Broken Social Scene @ Malkin Bowl -- 09/24/11

Bittersweet. That's really the best way to describe what happened. With the recent announcement of their impending hiatus, it turned out that Broken Social Scene's show at Malkin Bowl would be their last Canadian date for the foreseeable future.
I was glad it was going to be at the Malkin Bowl, in the middle of Stanley Park, surrounded by trees, as it is one of my favourite venues to see a live show in, and some of my favourite concerts had taken place there.

But first, Ra Ra Riot was out to open the show. With over a half dozen members on stage -- including a cello and violin -- they had a pretty upbeat and infectious indie-pop sound to them and a really lively stage presence. The crowd was still filtering in while they were playing, but they had amassed a sizable crowd of people clapping along. "Boy" -- one of the few songs in their set I recognized -- which especially catchy. They were definitely a good fit for the opening slot and I wouldn't mind catching them again next time they're through town.

Not long after the stage filled with the familiar faces of Drew, Canning, Spearin, Peroff, Whiteman, Lobsinger and a few others as Broken Social Scene came out. The stage was prepped for rain (which held off), so everything was set up several feet back from the front, but they made use of the empty space with multiple members walking up to sing or shred throughout the set.
They kicked it off with "Cause = Time", for a set that was an hour and a half long, and included a pretty even mix of songs from You Forgot It In People, their self-titled and the most recent Forgiveness Rock Record. There was also a really cool cover of Modest Mouse's "The World At Large" thrown in, and an amusing moment where Drew joked about an actual YMCA, which caused Canning to start an inevitable crowd singalong to the first bit of The Village People.
They were at the top the their game, and though I have seen them a few times now, it was probably the best show I've seen them play. Other highlights were two of my favourite BSS songs, the gorgeous "Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" that had many people singing along, followed by the incredible instrumental "Meet Me In The Basement", featuring dueling guitar riffs and intense drumming. They "ended" the set, perhaps appropriately enough, with "KC Accidental", but they were back out after mere moments, saying they had time for just one more, before launching into the absolute perfect way to end things, "It's All Gonna Break". An amazing ten minute jam that built to an intense and epic ending, with horns and each member hoisting their instrument (mostly guitars) into the air for an amazing sight.

When they ended the main set, Drew gave props to each member on stage, giving a heartfelt send off to the band, and proclaiming: "We're Broken Social Scene, please don't forget us"

As if we could.

setlist
Cause = Time; Texico Bitches; 7/4 Shoreline; Stars & Sons; All to All; Fire Eye'd Boy; The World At Large [Modest Mouse cover]; Fuzz*; Sweetest Kill; Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day); Major Label Debut; Looks Just Like The Sun; Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl; Meet Me In The Basement; KC Accidental. 
[encore] It's All Gonna Break


*It said Fuzz on the setlist, but it appeared to be "Late Nineties Bedroom Rock For The Missionaries", with some lyrics from Kevin Drew's "Gang Bang Suicide", that segued into "Shampoo Suicide"

Sam Roberts Band w/ Jets Overhead @ Malkin Bowl -- 05/28/11

It has been far too long since three things happened: I've seen Jets Overhead live, I've seen Sam Roberts Band live, and I've seen a show at Malkin Bowl. And it was a gorgeous day to combine these three things last night. Fun fact*: The first time I saw Sam Roberts Band was also the first time I saw Jets Overhead. They were opening on a bill that was Jets, The Stills, Broken Social Scene, and SRB.
*fact not guaranteed to be fun.

Due to some aggravation with parking -- namely, waiting in line for 15 minutes to pay -- I missed the first song or two of Jets Overhead, running up to the park with "No Nations" in the distance.
They were on top of their game in the shining sun, with their infection melodies and catchy harmonies. They played mostly off their last full length, No Nations, but also had a few off Bridges and the newest EP, Bystander. The title track from the EP was definitely one of the highlights, with its soaring vocals, as well as a stripped down and acoustic-y "Where Did You Go?" and the simmering "Fully Shed". And the set came to a dynamic ending with the almost seven minute "Tired of the Comfort", building to an intense climax. And an awesome rock-star-jumping-scissor-kick from Adam.
They mentioned in the set recording a new album, which I am definitely looking forward to.

Setlist (may be a bit off at the beginning)
No Nations, Fully Shed, Seems So Far, Sure Sign, First Time, Where Did You Go, Bystander, I Should Be Born, Heading For Nowhere, Tired of the Comfort.

