Car Free Day - Hits a home run in to the left field

The Car Free Day Festival in Vancouver originated on Commercial Drive - it stems from the rise of "green" politics on the east side of the city; seven years on the event continues albeit it has major competition internally and externally.

twidling my knobs in public

I love car-free day, my band Mr M & The All Nighters played it in 2007, it was raining that day but we had a good time and have the photos to prove it. Last weekend my new band Vertigo played the mainstage as its first ever public appearance and I got to supply the sound through my Adanac Sound for the whole day.


Car Free Day currently runs in 2 other locations; Main Street and Denman Street. The Main event expanded this year to 33rd Ave, making it by far the biggest of the three. Opposingly, by all reports the Denman event continues to dwindle, possibly due to the lack of support from the local BIA. The Commercial event continues, however it has strong competition from the rejuvenated Italian Days that is now just the week prior. Commercial Drive is known as for its "cool-ness" however some parts of the drive are "cooler" than others. South of 1st Avenue the event seems to get about a third of the crowds, this is a little bizarre since people arriving on transit have to get off at the Skytrain and or Commercial and Broadway. The mainstage is located at 7th and Commercial and it was powered by Fraser Valley Cow Poo

the view from the sound desk

As expected the day was a long one for fellow organiser Joel Liman and myself. we were basically loading gear at 8am and ended the day around 9pm loading the gear. Our stage was kindly supplied by Conrad Schmidt @ Vancouver Sound and Lights, special thanks to Devo for helping us put it together. This was the first time out for my PA system, so I was a little nervous as to its reliability, volume and quality. We had a bit of freak out 2 mins before noon when we had no monitors, however with a little help we got things off to a good start.

Vertigo - rockin' out

The bands were awesome, we had many different styles from bluegrass, rock, funk and soul. Coco Jafro had an awesome set despite Karl leaving his keyboard dongle at home, Kiki Em was in fine form and my PA did her justice. My mate Brian Harris made the trek from Maple Ridge to perform with his band "Ages". My band Vertigo did well for its first gig, a bit shaky in spots, but not bad at all for a first outing, at least we are still together and have not parted ways immediately after. Our next gig is July 6 at the Richmond Night Market. Joel and his various bands performed well with some impressive new singers in tow. Nice to see the lovely Rebel Valentine in her post natal repose back on stage.

Ages - doin' their thing

Once the bands were done it was time to pack away the stage and the PA, thankfully made easier by the volunteers that turned up to make it happen. My thanks to Joel, Conrad, Devo and all the performers for making it happen; after a few days rest and a few ideas to make the mainstage that much better,  I'm already looking forward to next year.

To see more photos from the Mainstage
 

Say Hello to Coco Jafro and some live dates

Been a while since I posted something, not that I have been lazy elsewhere, things seem to be coming together in many respects.

I've been following local singer Karina Morin since her days with Richard Coleman's "Soul Assembly". I even made it out to a few of their gigs at The Fairview and Lulu's Lounge in Richmond. Karina Morin is Canada's answer to Alice Russell and she is an import from Montreal, but that didn't stop me from bumping in to her on the set of "The Selection" a few months back, then spending some time updating me on her musical pursuits.


Turns out Karina is in a new band "Coco Jafro", she sent me a few songs and I was immediately impressed with the tunes particularly "Voodoo" and "The Dude" . The band is nice n' tight as it blends elements of latin, funk, soul and jazz - having Karina's vocal enhances the mix greatly, however the band holds its own on instrumentals equally. A feature of the band is the dual melody/harmony playing between sax/guitar or hammond, this lends itself to more of jazzy feel, you can hear it on "Jam Killer" and a few of the other tracks. 

Coco Jafro play the Victoria Jazz Festival June 30 at 330pm and the up to Crofton for a night at the Crofton Hotel July 7. Coco Jafro will be in Vancouver very soon - June 22 at the The Railway don't miss out when they do.


In other news - June 17th see's East Van Soul Club Radio making a live appearance at the Car Free on Commercial Drive event. Yours truly will be dj'ing from noon til 1pm from the stage at Venebles and Commercial - just outside the Bump n Grind Coffee shop. If all goes to plan we will broadcasting live for the hour, so that EVSC Radio listeners outside of Vancouver can join in the fun.

East Van Soul Club has been bus[t]y of late, 'er so to speak ! Back in April we tried a night of Burlesque and classic soul tunes at the Great Bare Pub on Kingsway in Burnaby. Owner Damian was impressed enough he booked us back June 1 and July 6. He also booked us in to his other venue in Coquitlam June 23rd. This is the first time either of these venues have had Burlesque dancers, so well done to Damian for giving it a shot. 


East Van Soul Club Radio had its first interviewee a few weeks back, I think it will now be a regular feature on the show. Thanks to Taryn LaRonge for coming in and having a chat. If you are interested in being a guest on the show please contact Ian directly.


My own band AI Vertigo play the Make Music Festival June 21 in Gastown


Overall it should be a busy summer for all concerned.

You can hear East Van Soul Club Radio Podcasts here