NICK'S SUMMER PICKS

BY NICKIE SENGER

The summer sprang into action
waaayyy back at the beginning of May
for us college folk and to summarize all
of its fantastic happenings would be
next to impossible. Instead I’ve chosen
to rehash some of my favourite, or
simply most memorable, shows of the
pre-study period.

There couldn’t have been a bet-
ter way to get the old beach ball rolling
than the Music West Festival. Thirty
bucks for access to a truckload of shows
easily made the event asuccess. Some
of the highlights included the scrump-
tious melodic bliss of Eric’s Trip (vari-
ous venues), the coarse raging energy
of Lung (May 6, Graceland), an in-
tensely sweaty, sold-out performance
by hHead and SNFU (May 7, Town
Pump), pulsating techno-vibration at
its best with Meat Beat Manifesto and
808 State (May 9, Commodore), and
psychotic self-mutilation courtesy of
Toronto’s own Malhavoc (May 8, New
York Theatre).

Music West was an excellent op- ©

portunity for musicians to get demo
cassettes and CD’s out to the who’s
who of the music industry and it gave
these bands a chance to show their
stuff to those of us who buy it. Yeehaw!

Lollapalooza...NOT! Better luck
next year. But we need not shun all
outdoor festivals as the Canada Day
Party (July 1, T-Bird Stadium) turned
out to be quite a surprise. From Sarah
McLachlan’s soothing vocals, to the
polished, pop frenzy of Ned’s Atomic
Dustbin, this day was a blast! Of
course the Violent Femmes drew me
there wholeheartedly, only to increase
my resounding glee by filling the air
with classic Femmes tunes. And now
“Dance Motherfucker Dance” is finally
available in Canada on CD. Yay!

Then, just before the fireworks
burst above our heads, the Barenaked
Ladies succeeded in putting asmile on
everyone’s face. Even those who
thought they were so hard-core let out
asnicker when the Ladies roasted some
Snow.

On a smaller scale the
Shadowy Men On A Shad-
owy Planet played one hell of
a gig (July 24, Commodore).
I'm so proud to be a Canadian.
A generous portion of shad-
owy songs tossed in with a girl
on a Stretcher (“Why don’t
you guys do the Bunny-Hop or
something?”), and two help-
ings of the Kids in the Hall
theme song, all building up to
an amusing medley of easily
identifiable cover tunes made
this night one of the summer's
best! As for the openers, Girl
Trouble were ho-hum and
Cub...well, | still haven’t made
up my mind about Cub. Ex-
tremely contagious lyrics but
about as much fun to watch as
a handful of peanuts. Place
your priorities where you like.

J LAHCS Trip, a
band who can
grind down
their guitars

into a pile of
sludge...

...9IX Finger
Satellite belted
out some pretty
mean shit.

On July 29 the Sub-Pop tour
brought Pond, Eric’s Trip, and Six
Finger Satellite together under one
roof for an evening of pureed power.
Despite the antics of the lead vocalist,
cum peacock on speed, and the drum-
mer’s amazing Technicolor yawn, Six
Finger Satellite belted out some pretty
mean shit. This led to Eric’s Trip, a
band who can grind down their gui-
tars into a pile of sludge while a pair of
heartbroken waifs wade through the
mess and make it into music. Very
impressive, but guys, next time bring
some lampshades.

After a quick set change we
looked up to see a loaded gun. Pond
pulled the trigger and the bullet
screamed “POP”. We were shot to a
musical high via Pond’s boyish enthu-
siasm and head-bobbing rhythms.
When it ended we were tired, damp,
and smoky. Definitely the sign of a
great show.

A good idea, but not necessarily
hosting the best performances, was
the Toast to Coast. Eight bucks over
two nights to see the likes. of local
heroes Bob’s Your Uncle, Mystery
Machine, and Rymes With Orange
among others. It was a fond farewell
to an arguably great radio station with
lots of free goodies for those in attend-
ance.

In all it was a satisfying summer
to say the least. Sadly, there were —
many shows that | was unable to see
such as the somewhat surprise blast
from NoMeansNo, P J Harvey,
Highwood, Infest, and others that I’d
rather not dwell on (I’m still feeling
sorry for myself). Thankfully Fall is now
upon us and the Vancouver music
scene is still alive, so take a break from
your marvelous creations or your end-
less studies and get out to see some of
the action. Here’s a taste of what's to
come in this fair city of ours:

af of of of

The summer sprang into action
waaayyy back at the beginning of May
for us college folk and to summarize all
of its fantastic happenings would be
riext to impossible. Instead I've chosen
to rehash some of my favourite, or
simply most memorable, shows of the
pre-study period.

