The Georgia Straight - Juno Awards - March 15, 2018

Fresh Ataulfo Mangoes

Also known as the Champagne mango, yellow mango or honey mango, this amazingly delicious fruit is more delicate, sweet and tender than its larger greener, cousin.

99¢ ea

Imported, Reg. price $1.69 each

Photos are for illustrative purposes only. Pricing in effect Friday Mar. 16 to Thursday Mar. 22, 2018. Overwaitea Food Group LP, a Jim Pattison business. Proudly BC Owned and Operated.

2 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018

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4 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 22 / 2018

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MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 5

WINTER GEAR ON SALE

6 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 22 / 2018

CONTENTS www.cityuniversity.ca

find out

Stanley Park. Tara Lowry photo.

MASTER OF COUNSELLING INFORMATION SESSION:

11

Restaurant manager Darren Kaushal bought his first Vancouver apartment at the age of 24 and now, less than a decade later, he’s sharing his secrets about how he traded up twice to get a downtown condo. > BY CARLITO PABLO

13

March 22 & Apr 19 at 5:00pm CityU Canada in Vancouver

REAL ESTATE

FOOD

Parq Vancouver is the host resort for the Juno Awards, which means musicians will gather in its restaurants, bars, and lounges. > BY TAMMY K WAN

START HERE 14 22 29 27 35 12 9 27

The Bottle Confessions I Saw You Multimedia Savage Love Straight Stars Straight Talk Theatre

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to learn more. At CityU Canada you’ll be a part of a small student cohort taught by local professionals who work in your field. We think of our students are as colleagues and our goal is to change lives.

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15

COVER

TIME OUT

ARTS

SERVICES

Just in time for the VSO Spring Festival, maestro Bramwell Tovey remembers the magnetism and intellect of Leonard Bernstein. > BY ALE X ANDER VART Y

31

28 Arts 22 Music

33 Careers 11 Real Estate

MOVIES

Oh Lucy revives the culture-clash comedy; chaos meets meaninglessness in Gringo; Western moseys along in the German way; old folk get shafted in The Leisure Seeker.

GeorgiaStraight

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An Affiliate of the National University System. This program is offered under the written consent of the Minister of Advanced Education effective April 11, 2007 having undergone a quality assessment process and been found to meet the criteria established by the minister. Nevertheless, prospective students are responsible for satisfying themselves that the program and the degree will be appropriate to their needs.

IN DE

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23

There are lots of events associated with the Juno Awards, but what about must-do activities in Vancouver? We asked a bunch of nominees about their Lotusland faves.

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straight talk CARR’S GREEN MAYORAL RUN HINGES ON SUPPORT

Coun. Adriane Carr conveyed two important things to her peers in the Green Party of Vancouver at their annual general meeting on March 11.

One was that she is prepared to run for mayor in the October 2018 municipal election. The second was that she will run only under the Green banner if she decides to pursue the mayoralty.

“It was an individual member on the floor who just stood up and asked if I would run for mayor,” Carr told the Straight in a March 13 phone interview. “And so I said that I was ready and willing.”

Carr is in her second term as a Vancouver city councillor. She topped the council polls in the 2014 election.

She also leads the biggest Green caucus in Vancouver’s political history. There are three elected Greens on the school board and two on the park board, and both civic bodies are chaired by Greens.

“You go through a very personal deliberation, and also with my family, so when I say ‘ready and willing’, one piece of that is coming to the conclusion inside myself that this is something I’m prepared to do,” Carr said.

“A second part of that is assessing, and it’s again with myself: Am I ready? Is this something that I feel that I would do a good job at?” she continued. “I know that, you know, I put a lot of effort into being a councillor.

I love what I do, and I know that I’m effective as a councillor. So I wanted to be sure inside myself that I would make an effective mayor. And after going through a number of deliberations, I have come to the conclusion that I would make a good mayor.”

Even though Carr is ready and willing, and the civic Greens unanimously approved a motion endorsing her, she is not officially declaring her candidacy yet.

At the March 11 meeting, the party also decided to make an assessment of public support for Carr as a mayoral candidate because of the risk of losing the lone Green seat on council.

“I stated that I would make my final decision after I receive a report on that assessment,” Carr said.

Carr related that she also told her colleagues she will run only as a Green, and not under another banner, saying: “The only move for me that

Adriane Carr believes she could be an effective mayor. Stephen Hui photo. would be honest and honest with the public would be to stand as a Green.” > CARLITO PABLO

OTTAWA IS MAINTAINING ITS WAR ON HARD DRUGS

The Government of Canada has again said that it will not consider decriminalizing drugs in response to Canada’s opioid crisis, which is estimated to have killed 4,000 people last year.

“We are not looking to decriminalize or legalize all illegal drugs; but there are important steps we can take to treat problematic substance use as a public health issue—not as a criminal issue,” reads a statement supplied by André Gagnon, a spokesperson for Health Canada.

“That is why we restored harm reduction as a core pillar of our response and made legislative changes to streamline the application process for supervised consumption sites.”

The statement was issued in response to a request for comment that the Straight filed with the federal Department of Justice. It was prompted by a March 9 City of Vancouver media release.

Included in that document was a recommendation that the federal government “convene a multisectoral task force to implement immediate decriminalization of

personal possession of illicit drugs”.

The recommendation marks the city adopting an official position in favour of the decriminalization of all illicit narcotics, including hard drugs like cocaine and heroin.

The city did not make Mayor Gregor Robertson available for an interview. In the March 9 media release, he is quoted expressing frustration about authorities’ lack of progress on the overdose epidemic.

“We are witnessing a horrific and preventable loss of life as a poisoned drug supply continues to kill our neighbours, friends, and family,” Robertson said. “More action is urgently needed.”

Last year, there were 1,436 illicitdrug overdose deaths across B.C. That compares to an average of 204 deaths annually for the years 2001 to 2010. More than 80 percent of 2017 deaths were associated with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid significantly more toxic than heroin.

Advocates for decriminalization—that is, for removing criminal penalties for personal possession— argue that it would reduce stigma, bring drugs out of the shadows, and encourage people to seek treatment for addiction issues.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has repeatedly dismissed calls for decriminalization (usually in response to questions from residents of Vancouver).

“We’re not looking at decriminalization or legalization of any other drugs other than what we’re doing with marijuana,” Trudeau told Global News while in B.C. last August.

Donald MacPherson was the city’s drug-policy coordinator from 2000 to 2009 and today is executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “People are really beginning to understand that the crisis is demanding a more serious look at a more radical shift in our thinking,” he told the Straight. “Municipalities are starting to say, ‘Look, this isn’t working for us anymore.’ ” MacPherson noted that the federal NDP and Greens both officially support decriminalization and the Liberals are scheduled to debate the issue at a party convention next month.

“Especially with discussion happening within the Liberal party, I think the government is going to have to start to look at this,” he said. > TRAVIS LUPICK

CALL ME FOR EXPERT ADVICE W W W.TOFFOLI.CA | PAUL@TOFFOLI.CA

604.787.6963

MASTER M E DA L L I O N MEMBER

EASTER AT THE MARKET

The Georgia Straight | Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly | Volume 52 Number 2618 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9 www.straight.com Phone: 604-730-7000 / Fax: 604-730-7010 / e-mail: gs.info@straight.com Display Advertising: 604-730-7020 / Fax: 604-730-7012 / e-mail: sales@straight.com Classifieds: 604-730-7060 / e-mail: classads@straight.com Subscriptions: 604-730-7000 Distribution: 604-730-7087 EDITOR + PUBLISHER Dan McLeod ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Yolanda Stepien GENERAL MANAGER Matt McLeod EDITOR Charlie Smith SECTION EDITORS

Janet Smith (Arts/Fashion) Mike Usinger (Music) Steve Newton (Time Out) Adrian Mack (Movies) Brian Lynch (Books) Amanda Siebert (Cannabis) EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Doug Sarti ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Gail Johnson, John Lucas, Alexander Varty STAFF WRITERS

Piper Courtenay, Tammy Kwan, Lucy Lau, Travis Lupick, Carlito Pablo, Craig Takeuchi, Kate Wilson SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy PROOFREADER Pat Ryffranck CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Gregory Adams, Nathan Caddell, David Chau, Jack Christie, Jennifer Croll, Ken Eisner (Movies), George Fetherling, Tara Henley, Michael Hingston, Ng Weng Hoong, Alex Hudson, Kurtis Kolt,

Robin Laurence (Visual Arts), Mark Leiren-Young, John Lekich, Amy Lu, Bob Mackin, Michael Mann, Rose Marcus, Beth McArthur, Verne McDonald, Allan MacInnis, Guy MacPherson, Tony Montague, Kathleen Oliver, Ben Parfitt, Vivian Pencz, Bill Richardson, Gurpreet Singh, Jacqueline Turner, Andrea Warner, Jessica Werb, Stephen Wong, Alan Woo CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Alfonso Arnold, Rebecca Blissett, Trevor Brady, Louise Christie, Emily Cooper, Randall Cosco, Krystian Guevara, Evaan Kheraj, Kris Krug, Tracey Kusiewicz, Kevin Langdale, Shayne Letain, Matt Mignanelli, Mark “Atomos” Pilon, Carlo Ricci, William Ting, Alex Waterhouse-Hayward DIGITAL PRODUCT MANAGER

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EASTER EVENTS Sunday, April 1st

10:00am - 11:00am: Easter Egg Hunt* (Meet in front of Cheshire Cheese Restaurant)

10:00am - 2:00pm:

Kids Crafts Face Painting ($) Balloon Twisting

10:30am -11:30am: Easter Bunny 12:00am -1:00pm: Cookie Decorating All events take place near Cheshire Cheese Restaurant. *while supplies last

Tamara Robinson

The Georgia Straight is published every Thursday by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing SUBMISSIONS The Straight accepts no responsibility for, and will not Corp. Copies are distributed free every week throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, North necessarily respond to, any submitted materials. All submissions should be and West Vancouver, New Westminster, and Richmond. International Standard Serial addressed to contact@straight.com.

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Entire contents copyright © 2018 Vancouver Free Press, Best Of Vancouver, BOV And Golden Plates Are Trade-Marks Of Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp.

Visit our website for full event details, hours, and parking information.

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MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 9

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778-786-0977 10 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018

HOUSING

Home search: Buying young can force folks to grow up

V

ancouver resident Darren Kaushal was 24 when he made his first property purchase in 2009.

He had been working since he was a teen, saving money while staying with his parents.

“Finally, I got to a place where I was graduating from university and I was like, ‘Okay, what’s the next step?’ ” Kaushal recalls during a phone interview with the Georgia Straight. “I had a bunch of money, and it was like, okay, I could do a few things: I could go travelling for a little bit; I could try and buy a nice car; or I could invest or purchase property.”

Kaushal chose to buy a condo in Kitsilano, a one-bedroom with den.

“I always knew that I wanted to own property in Vancouver,” he said. “My family is here and I was born here.”

Kaushal, now 33, recently made Darren Kaushal purchased his first his third property purchase. On condo when he was 24 years old.

March 2 this year, he got the keys to a new condo in downtown Vancouver. another one-bedroom plus den, into Kaushal, who works as a restaurant which he recently moved. manager, related that buying a home Kaushal noted that in the four at an early age has transactions he been rewarding made after his in many ways. “It first purchase in forced me to grow 2009, he was able Carlito Pablo up,” he said. to achieve three In addition to taking on the respon- things: reduce his monthly mortgage sibilities of a homeowner, Kaushal payments, pull some of his equity to also learned how to leverage the value invest elsewhere, and retain ownerof his property. He sold his Kitsilano ship of a home. condo in 2015 at an “incredible price” In these four deals, Kaushal and used the proceeds to buy a bigger relied on one realtor, Jay McInnes. place, a two-bedroom and two-bath “Jay’s younger brother is one condo in the Olympic Village. of my best friends,” Kaushal said After a year, he realized that he about McInnes. “And all three of had too much space and decided that us attended the same high school. a smaller condo would work better Jay has been an invaluable source. for his needs as a single person.

Even though we already had an esHe sold his Olympic Village con- tablished personal relationship, Jay do in 2017 and bought his third one, has maintained an incredible sense

Real Estate

of professionalism when it comes to doing business.”

According to Kaushal, one thing stands out for him from his experience in the real-estate market.

“Homeownership is not for everyone, and that’s okay,” Kaushal said.

“But I think…understanding what’s going on in the market and realizing if that’s something you really want, you can do it.”

He knows that it’s difficult for many young people to buy a home in an expensive city like Vancouver, but he also believes that it’s not unattainable.

“I think people are too worried about, you know, making more money and not really realizing how much they have and knowing where it’s going,” Kaushal said.

Kaushal pays attention not only to the market but also to the housing policies of all levels of government.

He mentioned the federal government’s tightening of mortgage regulations. This made it harder for people to get financing for a house purchase. According to him, governments should work to better help homebuyers put together a down payment, which he said is a big hurdle for many.

In January 2017, the B.C. Liberal government opened applications for a program to provide first-time home buyers interest-free downpayment loans of up to $37,500, or up to five percent of the purchase price of a home listed at $750,000 or less.

The B.C. NDP government is ending the program on March 31 this year.

“The current market is pretty nuts,” Kaushal said. “But it has been that way for quite some time and I don’t see any drastic changes happening anytime soon.” -

NEW LISTING

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1788 EAST 3RD AVE I $1,089,000

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South facing, 25 x 100 sqft. RT-5 zoning An arborist report & site survey have been completed, available upon request

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MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 11

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ou can get lost in it Thursday/Friday. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life as it should be. Ditch the clockwatching and the overly complicated; go with the flow; open up to receiving mode. Creative conjuring, a fishing expedition, and sales and marketing are good projects for the end of the workweek.

Romance, a spiritual retreat, a spa visit, movies, music, and sleep are great entertainment picks.

Friday-night partygoers could be in the mood to get a jump-start on St. Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day. Pisces dominates the stellar lineup through the new moon on Saturday. Indulge and enjoy, but know that body, mind, heart, and soul can be more susceptible than usual. Play it safe!

As an exposing archetype, this new moon could pull back the curtain on something that has previously gone unnoticed. As a resources-rich archetype, it brings to the surface potentials that are now ready to see the light of day. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll set sail on the personal journey and via the collective/global experience, too.

The new moon in Pisces is aligned with Chiron, the woundedhealer archetype. Soul at work on an intensification track, Chiron in Pisces sets a pivotal chapter of unfinished karmic destiny into play.

It could produce a watershed moment. In subtle or overt ways, it sets the karmic timer to the bigger picture or iconic hour. Also launching on Saturday, Mars begins a six-week tour of Capricorn, setting its priority ambition on building it better. Consider the new moon as tilling the soil for the vernal equinox and the start of the spring season. It is also stage-setting for Mercury retrograde, which begins next Thursday.

ARIES

March 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;April 19

Saturdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new moon in Pisces is infused with more-thanaverage creative potential. It also triggers a destiny-in-play cycle of greater-than-average karmic potency. Some things have a life of their own; some require an added push.

Mars in Capricorn, starting Saturday, and the sun in Aries, starting Tuesday, provide that much-needed boost. Monday through Wednesday, take your best shot.

TAURUS

GEMINI

April 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;May 20

Loss and gain are in the mix. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an emotional process, for sure. The stars are clearing the way for something new to come in.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no choice but to allow the natural course to set the play into motion. That which is in a budding stage has a dynamic life force to it.

Saturday/Sunday, the new moon supplies fresh fuel.

May 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;June 21

What is meant to be will shape up naturally. What isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t will naturally disappear or lose steam.

Aligned with Chiron, Saturdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new moon in Pisces can give you a sense of fate showing its hand.

Mars in Capricorn applies added pressure on you to tackle whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s necessary (i.e., financial belttightening). Do what you can while you can. Mercury turns retrograde on Thursday.

CANCER

June 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;July 22

LEO

July 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C;August 22

Emotions run the show for the next few days. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy to get swept up or swept away. Thursday/ Friday, you are especially susceptible to sweet talk or the sales pitch. Alcohol or other vices can get the better of you. Friday night is your best pick for a top-up of romance or relaxation.

Saturday to Monday, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll pick up speed, unexpectedly so.

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

August 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C;September 22

Drinking it in, feeling it all; feeling exposed or feeling invisibleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;your imagination can run the show. Compassion, romance, or a sensitive heart can get the better of you too. Immunity is lost through new-moon Saturday. Go gentle on yourself! Thursday/Friday can tap a creative wellspring. Mars in Capricorn helps you to get a better handle on it all (self included).

September 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C;October 23

Your sense of direction could be tested Thursday/Friday. If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t guess and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t assume; ask more questions. On the other hand, intuition serves you well so long as fear or insecurity stays out of the way. Through Wednesday, a creative solution or synchronicity could make your day. Mars in Capricorn helps you to get it better anchored.

October 23â&#x20AC;&#x201C;November 21

You should feel you are finishing off the week on a high. Special attention can come your way from your adoring fans or from one special one. Thursday/Friday keeps you and your creative wellspring going strong.

Romance can hit a high too. Saturday through Wednesday fires up something fresh and/or fast-tracks you.

Make the most of opportunity. Mercury turns retrograde on Thursday.

November 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;December 21

Thursday/Friday, aim for a low-key profile. Time to space out, sleep, or give in to the creative muses is ideal. As of Saturday, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to tackle it and/or put yourself out there again. Launching on the new moon, Mars in Capricorn puts you to work on the build-it-better project. Saturday through next Wednesday are productive for doing just that.

December 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;January 19

Thursday/Friday, you can get lost in the conversation, romance, or process. Go by feel, but also doublecheck details or directions. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make a promise; you may not be able to keep it. If you have had one too many, call for a cab. Mars in Capricorn spends the next six weeks stoking your energy, drive, and ambition.

January 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;February 18

The end of the week can keep you lost in the moment or the process. Thursday/Friday, inspiration and/or emotions are well triggered.

You are especially sensitized to the feel and the vibes. Saturday through Wednesday, aim to get a good momentum up and running. Mars in Capricorn shifts the priority onto the personal rather than the social agenda.

February 18â&#x20AC;&#x201C;March 20

You are in your element Thursday/Friday. Make the most of it while the stars gift you and the getting is good. Saturday, the new moon, Chiron, and Mars fresh at it in Capricorn set you on a fresh relay race. Sunday through Wednesday are full to the brim. Use your time wisely. Mercury retrograde starts next Thursday. -

Overwhelmed, confused, lost? In love, is it real? You may not have a good sense of where you are going, but for now relinquish expectations; pump up on faith; stay hopeful and creative; keep going despite the limitations. Mars in Capricorn rewards the realist. The Pisces new moon can prompt a B o o k a re a d i n g o r s i g n u p f o r watershed moment or gift you with Roseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free monthly newsletter at rosemarcus.com/. saving-grace prospects.

