Indie Darlings Chad VanGaalen and Women Tour US and Europe

Canadian Indie artists continue to present strong showings in the U.S. and Europe. One of my favourite music blogs, Aquarium Drunkard, is promoting a show at Los Angeles landmark Silver Lake venue Spaceland, featuring quirky but mellow Westerner Chad VanGaalen and melodic noisemakers Women (also from the West). Aquarium Drunkard notes that their latest, Van Gaalen's Soft Airplane, and Women's self titled debut, were among the strongest recordings of 2008 (the right opinion, by the way). Yet here in Canada, they often can't even fill medium sized venues. Indeed, here in Ottawa, the two acts performed together at Ottawa's Zaphod's, a small intimate club which is a magnet for great indie acts. Both acts also recently did a show at Toronto institution the Horseshoe Tavern.

Van Gaalen and Women will continue to tour the American West Coast this Spring and then split on separate jaunts to Europe (Women noticeably supporting DeerHunter at gigs in Paris and Amsterdam).

Next time any great Canadian indie acts come to that intimate little club in your Canadian city, think about the folks in major American and European metropolises scrambling to get tix in areas where the population is so much larger. We are lucky to see these acts at home - check out those live sets when you can!

VanGaalen's Molten Light, with visuals and music created by VanGaalen:



Women w/ VanGaalen in hometown: