The jug band of the damned (that’s us!) return again to the Grandview Legion (upstairs at 2205 Commercial Drive) for our annual appearance at the Accordion Noir Festival of all squeezings dark and gritty (this is their 5th annual! Yow, outta sight!) Hopefully this party will simmer only slightly under the fever pitch of our last AN Fest appearance there, and perhaps be a bit less explicit than our last visit to the Grandview Legion.
We’re joined by two other East Van all-star bands, High Society (who we’ve been waiting a year to play with) and the Flying Folk Army, recently reconvened after a 7-year hiatus, for what’s been described as “a night of bellows-driven foot-scooting and boogying”. So bring your dancing shoes and come prepared to cut a rug!
The jug band of the damned THE CREAKING PLANKS (ab)use old-timey instruments to pull modern pop music back in time, kicking and screaming, to a folksy bygone era with more dancing and less chin-stroking.
The soul groove of HIGH SOCIETY screams out joyful into the night and leaves you drenched in sweat and eager for more. Chelsea Johnson and Adam Farnsworth will be flipping coins to see who has to give up squeezing their heart out to give the other one a chance.
Because politics don’t have to be dull, the FLYING FOLK ARMY has come off of a 7-year hiatus to remind people why music that matters… matters! Alison Jenkins rocks the box here while her crack squad of rebel folkies display precision musical maneuvres.
This Friday night, the jug band of the damned hits the Grandview Legion (2205 Commercial) to lend some real dance music played on real instruments to the Revelry Society’s annual Pirate Party, a Critical Mass afterparty. Other acts include: “Timothy Wisdom, Lola Lush, DJ Wellsie, Scantily Clad Clowns’ EveKnevil, the Liana dancers, Oker, Bombus and a pirate peep show. Your MC of the evening will be the queen of the pirates Jessica peg leg Mansoon.”
Doors at 9 pm. Tickets are $15, or $10 in advance from Highlife Records or revelrysociety.org
The organizers stress: “Please, no ninjas.”
Also, an unrelated thanks to Bob and Elizabeth for having us play their wedding at the Peretz Centre on the 20th and showing us the length of their … commitment and affection! We’ve portrayed a Jewish wedding band twice on stage now but this was the first time it was for reals. The gags and clowning made us feel almost as if we had been magically transported to Chelm itself, and of course having drag kings and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada as side acts never hurts!
Another fantastic free Hallowe’en show for Critical Mass patrons ($10 for everyone else, still a steal at that price!) the Revelry Society reunites the Creaking Planks with the Balkan hurricane Mezamazing at the Grandview Legion (2205 Commercial Drive) from 9 pm ’til late for the 3rd annual Witches and Warlocks Masquerade Ball! Let’s see if we can sell out the house’s supply of drinks in the first 45 minutes again! The line-up also includes a set by the Funk Hunters and a DJ set from Nils Von Hahn of Beats Without Borders.
Spring’s coming up wonderfully strange all around! Building on past strengths, we’re celebrating the return of the sun on Easter Sunday with the return of our friendJason Webley, the mad genius behind the Monsters of Accordion tour, joining us and most of the merry minstrels of Maria in the Shower, again at the Grandview Legion Hall (2205 Commercial Drive) which we used to such good effect with them at last year’s Accordion Noir Festival. This show, also, is presented by the weekly Accordion Noir radio show / podcast — and what better way to celebrate the gritty, punky rebirth of accordion music also than with this over-the-moon lineup? Don’t worry about Monday morning the next day — that’s EASTER Monday you’re thinking of! After our show you can feel free to Morris dance and conduct pagan rites until you’re satisfied with your Maypole’s braid. And if your employer disagrees with us, uh, well then we’ll have to have some harsh words with him. (Or her. But bosses are, by definition, The Man.)
Tickets are a steal at $15, and we’d like to thank our friends at the Work Less Party for helping to make this show possible.
Proving we don’t have the market quite cornered on the goofy covers, here’s an old Jason Webley chestnut you most likely won’t be hearing at this occasion:
Witches, warlocks and other Hallowe’en creatures that bump in the night, lend me your ear(wig)s! Our night to celebrate the powers of light and (mostly) the dark is nigh upon us! The cursedly Creaking Planks will begin the evening, after which Little Woo will alter the fabric of the space-time continuum, transporting us to “The Silent Kingdom” with shades of puppets.
The heresy of the Blackberry Woods will lead us into a Bacchanalian trance of dance madness, and the wizard known only as Timothy Wisdom will weave enchantments of endless motion until the late hours. Potions will be drunk and demon’s gate spells will be cast.
The party rolls at the Grandview Legion Hall upstairs at 2205 Commercial Drive; admission is $10, or $8 if you arrive as part of Critical Mass. The carriages turn back into pumpkins at 2 am.