12 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 22 / 2018

FOOD

Parq Vancouver gears up for Juno Awards > BY TA M MY KWAN

I

t has been nine years since the Juno Awards were last hosted in Vancouver, and many things have changed in the city since then—including the culinary scene.

When members of the Canadian music industry begin to descend into town ahead of the 47th annual Juno Awards ceremony, which takes place at Rogers Arena on March 25, the relatively new Parq Vancouver resort complex (39 Smithe Street) and its roster of restaurants and bars will aim to satisfy the appetites of musicians.

Parq is the host hotel for this year’s Junos, and it has created a special menu for the annual awards ceremony’s welcome reception (March 23)—an invite-only star-studded event. Artists and performers like Michael Bublé, Arcade Fire, Daniel Caesar, Lights, Shawn Hook, Diana Krall, DJ Felix Cartal, and the Barenaked Ladies will get to feast on a range of gourmet bites.

Elizabeth Blau is the founder and CEO of Blau and Associates, the company behind a large part of the culinary and libation offerings at Parq.

“They definitely will be eating some beautiful Canadian Angus beef, which

The kitchen team at the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver anticipates preparing plenty of smoked salmon on rice crackers for Juno nominees. Tammy Kwan photo.

my husband [Kim Canteenwalla, principal and managing director of Blau and Associates] and the chefs at the Victor [one of the restaurants at Parq] have turned into these cheesesteak sliders,” Blau told the Straight in an interview at the resort. “They will

also have a selection of sushi. [From] Honey Salt [another in-house restaurant], we thought it would be really fun to do the bounty of what’s coming in season in B.C. now.”

The cheesesteak sliders that Blau is talking about are no ordinary

feature: they are made with roasted prime strip loin, charred onion and peppers, and black-truffle cheese sauce. Other foods that will be served to the musical acts are aburi (flame-seared) salmon sushi, spicy tuna rolls, charcoal-roasted beets and turnips, and cauliflower hummus, among other tasty nibbles.

“These are items on the regular menu that have been adapted,” Blau explained. “It’s all tasting stations, [and] they’ll get to come to the stations and talk to the chefs. [We’re] trying to give a little flavour of the restaurants themselves.”

The JW Marriott Parq Vancouver culinary team will also be putting together an assortment of delicious bites for the Junos reception. Attendees will be trying everything from smoked salmon (served on rice crackers and garnished with edible flowers) to heirloom-tomato tartare (with basil cream cheese) to cashew-chicken lollipops (with chili and sticky tamarind glaze). An ice-cream cart will also be available, scooping out flavours like salted caramel, raspberry, and double-chocolate fudge.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a partnership like this before at the

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Junos,” Allan Reid, president and CEO of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), the Juno Awards, and MusiCounts, told the Straight in an interview at Parq. “What you’re seeing is such an elevated cuisine. The welcome and chairman’s receptions have always had nice food before, but what Parq has created here is honestly exceptional.

“I’m excited about when the industry gets here. We’ve never had a facility like this for the Junos, where we can take over the entire hotel— and have access to eight restaurants, bars, and lounges—that is right next to the facility,” Reid added. “They can just walk over to Rogers Arena for the Junos.”

Just because we didn’t get an invite to the party doesn’t mean we can’t indulge in the same things that the Junos insiders will be eating.

The restaurants and bars at the Parq, where avocado-crunch rolls and sweet-potato chips can be found, are open for business.

And maybe the cheesesteak sliders will be popular enough to make it onto the Victor’s regular menu so Vancouverites can eat just like the famous. -

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14 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018

T

here was a time, not too long notable), but they are types that ago, when I wasn’t very excit- are tasty alongside their suitability ed by most of the Vancouver to the local climate. Wines made Island wines I’d tried. There from Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris are had been a few hits during the years increasingly crafted with a gentle I’m thinking of (roughly the first dec- hand, with winemakers eschewing ade of this still newish century), par- the showiness of heavy oak and ticularly Venturi-Schulze’s Brut Natu- blending in a little Okanagan fruit rel ($32.10, venturischulze.com/) out to give things a little more oomph. of Cobble Hill. This perennially pleas- The wines, from producers like ing sparkling wine Unsworth Vinecombines Pinot yards and AverAuxerrois and Piill Creek, are not Gris to great quite laudable in Kurtis Kolt effect, harnessing the “doing things the cool-climate region’s penchant for right” arena, to the point where I lively acidity and freshness that dove- don’t hesitate to recommend anytails perfectly with the wine’s pretty thing in their respective portfolios. citrus and stone fruit.

Besides the aforementioned winIt’s that freshness and delicious- eries, I’ve been keeping my eye ness that are, and should be, the goal on Duncan’s Blue Grouse Estate for any quality Island wine. Too often Winery of late, and I have been in the past, many Island wines fea- impressed with its continual progtured under-the-radar, cool-climate- ress and evolution into one of the friendly hybrid grape varieties, Island’s, if not British Columbia’s, showing a gamey or sour character preeminent wineries. on the palate, or there were occasionBlue Grouse’s 26 hectares are nesal ham-handed approaches to noble tled in the Cowichan Valley, where varieties like Pinot Noir, which fal- the Brunner family is growing Bactered once overzealous winemakers chus, Black Muscat, Gamay Noir, intervened a little too much with Müller-Thurgau, Ortega, Pinot Gris, vinicultural trickery. There were ex- Pinot Noir, and Siegerrebe. Although ceptions, to be sure, but for a good some of the fruit in their vineyard amount of time, things seemed to be has been growing on vines planted in all over the place when trying to as- the late 1980s, the Brunner family is certain an Island style. currently putting a greater focus on The less-is-more approach Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir with new that the Okanagan has generally plantings. That fruit is in good hands adopted in recent memory (fewer with winemaker Bailey Williamson, sugars, less oak, less intervention) who began his career in the industry has done wonders for the quality on the culinary side of things, evenof local wine, and the Island seems tually hopping out of kitchens and to have quickly come in lock-step into wineries. with the philosophy. From where I first met Williamson years ago, I’m sitting, I’m seeing a focus on during his five-year tenure as assisvarieties that excel, varieties that tant winemaker at Oliver’s Road 13 indeed still include hybrids (those Vineyards. He’s the guy who started created by Swiss grape breeder their sparkling program, making the Valentin Blattner are particularly Road 13 Sparkling Chenin Blanc a

The Bottle

cult-favourite fizz that has nabbed many an award (and toasted many a good time) over the years.

I had no doubt that once he crossed the Salish Sea to shepherd Cowichan vineyards, the results were destined to be spot-on. His wines are buoyant and breezy, proper odes to the Island. Seafood-friendly hits include aromatic, cheery fare like the Blue Grouse 2016 Bacchus, bursting with jasmine, green apple, and pink grapefruit, and a 2016 Pinot Gris offering pleasant, juicy bites of fresh peaches and apricots. Williamson crafts a sparkling wine at Blue Grouse as well, natch. The 2014 “Paula” Sparkling is a dry, floral, and citrusy blend of Müller-Thurgau, Ortega, Pinot Auxerrois, and Riesling, made in the traditional method and ready to hit oysters and ceviche the moment you pop the cap.

And so.

I’ve got bad news and good news.

The bad news is that for those looking to order a few bottles winery-direct, most of them are currently sold-out due to the quality and popularity of the wines. However, the good news is that there is indeed stock here and there at private stores around these parts. Better yet: Williamson is crossing the Salish Sea again, this time to the Lower Mainland.

Everything Wine’s Vancouver location (8570 River District Crossing) is hosting Blue Grouse Estate Winery for a free tasting on March 27 from 2 to 6 p.m. Drop by at any time that afternoon to meet Bailey, and relish the opportunity to try his wines while learning more about them. Enjoy a little Island life, right here in the city, then keep an eye on Blue Grouse’s website for those 2017 releases, which should be coming soon. -

JUNOS 2018

Singer-songwriter Terra Lightfoot (left) likes to eat sushi and walk around Stanley Park when she’s in town; Rose Cousins enjoys stuffing her face with tacos and visiting Granville Island.

Where stars shine bright

with Bob Rock and Jann Arden March 25 at the Orpheum.

And that’s just a taste. (For a full schedule, go to junoawards. ca/events.)

Somewhere during all this and more you’re going to want to find We asked Juno nominees from across the country time to make the most what they love to do when they’re in Vancouver of Vancouver, especialTo the casual observer, the Junos are all ly if you happen to be from out of town. With that about the big show—the nationally televised ex- in mind, we canvassed nominees from across the travaganza beamed into millions of homes across country, grilling them on what they love to do and B Y MIKE USIN GE R, the Great White North where all the big hardware where they love to go whenever they are in LotusKATE W I LSO N, is handed out. Giving you something in common land. If one common thread runs through their A ND JOHN L U CAS with music fans across the country, odds are you’re answers, it’s that the fun during the Junos doesn’t planning to be either in the stands or glued to the start and stop with the official awards. couch on March 25 when hometown hero Michael Bublé hosts the 2018 Juno Awards at Rogers Arena. RYAN GULDEMOND, SINGER-GUITARIST FOR But to limit your Junos experience to that night isn’t MOTHER MOTHER (coproducer of “The Drugs”, exactly making the most of things. That’s because which garnered Brian Howes and Jason Van Poederooyen a nomination for Jack Richardson Producer the party starts long before the final fireworks.

The reality is that Junos events have been taking of the Year) “My favourite place to go in Vancouplace, and will continue to do so, right up to the big ver is New Brighton Park. To me, it’s a plaintive and Rogers blowout. Consider, for example, March 10’s contemplative kinda park, and there’s a number of Under-19 Songwriters’ Circle. With Mother Mother things I like to do there, including running, talking singer Ryan Guldemond hosting and a supporting to the crows, and recording sound bites, like the amcast that included composer Jordan Nobles, Funk bient hum of the grain silos or various and clangorHunter Nick Middleton, and Boom Booms front- ous noises from the industrial areas surrounding. man Aaron Ross, the event had creatives sharing These often find their way into the music I write. their music, stories, and artistic secrets with young Recently, I’ve taken to scanning the beach for a rock who says ‘Pick me,’ then I hold it for some time with songwriting hopefuls at the Vancouver Playhouse.

The days ahead will bring us Let’s Hear It! Live, my eyes closed, transferring some of the nonsense during which a cavalcade of local talent (Funk I have in my head into the rock, and when the moHunters, Little Destroyer, Peach Pit, Horsepowar, ment strikes, I hurl it into the ocean. I don’t know Mob Bounce, DJ Kookum, and more) will take to if it works, but it feels good. A few years ago, when an outdoor stage at the Vancouver Art Gallery I was trying to turn my life around, as we all want from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on March 23 and 24. (For to do, I was there quite early in the morning, doing stair sprints on a three-tier set which leads to a the full schedule, go to www.letshearitbc.com/.)

There’s also JunoFest, where a single wristband commercial-vehicle lane above the park. As the sun gets you 95 bands at top venues across the city (the was rising, a figure rose with it, and down these steps Rickshaw, the Biltmore, the Roxy, the Imperial, Fox an ancient woman came towards me, and I went toCabaret) for $30 plus service charges. Talent ranges wards her, meeting in the middle. She looked deep from up-and-comers like Jo Passed to respected into my eyes, then nodded and gave me the thumbsveterans like Louise Burns, Jim Cuddy, Sex With up. It was the most profound affirmation I’ve ever received. I think New Brighton Park is my church.”

Strangers, and too many more to list here.

If sports are your thing, there’s the Juno Cup at Bill Copeland Arena in Burnaby on March 23. LUKE DOUCET, SINGER-GUITARIST FOR Those eager to learn tricks of the songwriting WHITEHORSE (adult alternative nominee for trade can sign on for a Juno Songwriters’ Circle Panther in the Dollhouse) “Having lived in

Vancouver for the grungy ’90s, I like to revisit old haunts, places where I first heard Dinosaur Jr., the Posies, Copyright (C), the New Pornographers, 54-40, Neko Case, and the Grapes of Wrath. The Templeton diner [1087 Granville Street] makes a mean spinach salad. Yes, it is sandwiched between the skeezy porno shops and the douchey Granville Street bars, but Vancouver the Good (with a sense of history and a semblance of permanence) still fights for survival—even on Granville Street, where this survival is implausible at best. Beneath the glass covers on the diner tables lies a collection of retro comic-book postcards. We poached one some years back and used a quote for an album title. Wonder Woman’s suitor attempts ‘The fate of the world depends on this kiss’ as a ‘Hail Mary’.

The Templeton diner employs a similar audacity in its determination to defy the fate of its neighbours.”

CHRIS SLORACH, BASSIST FOR METZ (metal/ hard music nominee for Strange Peace) “I have two go-tos when I’m in Vancouver. 1) The Acorn Restaurant [3995 Main Street]. My friend Shira [Blustein] opened this amazing vegetarian restaurant that serves amazing food and drinks. I like to make this a meeting point to have a drink and a nice meal. 2) I call my friend Darcy Hancock [of the band Ladyhawk] and he puts his BBQ in his truck and we make the front of the venue our own barbecue pit. If you can’t get Darcy, I suggest you visit the Acorn.”

ROSE COUSINS, SINGER-SONGWRITER (song-

writer of the year nominee for Natural Conclusion) “Vancouver is beyond gorgeous. I like to bike around Stanley Park and then stuff my face with Tacofino tacos [2327 East Hastings Street] or incredibly fresh seafood at Blue Water Cafe [1095 Hamilton Street]. I also love snooping around the galleries on Granville Island. It’s a magical city.”

TERRA

SKOOKUM BRINGS HIGH-WATTAG E TALE NT >>> The Killers and Florence + the Nation became involved as a partner.

Factors such as the low Canadian as the headliners for the inaugural dollar and the production costs of edition of SKOOKUM, a new high- staging an out-of-town mega-event profile multiday festival taking place led to Squamish Valley Music Festiin Vancouver’s Stanley Park from val shutting down in early 2016. In September 7 to 9. the weeks that followed, BRANDOther high-wattage talent playing LIVE, which had produced Sarah the 20,000-capacity site at Brockton McLachlan at Brockton Fields in Fields includes St. Vincent, Father 2012, began thinking about a marJohn Misty, the War on Drugs, Blue quee event that music fans wouldn’t Rodeo, and Bahamas. Representing have to travel to get to.

Vancouver will be local stalwarts “Here we are, a little over two Mother Mother, Dear Rouge, Said the years later, very happily bringing Whale, Yukon Blonde, the Zolas, Hey this to the market,” BRANDLIVE Ocean!, and Little Destroyer. festival director Paul Runnals said in SKOOKUM was conceived five a phone interview with the Straight. years ago by BRANDLIVE, the Van- “We think it’s the right size and cercouver-based promotion company tainly it’s the right location. It solves that founded LIVE at Squamish in a lot of issues that we were encoun2010. That festival grew steadily af- tering [with Squamish Valley Music ter an initial year that included the Festival]. Camping festivals are very Decemberists, Weezer, and Bad Re- expensive and logistically challigion, eventually getting rebranded lenging. They attract a certain segas Squamish Valley Music Festival ment of music fan, but there’s also after multinational promoter Live that segment that wants to be able

2 Machine have been announced

to sleep in their own bed at night.”

A deep list of acts also appearing at SKOOKUM includes Buffy SainteMarie, Greta Van Fleet, Current Swell, Matt Mays, the Boom Booms, the Belle Game, and Black Pistol Fire.

In addition to spotlighting international and local acts on four stages, SKOOKUM will also feature multimedia art installations, pop-up performers, and food from high-profile Vancouver restaurants. On tap will be offerings from B.C.’s booming craft breweries, distillers, and wineries.

“If you look around the city now, the number of great restaurants and little microbreweries and nanodistilleries is incredible, and we wanted to be able to celebrate that,” Runnals said. “We’ve had great relationships for years with local chefs and breweries but logistics prevented them from becoming more involved with Squamish. We dabbled in things like the artist areas, but it was too challenging to operate a remote pop-up

LIGHTFOOT,

SINGER-SONGWRITER

(adult alternative nominee for New Mistakes) “Every time I visit Vancouver, I do two things: eat sushi and walk around Stanley Park. The park is so gorgeous and full of giant trees and vegetation that is so often green and thriving while the rest of the country is covered in snow. I especially love walking along the shores of the beach there. Another place I’ve visited is a pinball bar somewhere downtown; I forget what it’s called. I played pinball with a woman from a radio station after an interview. Turns out everyone see next page > BY MIKE USINGER

restaurant when you’re sending people out of town for the weekend.

Now that we’re closer to the city it’s easier—people are really excited about this. There’s a real pent-up appetite, if you’ll pardon the pun.”

To make SKOOKUM happen at Brockton Point, BRANDLIVE approached and began working out details with both the Vancouver park board and the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations.

Indigenous chefs, artists, and musicians will all be represented over the three-day event, which will also include an educational component.

“That is a shared ancestral territory, so we’re very pleased and quite proud, actually, that we’re bringing something into the market that has a high level of meaningful inclusion, programming, and content that’s going to be Indigenous,” Runnals said.

He added that even though capacity at Brockton Oval far exceeds the 20,000 concertgoers per day that

☞

SKOOKUM is hoping to attract, the plan is to build the festival organically.

“We thought a lot about size and what was appropriate—where did we want to go in terms of capacity and duration?” he said. “We’ve taken a conservative position this first year.

We’ve capped—sort of self-limited, if you will—the attendance to 20,000 a day. We’re doing a soft opening on Friday so we’re not programming the main stage, which is deliberate. We want to ease into the weekend and stay ahead of any challenges of getting people in and out of the park and that sort of thing. Obviously, over time, year after year, we’ll look to incrementally creep up that attendance number if everyone is onboard with it and we can stay ahead of any issues.”

Tickets for the inaugural SKOOKUM festival go on sale Wednesday (March 14) at 10 a.m.

For the complete SKOOKUM lineup and more information, go to www.skookumfestival.com/. -

MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 15

Where stars shine

from previous page

in Vancouver is really nice and inviting—and also that I apparently like to go to dingy bars with pinball machines after I walk in lush forested areas.”

LEIF VOLLEBEKK, SINGER-SONGWRITER (adult alternative nominee

for Twin Solitude) “I know I’m not alone here, but I can’t wait to wander through Stanley Park again. There are few places like it in the world. You can really let your mind unspool.”