And then hitting the stage promptly at 8:15 (it was an early show) was Sam Roberts Band. They kicked off with "I Feel You", the lead single off the first album, psyching everyone up right off the bat. From there they played what ended up being a nearly two hour set with songs from all over their catalogue. The whole band had a great energy, especially Sam, but especially guitarist Dave Nugent, who couldn't seem to be still for more than a minute. They definitely had the crowd engaged from the very beginning, too, with lots of singing along, especially to the older hits like "Hard Road", "Where Have All The Good People Gone?" and "Brother Down"; the latter two had Sam hold the mic out for the crowd to sing parts of the chorus.
Most of the set was focused on the faster songs, but there were a couple moments where he slowed it down, like "Lions of the Kalahari", and he swapped for an acoustic guitar a few times, most notably for "Bridge to Nowhere". And while some of the newer stuff didn't quite pop as much as the older, there were still some great moments, like the pounding rhythms and rock sax of "Let It In" and the heartbreaking "Partition Blues". The sun was setting just as he finished the main set with "The Last Crusade" off the new album, but they were, of course, back out for a few more hits, ending the encore with "Them Kids", sending everyone into a frenzy.
At this point I was satisfied, if a little disappointed they didn't play my favourite song, "Mind Flood". But then, my worries were for naught as they hit the stage one more time and launched into its ten minute glory of swirling, psychedelic guitars for an incredible end to an already great show.

Not surprisingly, it was a fantastic show from a pair of bands that never fail to put on a great live show, in one of the cities best venues.

setlist
I Feel You, With A Bullet, Fixed to Ruin, Let It In, Lions of the Kalahari, Graveyard Shift, Hard Road, Up Sister, Partition Blues, Bridge to Nowhere, The Band vs The World, Where Have All The Good People Gone?, Without A Map, Brother Down, The Last Crusade.
(encore), Streets of Heaven (Promises, Promises), Detroit '67, Don't Walk Away Eileen, Them Kids.
(double encore) Mind Flood.

The Flaming Lips @ Malkin Bowl -- 09/26/10

Sometimes you see things. And in your head you build and you build, and it becomes something much more than it was. For me, this was the first time I saw The Flaming Lips back in 2007. It was one of the greatest live experiences I had ever, er, experienced. The minute I found out they were coming back, I knew I had to go; that nothing was going to stop me. But I was kind of worried that I had hyped it up in my head so much that nothing could compare, or that I would see it and it wouldn't live up to this standard I had placed in my head. Well, skip to the end: it lived up to it. And then some.
Before I go on, though, I have to ask what the hell happened to Malkin Bowl??? It used to be a large patch of pretty nice grass, but that night it was pretty much a big mud pit.

First up was Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. I got there just in time to hear them starting, and I was glad I made it to catch them. With a weird psychedelic sound that was part of Montreal, part classic rock, part acid trip, they rocked through a set of a little over 45 minutes. Near the end, they were joined by the Flaming Lips drummer, for a few songs of dual drum kits going.Though there was not much, if any, crowd interaction, just song leading into song, and the odd comment or song title between the two. It was definitely an interesting set, and I would be interested to see them live again.

As they came to an end, the crew quickly worked to set up one of the most elaborate stages I've seen. But before the band even hit the stage, Wayne Coyne came out with a quick disclaimer, warning of the intense flashing light and telling us they took a chance setting up at the front of the stage, but it was set up so that if it did start to rain, they could quickly move everything back with little delay. Luckily, the rain held off for the show, so there was no need.
A few minutes later, it was time for The Flaming Lips. The show itself started with a woman on the big screen and the members being, er, birthed, coming out of a door in the screen. Wayne then stepped into his Space Bubble and ran/crawled through the crowd, before coming back to kick off the show with "Worm Mountain", with the confetti guns blasting and giant balloons being strewn throughout the crowd. There were also the usual dancers on both sides of the stage as well as other hijinks throughout the set, but good theatrics does not a great show make. Musically, they are unparalleled; you can tell they have been around for years and still absolutely love what they're doing. The focus was on the new album, with a usual assortment of their bigger hits, and every song was fantastic. From the absolute intensity of "Evil" to the fun singing along of "She Don't Use Jelly" everything sounded just perfect in the beautiful venue. There was crowd participation with "I Can Be A Frog", with everyone acting out the animal/thing mentioned in the chorus, followed by "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" which had damn near every single person in the packed bowl singing along.
Other shenanigans included someone in a bear suit running out during "Silver Trembling Hands" and Coyne got on its shoulders to sing; Coyne putting on the giant hands -- which shot lasers out of the palms into the giant disco balls, and also into the crowd; and for "Sagittarius Silver Announcement" all the lights being turned off for the song to be performed in complete darkness.
After they "ended" the set, the came back for just one more: "Do You Realize??" which, again, saw the entire park singing along, as well as more massive blasts of confetti. It's hard to describe in text, but it was an incredibly uplifting experience that I doubt will ever be matched by another band.
They ended promptly at 10, which was the curfew for the park, but people were still clamouring for more, to the point where Wayne had to come out and tell the remaining people, on his bullhorn, that they were not able to do any more, due to the curfew, apologizing and thanking everyone profusely for coming. It was a nice touch, to show that he wasn't ignoring the cheers, but literally was not able to play more.

