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CONTENTS
Field, B.C. Mike Jones photo.
12
COVER
Grab your panniers, stuff them with rain gear, and see the Southern Gulf Islands, Victoria, Whistler, and the B.C. Interior in a whole new light on two wheels. > BY GAIL JOHNSON
17
FOOD
Leaving town doesn’t mean you have to pine for Vancouver’s dining scene; here are a few getaway locations with topnotch restaurants. > BY GAIL JOHNSON
19
ARTS
At a time when it is desperately needed, Compagnie Hervé Koubi bridges European and North African cultures through dance.
START HERE 16 18 9 27 10 11 10 38 14 8 13 24 25
Books The Bottle Commentary I Saw You News Real Estate Renters of Vancouver Savage Love Straight Stars Straight Talk Style Theatre Visual Arts
> BY JANE T SMITH
TIME OUT
29
MOVIES
David Lynch looks back in The Art Life; Chokeslam wrestles with a too-tall tale; old-school gore effects can’t fill The Void; Life leaves its big questions unanswered.
26 Arts 34 Music
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35 Employment 11 Real Estate
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APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 7
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On July 7, 2016, the province released its first batch of data detailing how many B.C. residential properties were sold to foreign nationals. It was a move that British Columbians were begging the government to make for at least the entire year preceding that day. The Straight filed a freedom-ofinformation request asking for citizens’ correspondence related to the issue of “foreign buyers, foreign owners, foreign money and/or foreign investment and Vancouver real estate” covering that 12-month period. The response consists of 848 pages that include 526 emails from citizens on the subject of real estate. The vast majority of those letters express intense dissatisfaction with the B.C. Liberals’ long refusal to act on the issue of foreign money in B.C. real estate. “You are elected by the people, but your job has given you enough wealth to disconnect from the middle class,” one reads. “You remind me of Queen Marie Antoinette when she learned that the French peasants had no bread. She said, let them eat cake.” An analysis of these 526 emails, sent either to the premier’s office or the Ministry of Finance, revealed that a sizable minority—109 emails, or about 21 percent—were overtly racist. “From reading all the news it is clear that the top one percent of Chinese are flocking to Canada,” one reads. “Future generations will suffer the consequences.” “I heard that an Oriental man sat in his car, didn’t even look at the inside of some building at Salish Court in Burnaby, and purchased them,” reads another. “I am definitely not a racist. However, I feel very strongly that we need to make Canadians a top priority.” And a third: “I am appalled at how the Chinese are literally taking over Vancouver, and in such sneaky, dirty, underhanded ways.” Many of those emails expressed a belief that no money made in China was earned honestly. “It is disgusting how this government will sell out the future of B.C. to the Asian hoards that are taking over our city with corruption, deceit, dishonesty,” reads one email typical of that sentiment.
The other 417 emails are not overtly racist, in that they do not express displeasure toward one identified country or ethnicity. However, the vast majority of them do express some sort of generalized anger toward “foreigners”, “foreign money”, or some variation of those terms. “You have allowed foreign buyers, who are breaking Canadian laws, to make Vancouver a money laundering capital now populated by resentful, angry people,” reads one of those letters. “Foreign investors are the ones buying up properties, tearing down great older homes and building giant homes as big as they can get away with,” reads another. > TRAVIS LUPICK
PROF SAYS B.C. NDP BLOWING THE ELECTION
A marketing authority says there are a lot of unhappy seniors in B.C. With an election coming up, Lindsay Meredith suggested that these folks could actually make or break a party’s chances of winning. “One of the biggest market segments in B.C. are geezers just like me, old people,” Meredith told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. According to the professor emeritus with the Beedie School of Business at SFU, the “geezer vote” is important for two reasons. “Number one, there are a lot of them. Two, out of all the voting segments that are out there, it’s old folks who vote the most,” he explained. Meredith mentioned seniors because he wanted to give some free advice to the B.C. NDP. According to him, that party is in trouble, and if things go the way they’re going now, Premier Christy Clark and her B.C. Liberals will get another term. “The Liberals are doing a very good job at nailing the NDP,” he noted. As for the NDP, Meredith said he’s worried about the party’s marketing strategy leading to the May 9 provincial election. “So what would the NDP want to do?” Meredith asked. “They got a ton of stuff they could attack the Liberals on with regard to health care, with regard to hospital lineups, waits, basically getting shunted sideways, lack of family physicians.
