vs. The Ornery Umbrella

Last night I couldn't sleep because I was obsessing over what to blog the next day.
Now today I'm just tired, after walking and walking all around Vancouver in a rather chilly rain, battling an umbrella with a mind of its own. No complaining though, if this is winter I'm all for it. It's still beautiful here even on the worst days.

The show at Cafe Deux Soleils went amazingly well. It was such a warm environment to me, and that in itself is sort of funny. The bands I played with are used to smaller, intimate and unusual venues and I think for them the amount of noise and talking was perhaps a little disconcerting. Unreliable Narrator played a short, very different set than the one I saw in Saskatoon. After their set they asked everyone to go see them play in their living room.... they are so endearing. Scott from Buffalo Swans (who Slow Down, Molasses played with last year) did sound for us, and he did a really, really great job, like a warm blanket of good sound.

The best part of the set was Prophecy Sun's entourage, who had a ukulele and played, tapped and clapped along to my entire set. I also met Katy GoGo, who plays some incredibly endearing songs with said ukulele. The Vancouver scene has such great indie pop singers who write such clever songs. I'm not sure how or why that happens. The Unreliable folks are part of a group called The Safe Amplification Site Society. They are trying to set up an all-ages, drug/alcohol free venue, which seems like a great plan, especially if it allows for even more open outlets for the things that run outside the easily digested.

It really seems like as a whole, the music "scene" or what have you is trending more and more towards small, living room kind of shows. I've seen some of the best bands you've never heard of via small shows here, at places like Little Mountain, or in one instance on a rooftop deck. Perhaps it is a better way to play and hear music, although the randomness of an open bar show is so appealing.

Tomorrow I'm going to figure out if the venue in Duncan is still open. Apparently some extreme flooding is going on in the valley, so it's looking like I may only have one more show on this silly adventure. On the plus side, after last night I think future solo/Greyhound touring just might be a good way to spend the time between now and being a grown-up.