KID KOALA, DJ AND PRODUCER

(electronic album nominee for Music to Draw To: Satellite) “Vancouver always has a place in my heart. It’s where I grew up, took piano lessons, bought my first records with my Province paper-route money! LOL. Many of those record shops probably don’t exist anymore, but I would definitely make some time to visit Granville Island. I have the fondest memories of taking the bus there after school for drawing/anima-

tion classes at Arts Umbrella. I also remember taking field trips there to see theatre shows. I brought my family there for lunch at the market on our last Vancouver trip, and as we stepped outside with our tray of food we were ambushed by a squadron of very hungry seagulls. They landed on the tray and flipped it over and within seconds there were taters all over the floor being gobbled up by this very strategic flock of seagulls. It was very funny and traumatizing and I’ve promised them a do-over. But really, one of my favourite things in Vancouver are the audiences.

We always have such a wonderful time performing there! Unfortunately, I DJ Kid Koala has fond memories can’t make it to the Junos this year due of growing up here in Vancouver. to touring engagements, but we will see you in May when we are there for the crystal clear Pacific air as possible!

My favourite activity is biking around Vinyl Vaudeville: Floor Kids show!” the seawall with friends—it’s invigorBRIA SKONBERG, SINGER AND ating, especially when you sing in the TRUMPETER (vocal jazz album nom- tunnels.” inee for With a Twist) “As a singer and trumpeter, I have to keep my lungs in FELIX CARTAL, DJ AND PRODUCER good shape. When I’m in Vancouver (Jack Richardson Producer of the Year I want to drink up as much of that nominee for “Get What You Give” and

“Drifting Away”, and dance recording nominee for “Get What You Give”) “I love when people come and visit, because I can take them out for sushi. I love to show off our sockeye salmon, and I like to visit Honjin [138 Davie Street] in Yaletown. I feel like sockeyesalmon sashimi is very hard to get at that quality anywhere else in the world.”

KYLIE MILLER, GUITARIST FOR THE BEACHES (breakthrough group nom-

inee) “For me, when I’m in Vancouver, or any city, to be honest, my favourite thing to do is eat. Everyone knows that Vancouver has some of the best seafood in Canada, so getting good sushi is always a must for me when I visit.

I’m currently planning on taking the girls out for a pre-Juno sushi feast and I couldn’t be more excited.”

NANCY MIKE, SINGER WITH THE JERRY CANS (nominee for both

breakthrough group and contemporary roots album for Inuusiq) “I love the brunch spot the Café Medina [780 Richards Street]. It is a very kid-friend-

MAR

16 & 17

ly place, great waffles and coffee. On a side note, coming from a place where there are no trees, I discovered a phobia of trees (a.k.a. hylophobia) when I came to Vancouver, and I am learning to observe and appreciate all the different types of trees and love going for walks, or a hike to enjoy the scenery.”

JHYVE, R&B SINGER-SONGWRITER AND PRODUCER (R&B/soul re-

cording nominee for “Human”) “Not only is this the first Junos I’m attending, but I’m also performing my first show in Vancouver at the legendary Commodore Ballroom, where countless music icons had their start—James Brown, Tina Turner, David Bowie…

I’m honoured to play there and to do so with my friend, one of the most talented and hard-working Canadian artists I know, Jessie Reyez. It’s a dream come true. Before I hit the stage, though, my preshow routine usually includes kicking back with a couple of whiskies. If I have time, I’ll check out the Irish Heather [210 Carrall Street]. I hear they pour a nice dram.” -

THIS WE EK END! TWO NIGHT

ST. PATRICK’S PUNKSTR AVAGA NZA

THE

WITH

DREADNOUGHTS MAR 16 - WITH GUE STS

THE DAGGERMOUTH, SLIP-ONS, AN STAGGERS & JAGGS, RUSSI TIM AND THE PAVEL BURES, ANTEATER MAR 17 - WITH GUE STS

BISHOPS GREEN, ATD, TILES, SOMETHING ABOUT REP PADDY WAGGIN HIGHLIFE, ZULU, NEPTOON & TICKETS AVAILA BLE AT RED CAT, RICKSH AWTHE ATRE.COM

SUNDAY MARCH 25

MAR M MA

3 & 24 23 2

2 NIGHTS OF

JUNOFEST ‘18 MAR 23

HAWKING, GANG SIGNS, SEX WITH STRANGERS, Y NÊHIYAWAK, PHONO PON MAR 24

MAESTRO FRESH WES, CLAIRMONT THE SECOND. CADENCE WEAPON, LOU PHELPS, MISSY D, JB THE FIRST LADY

PERFORMANCES BY

ARCADE FIRE | ARKELLS BARENAKED LADIES WITH STEVEN PAGE DIANA KRALL | DANIEL CAESAR JESSIE REYEZ | LIGHTS SHAWN HOOK | THE JERRY CANS

TICKETS: RICKSH AWTHE ATRE.C

A MAR M

30 3

HOSTED BY

MICHAEL BUBLÉ

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11th ANNI VERSARY O F ‘EARTHBO WITH ORIGINAL LINEUP

& STORC NEEDLES//PINS ZULU, NEPTOON & TICKETS: RED CAT, HIGHLIFE, RICKSHAWTHEATRE.COM

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POLYRHYTHMICS (RESCHEDULED DATE) @ THE WISE HAL

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TICKETS: RED CAT, HIGHLIFE, ZULU, & RICKSH AWTHE ATRE.COM

NEPTOON

MAY M

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UN U JJUN JU

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TRICKY

MRG Concerts presents

ATRE.COM

SUBHUMANS (UK)

WITH GUESTS

NEPTOON & TICKETS: RED CAT, HIGHLIFE, ZULU, RICKSH AWTHE ATRE.COM

SPACE PROVIDED BY

254 East Hastings | liveatrickshaw.com 16 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018

L

WITH GUESTS

TICKETS: RED CAT & RICKSH AWTHE

#JUNOS | JUNOAWARDS.CA

UND’

WITH GUESTS

A TRIBUTE TO GORD DOWNIE FEATURING

CITY AND COLOUR & SARAH HARMER

OM

THE KILLERS • FLORENCE + THE MACHINE METRIC • ARKELLS • THE WAR ON DRUGS • ST. VINCENT • FATHER JOHN MISTY BLUE RODEO • MOTHER MOTHER • CHROMEO • BAHAMAS STEREOPHONICS • RODRIGO Y GABRIELA • COLD WAR KIDS • GRETA VAN FLEET DEAR ROUGE • BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE • MATT MAYS • CURRENT SWELL • WHITEHORSE BLACK PISTOL FIRE • MATT ANDERSEN • SAID THE WHALE • YUKON BLONDE • THE ZOLAS HEY OCEAN! • MIDNIGHT SHINE • DELHI 2 DUBLIN • BARNEY BENTALL THE JULIAN TAYLOR BAND • CRYSTAL SHAWANDA • BELLE GAME • THE MATINEE LITTLE DESTROYER • THE BOOM BOOMS feat TA’KAIYA BLANEY WILLIAM PRINCE • SHRED KELLY • KELLY DERRICKSON • MURRAY PORTER SNOTTY NOSE REZ KIDS • MOB BOUNCE • DAYSORMAY • BITTERLY DIVINE THE CARNIVAL BAND • ZYNTH & CO S TA N L E Y PA R K

SEPTEMBER 7-9TH

PA S S E S O N S A L E AT 1 0 A M F R I D AY T H R O U G H W W W. S K O O K U M F E S T I VA L . C O M

I N C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H

MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 17

JUNOS

to Journeyth e

The Raga Experience

Sitar player Sharanjeet Singh Mand— accompanied on tabla by Hriday Buddhdev— performs traditional Indian Classical ragas. This recital will compare Western Classical music and traditional melodic structures. After the concert there will be time for people in the audience to ask questions.

Mar 16 Centre Stage at Surrey City Hall Reception: 7pm Concert: 8-9pm Tickets: $12 www.tickets.surrey.ca

FUSE: Transcendence/ DestrucƟon

Vancouver’s one and only late-night art party returns on Friday, March 16 with an evening for contemplating the space between transcendence and destruction. In dialogue with the Vancouver Art Gallery’s spring exhibition season, FUSE: Transcendence/Destruction will traverse the heights and depths of human experience through absurd, mundane and political gestures. Featuring all shades of performance—from prop comedy to experimental theatre to music and animation, and even an artist bar—the evening’s happenings will distort and synthesize the boundary between tradition and futurity.

Mar 16 - Vancouver Art Gallery Time: 8pm-12am Tickets: $29 available online (www.vanartgallery.bc.ca)

HERE’S WHERE TO FIND

MUSIC & EVENTS ALL OVER THE CITY!

Visit letshearitbc.com for a complete list of events 604 Record Presents:

Comedy Here OŌen?

An evening dedicated to showcasing Canadian comedy with a highlight on the hilariously talented stand-up community right here in Vancouver hosted by 604 Records comedian Kevin Banner (SiriusXM Canada’s Top Comic 2016 nalist).

Conrmed performers are 2018 JUNO nominated comedians Charlie Demers and Ivan Decker, Gavin Matts (SiriusXM Canada’s Top Comic 2017), Kyle Bottom (SiriusXM Canada’s Top Comic nalist and regular on CBC’s The Debaters) and Yumi Nagashima.

Mar 21 Exact location will be emailed to ticket purchasers Doors Open: 6pm Show: 7pm Tickets: Available online: $10 www.604records.com/shop

and in limited quantities at the door 50% off for Vancouver Art Gallery Members ($15)

#SINGITFWD Finale More than two years after its’ nal show, #SingItFwd returns to the Vogue. Join event founders and former JUNO nominees, Hey Ocean! along with friends Mother Mother, Said The Whale, The Zolas, Leif Vollebekk, Dawn Pemberton, The Peach Pit, Khari McClelland, and Louise Burns for an unforgettable evening raising funds and awareness for Saint James Music Academy. Attendees can expect intimate, stripped down sets and a special performance by the Saint James Music Academy’s choir and orchestra.

Missy D Presents:

They say you have 3 primary colors, 7 in the rainbow, 12 musical notes, a boom bap, a onetwo step...Well, here are 10 talented artists and more showcasing all their colors, whether it be their voice, their melanin, their art, their dance, and their community... This canvas is representing Hip-Hop in Colors! It’s evolution, its story, its foundation, its complexity, its sounds, its arts, and most of all its people!

Tickets: $25 - $35 Tickets available at www.tickety.com

Time: 7pm Tickets: $10 Tickets available at www.brownpapertickets.com

Tickets: $15 www.eventbrite.ca

Sonic Boom Music FesƟval

BeatRoute Magazine Presents:

BC Extreme Ensuring local music ares are ring at full capacity, BeatRoute presents BC EXTREME. Featuring the likes of 604 Records recent funkadelic signees, SCHWEY; the incomparable rap duo, SO LOKI, who’ve been killing with their online presence from day one; PRADO, a legend in the making with her rap sensibilities, complemented by dancers to make an immersive liveperformance you will not forget; and Victoria, BC’s freshest export, PEACH PYRAMID, fronted by the graceful melodies and sweet swirling guitars of Jen Severtson.

Presented by Vancouver ProMusica, the Sonic Boom Festival is a multiday celebration of contemporary classical music by BC composers. Now in its 31st year, the festival annually spotlights a Composer in Residence, a Featured Artist and an Ensemble in Residence along with a talented mix of ensembles of one to four players, and dozens of new works by emerging and established BC composers. This year, the Composer in Residence is Owen Underhill, the Featured Artist is Michael Park, and the Ensemble in Residence is Nu:BC Collective.

Mar 22 Anza Club

Mar 22 - Mar 25 Pyatt Hall (Mar 22- 24), Orpheum Annex Mar 25

Time: 8pm - 1am Tickets: $15 available at www.showpass.com

presented by Westbank and Siegel Entertainment

Live Music Series in the Lobby Lounge at Fairmont Pacic Rim

Live entertainment dazzles the crowd in The Lobby Lounge at Fairmont Pacic Rim seven days a week offering a great way to wrap up a busy day with cocktails and contemporary live music in Vancouver.

Mar 7 - Mar 31 Fairmont Pacic Rim Time: 8:30am - Late Tickets: FREE

18 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018

Larissa Loyva first became entangled with Mint Records in 2005 with p:ano (Canadian indie pop band), her project with Nicholas Krgovich. Since then, Loyva has also released two solo albums on Mint under the name Kellarissa, which is Finnish for “in the basement”. Now, Kellarissa returns with Ocean Electro, (momentarily eschewing the Finnish language) to propose a new genre which entangles femme psych electronica with driving synth pop. The album is dedicated to the planet’s mysterious forces, namely the ocean, in all its metaphorical and natural powers.

Mar 22 Red Gate Revue Stage

Time: 8pm - 12am

Time: 7pm

Kellarissa Record Release Show

Hip Hop in Colours

Mar 21 The Red Room

Mar 21 Vogue Theatre

Mint Records Presents:

Scène Vancouver Come discover BC’s most up-and-coming francophone musicians in this concert organized

by Le Centre culturel francophone de Vancouver.

With performances by Gabriel Dubreuil, Alisa Blanc and Jazztown, it will be a unique opportunity to celebrate francophone music and local talents through a range of different music genres.

Mar 23 Vancity Culture Lab Time: 8pm Tickets: $10 www.thecultch.com

Time: 7:30pm Tickets: $15 Available at www.brownpapertickets.com

presented by Westbank and Siegel Entertainment

Lunch Hour LIVE at the Woodward’s Atrium

Celebrate JUNO month in Vancouver with daily live music in the Woodward’s Atrium Mar 19 - Mar 25 Woodward Atrium Time: 11am-1pm Tickets: Free

YVR Welcome Series Experience BC’s diverse local music scene with the YVR Welcome Series. As part of the Let’s Hear It BC JUNO Week celebrations, be greeted by intimate sets by 24 emerging BC acts at both the Domestic Arrivals and Haida Gwaii Canoe pop up performance locations. The YVR Welcome Series runs March 21-24th.

Mar 21 - Mar 24 YVR airport (Haida Gwaii Canoe, Domestic Arrival Gate) Time: 9am - 11:40pm (Various times) Tickets: FREE

PRESENTED BY

Vancouver Art Gallery - North Plaza March 23, 12:00 - 9PM | March 24, 9AM - 9PM

The Funk Hunters | Khanvict Desi Sub Culture | Little Destroyer | Peach Pit | The Boom Booms I M U R | Mob Bounce + DJ Kookum | Conro | Horsepowar Shawn Austin | Chersea | Astrocolor | MusiCounts StarBand w/ Dear Rouge Fox Glove | Fionn | Fintan O’Brien | Bukola Also featuring the Junior Junos with The Mobelees | Bobs & LoLo | Splash N’ Boots

@letshearitBC | www.letshearitbc.com FREE ADMISSION | ALL AGES WELCOME FOUNDING SPONSORS

EMP PARTNERS

LET’S HEAR IT! LIVE PARTNERS

MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 19

JUNOS 2018 SPACE PROVIDED BY

Cartal is all about creativity > B Y K ATE WILS O N

T

SELFIE SESSIONS WITH: AARON PRITCHETT ~ ARKELLS CHAD BROWNLEE ~ DALLAS SMITH DAN DAVIDSON ~ DANIEL CAESAR HIGH VALLEY ~ JAMES BARKER BAND JESS MOSKALUKE ~ LIGHTS MARIANAS TRENCH ~ RIA MAE RUTH B ~ SCOTT HELMAN SHAWN HOOK ~ THEORY TIM HICKS ~ VIRGINIA TO VEGAS

EVENT DJ

DAVE

(DAVE RITTER OF THE STRUMBELLAS)

SATURDAY, MARCH 24 NOON, METROPOLIS AT METROTOWN, BURNABY GET YOUR FREE TICKETS AT JUNOFANFARE.CA

#JUNOS junoawards.ca

he last time Vancouver hosted the Juno Awards—March 2009—Gregor Robertson was a fresh-faced first-time mayor, the Olympics were in the final stages of planning, and nobody had yet set fire to a cop car while cursing the Boston Bruins.

The year proved just as important for local artist (and double Juno 2018 nominee) Felix Cartal. After spending his teens locked in the studio at New Westminster Secondary School and gigging around North Van with his experimental band Orange Orange, the young musician was in the throes of becoming a bona fide producer. Three years at UBC let the rising star distill his creations into coherent, hype-inducing electro tracks, and Vancouver DJs like Paul Devro and My!Gay!Husband! gave him the platform for his first show at their Half Alive events. When 2009 rolled around—two months after the Junos wrapped in the city—the artist released his first EP on Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak Records.

Today, that seems like ancient history to the artist, born Taelor Deitcher. Gone are the days of hard drops and aggressive synths—the sound that scored him his first Juno nomination in 2013, for the single “Don’t Turn on the Lights”. In its place came more melodic, vocal-driven tracks, and a desire to focus on quality hooks over volume.

“When I started, I just wasn’t that capable at the programs I was using,” Deitcher tells the Straight by phone, reached in New York. “I was making what I could with the tools I had, and a lot of the tracks were happy accidents at the time. I had this realization with really hard music that it eventually became a competition for who could go the hardest. I didn’t find it very conducive to actual songwriting, because it sort of felt like watching Jackass or something—it’s about how crazy we could go before we hit the limit. I still love listening to that kind of music, but I don’t find it so interesting to create anymore.”

Deitcher emerged from that period of transition after a collaboration with dance luminary Kaskade. Having met the producer at a few festivals and worked briefly in his studio, Deitcher always talked about doing a song with the industry giant. After writing a vocal with singer Ofelia K in her apartment, he reached out to Kaskade to complete the track as an indie-pop dance number. They called it “Fakin It”.

“When the single came out, that felt like a catalyst,” he recalls. “That was the first lyric that I felt people really connected with. It felt different to everything I had previously done, and it was a moment where I realized, ‘Oh, this can work.’ It doesn’t sound like a hit to me—it doesn’t have a big pop vocal on it— but the feedback and response I got from people was overwhelming.

Producer and DJ Felix Cartal says his main interest is not in making music that does well commercially, but in creating things he personally enjoys.

Somebody got a tattoo of the lyrics, which is crazy to me. From that moment on, I’ve had a little more clarity on what I want to do. I think it’s about caring more about what I make, and caring less about what happens when it’s released.”

That philosophy has propelled Deitcher into his latest venture, a yetto-be-titled upcoming album. Slated to drop in the spring, the 18-track collection comes six years after the release of his last full-length, Different Faces, and is the result of a bold decision to scrap a completed record and start again from scratch.