There’s a ton of stuff there they could go after, and it would resonate with the biggest voter segment, the old folks, the geezers like me. And they’re just letting it walk right by.” According to the Office of the Seniors Advocate, there are about 853,000 seniors in B.C., constituting 18 percent of the population. On March 9 this year, the B.C. Liberal government announced an investment of $500 million over the next four years to improve care for seniors. The funding includes $275 million for home- and community-care services. In addition to the $500-million investment, the province also declared that health authorities will continue increasing their budgets for home and community care during the next four years. Those budgets will reach about $200 million above present levels by 2020-21. The province also noted that more than $2.9 billion was invested in home and community care in 2016 throughout the province. The amount represents an increase of more than $1.3 billion from 2001. A different picture is presented in a report released on March 27 by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. According to Privatization and Declining Access to B.C. Seniors’ Care: An Urgent Call for Policy Change, access to residential care and assisted-living spaces declined by 20 percent between 2001 and 2016 for people aged 75 years and over. The report, written by researcher Andrew Longhurst, also noted that there was a 30-percent decline between 2001 and 2016 in access by B.C. seniors to publicly funded home support. In September last year, the Canadian Medical Association released a report titled The State of Seniors Health Care in Canada. According to that report, B.C. ranks seventh out of the 10 provinces in terms of longest wait for hip replacements for seniors. In addition, B.C. ranks ninth in wait time for cataract surgery. “If I was NDP, that’s where I would slam like mad on that issue, because right now, there are a lot of unhappy seniors who still have a lot of wait times,” Meredith said. > CARLITO PABLO
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NEWS
Who will solve the rental-housing crisis?
E
very week, the Georgia Straight’s Kate Wilson tells the personal story of a Vancouver tenant. Her series, Renters of Vancouver, regularly reveals the anguish that local residents face finding and keeping an affordable roof over their heads. Nothing in life is as basic as food and shelter. If Vancouverites had as much trouble finding food as they have finding a decent apartment, it would create headlines around the world. And if there were a food shortage comparable to the current rentalhousing shortage, relief efforts would focus on bringing in more food to address the problem. That’s how you deal with famines over the short term. Otherwise, people start rioting. But for some reason, many people have difficulty recognizing that a similar dynamic applies to rental dwellings. When there aren’t enough of them, the price goes up sharply. And those who can’t afford these higher prices are left starving for accommodation. They’ll take whatever they can get. NDP MLA David Eby has criticized B.C. Housing for granting a low-interest People hit hardest are those who loan to encourage new social and rental housing in Yaletown. John Sinal photo. don’t have the capacity to pay higher rents, including students, the elderly, otherwise couldn’t afford to rent an Barnes has been an advocate for and people with disabilities. apartment. Try to imagine how their low-income people for most of her Recently, B.C. NDP housing critic lives will improve as a result of this. life. This was demonstrated when she David Eby and the media have been In both instances, there was ser- voted against her own party’s parkdevoting a fair amount of attention to ious opposition in the neighbour- board budget because it included fee B.C. Housing’s decision to grant loans hoods to these projects being built. increases for poor people. at one percent to two development They were backed by Vision VanVision Vancouver councillors and companies, Brencouver councillors Mayor Gregor Robertson, who suphill Developments who felt that they port the new social-housing units and Wall Financould be justified on East Hastings and in Yaletown, cial, to provide to help address have remained silent in the face of Charlie Smith socia l-housing the city’s housing the B.C. NDP’s criticism. units in Yaletown and the Downtown crisis. B.C. Housing invested a great It’s probably because these local polEastside, respectively. deal of time and energy to bring iticians feel they’ve invested enough Brenhill built a 162-unit project to them about. political capital in these projects alreplace the dilapidated Jubilee House, Municipal politicians concluded ready and there’s no point leaving providing new homes to 89 residents that it was worth proceeding in the themselves exposed to more criticism living on the shelter allowance. For face of complaints from Yaletown for ripping into the B.C. NDP’s star these low-income Vancouverites, it residents about views and com- MLA on the eve of an election. was like winning the lottery. plaints from Chinatown-preservaFrankly, I wish Eby and some of The one-percent loan has been tion advocates about a new building his colleagues in the B.C. NDP caurepaid. But Eby keeps hammering with tenants in their midst. That’s cus would spend more time focusing away at this because it fits into the because these projects were in walk- on a bigger problem, which is the NDP’s meme that everything the able neighbourhoods with good ac- lack of rental dwellings for the growB.C. Liberal government does is cess to transit. ing Metro Vancouver population. smelly, particularly when it comes The Wall building also met the reto the development industry. The quirements of the city’s Downtown GLOBALLY, THERE’S A massive social-housing project was complet- Eastside neighbourhood plan, which movement of people from rural to ed before Brenhill’s nearby market- was hammered out over a long per- urban areas. It’s taking place across borders and within countries, inhousing condo tower has gone up. iod of time. In the case of Wall, it’s building Meanwhile, one of the biggest cluding Canada. This was chrona 12-storey project at the corner of advocates of the Brenhill project icled in Globe and Mail reporter Gore and East Hastings streets that was former NDP federal candidate Doug Saunders’s amazing 2010 will include 68 market-rental units Constance Barnes. That’s because book, Arrival City: The Final Miand 34 units of social housing for she witnessed the atrocious living gration and Our Next World. This migration is not going to stop those who will pay the shelter allow- conditions endured by low-income in B.C., as automation continues ance. That’s another 34 people who residents of the old Jubilee House.
