Thursday, September 20
Zeds Dead
Club 90NE9, $30, 10 PM
Why feel low when you can’t feel high? Now there’s a question worth considering. These guys will probably ask you this, repetitively, on September 20. And they will want a response. And the correct answer is: get your booty on the dance floor and shake it. All night. Get sweaty. Get loose. Feel yourself letting go. Think of your happy place and then replace it with wherever you happen to be at that exact moment. Zeds Dead, baby. Zeds Dead.
Sunday, September 23
Father John Misty, Jenny O
Lucky Bar, $20, 8 PM
I wonder if David Letterman will be at this show? He did say he wanted to tour with these guys. I think Letterman has a serious man crush on Joshua Tillman. But to be fair, who could blame him? I mean, I’m married with children but this guy can sure play the part of the rock star, in a singer-songwriter-every-hipster-that-claims-he-isn’t-one-must-love kind of way. In an I-was-in-an-It-band-and-now-I’m-not-because-I-never-needed-them kind of way. Now, what am I going to tell my wife to get her to let me go out Sunday night? I don’t think “I’m off to see my man crush” will really fly. Well… I don’t think it will, anyway.
Sunday, September 23
The Shins, Washed Out
Royal Theatre, $42.50, 7 PM
The house is dark. You wake up in a delirious stupor and, man, do you ever have to pee. Creeping out of bed, so as to not wake your significant other, you shuffle blindly toward the washroom and flick on the light. Ahhh, sweet relief. Then, leaving, off goes the light and crack goes your shin right into the step stool. So much for being quiet. What better time is there to curse out an inanimate object? Yes, The Shins sure give an unexpected sting.
Saturday, September 29
John Fogerty
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, $20/$49.50/$69.50, 7 PM
We stayed with my buddy Kyle’s great uncle once when I was visiting Vancouver years ago. We stayed in the basement, which at one time was Kyle’s grandmother’s suite. It was like walking through a time warp. Everything was old, right down to the faded retro radio that we listened to all night long. I can’t guarantee I heard John Fogerty’s voice on the classic-rock station that night, but, man, that trip sure was a blast.
Monday, October 1
Dead Kennedys
Club 90NE9, $25, 9 PM
Recently, a few of us were talking about one of the co-founders of The Pirate Bay getting busted. Somebody said he got pinched by cops while on holiday in Cambodia. My memory jogged to seeing ex-Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra do a spoken-word gig up at UVic years ago. He’s a well-spoken, intelligent guy. And opinionated. Well, opinionated is an understatement. He hasn’t been in The DKs since 1986. Apparently, there was a dispute about royalties. I wonder how many DK albums The Pirate Bay made available to the masses?