Inside Vancouver

Vancouver rocks this Wednesday night with five bands from Japan

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on May 23, 2017

Yukueshirezutsurezure (YSTZ for short) is a little bit pop, a little bit hardcore/screamo.

Now in its 10th iteration, Next Music from Tokyo is a treat for music fans unlike any other. The semi-annual event is the passion project of Steven Tanaka, an anesthesiologist at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto. For each edition of NMfT, Tanaka brings some of the most exciting Japanese underground, indie-rock bands to Canada for exclusive showcases in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

It’s a mini-festival of bands that we most likely would never see otherwise outside of Japan or, perhaps, a major music festival like South by Southwest. Next Music from Tokyo vol. 10 features five acts at the Biltmore Cabaret (2755 Prince Edward St.) this Wednesday (May 24), at one incredible low price – only $14! The bands include a returning favourite, an all-girl quartet that mixes pop and hardcore/screamo, and a group that Tanaka says puts on “one of the craziest, LOUDEST and most awe-inspiring shows around.” Here are the bands.

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Vancouver rocks this Wednesday night with five bands from Japan

Fleetmac Wood this Thursday – check out their Top 5 Fleetwood Mac remixes!

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on April 11, 2017

Lisa Jelliffe and Alex Oxley of Fleetmac Wood. The DJs spin remixes of ’70s soft-rock hits and beyond this Thursday night at the Biltmore Cabaret. Ben Cope photo.

In honour of the return of Fleetmac Wood, the London-based remix project honouring Fleetwood Mac, the project’s Lisa Jelliffe has shared a list of Top 5 Fleetwood Mac remixes.

As one of the DJs behind Fleetmac Wood, Oxley has traveled the world, spinning the gospel of 1977’s Rumours and 1979’s Tusk to excited masses, many of whom are too young to recall a time when those albums were at the top of the charts.

Fleetmac Wood last touched down in Vancouver in the summer of 2016. The one-night celebration of all things Mac brings what it calls its Rumours Rave to the Biltmore Cabaret this Friday, April 13 (visit ticketfly.com for tickets – $12 in advance). If you ever spun around in a gossamer gown alone in a candle-lit room to the strains of “Rhiannon” – or if you’ve ever even just thought about it – you’ll want to be there. In the meantime, here are those five remixes, with comments by Jelliffe.

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Fleetmac Wood this Thursday – check out their Top 5 Fleetwood Mac remixes!

JFL NorthWest, Vancouver’s comedy festival profiles – Barry Crimmins

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on February 10, 2017

Barry Crimmins.

If any of the comedians coming to this year’s JFL NorthWest are in a position to talk about the current political situation in the U.S., it’s Barry Crimmins.

An activist as well as a stand-up comic, the Boston-raised Crimmins is known for his acerbic and trenchant take on politics. An acknowledged influence on comedians Marc Maron and Patton Oswalt, he’s been honing on the stand-up circuit since the 1970s.

In the 1990s, he led a crusade against child porn on the internet. More recently, his old friend from the Boston comedy circuit Bobcat Goldthwait directed a documentary about Crimmins called Call Me Lucky (2015). In it, Crimmins talks about his own history of sexual abuse, and of being raped at the age of four.

We talked to Crimmins, who plays the Biltmore Cabaret as part of JFL Northwest Feb. 23, about the current political situation, why Vancouver is his kind of town, and touring with musician Warren Zevon. Continue reading:
JFL NorthWest, Vancouver’s comedy festival profiles – Barry Crimmins

Japanese new music showcase goes girl-group crazy!

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on May 17, 2016

Gozen Sanji to Taikutsu is one of five Japanese bands playing the Biltmore Cabaret May 25 as part of Next Music From Tokyo Vol. 8.

There’s nothing quite like Next Music from Tokyo (NMFT). A tour that brings bands from Japan’s indie and underground music scene to Canadian audiences, NMFT is curated by a lone music fan – Toronto-based anesthesiologist Steven Tanaka. On his numerous trips to Japan throughout the year, Tanaka scouts out the best possible lineup to bring to Canadian audiences, often for the first – and, sometimes, only – time.

This latest volume (#8) features five bands, all but one making their Canadian debuts in a tour that includes four shows – two in Toronto, one in Montreal and a final night in Vancouver, on May 25. NMFT Vol. 8 include three female-fronted acts, including the return of what Tanaka calls “one of the greatest female bands of all time,” as well as an instrumental post-rock group and a dance-rock band, all for the low low price of $10. Find out more below.

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Japanese new music showcase goes girl-group crazy!

Broad City Trivia in Vancouver, April 19 at the Biltmore

by Inside Vancouver in Events on April 7, 2016

By: Jessica Linnay

Imagine you’re at dinner with Elijah Wood. People are saying that you’re so cute together. And all you get is dessert. No – you’re at an extravagant flea market with Mark Ruffalo. All you want is some wooden milk crates to line your office, maybe nursery one day. But you don’t say that to anybody. No! You’re at Biltmore Cabaret’s Broad City trivia night with all your best buds. Yas queen!

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Broad City Trivia in Vancouver, April 19 at the Biltmore

Justin Bieber and Adele tributes in Vancouver

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on February 5, 2016

British singer Adele gets her own tribute night at the Biltmore Cabaret in March.

Tribute nights have become a thing in Vancouver. In 2015, local musicians came together to celebrate the music of Taylor Swift, Bjork and Prince. In January, a Drake tribute brought out “an incredibly diverse lineup of Vancouver musicians.”

The tribute nights are proving so popular that there are more on the way for 2016. Two that have been recently announced are tributes to Stratford, Ontario bad boy Justin Bieber and the powerhouse British vocalist Adele.

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Justin Bieber and Adele tributes in Vancouver

Tonight – Drake tribute in Vancouver!

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on January 21, 2016

Drake at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts, July 27 2010. Jade Dempsey photo for thesnipenews.com.

Vancouver bands and musicians salute Canada’s biggest hip-hop star tonight (Jan. 21) at the Biltmore Cabaret.

Organizers are calling the evening Started from the Biltmore: Drake Tribute Night (after the Drake song “Started from the Bottom,” natch). Guests include Good For Grapes, Luca Fogale, Kaylee Johnston, BESTiE, Mark Mills, Sarah Jickling and her Good Bad Luck, The Valuables, SO LOKI, and On Planets.

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Tonight – Drake tribute in Vancouver!