Inside Vancouver

Duck defender dances her truth in Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster at this year’s PuSh Festival

by Shawn Conner in Events on January 11, 2018

Nicola Gunn tells the story of a woman, a man and a duck in Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster at the 2018 PuSh Festival. Sarah Walker photo.

One of the most talked-about presentations coming to this year’s PuSh Festival is Nicola Gunn’s Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster. In the Dance Centre co-presentation, the Melbourne-based performance artist dramatizes, through words and movement, a confrontation she had in a foreign country: upon seeing a man throw rocks at a duck protecting her eggs, Gunn intervened.

Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster runs Jan 17-19 at Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street). The PuSh Festival itself runs Jan 16-Feb 4. For more info and festival highlighs, check out our PuSh Festival 2018 preview post. Visit ticketstonight.com for tickets ($36).

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Duck defender dances her truth in Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster at this year’s PuSh Festival

Tickets for added Betroffenheit performance on sale 10 a.m. Dec. 8!

by Shawn Conner in Insider on December 7, 2017

Betroffenheit. Michael Slobodian photo.

Since its unveiling last year, the made-in-Vancouver dance piece Betroffenheit has met with universal acclaim.

Earlier this year, as part of its 2017/18, DanceHouse announced three more performances in March. All three have sold-out, and now the presenter has added a fourth show on March 14. Tickets for additional performance, at Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton St.) go on sale tomorrow, Friday Dec. 8, at 10 a.m.

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Tickets for added Betroffenheit performance on sale 10 a.m. Dec. 8!

Five acts to catch at this year’s Westward Music Festival

by Shawn Conner in Events on August 23, 2017

Toronto’s Charlotte Day Wilson is a buzzed-about artist coming to Vancouver for the Westward Music Festival.

Vancouver hasn’t had its own music multi-venue, multi-genre music festival since the late lamented Music West went under shortly around the turn of the century. (Music Waste has tried to fill the gap, but the event is focussed on local punk and underground acts.)

This year’s Westward Music Festival will attempt to fill that void. From Sept 14-17, the four-day event populates various venues with 15 live music events, including acts from all over North America. The shows all take place within a 2.5 km radius of one another at locations such as the Vogue Theatre (open to all ages), the Biltmore Cabaret, The Imperial Theatre and Fox Cabaret. (Note: sets originally scheduled for a two-day outdoor event at Red Truck Brewery have been moved to the Vogue and Venue.)

Headliners include Vince Staples, A Tribe Called Red, and Gov’t Mule. Here’s a look at five of the undercard players.

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Five acts to catch at this year’s Westward Music Festival

Legends of Vancouver rock – three must-see shows in May!

by Shawn Conner in Entertainment, Insider on May 9, 2017

Art Bergmann plays a show to mark the re-release of his 1991 self-titled album at the Rickshaw Theatre May 19. Lisa Macintosh photo.

Want a crash course in the Vancouver music scene? You could do worse than check out some shows this May. In what is probably a coincidence but may be a cosmic alignment, this month’s concerts include a long-awaited reunion by one of the city’s most popular live bands, a tribute to a rockabilly legend, and what may be the “last electric” show by a songwriter many consider to be one of the best Vancouver has produced.

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Legends of Vancouver rock – three must-see shows in May!

Updated: sing along with ‘Rebel Rebel’ and other David Bowie tributes in Vancouver

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on January 5, 2017

The loss of David Bowie has left a void in the hearts of many. To commemorate both his death and birth – Bowie was born Jan 8 1947 and died on Jan 10 last year – Vancouver musicians and music fans are paying tribute to the late British rock star this month with events devoted to his music.

Update: we have added three more events, Impromptu Rock Choir’s three-night Bowie singalong.

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Updated: sing along with ‘Rebel Rebel’ and other David Bowie tributes in Vancouver

STOMP those winter blues away

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on January 3, 2017

Garbage cans, tea chests, radiator hoses, boots, hub caps, brooms, perhaps even the bones of former Blue Man Group members – is there nothing that STOMP cast members won’t use in their quest to turn everything into a percussive instrument?

Nope. STOMP repurposes everything, including the kitchen sink, to make a thrilling, crowd-pleasing noise that will help dispel those West Coast winter blues (known around these parts as the fancier-sounding “Seasonal Affective Disorder”). The North American touring company of the long-running show returns to Vancouver for the first time since 2008, with four performances at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (600 Hamilton St.) from Jan. 13 – 15.

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STOMP those winter blues away

Odysseo – ‘the best show ever’ comes to Vancouver

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on December 15, 2016

Photo courtesy Cavalia/Jak Wonderly.

Horse-lovers and big-top spectacle fans will want to gallop to Vancouver for the upcoming run of Odysseo by Cavalia.

Billed by its producers as “the best show ever,” Odysseo by Cavalia is returning to the city after a North American tour. The new run comes three years after the Cavalia last touched down in Vancouver.

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Odysseo – ‘the best show ever’ comes to Vancouver