2008-01-23: The Creaking Planks meet AWESOME FACE

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 excellence RC 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.

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And here we were!