Dancing In Our Debt: Search Parties, Aaron Read, the Rub, Kellarissa & Rose Melbourg, Bible Belts

I went to Dancing In Our Debt at the Vancity near city hall last night. I won't get into too much detail as I suspect I will be reviewing it for Discorder next month. However to organize my thoughts for the review I will give you a brief note form rundown:
-better than the first one
-Rose Melberg and Kellarissa's duets were awesome, they did a cover from Nashville.
-speaking of cover's how about Bible Belts cover of "Superman" by the Crash Test Dummies. Also good.
-didn't hear Aaron Read at all because I didn't know he was playing. That bank is surprisingly soundproof.
-"There's no reason we can't do this stuff in Vancouver." —Harlan Shore from Search Parties

Kudos to VIVO and Signal & Noise for supporting the event.

Search Parties, probably Golden Touch, Marcus Naslund @ the Showboat

Went down and caught most of this show before heading on. Search Parties were as good as when I'd last seen them. Epic with a dash of punk. Kids dig it, and I do mean kids. Standing above the show a girl asked me what school I went to and I told her I was graduated, but reflexively asked what school she went to expecting her to say UBC, Cap College, Emily Carr, etc. Only to get Such-in-such Secondary, Grade 10 as an answer. I felt old.

Search Parties are young, so it should not be surprising that they attract a young crowd. Lead singer Harlan Shore said he might be taking off for the summer and possibly next year so catch this band while you still can they're worth the effort.

The room they were playing in was narrow and it was a little hard to see the band though they sounded fine even if the acoustics of the event were an amp bouncing off cement. Openers were in short supply, B-Lines cancelled after the threat of rain almost stopped the night from happening, which is unfortunate I still haven't seen that band. Didn't see Dead Ghosts around though they may have played after Search Parties. Openers ended up being the surprise act Marcus Naslund (the band not the hockey player) and a band that was Marcus Naslund with a different drummer. I'm pretty sure this was Golden Touch, but don't quote me. These two bands sounded pretty similar, unsurprising given the similarities in their lineup. Both very fun in a pop-punky way, they could play their instruments well and everyone was into it, which was more than enough.

Photo of Search Parties courtesy of Gerald Deo.

Skinny Monday: No Gold, Azeda Booth and Search Parties at the Biltmore

I love No Gold. I have a problem when I'm seeing them, though. I always get drunk and forget to take notes even though I know I'm planning on writing about it.

Anyhow No Gold headlined at Skinny Mondays at the Biltmore. The three-piece is always rad live. I've never seen them and not enjoyed myself even though their sound is a little loose. I'm told one of their bigger influences is Fela Kuti and it shows in the polyrhythmic jammy stuff they put out on the bass, guitar and drums set-up they have. Their music is a sunny day. I'd love to see them outside on a warm night at some point which I think would be the perfect venue for them. I spoke to Liam Butler (bass/vocals) after the set and they apparently have a 7" and an album in the works for release before the end of the summer.

Azeda Booth from Calgary played second. I was disappointed and annoyed. They reminded me of Why? musically, but without the talented frontman Yoni Wolf. So bad Why?. They had an IDM/trip-pop sound with a vocalist whose high voice and stage presence grated on my nerves.

What I was very pleasantly surprised by was Search Parties who I've seen a couple times before, but this night they were playing entirely new material and it was all great. The group seems bigger (both in members and musically) every time I see them, I think they've reached six members not counting the young ladies they had painting in front of their stage as part of the performance. Harlan Shore, the young front man for the band, seems constantly busy (he organizes Dancing in our Debt and the band seems to play constant shows). He was displaying a punk vocal style that hadn't showcased as well in previous more acoustic appearances. The kid can sing, but he can also scream with the best of them. Their new music was well-written with a feeling of epic grandiosity that reminded me of the stars of post-rock or U2. That sounds pretentious, but I don't mean their music sounded pretentious, just that it sounded... important. (I sound pretentious writing phrases like that.)

Search Parties are keeping busy playing shows on April 11, 17, 24 and May 2. Check their Myspace for details. No Gold are playing on April 16 and May 2. (details)

Photo of Harlan Shore from Search Parties courtesy of and by Steve Louie.