Marilyn Manson

Feb. 11th, 2013-Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The crowd was all dressed up and ready to go. Some of the outfits were quite elaborate, and the stage sets were too. Unfortunately, after fighting with illness, Manson kept the show quite short. Nevertheless, the show started and ended with a bang (quite literally thanks to the confetti shooters)! Manson hit a couple of the popular tunes that got people up out of their seats, screaming through Sweet Dreams and mOBSCENE, but neglected to cover his newest album's single Born Villain. Still, fans seemed satisfied with the setlist and recognized a lot of their favourites. Overall I'd say the crowd was receptive, but were disappointed at the abrupt ending.

 If you have any comments, reviews, or photos we'd love to see and share them! Comment below or email musicinvan@gmail.com.

 Note: openers were Butcher Babies. Check out their single.

Alexisonfire Farewell Tour

Remember back in August of 2011 when we told you Alexisonfire is splitting up? Sadly, that's still true, but they're getting back together for one final Farewell Tour! This is your last chance to see the band together live on stage!

The show in Vancouver is on December 17th, 2012 at the Pacific Coliseum. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday, September 21, 2012 at 10:00am, or you can get your tickets now at TicketLeader.ca by entering the presale code: HEARTSKULL.

I suggest getting them as soon as possible since the majority of their other shows are already sold out!

Dragon Boat Festival and Vancouver's Musical Instrument Garage Sale!

The Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival and Vancouver's Musical Instrument Garage Sale are two great events to check out this weekend!

The Dragon Boat Festival is free all weekend with races starting at 8am on Saturday, June 16th and Sunday, June 17th in the waters of False Creek near Creekside Community Centre and Creekside Olympic Village. Make sure you also check out the World Beat Stage which will host 10 free concerts over the weekend starting at 11am each day.

Performances on Saturday will open with Reggae On The Rocks from 11am - 12pm, Wesley Hardisty from 12:30 - 1:30, Orkestar Slivovica from 2:00 - 3:00, Ranj Singh & The Discriminators from 3:30 - 4:30 and end with Shane Philip from 5:00 - 6:00.

Performances on Sunday will open with Zimbamoto from 11am - 12pm, Pendomoja from 12:30 - 1:30, Celtic Bhangra from 2:00 - 3:00, Microbongo Sound System from 3:30 - 4:30 and this years festival will close with The Boom Booms from 5:00 - 6:00.

For more information about the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver check out dragonboatbc.ca/.


If you are a local musician looking to add to your collection of instruments you should definitely check out Tom Lee's Musical Instrument Garage Sale. The Garage Sale will be open on Saturday, June 16th from 10am - 6pm and on Sunday, June 17th from 12pm - 5pm at the old "Sony Store" at the Tom Lee Music Vancouver Building at 929 Granville St. Vancouver. This sale advertises 1000's of items marked down with savings up to 80% off!

For more information about the Musical Instrument Garage Sale check out tomleemusic.ca/garagesale/.


If you attend either or both of these events, please let us know how it goes and what you think!

Event Spotlight: Katie Herzig

Hey everyone! We want to make a special event announcement: Katie Herzig will be performing in Vancouver at the Biltmore Cabaret on May 8th in support of her latest album The Waking Sleep! Check out her tunes and buy your tickets now! Click here for more info about the event.

Photo from katieherzig.com

Check out Katie Herzig's official music video for Make A Noise after the break.

Simple Plan with Marianas Trench, All Time Low and These Kids Wear Crowns!

On February 11th, 2012, Simple Plan came to Vancouver with special guests Marianas Trench, All Time Low and These Kids Wear Crowns. The concert at Pacific Coliseum was a big hit, with fans of all four bands lining up well before the doors opened at 7pm.

Photos and more info about the bands after the break!

Event Spotlight

Friday, March 9, 2012
The Bad Plus
with opening guests The Zubot / Brooks Duo
at the Rio Theatre

Doors 7:00pm - Show 8:00pm - 19+ Only ID Required (Licensed venue)
Tickets: $35.50 Advance / $40 Door


Available at: http://www.hightideconcerts.net/, Red Cat Records 4332 Main St. (604) 708-9422, Zulu Records 1972 W. 4th Ave. (604) 738-3232 & Highlife World Music 1317 Commercial Dr. (604) 251-6964

For more info on The Bad Plus visit their website.

Free Music Alert: Behind Sapphire!

One of our favourite local bands, Behind Sapphire, has released their Diamonds EP online as a free download! Make sure you share their music and keep an eye our for them in the coming year!

Said The Whale-Advanced Video Screening and Listening Party

Buy tickets now to attend a video screening and listening party of Said the Whale's new album "Little Mountain"! You'll hear the entire album before its release date and watch the music videos for each song. The event takes place at the Rio Theatre on February 25th, so buy your tickets now!!