There was a few songs that I wish they had played... "Race for the Prize" and "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" being two examples, but they were more than enough amazing moments in the show to "make up" for it. It's hard to put into words the feeling that you get after seeing The Flaming Lips play live... you feel happy and uplifted and like you can take on the world. Very few other bands have had even close to the effect that The Flaming Lips have on me, and I will go to my death bed insisting that everyone see them at least once live. Fan of them or not, there is no other live show like it.

Franz Ferdinand @ Malkin Bowl -- 09/06/09

Well, it was bound to happen. Almost every time I've seen a show at Malkin Bowl it has threatened to rain, and every time I have used my vast powers to make sure it doesn't. Until last night. It had been raining on and off all day, and when we finally got to the park, it was still lightly drizzling and ended up raining to varying degrees the whole show. Though it was a warm rain, luckily, so it wasn't unpleasant or cold or uncomfortable, just a little wet. (It's still good, it's still good).

The opening back, Defektors (the 'k' makes them edgy), hit the stage around 7, and they were... well, let's just say their song was not horrible, but the decision to play it over and over for their whole set -- which, mercifully, only lasted about 25 minutes -- was questionable. They mumbled through the introductions, claiming each iteration of the song had a different name, and stood around kinda awkward while playing, with little to no stage presence. It's not like they were terrible by any means, but I have already forgotten their set and all their songs.

I am pretty sure that the show was accelerated a little, due to the rain (which was a light drizzle at that point), as it was 8 when Franz Ferdinand came out and launched right into No You Girls. They paused after the first song to say hellos and Alex Kapranos thanked us all for waiting in the rain, informing us how awesome we are. Of course, since he mentioned it, as soon as they started the next song, Dark Of The Matinée, it started absolutely pouring. This stopped no one, however, from enjoying the show as Franz's insane energy kept everyone moving. A few times, mostly during the instrumental bits and solos, Alex and/or Nick would even venture out into the front part of the stage, uncovered and soaking wet, to play a little in the rain. They played a pretty good mix of songs from all three albums, with an obvious focus on the newest. A lot of the older songs, though, had a few changes or updates thrown in, mostly just some extra flourishes, or a solo here or there. Nothing to make the songs unrecognizable, but just so they don't go "stale".
After a few more songs -- Bite Hard being notable, as it is incredible live -- Alex introduced everyone while leading into This Fire, an amusing song to hear in the pouring rain, especially with everyone shouting the chorus. What You Came For was followed by their first and probably still biggest hit, Take Me Out (a sly jab, perhaps?) which had everyone singing/yelling along to the chorus. The main set ended with the combination of the last songs from the first two albums. 40', which had an amazing instrumental interlude and Alex doing a call & answer with the crowd for the La La La-La's, and Outsiders, which is always incredible to see this song live, as it ends with all four members of the band going batshit insane on the drumkit.
As the rain finally eased up, they came back out for the encore, keeping up the insane energy with a few older songs. They capped off the whole night with Lucid Dreams, which was the song I had most hoped they would play. The song itself was more like the single version than the album version, which had me a little anxious, but those fears were quashed when they did indeed go into the second half of the song, from the album version. Stretched out to about 10 minutes, the synthy-dance-funk-o-tron ending, which sounds more like Death From Above 1979-lite or Holy Fuck than anything Franz has done before, was mind blowing and a near perfect way to end the show. As the sing came to a close, each member departed the stage one by one, starting with Alex, then Nick (leaving a synthy-loop going), then Bob, leaving drummer Paul all alone (with said loop) to go insane on the drums and bring the song to an epic finale. They came out one final time to the very front of the stage for a bow and that was that. At 9:30, no less!

Each time I have seen them live, they just keep getting more and more mindblowingly awesome. Maybe they venues have been getting progressively better (Colloseum to Commodore to Malkin Bowl) and maybe it's cos last time they played was before the new album, but even despite the weather, it was one amazing show. The only way it could have been better is if they had played Katherine Kiss Me, but since that is a very mellow and almost acoustic-y song, I can understand why they didn't... but it still would have made for a really cool closing song, like a kind of dénouement after the insanity of Lucid Dreams.



The setlist was as follows:
No You Girls, Dark of the Matinée, Walk Away, Bite Hard, Tell Her Tonight, Do You Wanna?, This Fire, What You Came For, Take Me Out, Ulysses, 40', Outsiders.
(encore) Michael, Turn It On, Darts of Pleasure, Lucid Dreams.

I got a question for ya, i got a question for ya...

Franz Ferdinand
Sunday, September 6 Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park
Gates 6pm Show 7pm
Tickets are on sale Friday, June 26 at 10am PST and are $39.50 plus service charges

Exciting news! Last time I saw them, at the commodore, they put on a superb show, and malkin bowl is a beautiful venue. I am quite excited.

Update: Or, instead of purchasing tickets, I could win them. The Peak is awesome. As are my phone dialing skills.