because Georgia Straight writers Adrian Mack saw EVERY punk band before punk was even invented and John Lucas lays claim to seeing No Doubt at the Warped Tour in 1995. But – ha! – I saw them at the Town Pump in 1994 on a Tuesday night when they played to a smattering of people. Sorry to brag. I just don’t get to do this very often when it comes to who saw what, first. The above photo is one of two frames before somebody belonging to the band’s management ran over and told me to stop.

Speaking of Vancouver’s old music venues, I took some photographs at Richard’s on Richards the last night (which happened to be last night, no less) it was open. Those will be posted soon.

 

No Doubt in Vancouver, BC

Shooting Gwen Stefani is always so much fun. The ripped 39-year-old (!!!) vocalist for No Doubt was a treat to photograph; lots of bright white lighting and not an ounce of camera-shyness. The nostalgia trip (it’s been five years since No Doubt has toured) included some live footage of when the band played at the Town Pump in the early 90s to all of 15 people or so (I was actually at that show and have a whopping two frames before their management guy told me to stop shooting. Guess he was on to something). Adrian Mack’s Georgia Straight review is here.

 

Bagged Out – See ya later, Lowepro

I’m finally retiring my trusty old media pass and blood-splattered shoulder bag. I’ve had my Lowepro Street and Field 300 series camera bag for at least 10 years and it won the contest between itself and my shoulder of what was going to give out first. When I started out shooting, I had no clue about the strains of carrying pounds and pounds of gear on one side of the body but neck and shoulder pain kicked in a few years back and made my chiropractor a wealthy man. Then, last week, I heard about a photographer friend who is going in for knee replacement surgery (most likely due to years of carrying gear) and I finally gave in and bought a Crumpler roller bag yesterday (which is actually pretty cool as it’s both a bag-on-wheels that converts into a knapsack). It’ll get its trial run when I shoot No Doubt tonight.

Anyway, if you shoot for a living, don’t try to be all He-Man about it.

 

Goodbye, Richard’s on Richards

It was one of the last of its era still standing but Richard’s on Richards has finally succumbed to Vancouver’s condo-friendly wrecking ball. The doors close for the last time Sunday night and the club with its excellent sight lines, horrible brick background and moudly and permanently soaking bathrooms will join the likes of the Starfish Room and others in live music venue heaven. The above photograph was one of the last shows I shot there for the Straight which was the insane night of Dan Deacon, April 26th.

The Georgia Straight has an online collection of memories here. Goodbye, Richard’s. You’ll be missed.

 

BIKE @ the Biltmore Cabaret

Headliners, BIKE, from Saturday’s show at the Biltmore. As you can gather from the photograph there was a lot of arm-flinging, hopping, and reedy mustache-wearing monkey business happening in the joint. Read Jennifer Charlesworth’s Georgia Straight review here.

 

Les Triplettes de Belleville – MOV

The Museum of Vancouver, in part to celebrate its ongoing Velo-City exhibition, brought in a movie screen to its back lawn and showed Les Triplettes De Belleville last night. The bicycle people showed up in droves and, against the city’s backdrop, it all made for a lovely evening. Yet another reminder of why this city rocks.

 

Main Street, car-free

Yesterday was my first day off in about 35,204 days (give or take) and while I had planned to sleep until at least 3 p.m., I didn’t. Rather, I decided to risk the storm clouds and head out on my bike for a jaunt around town.

First stop was Trout Lake, where the annual Alice in Wonderland tea party was. It was mobbed with millions of Alices and Mad Hatters and looky-loos, all in the setting-perfect of swampy grounds and Willow trees. That was fun for a bit but the best was heading over to Main with the intention of an art gallery happening. Didn’t get there in time but came across a car-free day just up from Broadway where people were on unicycles, bands were playing, and free clothes were being handed out (limit two pieces per customer) compliments of Temple of the Modern Girl (as photographed, featuring the lovely lady from local band Little Sister and the Time Machine).