“I signed to a major label in 2015, and I think when you do that there’s a lot of pressure—either real or perceived—to write things that are more commercial,” he says. “There’s lots of commercial music that I love, but I don’t love all of it. There was a moment when I was trying to write songs I thought would do well, but now this album is about creating things that I think are great, and if it does well commercially, it’s a bonus.”

His new outlook has already been rewarded. March 2017 saw the artist release “Get What You Give”, a flip of the New Radicals’ classic rock track into a laid-back, feel-good dance recording. A single from the upcoming album, the song has earned Deitcher

Tickets to both shows available

his first gold record, and has led to two nominations at this year’s Juno Awards: dance recording of the year and producer of the year. To top that success, Monday brought the news that he’ll be playing the event alongside fellow performers like Arcade Fire, Arkells, and Barenaked Ladies, spinning records as the house DJ for the live Juno broadcast.

“It feels a bit surreal to me, I guess, because I always think of dance music as something underground,” he says. “It came at a time when labels weren’t prepared to spend $100,000 on a record, and dance music got creative. Producers stole a bunch of software and would make new records that were just as good as professionally made music, so it always felt punk-rock and as if it had a DIY edge. Being acknowledged at the Junos and in this kind of setting feels strange to me, but in a really good way.

“It’s great to have the Junos in Vancouver, especially because it’s the year that I’m lucky enough to be featured at,” he continues. “The timing feels really nice, and it’s cool because my parents get to come. They might be even more stoked than me.” Felix Cartal plays at the 2018 Juno Awards at Rogers Arena on March 25.

at theinvisibleorange.com 20 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018

MUSIC

Del Junco has great taste in collaborators Half of the tunes on Carlos

2 del Junco’s new CD, Hang On,

are covers. The rest were written by someone else.

It’s no big deal that the Torontobased musician has “never been much of a songwriter”, as he readily admits when reached at his home: he is a serviceable singer and one of the finest harmonica players alive today, with a big sound and immense melodic flexibility. He’s also got great taste, having picked Gordon Lightfoot’s “Ribbon of Darkness”, Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”, and Tom Waits’s “Jersey Girl” for the new record, alongside a couple of more leftfield choices, such as avant-jazz great John Zorn’s surprisingly atmospheric “The Rain Horse”. But what really sets Hang On apart is five pieces from the pen of stealth superstar Kevin Breit, who also guests on mandolin.

“Kevin’s been a huge influence and inspiration for me,” del Junco notes.

“I always say that my records are as much his as they are mine, because he’s got such a distinctive sound.”

The partnership dates back to the early 1990s, when Breit was playing country pop with his siblings Gary and Garth, and del Junco was gearing up for a solo career. “I saw him play with the Breit Brothers,” del Junco recalls. “He was doing a solo Dobro piece and I thought, ‘Who’s this kid?’

It turned out he lived in Toronto, so I hired him for a session and got him to play on my first record. We played together for six months and then he got snagged up by Holly Cole and we’ve barely played live together after that, just for CD releases and the occasional gig.”

Breit—who’s since gone on to work with Norah Jones and Cassandra Wilson—is a fierce improviser but, as del Junco says, there’s also a sweetness about some of his tunes that is well-suited to the harmonica’s almost-human voice.

Toronto-based harmonica player and singer Carlos del Junco called on Kevin Breit to write songs for his album Hang On.

“I like a lot of things that Kevin does for the reason that they’re quirky, but [on Hang On] I’ve also introduced two melodies, ‘Marjorie’ and ‘Don’t Worry Your Pretty Little Head’, that are just beautiful—two beautiful ballads, you know. Now and then he just writes these songs that are just kind of timeless.”

Breit won’t be able to make del Junco’s West Coast tour, but don’t worry: the harmonica ace will be joined by another exceptional and underrecognized guitarist, Eric St. Laurent, alongside bassist Henry Heilig. There are good reasons for this minimalistic lineup, del Junco allows, including that three people and an upright bass can fit in your average rental SUV. “But I also just love the stripped-down sound,” he

little bit,” he says. “So I’ve written some music that’s, like, cumbias and stuff like that, which I never would have done. But in the string-quartet band, we don’t really do any of that stuff.”

Instead, the group specializes in Wilson’s wide-screen originals, which range from moody, episodic soundscapes to heartfelt, hymnlike songs, all made singularly “lush”, to use Wilson’s term, by its unusual instrumentation. In addition to Wilson’s guitar, James Meger’s upright bass, and Dylan van der Schyff’s drums, the group incorporates string improvisers Joshua Zubot and Meredith Bates on violin, John Kastilic on viola, and Peggy Lee on cello, with former Be Good Tanyas singer Trish Klein guesting most nights.

Burn Down the Cornfield is a far more complex undertaking than any of Wilson’s Costa Rican bar bands.

But in many ways the ethos is the same: it’s all about playing music with friends in a warm and sociable environment and being as creative as possible with what’s at hand.

“I’m really proud of what we’re doing, and I don’t say that lightly,” the usually self-effacing Wilson comments. “And the reason it’s so awesome is that everyone is really into it. And so as a composer or whatever you want to call it—a catalyst, an initiator—it feels awesome when you can see that the musicians, they love to do it. So I’m really lucky that I know people who can take my little ideas and make them beyond anything I could imagine they could be—and at this point in my life, that’s all I care about.

“I mean, what else am I going to worry about?” he adds. “And I don’t have to worry about it very much.”

adds. “There’s more space, in some been making music with former Vancouverite Rob Armus and other ways, to let the music breathe.” > ALEXANDER VARTY expats. “We’re basically playing in beach bars, playing everything from Carlos del Junco plays St. James Hall Johnny Cash to, like, cumbia music,” on Sunday (March 18).

Wilson reports, adding that Armus’s home base of Playa Sámara is situated on “a five-mile beach lined with coconut trees” and that when he’s not playing music he’s swimming, sometimes three times a day.

Tony Wilson is tired but tanned.

It’s a good life. But there are comWhen the Georgia Straight reach- pensations for being back home, chief es the Hornby Island musician at his among them the chance to play with home, he’s just back from several weeks his extraordinary new group, Burn in Costa Rica, where, he happily re- Down the Cornfield, whose repertoire ports, he’s been having too much fun. of mostly original compositions is a far > ALEXANDER VARTY “Way too much,” he stresses, laughing. cry from the eclectic fare Wilson has But it’s not been all sun and surf been enjoying closer to the equator. for the guitarist and composer. This “It’s funny, because I’ve never had Tony Wilson and Burn Down the has been his third visit to the Cen- any affinity for Latin music, but being Cornfield play Frankie’s Jazz Club tral American country, where he’s down there, of course it gets into you a next Thursday (March 22).

Burn Down the Cornfield plays wide-screen originals

2

Maillardville’s Music Festival e ÉD

29

MARCH | 24 | 25 23 PARC MACKIN

ITION

COQUITLAM BC

GET YOUR FRENCH CANADIAN ON

THU MAR 15 VAL KILMER AND THE NEW COKE The Live Agency presents

FRI MAR 16

The Live Agency presents

10 Minute detour W. GUESTS 1pm-4pm

SAT MAR 17 Blues brunch w. rob montgomery 4:30pm-8:30pm

saturday sessions the original jam session The Live Agency presents

THE WHISKEYJAYS

QUÉBÉCOIS CELTIC · WORLD FOLK MUSIC

The Live Agency & Live Acts present

THU MAR 22 THE STATISTICS w. GUESTS

Mar 23 Railway Stage presents JUNOFEST W. GUESTS Mar 24 Railway Stage presents JUNOFEST W. TOQUE Mar 25 Railway Stage presents UNOFFICIAL JUNO AFTER PARTY

www.festivaldubois.ca IKEA Coquitlam

MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 21

Sat. Mar. 17

2THIS WEEK

NO COVER

KARAOKE MAR 16 68 LIPS MAR 17 68 LIPS MAR 18 SONS OF THE HOE

DAILY HAPPY HOUR 1038 Main Street IVANHOE PUB

7 DAYS A WEEK

9:30PM-CLOSE

EVIL BASTARD KARAOKE EXPERIENCE

HOSTED BY:

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM!

OPEN UNTIL 3AM FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

KIYA TABASSIAN, setar & MAARJA NUUT, violin & voice TUES APRIL 10, 2018 | 8PM

NICHOLAS WRIGHT, violin WITH GRACE HUANG, piano & ROBYN DRIEDGER-KLASSEN, soprano TUES APRIL 17, 2018 | 8PM

ONE NIGHT STAND: NICOLE LIZÉE

EVERY TUESDAY AT 8PM

EVERY TUESDAY AT 8PM

C O N C E R T S AT T H E F O X C A B A R E T G E T YO U R TI CK E TS! $29 | $10

TUES APRIL 3, 2018 | 8PM

TUES APRIL 24, 2018 | 8PM

EMERGE ON MAIN: SPOTLIGHT ON RISING MUSICIANS

Music on Main is supported by government, foundations, Rogers Media, The Georgia Straight & donors like you.

musiconmain.ca | @musiconmain | 604.879.9888

The Georgia Straight Confessions, an outlet for submitting revelations about your private lives—or for the voyeurs among us who want to read what other people have disclosed.

Scan to confess Chalk or Kathy Grifn No way, I am getting tickets to Kathy Griffin. I’d rather eat chalk.

PSA If you can smell mothballs then you are directly inhaling the toxic insecticide naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene.

Kids against Guns I hope protest in the USA with kids protesting guns gets MASSIVE numbers. These kids have the right to be safe in school.

If the grown ups can’t do something about maybe the next generation can. You go kids!!! Lead ... we’ve got your back.

Lease Of Mind To me it’s worth paying double rent to not have to live with someone else’s habits and hang-ups.

Culture Who needs it when you have high end luxury condos?

Mysteries Of all of the equinoxes etc., this hour of so called “Daylight Savings” that gets dropped from time is the most mysterious.

What actually happens during that hour that is either “sprung forward” or fallen back I wonder?

Visit

to post a Confession

22 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018

TANYA TAGAQ AND LAAKKULUK WILLIAMSON BATHORY Groundbreaking Indigenous artists perform as part of the Beyond Words series.

Mar 16-17, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Info chan centre.com/events/tanya-tagaq-laakkulukwilliamson-bathory/.

CELTIC FEST VANCOUVER CEILIDH 2018 Celtic music, dance, and song featuring Blackthorn, BC Regiment of Irish Pipes and Drums, Eire Born Irish Dance Company, and Shot of Scotch Vancouver Company. Mar 16, 7 pm, Scottish Cultural Centre (8886 Hudson).

Tix $25, info www.celticfestvancouver.com/.

2JUST ANNOUNCED

A MONTH OF TUESDAYS QUASAR: DE SOUFFLES ET DE MACHINES

CONCERTS < CLUBS & VENUES < OUT OF TOWN <

CONCERTS

FIVE CONCERTS. TOP-FLIGHT MUSICIANS. GREAT MUSIC.

TUES MAR 27, 2018 | 8PM

music/ timeout

STEEL PANTHER American comedic glam-metal band tours in support of latest album Lower the Bar. Mar 15-17, doors 8 pm, show 9:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix $39.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

JOHN REISCHMAN & THE PINE SISKINS Folk-bluegrass music by manBRIGHT MOMENTS: JOSHUA ZUBOT dolin player John Reischman, fiddler & STRINGS A virtuosic violinist, Zubot melds everything from jazz, new music, folk, Trent Freeman, guitarist Eli West, and bassist Patrick Metzger. Mar 16, 7:30 pm, improvisation, and electronica. With Peggy Centennial Lodge in Queens Park. Tix Lee, Meredith Bates, James Meger, and $25/20, info www.johnreischman.com/.

Jesse Zubot. Presented by Coastal Jazz.

Mar 23, 8 pm, Western Front (303 E. 8th). Tix THE DREADNOUGHTS 11 YEAR $25 at www.coastaljazz.ca/.

PUNKSTRAVAGANZA: NIGHT 1 The Dreadnoughts host the first of two nights ANTÓNIO ZAMBUJO Zambujo’s “innovaof local punk/folk/ska/metal, with guests tive fusion of [fado] with cante alentejano, Daggermouth, SLIP~ons, the Staggers & a type of regional male chant, imbues the Jaggs, Russian Tim and Pavel Bures, and teary genre with new light.” Presented by AntEater.

Mar 16, 7:30 pm, Rickshaw Theatre Cap Global Roots Series and Kay Meek (254 E. Hastings). Tix $20-30 (plus service Centre. Mar 25, 7:30 pm, Kay Meek Centre charge) at www.rickshawtheatre.com/.

(1700 Mathers Ave., West Van). Tickets $35, info www.capilanou.ca/centre.

QUASAR Montreal saxophone quartet kicks off Music on Main’s A Month of Tuesdays concert series. Mar 27, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret. Tix $29/10, info www.music onmain.ca/.

GLOBAL CITIZEN LIVE VANCOUVER Free-ticketed advocacy event to celebrate action on gender equality and climate change features performances by the Sam Roberts Band, with guests the Elwins, Crown Lands, and Horsepowar. Music fans and activists are invited to sign up at globalcitizen.org and take action to earn free tickets to the event. Apr 12, doors 7 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville).

Info www.globalcitizen.org/en/ca/.

BC/DC AC/DC tribute band, with guests Calm Like a Bomb (Rage Against the Machine tribute) and Nevermind (Nirvana tribute). May 10, 8 pm, Rickshaw Theatre (254 E. Hastings). Tix $15 (plus service charges and fees) at Red Cat and www.rickshawtheatre.com/.

POPTONE American rock band featuring Daniel Ash (vocals, guitar), Kevin Haskins (drums) and Diva Dompé (bass, backing vocals) performs classic songs from Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets, and Bauhaus. May 20, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Rickshaw Theatre (254 E. Hastings). Tix on sale Mar 16, 10 am, $25 (plus service charge) at www.ticketweb.ca/.

BON IVER Indie-folk band from Wisconsin. May 26, doors 5:30 pm, show 7:30 pm, Deer Lake Park (6344 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby). Tix on sale Mar 16, noon, $49.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

CULTURE Melo Productions presents Jamaican roots-reggae group, featuring Kenyatta Hill, with guest Boom Daddy.

Jun 21, doors 8 pm, show 9:30 pm, Venue. Tix $30 (plus service charge) at www.ticketweb.ca/.

FREDDIE MCGREGOR Reggae artist from Jamaica, with guest Mostly Marley. Jun 23, doors 7 pm, show 8:15 pm, Venue. Tix $30 (plus service charge) at www.ticketweb.ca/.

LOGIC American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer performs on his The Bobby Tarantino vs. Everybody Tour, with guests NF. Jul 15, doors 6 pm, show 7 pm, PNE Amphitheatre (2901 E. Hastings). Tix on sale Mar 16, noon, $69.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

ALICE COOPER American shock-rock legend from the ’70s. Aug 20, doors 6:30 pm, show 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton). Tix on sale Mar 16, 10 am, $99.50/79/45 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

ALICE IN CHAINS Grunge rockers from Seattle, featuring singer-guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Aug 22, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton).

Tix on sale Mar 16, 10 am, $99.50/69.50/55 (plus service charges and fees) at www. livenation.com/.

JAY-Z AND BEYONCE American hiphop/R&B superstars perform on their On the Run II Tour. Oct 2, 7:30 pm, BC Place Stadium (777 Pacific Boulevard). Tix on sale Mar 19 at www.livenation.com/.

JAMES BAY Indie-rock singer-songwriter from England performs on his Electric Light Tour. Oct 13, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre (6066 Thunderbird Blvd., UBC). Tix on sale Mar 16, 10 am, $69.50/49.50/35 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH Indiefolk singer-songwriter from Sweden. Nov 23, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Tix on sale Mar 16, noon, $49.50/39.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

don’t miss out!

For up-to-the-minute, searchable Music Time Out listings, visit

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THE DREADNOUGHTS 11 YEAR PUNKSTRAVAGANZA: NIGHT 2 The Dreadnoughts host the second of two nights of local punk/folk/ska/metal, with guests Bishops Green, ATD, Something About Reptiles, and Paddy Waggin. Mar 17, 7:30 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. Tix $20-30 (plus service charge) at www.rickshaw theatre.com/.

DIRKSCHNEIDER German heavy-metal singer performs all the Accept classics, with guests Elm Street. Mar 18, VIP doors 6 pm, Rickshaw Theatre (254 E. Hastings). $75/38.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.rickshawtheatre.com/.

CARLOS DEL JUNCO The Rogue Folk Club presents the Cuban-Canadian harmonica player. Mar 18, 8 pm, St. James Hall (3214 W. 10th). Tix $13-26, info www. roguefolk.bc.ca/concerts/ev18031820/.

ANTIBALAS Brooklyn-based Afrobeat collective tours in support of latest release Where the Gods Are in Peace. Mar 18, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Biltmore Cabaret (2755 Prince Edward). Tix $25 (plus service charges and fees) at Red Cat, Highlife Records, and www.ticketfly.com/.

THE SUFFERS Houston-based soul band composed of Kam Franklin, Adam Castaneda, Nick Zamora, Patrick Kelly, Jon Durbin, Kevin Bernier, Michael Razo, and Jose Luna. Mar 18, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, The Imperial (319 Main). Tix $20 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

NF Michigan rapper and singer-songwriter tours in support of his third full-length album, Perception. March 19, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville).

Tix $29.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

DUMBFOUNDED Los Angeles hip-hop artist tours in support of latest EP release Rocket Man. Mar 19, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Fortune Sound Club (147 E. Pender).

Tix $20 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketweb.ca/.

ANDY GRAMMER American pop-rock singer-songwriter and record producer performs on his Good Parts Tour. Mar 20, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). Tix $33.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

SONGBIRDS & SINNERS Blues-cabaret chanteuse Ana Bon Bon, queer-country artist Cindy Emch, and torch singer Yours Truly, Michele are featured in a night of rootsy Americana. Mar 21, 7:30 pm, WISE Hall (1882 Adanac). Suggested donation $10, info www.emchy.com/shows/.

SEASONS MUSIC FESTIVAL 2018 Twoday electronic-music festival features performances by Rae Sremmurd, Zhu, Muru Masa (DJ set), Petite Biscuit, Smokepurpp, What So Not, Giraffage, Drezo, Said the Sky, ails, So Loku, and MYNXY. Mar 30-31, doors 7 pm, Pacific Coliseum (Hastings Park, 100 N. Renfrew). Tix at www.ticketleader.ca/.