There couldn't have been a bet-
ter way to get the old beach ball rolling
than the Music West Festival. Thirty
bucks foraccess toa truckload of shows
easily made the event a success. Some
of the highlights included the scrump-
tious melodic bliss of Eric’s Trip (vari-
‘ous venues), the coarse raging energy
of Lung (May 6, Graceland), an in-
tensely sweaty, sold-out performance
by hHead and SNFU (May 7, Town
Pump), pulsating techno-vibration at
its best with Meat Beat Manifesto and
808 State (May 9, Commodore), and
psychotic self-mutilation courtesy of
Toronto's own Malhavoc (May 8, New
York Theatre).

Music West was an excellent op-
portunity for musicians to get demo
cassettes and CD's out to the who's
who of the music industry and it gave
these bands a chance to show their
stuffto those of us who buy it. Yeehaw!

Lollapalooza... NOT! Better luck
next year. But we need not shun all
outdoor festivals as the Canada Day
Party (July 1, T-Bird Stadium) turned
out to be quite a surprise. From Sarah
McLachlan’s soothing vocals, to the
polished, pop frenzy of Ned's Atomic
Dustbin, this day was a blast! Of
course the Violent Femmes drew me
there wholeheartedly, only to increase
my resounding glee by filling the air
with classic Femmes tunes. And now
“Dance Motherfucker Dance” is finally
available in Canada on CD. Yay!

Then, just before the fireworks
burstabove our heads, the Barenaked
Ladies succeeded in putting asmile on
everyone's face. Even those who
thought they were so hard-core let out
asnicker when the Ladies roasted some
Snow.

Y NIC

On a smaller scale the
Shadowy Men On A Shad-
owy Planet played one hell of
a gig (uly 24, Commodore).
I'm so proud to bea Canadian.
A generous portion of shad-
owy songs tossed in with a girl
on a stretcher (”Why don’t
you guys do the Bunny-Hop or
something?”), and two help-
ings of the Kids in the Hall
theme song, all building up to
an amusing medley of easily
identifiable cover tunes made
this nightone of the summer's
best! As for the openers, Girl
Trouble were ho-hum’ and
Cub... well, Istill haven’tmade
up my mind about Cub. Ex-
tremely contagious lyrics but
abouts much fun to watch as
a handful of peanuts. Place
your priorities where you like.

..Eric's Trip, a
band who can
grind down
their guitars
into a pile of
Sludge...

...Six Finger

mean shit.

Satellite belted
out some pretty

On July 29 the Sub-Pop tour
brought Pond, Eric's Trip, and Six
Finger Satellite together under one
roof for an evening of pureed power.
Despite the antics of the lead vocalist,
cum peacock on speed, and the drum-
mer’s amazing Technicolor yawn, Six
Finger Satellite belted out some pretty
mean shit. This led to Eric’s Trip, a
band who can grind down their gui-
tars into a pile of sludge while a pair of
heartbroken waifs wade through the
mess and make it into music. Very
impressive, but guys, next time bring
some lampshades.

After a quick set change we
looked up to see a loaded gun. Pond
pulled the trigger and the bullet
screamed “POP”. We were shot to a
musical high via Pond’s boyish enthu-
siasm and head-bobbing rhythms.
When it ended we were tired, damp,
and smoky. Definitely the sign of a
great show.

A good idea, but not necessarily
hosting the best performances, was
the Toast to Coast. Eight bucks over
two nights to see the likes of local
heroes Bob’s Your Uncle, Mystery
Machine, and Rymes With Orange
among others. It was a fond farewell
toan arguably great radio station with
lots of free goodies for those in attend-
ance.

In all it was a satisfying summer
to say the least. Sadly, there were
many shows that | was unable to see
such as the somewhat surprise blast
from NoMeansNo, P J Harvey,
Highwood, Infest, and others that I'd
rather not dwell on (I'm still feeling
sorry formyself). Thankfully Fallis now
upon us and the Vancouver music
scenes still alive, so take a break from
your marvelous creations or your end-
less studies and get out to see some of
the action. Here’s a taste of what's to
come in this fair city of ours:

totetet