Urban Culture Conference Awards

Well guys we've found yet another voting opportunity. So let your voice be heard and vote for a variety of bands in a number of music genres! You can also vote for producers and record labels, and there are many other categories you can vote in.

There are a ton of amazing bands listed here! Let us know who you voted for :)

You can also attend the Urban Culture Conference + Awards on August 27-28th, 2011 in Vancouver at the Plaza of Nations and the surrounding areas. There will be tons of performances including Fighting for Ithaca, Matt Brevner, Sub Antix, Ninjaspy, Head of the Herd and Lamar Ashe to name a few. A full list of performances is available at http://urbancultureconference.com/about/perform/.

To purchase tickets for the first annual Urban Culture Conference + Awards in Vancouver, please click here. The event is from 12-10pm and is open to people of all ages. Cameras are permitted and as if the list of performances wasn't enough this event will also be donating 10% of all proceeds to the Vancouver charity Let's Fuck Cancer! So make sure you vote and get your tickets to the Urban Culture Conference Awards!

Vancouver 125 - Bend Sinister and 54.40

Last Wednesday we went to check out part of the Birthday Live celebrations for Vancouver's 125th anniversary at Jack Poole Plaza. The two bands we caught were Bend Sinister and 54.40.

Bend Sinister
Bend Sinister is a Vancouver based band that formed in Kelowna back in 2001. Their music is described as progressive-indie rock and you can listen to Things Will Get Better off their latest album, Spring Romance, on their website bendsinisterband.com.
The band is made up of Dan Moxon (vocals, keys and guitar), Joseph Blood (guitar), Jason Dana (drums and percussions) and Joel Myers (bass).

54.40
54.40 was formed in Tsawassen, BC, in 1979. They started out as a trio playing at the Smilin' Buddha Cabaret in Vancouver on December 31st, 1980. The group got their name from the slogan "54.40 or Fight!" which was coined in 1848 by US president James Polk. Starting out with practices under East Vancouver bridges, they built their fan base with tape recordings and photocopied newsletters. The band has built and adapted to the changing music world, embracing all the new media and even creating their own mobile phone application. Through the years the band has released nine albums and toured the world, but they always love coming back to Vancouver! 54.40 has even started their own studio where Neil Osborne (vocals and guitar) produced the Juno-nominated Jets Overhead and Dave Genn (guitar and vocals) produced Marianas Trench. Members also include Matt Johnson (drums) and Brad Merritt (bass).