PARTY FOR THE PLANET The City of Surrey hosts an Earth Day celebration featuring performances by Canadian rock singer-songwriter Sam Roberts, children’s musical duo Bobs & Lolo, pop/R&B group Star Captains, DJ and production group the Freshest, children’s entertainers Rockin’ Robin, the Colin Bullock Duo, and the Smile Band. Apr 14, 10 am–6 pm, Surrey City Hall (13450 104 Ave., Surrey). Free, info www.surrey.ca/partyfortheplanet/.

JAPANDROIDS Vancouver garage-rock band performs three shows. Apr 26-28, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Fortune Sound Club (147 E. Pender). April 27-28 SOLD OUT, tix for April 26 $19.99 (plus service charge) at www.ticketfly.com/.

POST MALONE American rapper performs material from new album Beerbongs and Bentleys, with guests SOB x RBE. Apr 27, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix $84.25/64.25/54.25/44.25 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

TDE: THE CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR Rap show featuring Kendrick Lamar, SZA, ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, SiR, and Lance Skiiiwalker. May 4, doors 6:30 pm, show 7:30 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix $149.50/89.50/49.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

PAUL SIMON American folk-rock singer-songwriter (“You Can Call Me Al”, “Mother and Child Reunion”) performs on his Homeward Bound—The Farewell Tour. May 16, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix $189/129/89/59 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

BREAKOUT FESTIVAL Outdoor hip-hop and R&B festival features Migos, Tory Lanez, 6lack, Lil Pump, A-Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Ski Mask the Slump God, Ybn Nahmir, Kodie Shane, Pressa, Wondagurl, Brevner, Manila Grey, Illyminiachi, Mcevoy Withinroots, Acdatyoungn****, Daamcp, and 2hunnit. Jun 9-10, doors 2 pm, show 3 pm, PNE Amphitheatre (2901 E. Hastings).

Tix $269/149/129/99 (plus service charges and fees) at www.breakout-festival.com/.

XAVIER RUDD Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist performs tunes from latest album Storm Boy. Jun 9, doors 6 pm, show 7 pm, Malkin Bowl (610 Pipeline Road, Stanley Park). Tix $39.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

JOHN BUTLER TRIO Australian roots and jam band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, with guests Mama Kin Spender. Jun 27, doors 6:30 pm, show 7:30 pm, Orpheum Theatre (601 Smithe).

Tix $49.50/39.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

FVDED IN THE PARK Two-day music festival headlined by Atlanta rapper Future, Norwegian super-producer Kygo, and Chicago house kingpin Kaskade also features A$AP Ferg, Kehlani, Rezz, Brockhampton, Illenium, and Duke Dumont. July 6-7, Holland Park (King George Hwy. & Old Yale Rd., Surrey).

Tix at www.fvdedinthepark.com/, info fvdedinthepark.com/.

BURNABY BLUES + ROOTS FESTIVAL The 19th annual celebration of blues and roots music features Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Also includes familyfriendly activities and local food vendors.

Aug 11, doors 2 pm, show 3 pm, Deer Lake Park (6344 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby).

Tix $180/50/40 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketmaster.ca/.

WESTWARD MUSIC FESTIVAL Multiday arts and music showcase features Blood Orange, Kali Uchis, Rhye, Poppy, Angel Olsen, Honne, Kelela, Metz, Saba, Ravyn Lenae, Ella Mai, Mudhoney, Odds, We Are the City, Tei Shi, Ramriddlz, Pell, Duckwrth, Buddy, Fatima Al Qadiri, Roni Size, Hannah Epperson, and Close Talker.

Sep 13-16, various Vancouver venues. Tix at www.westwardfest.com/.

CHILDISH GAMBINO Singer, songwriter, and rapper from the States, aka actor Donald Glover, with guest Rae Sremmurd. Sep 30, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix $139.50/89.50/59.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE American pop– R&B singer-songwriter and former NSYNC member performs on his Man of the BRANDI CARLILE American folk-rock Woods Tour. Nov 8-9, Rogers Arena (800 singer-songwriter tours in support of Griffiths Way). Tix for Nov 8 show SOLD latest studio album The Firewatcher’s Daughter. Mar 29, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, OUT, tix for Nov 9 at www.livenation.com/.

Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville).

OUT OF TOWN Note: moved from original date of March 3. Tix $46 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS

2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS JUNO FEST CBC Music presents performances by more than 90 bands at 13 venues over two nights. Mar 23-24, 7 pm–1 am, various Vancouver venues. Wristbands $30 (plus service charge) at www.ticketfly.com/.

JUNO AWARDS Annual Canadian music awards show, hosted by Vancouver pop superstar Michael Bublé. Mar 25, 5 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix from $79.95 to $875 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketmaster.ca/.

PEARL JAM Legendary Seattle grungerockers, featuring frontman Eddie Vedder.

Aug 8 & 10, 7 pm, Safeco Field (Seattle).

Tix from US$92-112 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketmaster.ca/.

TIME OUT MUSIC LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit listings online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

ARTS

We’re not going B Y ALEX ANDER VAR T Y

to recapitulate the details of Bramwell Tovey’s initial meeting with Leonard Bernstein, save to say that the two conductor-composers first spoke when Tovey was a last-minute replacement for Lukas Foss at a 1986 festival of Bernstein’s music. (For Tovey’s videotaped account of that event, visit the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s YouTube channel.) But the VSO’s soon-to-depart music director had encountered the Bernstein charisma prior to that, as he reveals in a telephone interview from Saskatchewan, where he’s guesting with the Regina Symphony Orchestra.

“I had actually been up close once before, when he had conducted a recording session of Mahler 2 [Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2] with the London Symphony Orchestra in Ely Cathedral; I think that was two or three years earlier, maybe even longer,” Tovey recalls. “I didn’t get to meet him that day, but I had been struck by his magnetism and his musicianship, sort of firsthand, on that occasion. Of course, there was the whole television persona, which had been regularly broadcast at that particular time, but after actually being with him, and realizing that what you saw on TV was what you got up close, I found that what I really admired about him was his extraordinary articulacy. He was extremely wellspoken and erudite when he started talking about music in an intellectual fashion. He was also extremely emotional, but he was able to maintain this very articulate commentary on music.

Feting Bernstein’s musical legacy

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra music director Bramwell Tovey has programming beyond Leonard Bernstein, including a concert by Amanda Forsyth (below left).

during the Spring Festival. Other highlights on the agenda are Serenade, with violin soloist Augustin Hadelich, and Chichester Psalms, with choirs from UBC and the Langley Fine Arts School. But the piece Tovey might be most looking forward to performing is Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2, also known as The Age of Anxiety. It is, he says, a piece he’s never conducted before—even though he was in the audience when Bernstein and pianist Krystian Zimerman fi lmed an incandescent and evergreen rendition of the work with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1986.

Does he have any recommendations for listeners who might also be fairly new to that work?

Counterintuitively, given his respect for Bernstein’s erudite and elegant musicological writings, Tovey says it’s best to enter The Age of Anxiety without paying too much attention to the composer’s copious program notes.

“In learning the piece, I thought, ‘What I really need to do is just get to grips with the music,’ ” he suggests. “I find that the best way: listen to the music, let the music soak into you, and then see what the program can contribute to your understanding, as opposed to reading the program and then trying to understand the music.

“It’s just a different way of going about things,” he adds—and Bernstein, who belied his sonic conservatism with a keen interest in radical politics, would probably approve. -

For its Spring Festival, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra pays full tribute to the charismatic composer on his centenary “Probably what remains with me most was the fact that he was so uninhibited when he performed,” he continues. “Like so many classical musicians of my generation, I had sort of grown up having my instincts squashed a little bit, and he wasn’t bothered by this at all. As far as he was concerned, he was setting the new rules of engagement.”

Rules, it could be argued, that Tovey and most other conductors of his generation happily adopted, bringing a renewed sense of physicality in classical-music performance as a counterweight to the Apollonian intellectuality of Bernstein’s creative opposite, Pierre Boulez. Still, the VSO’s bandmaster admits to fi nding himself both happy and slightly puzzled that in Bernstein’s centenary year he’s devoting most of the orchestra’s annual Spring Festival to his former mentor’s work.

“I never thought his music would live very long after his death,” Tovey confesses.

“But I’ve been pretty blown away by the way his works have not only held their own, but have grown in stature. Who would have thought that we’d be performing every single work that Bernstein wrote in his centenary year? It would have been unthinkable back in 1990, because he was pretty much famous for West Side Story and what people felt were a number of overblown pieces, like the symphonies and the Mass. And now they’re all incredibly popular.”

Yes, the VSO will perform Bernstein’s symphonic adaptation of his most famous musical

THINGS TO DO

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Spring Festival runs at the Orpheum from Saturday (March 17) to March 26.

2

Spring Festival looks at other legends, as well

Although the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s annual Spring Festival might seem like it’s dedicated to the late conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, that’s not how it was originally framed, according to VSO music director Bramwell Tovey. Initially, the concept was simply to survey musical legends.

On Saturday (March 17), for instance, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms will be paired with Carl Orff’s playful Carmina Burana. A week later (March 24), the composer’s most famous work, West Side Story, will be accompanied by a reading of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G Major. And the festival ends on March 26 with Zukerman Plays Mozart—a program entirely bereft of Bernstein compositions.

That, Tovey says, is entirely by chance. His first thought was to pair something by the late New Yorker with Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote, with Canadian cellist Amanda Forsyth as the latter’s musical star. “It transpired that [Forsyth’s husband, string virtuoso] Pinchas Zukerman could come, and Pinchas wanted to play Sancho Panza, that viola part,” the conductor explains. “And then I thought there are some opportunities you just have to grab. Carpe diem; you just have to seize the day, so I just said to Pinky, ‘How about a concerto in the first half?’ And he offered Mozart, and I said, ‘Fantastic. Why don’t you direct it from the violin?’

So we have a living legend who knew Lenny.” > ALEXANDER VARTY

ARTS High five

Editor’s choice LAST HOTEL STOP When Chelsea Hotel opened six years ago, the innovative Leonard Cohen tribute blew us away. Something about the six gifted musicians playing 17 instruments, the splendour of Steve Charles’s arrangements, and the inventiveness of Tracey Power’s direction made this ambitious project work. Since then, the show has toured the country to sold-out houses. Now it’s back—to mark the Firehall’s 35th anniversary, to honour Cohen after his 2016 death, and to say goodbye. Join them on the cast’s final journey. The Firehall Arts Centre presents Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen from Saturday (March 17) to April 21.

Five events you just can’t miss this week

1

SCHAGHAJEGH NOSRATI (March 18 at the Vancouver Playhouse) The stunning pianist tackles Bach’s Goldberg Variations for the VRS.

2

SHAMROCKS AND SHENANIGANS (March 17 at the Improv Centre) Wear your best green to Vancouver TheatreSports League’s hilarious St. Patrick’s Day fete.

3

BETROFFENHEIT (Until March 17 at the Vancouver Playhouse) One of the most unforgettable stage works to come out of our town.

4

PATASOLA DANCE (March 22 to 24 at the KW Production Studio) A riveting mix of flamenco, butoh, and the theme of violence against women, at VIDF.

5

BEYOND THE PALE (March 15 at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre) Just try to sit still for this klezmer and Balkan-music mashup at the Chutzpah fest.

In the news DYNAMIC DANCE DanceHouse has announced an expanded six-show 2018-19 season that features a new work

by Betroffenheit creators Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young, an acrobatic MOMIX spectacle, and the latest wild vision from Montreal icon Marie Chouinard.

From France, Company Wang Ramirez’s B-boy-and-martialartist-mixing Borderline kicks off the season on October 26 and 27 at the Vancouver Playhouse. November 21 to 24 brings Akram Khan’s kathak-inspired Chotto Desh to SFU Woodward’s in the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, in a copro with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs and Théâtre la Seizième. February 6 to 9 in the same venue, Australia’s Jacob Boehme and ILBIJERRI Theatre Company present the Aboriginal, autobiographical Blood on the Dance Floor. February 20 to 23 at the Playhouse, from Pite and Young comes the new Revisor. March 15 and 16 Compagnie Marie Chouinard’s erotically charged Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights (shown here) hits the same venue. And from the U.S., MOMIX delivers its mix of ballet and circus on April 12 and 13 at the Playhouse. MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 23

ARTS

Playwright builds tricky Sequence of his own Ophthalmologist Arun Lakra used both sides of his brain to write his award-winning scientific thriller > B Y JAN ET SMITH

A

PRES SENTED BY

Petal

by Petal...

There's more to experience, than just their beauty.

VANCOUVER CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL 2018 Picnicking Under Blossoms

Spectacular Evening Light Show

APRIL 3rd – 29th VCBF.CA

AN EVENT FOR EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY

Amazing Food Experiences

#vancherryblossomfest

24 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018

Multicultural Performances

run Lakra is an ophthalmologist who’s always felt the need to write—so much so that he carves out days away from the operating room to work solely on his scripts for theatre and film.

But it’s clear that Sequence, the play that’s won him prizes like the 2013 Calgary Theatre Critics Award for best new script and productions in Alberta and Toronto, worked both his methodical and creative sides equally. The structure of this intertwisting scientific thriller has been compared to the double helix of a DNA strand.

“Every time I started the process, I was convinced it wasn’t doable,” he says of his script, speaking from his Calgary office. “There are two story lines, so I ended up writing them independently. And then I had this mad-scientist moment where I felt like either it’s going to explode or it’s going to come together.…I felt like I was using all the resources of my brain to figure out the structure of this.”

In the play, which Realwheels Theatre is giving its local premiere, one narrative follows stem-cell-research professor Dr. Guzman, who is in a race against time to figure out the cure to her own impending blindness. She confronts a student who has gotten all the questions on a midterm wrong—almost a statistical impossibility. In the other plot, Theo has been named Time magazine’s Luckiest Man Alive for 20 years of betting successfully on the Super Bowl. But then he’s approached by a woman named Cynthia, who claims to have figured out his mathematical secret. Amid all this, Lakra plays cleverly with big questions about science and math versus faith, as well as luck, coincidence, and probability.

“My typical joke with people is this script should come with Advil,” Lakra says. His medical training didn’t automatically mean the subject matter came easily to him: “Some of the things I knew, but a lot I had to learn about—like some of the math and scientific processes.

“Being a doctor impacted my choice of characters and the choices of the characters,” he adds. “Delving into this fictional world also helped me empathize with the plight of patients, as well. ” The Vancouver production of Sequence will take it into even more complex new terrain. In the script, two people live with disabilities— the professor, who’s visually impaired, and her failing student, who uses a wheelchair. And those disabilities tie directly—and sometimes

provocatively—into the show’s difficult questions about fate and coincidence. Realwheels Theatre is staging the play with a cast that integrates professional actors who live with and without disabilities. And one of them, Amy Amantea, who’s playing Dr. Guzman, is legally blind.

“She had received performingarts training when she experienced sight loss and walked away from that never thinking she would be able to act again,” explains Realwheels managing artistic director Rena Cohen in a separate phone call. “I first met her when she came to participate in Comedy on Wheels, which we produced last spring, and she blew everyone away.

“Her role is so pivotal and in many ways is the heart of the play,” she adds.

“She also has the most stage business, often around small stage props.”

Cohen stresses Realwheels does not worry about matching disabilities exactly to characters. In fact, Amantea has a different form of vision loss than her character.

“There’s such a range of disability anyway,” Cohen says. “Sixteen percent of Canadians identify as living with disabilities, but we do not see that demographic on stages. We at Realwheels are wanting to address that gap. And it’s not just about the shows we’re producing, but creating opportunities for people in the performing arts.

“When I read plays like this that are exciting for so many other issues, and there are characters who happen to live with a disability, I get excited.

The play seems made for us.”

Lakra, too, is looking forward to the first production of his play to integrate people with disabilities. “I tried to present as balanced a philosophy as I could, but there are some tricky things said about disability here,” he says.

“And the actor with the vision disability: it adds a whole level of authenticity—it adds to the weight of what is being shown. And her role is exceedingly complex and demanding.”

Besides the opening here, a lot has been happening in the doctor’s writing career, including the debut of a short film at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival last fall and work on another film script and play. But the multitasker is characteristically modest about his success in both the medical and the theatrical fields.

“I have largely by accident stumbled on this existence, which is weird,” he says with a laugh. “I almost feel like a fraud as a playwright.” Realwheels Theatre presents Sequence at Presentation House Theatre from Thursday (March 15) to March 24.

ARTS

At top, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory wears the black, red, and white markings of the Greenlandic mask dance; below, the artist outside of performance.

Bathory taps fear and humour in mask dance > BY JA NET SM IT H

W

Tanya Tagaq and Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory are at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts’ Telus Studio Theatre from Friday to Sunday (March 16 to 18).

March 18 – October 8, 2018

hen the Straight reaches Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory at home in Iqaluit, she’s just spotted a musk ox out her window in the gently falling snow. The artist is taking a break from packing up for a snowmobile trip with her husband and three kids to their cabin for the weekend.

The Greenlandic mask dancer is very much at home in the Nunavut capital. But she is also keen to take Inuk traditions out into the rest of the world, as she will when she presents her mesmerizing art form this week in performances with her collaborator, friend, and artistic soulmate, throat singer Tanya Tagaq.

In the show, she’ll be transformed by the ancient dance called uaajeerneq that’s by turns frightening, sexual, and hilarious. Bathory will be unrecognizable, her face covered in sinister black, cut through with red and white markings. Her cheeks will be puffed out with big wooden beads and her short hair will stand wildly on end. Her teeth will flash and her eyes will blaze. The performance is the perfect fierce, otherworldly complement to Tagaq’s vocalizations.

“It’s shocking and challenging to people,” the affable artist says of uaajeerneq. “You get to be more of yourself with a mask. It’s a very sexual, idiosyncratic dance—and it’s sexual because it’s important to celebrate our base humanity. All different genders are there: male, female, both. It’s in between, it’s neither, and it’s something to celebrate—that’s a very deep value.

“It also plays with the idea of fear, and that is also something every human being experiences. You must be able to live your life in equanimity so you can face a situation where you could panic—and that could be everything from a polar bear ripping through the wall of a tent to dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.”

Bathory adds that the dance, once banned by Christian missionaries in Greenland, also pays homage to ancestors, whose bones are represented by the white lines on her face. And it has so much comedy that she describes it, in part, as a clown act: “As ridiculously sexual and fearsome as it is, you really have to break it up with humour,” she explains.