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at the Grey Cup Festival

A few hours before the 99th Grey Cup Championship between the B.C. Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes played a free concert in Vancouver for the Grey Cup Festival! Earlier this year, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes made it to the top 3 of of FOX Vancouver Seeds! To find out more about them and to see more photos, check out our past post on the FOX Vancouver Seeds.

Kyle Otsuji playing the bass

More photos from the show after the break!

BLINK 182 & MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE with Rancid and Against Me!

On August 31st, 2011, Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance co-headlined a show at Rogers Arena with opening bands Rancid and Against Me! Technically, this show isn't part of the Honda Civic Tour, but it doesn't really matter because all the bands played anyway :)

Against Me!:

Against Me! is a punk rock band from Florida, made up of Tom Gabel (lead vocals, guitar), James Bowman (vocals, guitar), Andrew Seward (vocals, bass) and Jay Weinberg (drums).

For more information about Against Me! check out their website: againstme.net.

Rancid:

Rancid is a punk rock band from California made up of members Tim Armstrong (lead vocals, guitar), Matt Freeman (vocals, bass), Lars Frederiksen (vocals, guitar) and Branden Steineckert (drums).

For more information about Rancid check out their website: rancidrancid.com

My Chemical Romance:

My Chemical Romance is an alternative rock band from New Jersey made up of members Gerard Way (lead vocals), Ray Toro (vocals, guitar), Frank Iero (vocals, guitar), Mikey Way (bass) and Michael Pedicone (drums). 

We've seen My Chemical Romance live before on their World Contamination Tour and photos are available here.

For more information about My Chemical Romance visit their website: mychemicalromance.com

Blink 182:

Blink 182 is a pop punk band from California made up of members Mark Hoppus (vocals, bass), Tom DeLonge (vocals, guitar) and Travis Barker (drums). 

For more information about Blink 182 check out their website: blink182.com

I just thought I'd add, for the sake of a possible love connection, the link for an "I Saw You" from the Georgia Straight. I'm the romantic, meant-to-be type, so if this guy happens to visit this blog instead of the Georgia Straight website maybe it's worth a shot because someone wants to find him. So here goes.. Someone saw you!

FOX Vancouver Seeds 2011 and State of Shock

Every year, 99.3 The Fox holds a contest for local bands to promote new music and local artists. The winners receive a Fox Platinum Award and perform along with the top two bands and a special headlining guest. This year, the Fox organized a free concert with the top three bands, as well as past seeds winner, State of Shock, on Granville and Robson in downtown Vancouver. This year's top three are Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Head of the Herd and Louder Than Love.

Head of the Herd:

Head of the Herd is a blues rock band created by Neu (guitar/lead vocals) and Clay (guitar, harmonica, vocals). Their debut album On the House was released in 2011 and the track "Knock Me Down" was used in the highlights reel for the Rip Curl Stew 2011.

For more information about Head of the Herd, visit headoftheherdmusic.com and make sure you download a copy of their new album On the House for free!

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a metal rock band made up of Jared Hayes (vocals), Chris Champagne (guitar), Shan Robertson (guitar), Kyle Otsuji (bass) and Drew McKay (drums). Their debut self-titled EP was released in 2007 and since then they have produced their first full length album The Masquerade. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes also won first place in the Airwalk Unsigned Hero Competition in 2010 which gave them a two page spread in Alternative Press as well as a spot on the Fall 2010 Alternative Press Tour in the United States. 

For more information about Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, visit their MySpace Page!

Louder Than Love:

Louder Than Love is an experimental rock band made up of Paul Lambert (lead vocals/guitar), Tyler Thompson (drums), Dano Okano (keys/vocals), Nate Parsons (guitar/vocals) and Tony Lambert (bass). Since releasing their debut album Dark Days in 2010, Louder Than Love has completed two Western/Canadian/U.S. mini-tours and released their new EP Coming Around. 

For more information about Louder Than Love, visit their website louderthanlovemusic.com and make sure you download their new single "Long Road" as well as three tracks from Dark Days available for free!

State of Shock
Seeds winners from 2004, with their album Guilty By Association, State of Shock are proof that winning this title can catapult you into the spotlight. The band includes Cameron Melnyk (lead vocals), Alison Toews (bass), Jesse Wainwright (guitar), Simon Clow (guitar), and John Philippon (drums). In 2007 they released the popular "Money Honey" off Life, Love & Lies, and their new album Rock N' Roll Romance is set to be released September 20th of this year.

For more information about State of Shock, visit their new website!

Thanks for checking out our photos! Make sure to get your tickets to 99.3 The Fox Vancouver Seeds 2011 Launch Party at the Commodore Ballroom on August 24th featuring the Vancouver Seeds 2011 winners and the Trews!