Located beneath the SkyTrain tracks at Victoria and Hull, the Cedar Cottage Community Gardens are having a Spring festival, and we are playing at it sometime after 2 pm. From noon on, they’ll be giving tours of the garden site, discussing its past and future, as well as offering garden membership and plots and participation in a fundraising 50/50 draw. The Environmental Youth Alliance will be offering basic gardening workshops at half past the hour, and there will also be food plants for sale: “lettuce, spinach, scallions, beans, beets, peppers, basil, soybeans, carrots, peas, sunflowers, many varieties tomatoes, gooseberries, dill, cilantro, broccoli, strawberry, raspberry canes, borage, yarrow, and more.”

As well as drumming from Cease Wyss, the festivities will include a garden-themed poetry contest, rewarding those who can best handle subjects randomly drawn out of a hat.

It’s an improbable and, quite frankly, somewhat foolish weeknight twofer from the Creaking Planks… but with this many good causes at classy venues, who are we to turn down the invitations to make our unmistakable mark?  Starting the night, The Neighbours Organic Weekly Co-operative (NOWBC) hosts a benefit for the CityReach Care Society’s “Food for Families” project.  As well as a potluck dinner and fabulous prizes, the evening presents a slate of performers (kid-friendly up ’til 7:30 pm):

• 6 p.m. D’Arcy Stainton, children’s performer
• 6:45 Lily Jo
• 7:00 Melodious Mandolins
• 7:45 Friends of Thieves
• 8:30 Creaking Planks
• 9:15 Yer Blues

and here’s its poster!

But by the end of that line-up, we’ll already have shuffled up Main Street to help celebrate the launch of One Cool Word magazine’s 13th issue (you remember, they presented our pal Bob Uker back in issue #5 in Spring 2007) at the Biltmore Cabaret (395 Kingsway)! (keep an ear open for the rendition of Dead Man’s Pants from our demo on the accompanying CD!) Here are the rough plans for THAT night…

• 9:30 The Contemporary Lovers
• 10:20 Creaking Planks
• 11:10 Analog Bell Service
• 12:00 Fur Bearing Animals

plus …and special guest models from Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School!

And here’s its poster!

Update! April Smith of AHA Media (backing up Rob “The Delete Bin” Jones’ report for Miss 604 — whew, what a tangled web! — where we are described as “jug band music as played by Tom Waits’ feral stepchildren”) caught us out at the Biltmore and posted a couple of videos of us on YouTube (as well as a schwack of photos from the whole evening on Flickr)!

Here we are performing Creep…

… and here’s our Psycho Killer! The classics always have something new to offer upon revisitation.

Following our bombastic April Ship of Fools variety show, Ali has seen fit, in his ultimate wisdom, to turn the Montmartre stage (4362 Main Street) over to us for another Saturday night filled with much merriment and musical mayhem. Joining us tonight for a tasty set in the middle is our pal Petunia!