Bathory, whose mother is Greenlandic and father was English, was introduced to uaajeerneq when she was a young teenager growing up in Saskatoon. “I spent my young years in Saskatchewan and it was a stressful environment, as you know from today, as far as racism,” she says.

“I was 13 and, of course, going through all the hormonal changes

of puberty, et cetera. And my mother and [performance artist] Maariu Olsen recognized I needed something tangible to work on as a young woman and a young Inuk. They pretty much threw me into performance alongside them.”

Since then, Bathory has put her own, contemporary spin on the rare dance that saw a revival in the 1970s and ’80s.

“Of course, when you’re dealing with themes of sexuality and fear and humour, you’re breaking boundaries,” she says. “I make sure I move through an audience in a way that they accept and consent. It’s very much not a verbal thing, but it happens once we make eye contact. It’s scary for everybody. A lot of mask dance is the reaction of the audience as I work with them.”

Hooking up with Tagaq, with whom Bathory appeared in the haunting video for “Retribution”— a howling indictment of environmental destruction—has sparked a new creative phase for both artists.

(The album, Retribution, is up for a Juno Award for best alternative album.) It seems only natural the pair should come together: both push classical Inuk art forms forward in sometimes controversial ways; both are outspoken advocates for Indigenous culture and women; and both are mothers raising their families in the North. Their fearless, instinctual styles play electrically off each other on-stage, as well. Bathory calls their shared approach “reaching in”.

“Both of us have many, many years of performance. Because we both work with an improvisational method, if she makes a certain sound it can propel me in a certain way, or sometimes I push her voice with what I do,” Bathory explains, adding: “We hang out on social media. We’re both mothers and we both have extremely intelligent, strong children.

We experience that together and we solve that together—and really that’s our preparation.”

Something magic happens when Bathory and Tagaq share the stage.

But political sparks inevitably fly, too.

“As people, we are not survivors of colonization, but have survived through all methods to make sure we don’t exist,” she emphasizes. “Our art forms have been banished by missionaries for so very long. Even the way I move as an Inuk woman and show my body is a political act. And Tanya’s noise is a political act. It’s about identity issues, feminism, and the drive to find the strength from within.” -

CULTURE AT THE CENTRE Opening party: March 18 | 12 – 5 pm | Free admission MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 25

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2018VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL DANCEFESTIVAL GOH BALLET (VANCOUVER)

RACHMANINOV VESPERS and Lauridsen Lux aeterna

8pm FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018 The Orpheum

Vancouver Chamber Choir | Pacifica Singers Vancouver Cantata Singers | Vancouver Chamber Orchestra Jon Washburn, conductor Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov’s music for the Orthodox All-Night Vigil - often known in the West as the Vespers - is known as his finest unaccompanied choral work, one of the landmarks of the entire choral repertoire.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir combines with the Vancouver Cantata Singers to create a suitable Slavic sonority. As a companion piece, the Pacifica Singers join us for a 21st-century masterpiece and Vancouver Chamber Choir favourite – Morten Lauridsen’s Lux aeterna for choirs and orchestra, an intimate work of quiet serenity centred around a universal symbol of hope, reassurance and goodness.

And as a little bonus, Gabriel Fauré’s exquisite Messe basse in Jon Washburn’s orchestral version.

1.855.985.ARTS (2787) vancouverchamberchoir.com

MARCH 15 - 17 @ 7PM - ROUNDHOUSE EXHIBITION HALL (FREE W/ $3 VIDF MEMBERSHIP)

Excerpts performed from select classical and contemporary ballet repertoire such as Swan Lake and The Four Seasons͕ ĂĚĚŝƟŽŶĂůůLJ ĨĞĂƚƵƌŝŶŐ ƐŽůŽ ƉŝĞĐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ŽƌŝŐŝŶĂů ĐŽŶƚĞŵƉŽƌĂƌLJ ǁŽƌŬƐ͘

• WHITE WAVE YOUNG SOON KIM DANCE COMPANY (USA) MARCH 15 - 17 @ 8PM - ROUNDHOUSE PERFORMANCE CENTRE (TICKETS: $30/$25)

“Great bursts of laughter”

ŽƌŶ ĨƌŽŵ ĂŶ ĞdžĐŝƟŶŐ ĐŽůůĂďŽƌĂƟŽŶ ďĞƚǁĞĞŶ t,/d t s ͛Ɛ ĂƌƟƐƟĐ ĚŝƌĞĐƚŽƌ͕ zŽƵŶŐ ^ŽŽŶ <ŝŵ͕ ĂŶĚ its nine dazzling dancers, iyouuswe ŚĂƐ ďĞĞŶ ŚĂŝůĞĚ ďLJ ĂĐŬƐƚĂŐĞ ĂƐ ͞ĂŶ ĞdžƚƌĞŵĞůLJ ǁĞůů ĐƌĂŌĞĚ͕ ǀŝƐƵĂůůLJ ƐƚƵŶŶŝŶŐ͕ ĂŶĚ ĞŵŽƟŽŶĂůůLJ ƌŝĐŚ ǁŽƌŬ͘͟

– Jeu Magazine

• HARBOUR DANCE ITP AND AVIARY (VANCOUVER) MARCH 18 @ 2PM & 3PM - WOODWARD’S ATRIUM (FREE SHOWS)

,ĞĂƌƚͲƉƵŵƉŝŶŐ ĚĂŶĐĞ ďLJ ĨŽƌƚLJ ĚĂŶĐĞƌƐ͊

INFO & BOX OFFICE: 604.662.4966 VIDF.CA

Meghan Gardiner Photo: David Cooper

CATHERINE LÉGER LEANNA BRODIE DIRECTED BY DIANE BROWN PRODUCED BY RUBY SLIPPERS THEATRE IN ASSOCIATION WITH GATEWAY THEATRE BY

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26 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018

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Forget About Tomorrow is a show to remember TH E ATRE FORGET ABOUT TOMORROW Written by Jill Daum. Directed by Michael Shamata. An Arts Club Theatre Company and Belfry Theatre coproduction. At the Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre on Wednesday, March 7. Continues until March 25

“I’m scared about the future.”

“That’s because you have one.”

This brief exchange comes near the end of Jill Daum’s new play, Forget About Tomorrow. Jane (Jennifer Lines) is trying to cope with the fact that her 50-year-old husband, Tom (Craig Erickson), has recently been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, but she’s a tangle of anger, grief, and guilt. His response is its own complicated combination of envy, frustration, and sympathy. There’s a scarcity of money, time, and hope, and they’re both in survival mode, but for once in the couple’s 27 years together, they’re not looking at the same future. He will die and she will not, and neither of them knows what to do.

Daum began writing the play in the aftermath of the diagnosis of her own husband, Spirit of the West musician and actor John Mann, with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Forget About Tomorrow is not autobiographical, but Jane and Tom/Jill and John—these characters are vivid and tangible because they take their shape from Daum’s lived experiences, even though the story itself is fiction. There’s tremendous joy on the page, even in the heaviest moments, and Daum has a gift for deliciously wicked quips, which helps make Forget About Tomorrow an exquisite balancing act of comedy

2

and tragedy, reality and fiction.

The play opens with the projection of a “homemade movie” of Tom serenading Jane on their anniversary. It’s a beautiful song—written by Mann—and it establishes the couple’s closeness and love for each other. It’s also helpful to have something with which to contrast how their relationship is challenged postdiagnosis. Tom is a therapist and he’s been forgetting things, complaining of a fog in his head that he can’t shake. Jane thinks it’s anxiety and other mental-health issues, and is increasingly frustrated as the financial and domestic duties of their shared life fall solely onto her.

Jane’s trying to parent their two kids long-distance via video-calling for the most part, while also dealing with her boss and friend, the hilariously narcissistic Lori (Colleen Wheeler), and a new customer, Wayne (Hrothgar Mathews), who takes a shine to Jane just when she’s looking for an escape.

The cast is fantastic, particularly the main four. Lines and Erickson masterfully negotiate the emotional agility of Daum’s writing, moving from wry and tender to bittersweet and furious, sometimes within the space of a single sentence. Wheeler gets all of the best lines and the biggest laughs, and her Lori is the perfect warped looking glass through which Jane can examine how the other half lives.

Mathews’s performance, particularly in Act 1, is a stealth combination of charming and sexy. All of them navigate the nuanced depths of Daum’s words with the perfect combination of fearlessness and warmth, making Forget About Tomorrow an experience that you’ll want to remember.

A knock-out mix of R&B, gospel, jazz, and pop!

TAKE 6

April 6 | 8pm QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE

SALOMÉ: WOMAN OF VALOR A Chutzpah Festival presentation, in association with the Dance Centre.

At the Scotiabank Dance Centre on Thursday, March 8. No remaining performances

Amid

Salomé:

Woman

of

2 Valor’s strange and fascinating

swirl of images and sound, the Dance of the Seven Veils—crucially—does not disappoint.

Much of this wildly ambitious, abstract multimedia show takes its visual cues from the art-nouveau- and art-deco-era craze for Salome—be it in Oscar Wilde’s banned play, with its then-risqué illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley, or in clips from the old silent film of the same name by Charles Bryant. So it is fitting that the famous dance of seduction should evoke none other than “La Loïe” Fuller herself— the modern-dance pioneer of the same era. Incredibly, with choreography from Jody Sperling (who trained French star Soko for the recent movie The Dancer, about the same icon), Rebecca Margolick spins like a whirling dervish in a long, satiny gown, its arms elongated by the same kind of poles Fuller used. Projections illuminate the fabric as it forms fluttering sculptural patterns. This is no easy physical feat—Fuller suffered for years for her art—but Margolick manages to pull it off with finesse.

It’s one memorable moment in a show that defies all categorization and yet entrances in the same way a fever dream does. Based on years of research by poet Adeena Karasick and jazz trumpet virtuoso Frank London, it recasts Salome as a powerful Jewish heroine, deeply in love with the man she ultimately sees beheaded. But this is no straight-up retelling.

Karasick has called the show a spoken-word opera. In another way,

Erick Lichte

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

TicketsTonight.ca | 1.877.840.0457

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> ANDREA WARNER

Salomé mashes art forms into wild mix MULTIME D I A

in Concert

this Salomé is couched as a sort of live silent movie, with old-cinema intertitles explaining the action onstage. Scenes from Bryant’s classic black-and-white film also dance on the screen behind everyone.

Now add the show’s biggest strength: the vivid, atmospheric texture of culture-crossing live music by London (of the Klezmatics), tabla and dhol player Deep Singh, and keyboardist Shai Bachar. Throw in the idiosyncratic spoken-word poetry of Karasick, who prowls the stage in a ’20s-style feathered headdress and black-and-white gown. Her rolling, sing-chanting delivery, influenced by cabalism and Midrashic philosophy, with hits of Hebrew and Yiddish, takes some getting used to. But her work is a brain-teasing mix of semiotic play, pop-culture references, and erudite historic-religious touchstones. Meanwhile, in the show’s least integrated element, animations of skittering, scrolling letters and words are projected on the big screen at the back of the stage.

Margolick and dancer Jesse Zaritt, as Iokanan (John the Baptist), express the action physically in the centre of a big circle of ripped paper on the floor. Their first dance is sensual, her hands gently wrapping around his head; his dance of religious devotion, in which he chooses to “bind” himself to God and begs her to martyr him, is muscular and ritualistic.

The show’s most bizarre element?

Actor Tony Torn in arch form as Herod, appearing in black-and-white projection, wearing a flower crown and robes, high on the screen, made up like a character out of the old silent film.

It adds to a dizzying array of information that doesn’t always coalesce, but still entices. Some will leave wanting to Google Bryant’s film and dig into Salome’s history; others might leave scratching their heads. But they’ll all see one of history’s most maligned women in a different light.

March 9 – April 9, 2018 Whistler, BC

A hybrid between the physicality of a traditional transformation p mask and the experience of transformation, created in partnership with Microsoft Vancouver.

s song d a s bout QUIRT TSWIMMING a w o s sh AND BRIAEND BY NIGH u o y A jo ANE MILLERR · PRODUC

BY J E MILLE AN

BY J D E M OR PERF

MARCH 13 -17, 2018 THE FISHBOWL ON GRANVILLE ISLAND

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> JANET SMITH

MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 27

by Arun

Lakra

ar ts/ timeout THEATRE DANCE MUSIC COMEDY LITERARY EVENTS ET CETERA GALLERIES MUSEUMS

< < < < < < < <

THEATRE 2OPENINGS

Photo: Tim Matheson

SEQUENCE Realwheels Theatre presents a fast-paced science thriller that explores the intersection of math, nature, and spirituality. Mar 14-24, 8-9:30 pm, Presentation House Theatre (333 Chesterfield Ave.). Tix $28/20/15/10, info www.realwheels.ca/.

March 14â&#x20AC;&#x201C;24, 2018 ADVISORY: Mature content â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not suitable for children.

Presentation House Theatre 333 Chesterfield Ave, North Vancouver 604.990.3474 phtheatre.org

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES Exit 22 Company Productions (Capilano University Theatre) presents the classic Canadian story of a fiercely imaginative little girl who touches the lives of everyone she meets. Mar 15-24, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). Tix $24/15/10, info www.capilanou. ca/blueshorefinancialcentre/17-Anne-ofGreen-Gables/.

THE CRUCIBLE Director Jessica Anne Nelson puts a 2018 spin on Arthur Millerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s timeless parable of morality. Mar 15-31, 7:30 pm, Frederic Wood Theatre (6354 Crescent Rd., UBC). Tix $24.50/16.50/11.50/5, info theatrefilm.ubc.ca/.

I LOST MY HUSBAND Gateway Theatre presents the world premiere of Leanna Brodieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s translation of Catherine LĂŠgerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comedy about an aging party girl and her dreams of independence. Mar 15-24, 8 pm, Gateway Theatre (6500 Gilbert Rd., Richmond). Info www.gatewaytheatre.com/.

LION IN THE STREETS Canadian playwright Judith Thompson tells the stories of many interconnected lives, and one little girl whose experience threads them together. Mar 16-23, Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre (700 Royal Ave., New West). Tix $10-20, info https://www. douglascollege.ca/about-douglas/ groups-and-organizations/theatre/.

straight choices

SURVIVAL MOVES In the dystopian novel In the Country of Last Things, Paul Auster writes about a young woman named Anna who struggles to survive in a city thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collapsed into chaos and scavenging. Inspired by the deeply unsettling tale, Montreal choroegrapher Lucie GrĂŠgoire has crafted Les Choses Dernières, an urgent yet sensual and resilient solo for dancer Isabelle Poirier. Quebec critics have praised it as everything from cinematic to Kafka-esque, and it hits the Vancouver International Dance Festival from Tuesday to Thursday (March 20 to 22) at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre.

HARVEY Western Gold Theatre kicks off its 25th anniversary season with a comedy about a man and his best friend, an invisible and very tall pooka resembling an anthropomorphic rabbit. Mar 16-18, 7:30-9:30 pm, PAL Studio Theatre (581 Cardero Street). Info www.western goldtheatre.org/.

LITTLE MISS GLITZ Original, locallydeveloped musical follows the story of a naĂŻve, starry-eyed little girl as she navigates her way through her first beauty pageant. Mar 16-31, 8-10 pm, Performance Works (1218 Cartwright St). Tix $25-29, info www.littlemissglitz.ca/.

CHELSEA HOTEL: THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN A writer reluctantly comes face to face with the love of the present, a love he wishes he could not only forget, but erase from memory. Mar 17â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Apr 21, Firehall Arts Centre (280 E. Cordova). Tix from $25, info www.firehallartscentre.ca/.

THE MOANING YONI A millennial Alice in Wonderland meets her anthropomorphic vagina in a yoni-healing circle in Joylyn Secundaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solo show. Mar 19, 22, 7:30-8:30 pm, Dorothy Somerset Studio Theatre (6361 University Blvd.,

see next page

28 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MARCH 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 22 / 2018

UBC). Tix $10, info www.facebook.com/ events/161140457878098/.

PULL FESTIVAL VII Annual theatre festival features 10-minute plays by Pippa Mackie, Sherry Macdonald, Jordy Matheson, Allyson Fournier, Donal ThomsCapello, and Jessica Harvey. Mar 21-24, 8 pm, Little Mountain Gallery (195 E. 26th).

Tix $20, info www.pullfestival.ca/.

straight choices

LIGHT THE FUSE The biggest art party of the season happens when FUSE: Transcendence/ Destruction takes over the Vancouver Art Gallery on Friday night (March 16). Among the array of events, look for Toronto-based performance artist Bridget Moser’s This Poem Does Not Help Me at All (shown here), a seemingly improvised but carefully scripted collection of short works featuring bizarre interactions with everyday inanimate objects. Elsewhere, the VAG’s rooftop pavilion comes to life with Indigenous new-wavers Pooper and See Monsters (sponsored by the 2018 Juno Host Committee). And the Music Appreciation Society presents the Past Future Tense artist bar, featuring the sounds of early techno and acid house. There’s more, much more— plus, access to exhibits like Takashi Murakami’s The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg and Bombhead.

2ONGOING SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER Director Joan Bryans’s adaptation of Oliver Goldsmith’s self-described “laughing comedy” about a young bachelor who discovers that his love has the power to overcome his fear.

To Mar 17, 8 pm, Metro Theatre (1370 SW Marine). Tix $25/22, info metrotheatre.com/.

FORGET ABOUT TOMORROW The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Jill Daum’s play about a woman whose husband is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

To Mar 25, Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre (162 W. 1st). Tix from $29, info www.artsclub.com/shows/2017-2018/ forget-about-tomorrow/.

A FEW GOOD MEN First Impressions Theatre presents a play that sees a lawyer and his team uncover a conspiracy at the highest level while defending their clients accused of murder. To Mar 17, 8 pm, Deep Cove Shaw Theatre (4360 Gallant Ave., North Van). Tix $25/23, info www.firstimpressionstheatre.com/.

THE VELVETEEN RABBIT Carousel Theatre for Young People presents the tale of a toy rabbit transformed by one little boy’s love. To Mar 25, Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St., Granville Island). Tix $35/29/18 , info www.carouseltheatre.ca/ production/the-velveteen-rabbit/.

ANTIGONE Contemporary adaptation

by Kathleen Weiss takes Sophocles’ intellectual argument—a debate between secular and spiritual power—and works toward an extended metaphor about the aftermath of war. To Mar 16, Douglas College Studio Theatre (700 Royal Ave., New West). Tix $10-20, info www.douglas college.ca/about-douglas/groups-andorganizations/theatre/.

