Nearly three years after our stint at the first installment of this series, the Rio Theatre (1660 E. Broadway at Commercial Drive) swings back into action with another night of East Van bands playing its stage, this time all providing soundtracks to silent film screenings behind them. All the major players are back from last time, plus more more more!
Instead of working in tandem with the magic of Dr. T as we did before, this time we’ll be doing music and foley for a black and white animated classic on the theme of responsible libation, which will this time be possible at the Rio! Your $10 (in advance from brownpapertickets, $12 at the door) doesn’t just get you these filmic interpretations from some of East Van’s most delightfully twisted musical minds, but also an electro-swing dance party at the end!
Depending on how things go, we may have to get together an expanded set to allow us to provide soundtrack to a whole film festival at some point! And speaking of how things went, congrats to the Lunchgroup Heavy Industries’ raising of over $1100 at last week’s fundraiser show.
Bonus! For your enjoyment, a picture-in-picture presentation of the Creaking Planks providing a soundtrack and foley effects for the 1928 Felix the Cat short Woos Whoopee, performed at this event to great acclaim.
In celebration of our Jaan Pehechaan Ho video breaking 15 thousand views (and the Heineken campaign fuelling its accidental virality showing no sign of slowing), here’s a low-fi video — an animated .GIF made out of snapshots virtuous band photographer Jonathan Dytook of usthe same night as that viral video was made, three-quarters of a year ago. We have listened to the masses, tightened up our arrangement, and even learned the words to the second verse! There’s a round of recording coming up and this tune is definitely on our hit list.
(Haven’t you always wanted to have a little band in your desk, to take out and put on the shelf to caper and cavort for your amusement at the drop of a hat? I’m of half a mind to violate every design tenet on the book () and put this little animation on the top of our website, for viewers to enjoy on every page.)
Two items of further note: we missed telling you about a gig we played Tues, Jan 31st, fundraising for the Federation for the Organization of Open Desire at the Little Mountain Gallery (where we’ll be back Thurs March 1st presenting you a re-match with Portland’s Underscore Orkestra — but I get ahead of myself) and this Saturday night, Feb 18th, we’ll be joining Blackberry Wood at the Big Blue House again for another jam-packed album fundraiser show there, shuffled among such luminaries as Geoff Berner, Carolyn Mark, and the Orkestar Slivovica. Just keep your ears open as you walk along Salisbury Street, there’s no way you’ll miss it.
In some form or another, East Vancouver has been seeing on-and-off Orange Parties (vs. mere lower-case orange parties) since approximately 1990, celebrating supreme orangitude by convening in orange buildings, wearing orange clothes, eating orange food, drinking orange drinks, swimming in orange hot tubs and listening to orange music. The Orange Art Society formed in 2002 and since then regular Orange Festivities have been well-known (”Why is everybody buying orange clothes this week?” asked Burcu, while those of us in the loop shared a wink) and loved among certain segments of East Van’s Burner community, with representation from key members of the Fool’s Society and frequently incorporating big noise from the Carnival Band.
This year, because life is too short to wear boring shoelaces, we are going to discover just how orange we can make our music. (We often play blue; the color wheel theory suggests that orange will be the opposite.)
As the party is taking place at a very orange private residence, it’s not clear how much further we can disclose regarding the proceedings, but as a consolation for the tragically un-orange, our performance the following night is open to all!
The third annual Accordion Noir fest is upon us again, a whole week of festivities already underway (click here for full details) and as with the previous twoyears, the Creaking Planks simply had to log an appearance celebrating the bountiful local supply of the wonderful squeezy weirdness whose virtues the Accordion Noir radio show / podcast extols weekly. Otherwise put:
This Friday night, we celebrate two of the greatest mechanical inventions of the 19th century: the accordion, brought to life in the hands of some of East Van’s most bombastic purveyors of dance music from the Balkans and points further out in left field, and the bicycle, rolled along Vancouver’s moist lanes and byways in defiance of the notion that the change of season has to bring with it a change in attitude.
Enjoy an earful of the sweet people-powered music that ruled over the pubs and campfires before steam power ruined everything, starting at 9 pm upstairs at the Grandview Legion Hall (2205 Commercial Drive) and running late into the night. Everyone can enjoy the show for the low price of $10, but helmet-clad Critical Mass riders pay only $8!
In keeping with our long association with the B:C:Clettes, we’re playing an outdoor set this lovely morning/noon in New Brighton Park (… “near the pool”) for the Ginger Ninjas’ traveling “Pleasant Revolution” Bicycle Music Festival. Our set should run roughly 11:30 am -12:15. A tentative schedule follows:
New Brighton Park
9:30-10:30 Yoga
10:40- 11:20 Cello Joe
11:30- 12:15 Creaking Planks
Crab Park
2:00-2:30 Aunts and Uncles
2:35-3:05 Stitch Craft
3:05-3:30 B:C:Clettes (Dance Performance)
Vancouver Museum
5:30-6:00 none
6:00-6:30 Bear Dyken
6:30-7:10 Ginger Ninjas
7:15-8:00 Orkestarslivovica
8:05-9:00 Little J
Edit! Well after the fact, we turned up in their video document of their trip! How nice to see the extended intro for “Numbers and Names” appreciated!
