Building somewhat from the somewhat meagre turnout the previous time we had representation on this showa year ago, Ryan Fletcher kindly invited us back and we now offer a wider selection of Planks for delightful infernal noisemaking from 8 through 8:30 pm, after which we give up the mic for a half-hour to Seva … then jump back in to the song circle from 9 through 9:30, with Sayde Davis Black, Sillken and Vanessa Silva. If you can’t catch the station on the air, you can try to stream its signal online!
Then we’ll be back in a week to play the Highland Pub Monday Feb 2nd… if we have it in us to scale Burnaby Mountain twice in one month! Phew!
Update: Blackbox, Rumblebucket and Cap’n Jack Spare-ribs made it up through the fog and snow and had a gas on the air… then, later, the episode was kindly made available to us. A groomed recording of the show (largely omitting the other guests) will shortly be made available in this very spot (and here it is)! Highlights of the show include:
43:09 Snazzy Portland (guess we shouldn’t have bothered with that kid-friendliness!)
Bonus! Our stalwart horn stepped in to join Sayde Davis Black for a tune, “Livin’ it Right” from 32:12-36:44! Also from 41:01-42:07 we improvise a tune to a public service announcement (a bit of flavour particular to this show) which is unlikely to turn up on any of our set lists despite its distinctive and unmistakable Plankian flavour. All that plus a pile of interviewish remarks and sorry wordplay. Makes you kind of wish you were there… and now, through the miracle of technology, you can be!
Winters in Vancouver can be a gloomy, dreary affair. Even when we’re not snowbound and strangled by insidious mists (as we have been for weeks, now!) one can go for days, weeks and, yea, even months without seeing the sun. This contributes to a depressing psychological condition known as SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is often treated with exposure to a full-spectrum daylight lamp. Another treatment recommended by holistic and alternative health practitioners is exposure to AWESOME FACE. AWESOME FACE? AWESOME FACE is a local (or is that loco?) power performance poetry supergroup consisting of charismatic weirdoes par excellenceRC Weslowski, Brendan McLeod and Chris Gilpin (as Dr. WTF??) With a mandate as “the kids’ show for adults”, for their sophomore engagement at 9 pm this Friday they have boldly proclaimed a goal of nothing less than combating SAD. Poet Sasha Langford demonstrates:
Their method of engaging SAD is to throw a beach party at Cafe Deux Soleils (2096 Commercial Drive). As such, the wearing of beachwear is encouraged, and will reduce admission from $8 to $5. Sasha demonstrates further:
To further audience involvement, AWESOME FACE have solicited contributions from their fans as lyrics for a new song, to be performed at this event, describing Jet Li kicking SAD’s ass (egregiously) at the beach. Similarly, the Planks, who are opening for this crew of well-intentioned miscreants, and whose greatest talent is inverting a song’s emotional content, aim to rustle up some lines from our fans also. The trademark macabre CP rendition of summer camp classic “Down By The Bay” debuted at Blackbox’s first performance as a Plank, at Miserylovescompany2: A night of sad songs at the old Blim April 23rd, 2005… and has only been performed likely once since (at that year’s Horace Phair celebration in Portland.) But in honour of the occasion we are digging deep into the vaults and pulling out an array of splendid tunes to relish in our love/hate relationship with SAD. If you could put on your thinking cap and send us your best faux-grim couplet for Down By The Bay (a sample from Lord Eel: “Have you ever seen a corpse / stabbed with ten thousand forks?”) we would find it most useful.
Also joining us will be a display of the ever-boggling talents of legerdemain and mentalism from the Planks’ steel guitarist, Dr. Steelhand.
Last night, however well-received, was just a warm-up. Friday night we plan to pull out everything we proudly displayed and more, with two full courses of Plankification sandwiching a very rare set by the host of the Thursday night open mic at the Little Mountain Neighborhood House, Rick Keating. The man strums, he stomps, he puts up a godawful fuss. And we love the bastard for it. It’s like a primer in Folk 101, skipping right past the student exercises and landing directly in a master class where they have learned to tune their instruments and stop whining. Doors at 8, and we should be cooking by 9… by pass-the-hat donation, at Café Montmartre (4362 Main Street at 28th).
(Thanks to Leah Nilson for taking the photo at the bottom so long ago that has now ended up on two posters!)
Update: a Plank rump (sax, fiddle + squeezebox) drummed up business a bit the night before with appearances at the Little Mountain Neighborhood House open mic and a surprise revival of the Hidden Agenda series at the Little Mountain Studios, a benefit for Sweetie Pie Press. Aren’t their wares swell?
The Jug Band of the Damned revisits Main Street’s little slice of Paris, Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main at 28th) courtesy once again of the western swingingest flower in the whole dagblamed garden, Petunia, sandwiching us between two sets of him playing with a small combo and featuring scattered smatterings from Al Mader, the Minimalist Jug Band — the visionary behind “Lousy Lover” and “Dead Man’s Pants”. Not to be missed!
We’ll be back there later in the week with Rick Keating, so stay tuned!