DANCE 2THIS WEEK VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL Take in performances by Shen Wei Dance Arts, EDAM, White Wave, Lucie Grégoire Danse, Lola Lince, Dancers Dancing, Goh Ballet, Ferenc Feher, the Biting School, Harbour Dance ITP, Patasola Dance, and the Response. To Mar 24, various Vancouver venues. Tix from free to $65, info www.vidf.ca/.

MANDALA ARTS AND CULTURE As part of its Discover Dance Series, the Scotiabank Dance Centre presents Mandala Arts and Culture in a performance of classical Indian dance styles. Mar 15, 12 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie).

Tix $14/12, info www.thedancecentre.ca/ events/discover_dance_2017_2018/.

NEW WORKS POP UP DANCES: WORLD POETRY DAY New Works’ Pop Up Dances presents dance and poetry, with Project Soul & Rupert Cotton, Olivia C. Davies & Julie Peters, and All Bodies Dance. Mar 18, 1-2 pm, Vancouver Public Library (350 West Georgia Street). Free, info www.newworks.ca/.

2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS SHEN YUN Take a journey through five millennia of Chinese culture with a multimedia show featuring ancient legends and stories, classical Chinese dancers, animated backdrops, and a live orchestra.

Mar 23-25, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton). Info www.shenyun.com/van.

MUSIC 2THIS WEEK ADRIAN ANANTAWAN Music in the Morning presents the Canadian violinist.

Mar 16, 10:30 am, West Vancouver United Church (2062 Esquimalt). Tix $38/35/17, info www.musicinthemorning.org/.

SUMIRE YOSHIHARA AND MIYAMA MCQUEEN-TOKITA Percussionist Sumire Yoshihara and koto player Miyama McQueen-Tokita perform works by Maki Ishii, Michio Kitazume, Teizo Matsumura, and Yoichi Sugiyama. Mar 17, 8 pm, Orpheum Annex (823 Seymour). Tix $12-35, info www. newmusic.org/yoshiharasawai-mar17/.

THE GIFT OF MUSIC Concert celebrating the restoration of UBC’s double-manual harpsichord features works by Buxtehude, Muffat, Schmelzer, and Bach. Mar 21, 12-1 pm, Roy Barnett Recital Hall (6361 Memorial Rd., UBC). $5 at the door (cash only), info music.ubc.ca/wednesday-noon-hours/.

2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS SONIC BOOM FESTIVAL Vancouver ProMusica presents a four-day celebration of contemporary classical music by B.C. composers. Mar 22-25, Pyatt Hall (843 Seymour). Info www.vancouver promusica.ca/.

COMEDY 2JUST ANNOUNCED

YUK YUK’S COMEDY CLUB 2837 Cambie, 604-696-9857, www.yukyuks.com/vancouver/.

Comedy club with Top Talent Tue at 8 pm, amateur night Wed at 8 pm, and professional headliners Thu-Fri at 8 pm and Sat at 7 and 9:30 pm. Cover Tue $10, Wed $7, Thu $10, and Fri-Sat $20.

2THIS WEEK JESS SALOMON Canadian comedian performs a solo show. Mar 15-17, Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club (2837 Cambie). Tix $10-20, info www.jesssalomon.com/.

SHAMROCKS & SHENANIGANS Vancouver TheatreSports presents three Irish-themed improv shows. Mar 17, The Improv Centre (1502 Duranleau, Granville Island). Tix from $19.75, info www.vtsl. com/show/st-paddy/.

LADIES AGAINST HUMANITY Some of the funniest women from around Vancouver will bring Cards Against Humanity to life and crown the next Most Horrible Person in Vancouver. Mar 21, 8-10 pm, Rio Theatre (1660 E. Broadway). Tix $12, info www.thefictionals.com/.

LITERARY EVENTS 2THIS WEEK WRITING THE FUTURE Readings by authors Eden Robinson, Katherena Vermette, and Jordan Abel, followed by Q&A moderated by Alix Ohlin, new chair of the UBC Creative Writing Program.

Mar 19, 6:30-9 pm, Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre (6163 University Boulevard). Free, info https://creativewriting.ubc.ca/alumni/ writing-the-future/.

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For up-to-the-minute, searchable

KEVIN SMITH AND RALPH GARMAN Arts Time Out listings, visit Director-actor Kevin Smith and actor/ www.straight.com radio host Ralph Garman share the mike for Hollywood Babble-On, which takes a comedic look at showbiz news while biting ET CETERA down on the Hollywood hand that feeds them. May 11, doors 7:30 pm, show 8:30 pm, 2THIS WEEK Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix on sale Mar 16, 10 am, $59.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. 18TH ANNUAL CHUTZPAH FESTIVAL International, Canadian, and local artists present dance, theatre, comedy, and music.

2ONGOING Includes performances by Ezralow Dance, Roy Assaf Dance, MM Contemporary THE COMEDY MIX 1015 Burrard, Century Dance, Idan Raichel, Troker, Perla Batalla, Plaza Hotel & Spa, 604-684-5050, www.

Mary Walsh, Jonathan Goldstein, Deb Filler, thecomedymix.com/. Comedy club with and Michael Rubenfeld. To Mar 15, Norman pro-am night Tue at 8:30 pm, showcase Rothstein Theatre (950 W. 41st). Tix $24-55, Wed at 8:30 pm, and featured headliners info www.chutzpahfestival.com/.

Thu at 8:30 pm and Fri-Sat at 8 and 10:30 pm. Cover $8 Tue, $10 Wed, $15 Thu, $18 TOUR OF COAST SALISH TEXTILES: Fri, $20 Sat. 2MIKE VECCHIONE Mar 15-17.

UP CLOSE Visitors will be guided through a history of Coast Salish spinning 2GRAHAM CLARK Mar 22-24 2CHRIS by specialist Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa.

PORTER Apr 5-7 2JON DORE Apr 13-14

Mar 15, 7 pm, The Museum of Anthropology at UBC (6393 NW Marine Drive). Tix $16-18, info moa.ubc.ca/tour-ofcoast-salish-textiles-up-close/.

VANMUSIC BURLESQUE Ten Vancouver burlesque artists perform to music by local acts. Mar 17, 8 pm, Rio Theatre (1660 E. Broadway). $20 in advance/$25 at the door , info www.facebook.com/ events/413270899085596/.

OPENING CELEBRATIONS OF CULTURE AT THE CENTRE MOA celebrates the opening of its new exhibition with dance performances from the communities represented in the exhibition: Musqueam, Squamish, Lil’wat, Heiltsuk, Nisga’a and – Haida. Mar 18, 1-4 pm, The Museum of Anthropology at UBC (6393 NW Marine Drive). Free, info moa.ubc.ca/openingcelebrations-of-culture-at-the-centre/.

GALLERIES VANCOUVER ART GALLERY 750 Hornby, 604-662-4719, www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/.

2TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE OCTOPUS EATS ITS OWN LEG (more than 55 paintings and sculptures are featured in the firstever retrospective of Murakami’s work in Canada) to May 6 2BOMBHEAD (thematic exhibition explores the emergence and impact of the nuclear age as represented by artists and their art) to Jun 17

MUSEUMS MUSEUM OF VANCOUVER 1100 Chestnut Street, 604-736-4431, www.museumof vancouver.ca/. 2HAIDA NOW (exhibition features a collection of Haida art boasting more than 450 works created as early as 1890) Mar 16–Jun 15, 2019 THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT UBC 6393 NW Marine Drive, 604822-5087, www.moa.ubc.ca/. 2THE FABRIC OF OUR LAND: SALISH WEAVING (exhibition takes visitors on a journey through the past 200 years of Salish wool weaving) to Apr 15 2CULTURE AT THE CENTRE (collaboration between six First Nations communities offers insight into the work Indigenous-run cultural centres and museums in B.C. are doing to support their language, culture, and history) Mar 18–Oct 8

TIME OUT ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit listings online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < MOXIE’S PRE-SHOW

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s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: FEBRUARY 22, 2018 WHERE: Moxie’s West Georgia We had a table in your section with a few co-workers for a night out. You had short dark hair, great style, lots of charm.

My partner and I, the blonde couple at the table, thought you were stunning. We chatted about dance classes downtown, maybe the Wed morning, but haven’t made it yet. We chatted about the meaning of your tattoos. We like to make up the meanings of ours. Care to join us, for a hike, a hang, a sweaty night on a dance floor?

PLANETEER LEAH AT RUGBY 7’S - SATURDAY

r

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 10, 2018 WHERE: BC Place

You were one of Captain Planet’s Planeteers. We chatted briefly a couple of times and you introduced yourself, your name is Leah. We even talked about your drink, Ziploc cider. I was sitting near you and your group with a couple of my friends throughout the day. I’m the one with the beard, a hat and Canada gear on. I don’t know if you’ll see this, but if you do and you’re unattached, send me a message. If not, at least I was named an honorary Planeteer.

SKYTRAIN TO COMMERCIAL

s

r

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 12, 2018 WHERE: SkyTrain

Can’t believe I’m writing this, but you left such an impression. You got on the SkyTrain at KG or Surrey Central and I was sitting with my guy friend. I was the girl with the short black hair and black sweater. You were wearing black too, a hat and you were drinking coffee. You also had a skateboard with you.

We kept looking at each other every once in a while until we both got off at Commercial. I wish I had spoken to you. If you see this, let’s grab a coffee?

WEST BROADWAY & PINE, YOU ARE SO FINE!!

r I AM A: s

I SAW A: WHEN: MARCH WHERE: West Pine

12, 2018 Broadway and Street

We were crossing the intersection in opposite directions, waiting for traffic, and then we were both bad asses and crossed while the light was still red!! You got into your car, and it looked like you had a coffee, but can I buy you another one sometime???

READER ON THE 246

s

r

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 10, 2018 WHERE: 246 Highlands

You: small hoop earrings; shaved head; OK tattooed at the juncture between your thumb and index finger. Me: question trying to force itself through my lips, never quite making it. I'll ask now: What are you reading? Thank you for the quirky bus ride!

CUTIE WITH THE GOOD HAIR UPSTAIRS

r

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 8, 2018 WHERE: Bill Burr at the Queen E I’m the one who loved your tie.

I was watching your bar show along with everyone else in line, we both disagreed with my sister, we even talked about flying. Then you smiled, seems I’m still thinking about it. Can I take you out?

YOU SAT NEXT TO ME ON SKYTRAIN

s

r

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 12, 2018 WHERE: SkyTrain - Yaletown Station Hi! I saw you on the platform at Broadway City Hall and then you sat next to me on the train before getting off at Yaletown. I had a ponytail, glasses, jean jacket. You looked really cute and we kept making eye contact. I promise I'm not always as grumpy as I was on the train!

LADY WITH IN JEANS WITH YELLOW ROSES WHO GOT OFF SKYTRAIN AT YALETOWN STATION

r

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 12, 2018 WHERE: SkyTrain - Yaletown Station I’ll need to be a poet to describe you... I’m not. But I’ll try. Your look was so soft to beat a goose down pillow any time. Seriously...

I kicked myself when you turned back to look at me through the window as you got off the train. I was talking to my friend, and I guess it was already too late when I’d come back to my senses. Please see this. You had a bouquet of yellow roses in your hand. They all smell just as sweet, but I’ll offer you lilacs.

ICE-CREAM PICKUP

r

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 11, 2018 WHERE: Earnst Ice Cream Totally awe-struck when you opened the door, I was eating an ice cream with my team when you joined the lineup. A minute later, you decided to skip and directly go for, what I can assume, a pre-ordered pickup... we stood next to each other and I was basically speechless. I vividly remember your Western University yellow keychain and your baby blue Mini parked in front. Which flavor did you get??

PINK HAIRED LADY

r

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 6, 2018 WHERE: Davie/Howe

s

We past like ships... last pass Howe/Davie(not)... would love to ask u for dinner... find me in Blend most days around 3 pm. I am old guy.

2 SECONDS/DAY IN UBC

s

r

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 5, 2018 WHERE: UBC Pulp and Paper Center Who are you? I see you entering the building every morning with a smile. You are beautiful. Please slow down next time you walk by my desk because watching you lights my working days.

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MOVIES REVIEWS OH LUCY! Starring Shinobu Terajima. In English and Japanese, with English subtitles. Rating unavailable

Japanese films have shown us plenty of sul-

2 len salarymen. But not that many have taken

on the Loneliness of the Long-Distance Working Woman. Oh Lucy! does this in a charmingly unaffected manner, and manages to show its teeth a few times along the way.

The good-looking 95-minute feature started as a short that won awards for young writer-director Atsuko Hirayanagi. The Sundance Foundation helped her reshoot and expand her story and take it on the road. (Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are listed as executive producers.) The results have some rough edges, but the cast is so good and the story so unpredictable, that doesn’t matter much.

The camera stays mostly fixed on Setsuko (Vibrator’s Shinobu Terajima), who’s stuck in a deadend job. The first day we see her go to the office begins with someone jumping in front of a train and ends with her oldest coworker tearily retiring.

It’s pretty clear she sees both those ends as possible outcomes for her if nothing changes. In between, however, she gets a call from her spunky niece (Shioli Kutsuna), who asks if Setsuko can take over the English-speaking course she signed up for.

No ’splaining required, Lucy A young filmmaker’s short gets blown up into one of the most affecting culture-clash comedies we’ve seen in years

As a lonely Japanese working woman lost in America, Shinobu Terajima leads a terrific cast in the Will Ferrell/Adam McKay–produced indie feature, Oh Lucy!.

GRINGO Starring Charlize Theron.

Rated 14A

Gringo has so many

2 moving parts it threat-

ens to spin horribly out of control and crash.

Aussie director Nash The “classes” are run out of a seedy love hotel. Edgerton manages—just—to keep his hands on And, as played by Josh Hartnett, the teacher is un- the wheel in this beyond-black comedy-thrillexpected too. His John is an exaggerated Amer- er. But you have to admire the guy’s cojones. ican, all hugs and high-fives, initially off-putting Among the many explosive areas he veers into to our dour heroine, dubbed “Lucy” by John, and are—in no particular order—corporate greed, her only classmate, called Tom (Shall We Dance the pending legalization of cannabis, Mexican star Kôji Yakusho). But when she goes back for cartels, corruption in the pharmaceutical inmore free hugs, she discovers that John has gone dustry, and race and class disparities.

This requires the interweaving of several story back to California—with her niece!

Setsuko decides on the spot to follow them to lines, a plethora of characters, and trips back and L.A., and ends up travelling with her sister, the forth across the Mexican border. The result is an niece’s classy but controlling mother. Thus we get ambitious, frenzied, and nasty slice of neonoir acculture clash mixing with family dysfunction in tion, but it doesn’t resolve it all smartly enough to an indie comedy that leans toward familiar quirks stay with you after the credits.

At its heart, Gringo is a standard tale of an but subverts them at almost every turn. Not all the characterization feels thought-through; Setsuko’s underdog who’s been dealt a deluxe shit sandtiny Tokyo apartment is crammed with stuff she wich. Harold (David Oyelowo) is nose-deep in never throws out, and this doesn’t relate to much debt, the pharmaceutical company he works for is about to get sold, and his marriage is falling else in the story. But we care about her anyway. > KEN EISNER apart. Almost incidental to all this, he’s a Nigerian immigrant—a fact that complicates the way WESTERN he’s being treated and makes him much more interesting than the average antihero.

Starring Meinhard Neumann. In German Still, he’s too clueless and spineless to really root and Bulgarian, with English subtitles. Rating for. Harold is at the mercy of two ruthless bosses, unavailable Richard (Joel Edgerton, the director’s brother) and Modes of masculinity, colonialism, and still- Elaine (a plunging-blouse-and-chunky-jewelleryliving history are dissected in an offhand wearing Charlize Theron using sex the way a shark manner in this drily told character study. The uses teeth). The pair are producing cannabis pills in sardonically named Western follows a bunch of Mexico, where they’re working with a cartel. And aging, working-class roustabouts from Germany soon after they send Harold there on assignment, to a remote spot in Bulgaria, where they’ve been they receive a ransom demand for his return. sent, with piss-poor instructions and very little A mad chase ensues, and the plot intertwines— training, to build a new power plant. but never satisfyingly—with that of two young, Most of the crew are drunks and troublemakers, poor American drug mules (Harry Treadaway although in the easygoing ways of ordinary work- and Amanda Seyfried) headed to Mexico. ing-class yobbos. Unfortunately, the tattooed crew There’s more—much more. Suffice it to say there chief (Reinhardt Wetrek), who seems to know lit- will be car chases, gunfights, and random distle about the engineering job they’re on, lives up to memberments. Oh, and a split-second appearance the worst stereotypes of German tourists, picking by Paris Jackson. Authentically funny moments infights and harassing young women. clude a sadistic cartel boss who likes to quote “Let It He’s balanced, sort of, by a crinkly loner (played Be” and Theron spitting out lines like “I would rathby Meinhard Neumann, who heads a nonpro cast) er give that guy a rim job than eat at Dairy Queen.” who really makes an effort to cross language and In this context, don’t expect deep commentary wartime-memory barriers to connect with sus- on the drug war or Mexican-American relations. picious locals. (The Nazis occupied Bulgaria, a Gringo is shooting for an action-cranked Quentin reluctant ally with its own fascist streak.) These Tarantino feel here, but even the Pulp Fiction maesvisiting westerners, still reconciling their two tro knows the importance of redeeming qualities. > JANET SMITH geographical Germanys, go further east, eventually hoisting their own flag on foreign soil, at their fortlike headquarters. In the end, only one LOVELESS goes native. Meinhard says he’s a former Foreign Starring Maryana Spivak. In Russian, with English Legionnaire, which earns some respect from the subtitles. Rated 14A villagers, but what does he mean by that?

The title has more than one meaning, but There’s even a white horse in these slow-motion Loveless is triggered by the harrowing situashenanigans, which quietly aspire to totemic aspects of human (or at least male) behaviour under tion in which 12-year-old Alyosha (Matvey Nostress or without social restraint. But this is no vikov) finds himself. Parents Zhenya (Maryana John Ford oat opera. It has a flat, accidental aes- Spivak) and Boris (Aleksey Rozin) are locked in a thetic with few sweeping vistas. And writer-dir- particularly spiteful divorce, made worse by squabector Valeska Grisebach, who has collaborated bling over the boy; they each want the other to take before with Toni Erdmann director Maren Ade him. Sending him to a state institution is okay too!

