As the
Vancouver Folk Music Festival is taking place next weekend (July 17-19th), let's cover three of the reasons why you should start getting excited if you are going, and reconsider if you're not.
At the
Railway Club on June 3, three artists took to the stage to fundraise for the
Vancouver Folk Music Festival as part of the
VFMF Revue --
Veda Hille, Dan Mangan and
Geoff Berner. Each put on a phenomenal set, and if this is any indication of things to come, this year's festival will be a treat for those living in/near Metro Vancouver.
First to play a set is the quirky
Veda Hille. She opened with
Lucklucky, which was accompanied by the clacking noises of the toy train overhead at the Railway, to good effect. The song, which included a short ode to the Hockey Night in Canada theme, demonstrated Hille's playful theatrical voice well. She played a couple of covers, which included
Neil Young's
Transformer Man. Grab an early demo version of Lucklucky below.
MP3:
Veda Hille - LuckLuckySecond on the stage is
Dan Mangan, who announced that his new full-length record
Nice, Nice, Very Nice will be released August 11th, 2009. He took the time to thank two local Vancouver stations who have given his infectious hit
Robots much deserved airtime.
Mangan played an eight song set, which included several songs from his upcoming album such as
Tina's Glorious Comeback,
The Indie Queens Are Coming (which brought
Veda Hille back on stage),
You Silly Git (a song inspired by his girlfriend), as well as
Basket, which is written for his grandfather. Of course, Mangan wrapped up his set with the catchier-than-herpes
Robots, which ended with him holding his guitar aloft while walking through the audience, encouraging a sing-a-long. He looked visibly surprised that half the audience already knew the words; it was very endearing. He also spent a considerable amount of time bantering and speaking with a couple of fans who were right up against the stage. The man emanates warmth.
The final performer of the night was
Geoff Berner. He plays frequently at the Railway and states that it's one of his favourite venues. However, it was my first time seeing him. When he entered, accordion-clad and unassuming-looking, and started
screaming as an introduction to his song
Shut In, the shift in the room was likely a collective startled jump. The song also included a small shout-out to
In My Life by the
Beatles.
The best way to describe Berner and his set that night would be "perpetually intoxicated, irreverent drinking songs," demonstrated by such songs as
The Way That Girl Drinks Beer. However, in more than a few occasions, his meandering voice sharpened their focus towards specific points that he wanted to make. The best example is his song
The Dead Children Were Worth It, which criticizes the upcoming Vancouver Olympics in 2010. So while his voice (and mind) may wander and drawl, it does once in a while come back and sucker punch you into paying attention. Below is the download for the aforementioned Olympic theme, which previously got him in trouble with concert sponsors. Take a listen and hear why.
MP3:
Geoff Berner - The Dead Children Were Worth It!Once again, if you haven't gotten your Vancouver Folk Music Festival tickets yet,
you can find them
here. The venue is the beautiful Jericho Beach in downtown Vancouver.
The full line-up, which includes Canadian artists such as the
Weakerthans,
Basia Bulat,
Great Lake Swimmers, among many international acts such as
Iron & Wine, is
here.
The full schedule is
here.
And you can also follow VFMF on
Twitter.
And don't forget to check back here at NxEW for more VFMF updates by AlexOfAnders and I! You can also find us on Twitter at
AlexOfAnders and
kn0ttyn3rb, respectively.
Labels: 2009, Dan Mangan, free downloads, Geoff Berner, Vancouver, Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Veda Hille