Alyosha overhears all this between his parents’ (taking a producer credit here), is less interested in totemic showdowns than in the small gestures and attempts to sell their spacious apartment in a Mospreconceptions that make one culture strange— cow suburb, featureless apart from being near a or appealing—to another. That lost-at-sea quality wooded area as inviting as something in the Brothsometimes extends to the movie itself. The two- ers Grimm. Both alleged adults are already kneehour effort requires patience, but rewards it, too. deep in other relationships. Salon owner Zhenya is > KEN EISNER with a wealthy entrepreneur (Andris Keishs) who

2

2

so far hasn’t looked past her still-youthful beauty to the bitter vacuity beneath. And Boris has hooked up with, and knocked up, a mousy nobody (Marina Vasilyeva) who admires him for no visible reason.

He’s a desk jockey at an unspecified corporation run by a Christian fundamentalist who only employs married people, giving rise to rare comic relief as our bearded bro tries to suss out how long a divorced dude can survive in that company.

While the parents are preoccupied with creating slightly modified versions of the problems they already have, their son runs out the front door one morning but doesn’t go to school. They’re eventually forced to team up and look for the boy, but even that doesn’t draw them closer. The police aren’t much help, although a volunteer-run kidsearching group provides a sense of community obviously lacking in a bleak, post-Soviet society that offers few fairy tales.

Set in 2012, when Mitt Romney was running against Barack Obama and the buildup to the annexation of Crimea was underway, this metaphor-laden tale is the latest from writer-director Andrey Zvyagintsev, who went similarly allegorical with his Oscar-winning Leviathan. Here we see no attempts to turn the massive ship of state around, just dull inching forward in “the proud land of Pushkin and Putin”, as one oily radio announcer puts it.

At more than two hours, the film itself feels unnecessarily laboured, and the ending, with one principal on a treadmill, staring down the audience while wearing a tracksuit that says RUSSIA in big red letters, is beyond obvious. Still, if Loveless is hard to love, neither is it easy to forget. > KEN EISNER

DRIES Featuring Dries Van Noten. In English and Flemish, with English subtitles. Rating unavailable

Unlike Valentino, Lauren, and many of the

2 other design titans, Belgian fashion design-

er Dries Van Noten is relatively young (60 this spring) and definitely not a seeker of spotlights.

Despite, or maybe because of, the outrageously bold collage of floral patterns, deep colours, and disparate styles he stitches together each season for his ready-to-wear collections, Dries himself wears the striped shirts and slacks of an accountant on casual Friday.

He seems an affable-enough employer, showing cool appreciation of the models and helpmates who bring his ideas to life, without the fussy formality of Daniel Day-Lewis’s character in Phantom Thread. But the austere setting of his minimalist atelier suggest a cool punctiliousness that firmly states “I’m working here!” Van Noten is definitely a designaholic, and Patrick Vangheluwe, his business and life partner of several decades, says that he occasionally threatens to take an actual vacation, but nothing comes of it.

As we see in this refreshingly drama-free doc from German director-cinematographer Reiner Holzemer (who mostly works alone, and has also made profiles of photographers Anton Corbijn and William Eggleston), the designer treats travel as part of his job. His company has outposts in Asia, Europe, and the U.S., but the 90-minute film focuses on shows he assembles in Paris, most notably in an empty factory transformed for one-off events that little resemble the catwalk parades we usually see.

This flurry of activity is offset by the relative serenity of his work habits, and by frequent retreats to the couple’s country home, on seven acres of wooded land outside Antwerp. The inviting gardens and free range of modern and antique décor see page 33

MARCH 15 – 22 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 31

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ith their playful nature and unparalleled ability to suspend exactly two people who may or may not have feelings for one another at least 30 metres in the airâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;conveniently isolating them, for the time being, from any meddling forces underneathâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Ferris wheels are a well-worn trope in the realm of romantic comedies and teen dramas. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jesse and CĂŠlineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first kiss on the world-famous Wiener Riesenrad in Before Sunrise; Marissa soothing Ryanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fear of heights with a casual makeout sesh on The O.C. And who could forget Noah forcing himself between Allie and her date midair to effectively blackmail the southern belle into going out with him in The Notebook? (We said the theme is tired, not always unproblematic.)

So when it came time for Greg Berlanti to bring to life a pivotal scene of Love, Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in which Simon Spier (Nick Robinson), a recently outed high-school senior, boards the amusement ride to await the arrival (or nonarrival) of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Blueâ&#x20AC;?, his anonymous pen-pal crushâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the director wanted to approach the act from an alternate angle. That is, until he realized that leaving it as is, and turning the typically heteronormative device on its head, worked even better. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We wanted to do something different because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen Ferris wheels before, and I thought, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;What about this? What about that?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? explains Berlanti, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no stranger to such idealistic clips, given his work on the earlyaughts drama Everwood, during a stop in town at the Shangri-La Hotel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And I really came back to the Ferris wheel, thinking, in a way, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;No, no, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what makes so much sense about it.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen before, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s different now with two guys on itâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;without saying who they are.â&#x20AC;?

That climactic sequence isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only thing â&#x20AC;&#x153;differentâ&#x20AC;? about Love, Simon, opening Friday (March 16), which is based on Becky Albertalliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2015 young-adult novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. A gay comingof-age tale that follows the 16-year-old closeted Simon as he learns to embrace his sexuality, the film centres on a coming-out story that is sorely lacking on silver screens. However, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just much-needed LGBT representation that Love, Simon offers: there are laughs, suspense, and heartwarming exchanges as the audience is left wondering who Blue is once Simon and the unnamed, also closeted classmate

Greg Berlanti (right) directs actor Nick Robinson on the set of Love, Simon, adapted from Becky Albertalliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

begin corresponding daily via email.

(Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re presented a few options in the forms of soccer player Bram, drama kid Cal, and diner server Lyle.)

It all comes to a head in the aforementioned Ferris-wheel scene, which trails a messy web of lies that compromises Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s closest friendships. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was rooting for Simon to find the personâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;whoever Blue isâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and that it was going to be the right guy,â&#x20AC;? says actor Keiynan Lonsdale, who plays Bram, during an interview alongside Berlanti.

For Berlanti, who is openly gay, and the Aussie-born Lonsdale, who identifies as bi, the significance of this LGBT experience being broadcast in cinemas cannot be overstated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;From childhood, you turn on your TV and you feel slightly isolated from the characters youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re watching, and so you feel separated like maybe you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t belong,â&#x20AC;? explains Lonsdale. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think kids pick up these pieces and start to log them internally, and I think that then goes into your teenage years and then into your adulthood. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not something that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re then able to express, so having a movie like thisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it changes the narrative for so many people and hopefully inspires more of these stories.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something really visceral about not having to imagine a side character maybe going through this, but just experiencing a character

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23

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STORY STORY LIE Fool For Love SP 7ZR WUXWKV DQG D OLH ZLWK D WZLVW ,Q WKLV VWRU\WHOOLQJ JDPH VKRZ 9DQFRXYHUÂśV EHVW ZLOO EH VKDULQJ LQWLPDWH GXELRXV DQG HPEDUUDVVLQJ WRR VWUDQJH WR EH WUXH VWRULHV RI KRZ ORYH VWHHUHG WKHP WKH ULJKW ZD\ DQG ZURQJ ZD\ $QG VRPHRQHÂśV O\LQJ <28 WDNHV SDUW LQ WKH LQWHUURJDWLRQ 6SRW WKH OLDU ILUVW DQG ZLQ METRIC: DREAMS SO REAL SP ,Q 'UHDPV 6R 5HDO WKH QHZ IHDWXUH OHQJWK . FRQFHUW GRFXPHQWDU\ &DQDGLDQ URFN JURXS Metricâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ODVW OLYH SHUIRUPDQFH LQ 9DQFRXYHU RI D \HDU ORQJ VROG RXW ZRUOG WRXU LV FDSWXUHG WR JORULRXV HIIHFWV ZLWK IDQ IDYRXULWHV LQFOXGLQJ %UHDWKLQJ 8QGHUZD WHU *ROG *LUOV *XQV DQG +HOS ,ÂśP $OLYH FIGHT CLUB SP Chuck Palahniukâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s EORFNEXVWHU QRYHO VWDUULQJ Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, DQG Helena Bonham-Carter JHWV WKH )ULGD\ /DWH 1LJKW WUHDWPHQW SEE WWW.RIOTHEATRE.CA FOR COMPLETE LISTINGS & UPDATED CALENDAR

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thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got similarities to you,â&#x20AC;? adds Berlanti. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to do this extra math in your head when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re watching the movie of, like, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Okay, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a girl but what if it was a guy and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another guy?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

Considering the staggering amount of time itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s taken a major film studio to green-light an LGBT flick geared toward teens, the two hope that Love, Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Ferris-wheel sequence and allâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;will stand the test of time, too. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I think back to all the YA [young-adult] films that I grew up withâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;those John Hughesâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; y kind of ones, just great romantic comedies in generalâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just about those two hours in the movie theatre,â&#x20AC;? says Berlanti. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They were ones I thought back on the rest of my life. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d come on TVâ&#x20AC;Ś and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d feel like Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 15 again. And I hope [Love, Simon] is one of those.

I hope it connects with people, and really, that it lives with them for a long time afterwards.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really that long ago that these issues were much more in-your-face and much more heartbreaking and much more imbalanced,â&#x20AC;? states Lonsdale. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And so I think we forget how recent that was, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re growing as a society and changing. It just takes time. And itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s amazing that, so far, the reception [for Love, Simon] has been really beautiful. Everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ready.â&#x20AC;? -

Dries

from page 31

inside reflect Van Noten’s mix-andmatch aesthetic, and also his tendency to overthink things.

Elsewhere, the director gets his subject to watch footage of old collections being unveiled and catches his comments, particularly from Van Noten’s “failed” period, when his wild colours and pop-art prints were considered out of step with bare-bones modernism. But time has proven his clothing conceptions more durable than most. In short, just say yes to the Dries.

> KEN EISNER

THE LEISURE SEEKER Starring Helen Mirren. Rated PG

The Leisure Seeker is a wornWinnebago motorhome that hogs the lane and shudders at speeds over 50 mph. It speaks of another time—long before Xboxes and iPads—when gas was cheap and

2 out

MIND BODY SOUL

AESTHETICS

families spent their summers lazily crisscrossing the byways of America, stopping at campgrounds to read in lawn chairs.

The Leisure Seeker moves at the same lumbering pace as the 1975 vehicle that inspired its title. An aging couple skip town in their old RV, and head out on a road trip to Key West, without telling anyone, including their middle-aged children. This is panic-inducing to their kids because Ella (Helen Mirren) is suffering from a terminal illness, and John (Donald Sutherland) is showing strong enough signs of Alzheimer’s disease that he probably shouldn’t be driving.

Working from a script based on the novel by Michael Zadoorian, Italian director Paolo Virzì treats all of this with the kind of trite sentimentality one might direct toward the old camper—not the insight or complexity the subject, so well explored in films like Iris and Still Alice, demands these days.

This, despite valiant efforts from the two leads. The normally glamorous Mirren wears dowdy cardigans,

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circling back to moments of clarity.

It’s a testament to his authenticity that you’ll cringe while he bores complete strangers with minilectures on James Joyce and grammar.

Ella tries to jog his memory with slide shows on an old white blanket at the campsites, but after about the third such late-night display, the movie starts to feel as interminable as John’s impromptu minilectures. The most drama you get, until the last eighth of the movie, is a blown tire and the anxiety of watching John weave in and out of his highway lane. But it’s The Leisure Seeker that ultimately drives off-course, tonally, in its last act, with a far-fetched retirement-home storming and a resolution that takes a sharp left turn from sappy to bleak.

In the end, The Leisure Seeker can’t seem to help portraying seniors as Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten has become an industry titan with cute people who do silly things. And his bold floral patterns and discreet application of the Vulcan death grip. that’s just the kind of patronizing atoversized glasses, and orthopedic his retired professor’s flashes of titude that Ella and John are trying sandals, but allows Ella’s youth- childlike dependency, crankiness, to escape—even if it’s just in their ful, southern-belle charm to shine and disorientation (“I want a bur- beat-up Winnebago. > JANET SMITH through. Sutherland ably transmits ger!”, “We’re not home!”), before

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savage love I’m a 33-year-old woman from

Melbourne, Australia, dating a 24-yearold man. We’ve been dating for about eight months; it is exclusive and official.

He’s kind and sweet, caring and giving, and his penis is divine. The thing is, he confessed to me recently that he doesn’t really “feel”. The way he explained it is the only emotions he feels are fear and anxiousness that he’ll disappoint the people he cares about. He says he’s never been in love. He said his dad is the same way. The only time I see him really “feel” is when he’s high, which he is semifrequently. He uses MDMA and he comes alive. He seems the way a “normal” person does when they’re in love, but when he’s sober, it’s like he’s trying to mimic the things a person in love would say or do. I confessed I am falling in love with him recently and told him I wasn’t saying this with any expectation of him feeling the same; I just wanted him to know. He responded that he cares for me a lot—but that’s it. I’m now worried that he’ll never love me. I don’t want kids, so time isn’t critical for me, but I don’t want to be with someone who won’t ever love me. > LACKING ONE VAUNTED EMOTION

You didn’t use the P word (psychopath) or the S word (sociopath), LOVE, but both came to mind as I was reading your letter. Someone who isn’t capable of feeling? Isn’t that textbook P word/S word stuff ?

“The fear with someone who doesn’t ‘feel’ is that they may be a psychopath or a sociopath, terms that are used interchangeably,” said Jon Ronson, author of The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry. “And lots of the

items on the psychopath checklist relate to an inability to experience deep emotions—like Shallow Affect, Lack of Empathy, and Lack of Remorse. However, I have good news for LOVE! This line: ‘The only emotions he really feels are fear and anxiousness that he’ll disappoint the people he cares about’ is the critical one. Psychopaths do not feel anxiety. My favourite thing a psychologist said to me about this was: ‘If you’re worried you may be a psychopath, that means you aren’t one.’ Psychopaths don’t care about disappointing loved ones!” So your boyfriend’s not a psychopath. Not that you asked.

But, you know, just in case you were worried. Anyway…

My hunch is that your boyfriend’s problem isn’t an inability to feel love, LOVE, but an inability to recognize the feelings he’s having as love. (Or potentially love, as it’s only been eight months.) What is romantic love but a strong desire to be with someone? The urge to be sweet to them, to take care of them, to do for them? Maybe he’s just going through the motions with you—a conscious mimic-it-till-youmake-it strategy—or maybe the double whammy of a damaged dad and that toxic-masculinity stuff sloshing around out there left him blocked, LOVE, or emotionally constipated. And while MDMA can definitely be abused— moderation in all things, kids, including moderation—the effect it has on him is a hopeful sign. MDMA is not an emotional hallucinogen; the drug has been used in couples counselling and to treat PTSD, not because it makes us feel things that aren’t there (in the way a hallucinogen makes us see things

> BY DAN SAVAGE that aren’t there) but because it allows genuine feelings to surface and, for a few hours, to be felt intensely. So he can feel love—he just has to learn how to tap into those feelings and/or recognize them without an assist from MDMA. Jon Ronson had one last bit of advice for you, LOVE: “Marry him and his divine penis!”

I agree with Jon, of course, but a long, leisurely engagement is definitely in order. Don’t propose to him for at least another year, LOVE, and make marriage conditional upon him seeing a shrink four times as often as he sees his MDMA dealer.

Follow Jon Ronson on Twitter @ jonronson, read all of his books (So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed? is urgently required reading for anyone who spends time online), and check out his amazing podcast, The Butterfly Effect. To access all things Jon Ronson, go to JonRonson.com.

My boyfriend of 1.5 years shared

(several months into dating) that he has a fantasy of having a threesome. I shared that I had also fantasized about this but I never took my fantasies seriously. Right away, he started sending me Craigslist posts from women and couples looking for casual-sex partners. I told him I wasn’t interested in doing anything for real. A few months later, we went on vacation and I said I wanted to get a massage. He found a place that did “sensual” couples massage. I wanted nothing to do with this.

During sex, he talks about the idea of someone else being around. This does turn me on and I like thinking about it when we are messing around. But I

don’t want to have any other partners.

I’m like a mashup of Jessica Day, Leslie Knope, and Liz Lemon, if that gives you an idea of how not for me this all is. When I say no to one idea, he comes up with another one. I would truly appreciate some advice. > BOYFRIEND INTO GROUP SEX I’M NOT

Short answer: sexual compatibility is important. It’s particularly important in a sexually exclusive relationship.

You want a sexually exclusive relationship; your boyfriend doesn’t want a sexually exclusive relationship—so you two aren’t sexually compatible, BIGSIN, and you should break up.

Slightly longer answer: your boyfriend did the right thing by laying his kink cards on the table early in the relationship—he’s into threesomes, group sex, and public sex—and you copped to having fantasies about threesomes, BIGSIN, but not a desire to experience one. He took that as an opening: maybe if he could find the right person/couple/ scenario/club, you would change your mind. Further fuelling his false hopes: you get turned on when he talks about having “someone else around” when you two have sex. Now, lots of people who very much enjoy threesomes and/ or group sex were unsure or hesitant at first but gave in to please (or shut up) a partner and wound up being glad they did. If you’re certain you could never be one of those people, you need to shut this shit down, Liz Lemon–style. Tell him no more dirty talking about this shit during sex, no more entertaining the idea at all. Being with you means giving up this fantasy, BIGSIN, and if

he’s not willing to give it up—and to shut up about it—then you’ll have to break up.

I’m an 18-year-old woman who has been with my current boyfriend for a year, but this has been an issue across all of my sexual relationships. In order to reach climax, I have to fantasize about kinky role-play–type situations. I don’t think I want to actually act out the situations/roles because of the degrading/shameful feelings they dredge up, but the idea of other people doing them is so hot. This frustrates me because it takes me out of the moment with my partner. I’m literally thinking about other people during sex when I should be thinking about him! What can I do to be more in the moment? > DISTRACTED EARNEST GIRLFRIEND REQUIRES A DIFFERENT EXCITEMENT

Actually, doing the kinky role-play– type things you “have to” fantasize about in order to come would help you feel more connected to your boyfriend—but to do that, DEGRADE, you need to stop kink-shaming yourself.

So instead of thinking of those kinky role-play–type things as degrading or shameful, think of them as exciting and playful. Exciting because they excite you (duh) and playful because that’s literally what kinky role-play– type things are: play. It’s cops and robbers for grownups with your pants off, DEGRADE, but this game doesn’t end when Mom calls you in for dinner; it ends when you come. So long as you suppress your kinks, your boyfriend will never truly know you and you’ll never feel truly connected to him. -

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