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reducing employment in rural resource industries and the victims of this trend keep flocking to Vancouver. Governments must get serious about housing all these newcomers. And the reality is that developers build housing, so governments are going to have to work with them to get this job done. Hundreds of thousands in Vancouver alone have no choice but to rent. If rents reach levels seen in New York City, it’s going to have serious economic repercussions for several industries. That’s because young people and the not-so-young aren’t going to be able to do much beyond sitting in their shitty apartments, watching TV, or going to the library. That will hurt the entertainment, food and beverage, and retail sectors. Already, we’re seeing low-income people pushed to the outer suburbs where they have to live in food deserts devoid of grocery stores offering healthy eating options. They’re being kicked out of their homes in the Metrotown area and forced to scrounge for accommodation farther away from good transit service. The B.C. Liberal government rightly deserves condemnation for how it’s dealt with the rental-housing situation. It has permitted unfair “renovictions”, where tenants have been callously tossed out for dubious reasons. Kudos to NDP MLA Spencer Chandra-Herbert for keeping this issue in the spotlight for so many years. The B.C. Liberal government also closed the Residential Tenancy Office in Vancouver, forcing tenants to travel to another city, Burnaby, to fight for something as basic as a damage deposit. And, perhaps worst of all, Christy Clark and her friends have permitted a time-bomb clause in the Residential Tenancy Act. It allows landlords to suddenly jack up rents if they can demonstrate that market conditions have changed in the neighbourhood around their building. It’s unprecedented in Canada and demonstrates the extent to which the B.C. Liberals are in the back pocket of apartment-building owners. But the B.C. NDP and the B.C. Greens have yet to bring forward enough far-reaching real solutions to help real people looking for real places to live. Sure, amending the Residential Tenancy Act to stop renovictions and massive rent-gouging will help existing tenants enormously. Using government funds to build more social-housing units will help too. However, that’s not going to be nearly enough to provide reasonable accommodation to all the new people coming to town, including students.
Why can’t there be more rental apartments along major transit routes like East and West Broadway, in the huge alleys of the West End, along Kingsway from Nanaimo to Fraser streets, or where there are 50-foot frontages filled with empty retail spaces or failing restaurants? Take the # 9 bus from Boundary Road to Alma Street and just look out the window at all the space where rental dwellings could go. You’ll be surprised by what you see. Here’s another housing issue that’s rarely raised: what can be done to encourage construction of more student housing on university and college campuses? Can innovative solutions be brought forward to allow student housing above Vancouver Community College’s King Edward campus, for example? Is it feasible to add housing to Kwantlen’s major campus in Surrey? Has the time arrived to build student housing on the large parking lot at the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Burnaby campus? And why do people who want to build housing in Vancouver have to include so many expensive parking spots that add to the cost when so many tenants nowadays use carsharing services or take transit? Prof. Doug McArthur, one of the most senior bureaucrats in the last NDP government and director of the SFU school of public policy, has spent a great deal of time thinking about solutions to the housing crisis. He knows that building more homes provides employment to huge numbers of people and has the potential to deliver more affordable housing to low-income people. For the sake of tenants featured in our Renters of Vancouver series and for all the new tenants who will be moving to Vancouver in the coming years, let’s hope that whoever is the next housing minister seeks McArthur’s advice on this issue. Because as things stand now, tenants will continue to be hooped if all the media can focus on is the high cost of home ownership and onepercent interest on B.C. Housing loans to a couple of developers who built housing for some of the city’s poorest residents. Home ownership is already beyond the reach of many people under the age of 30 who aren’t getting help with a down payment from their families. Their only option is to rent. They need imaginative and courageous solutions before the rental famine results in the average one-bedroom unit costing $2,500 or $3,000 per month. -
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APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 9
NEWS
Renters of Vancouver: “I was forced out” > B Y KATE WI LSO N
Renters of Vancouver takes an intimate look at how the city’s residents are dealing with the housing crisis. Tenants choose to remain nameless when they share their stories.
“I
was born and raised in Vancouver. I worked for a charity that was nationwide, so I moved out to Halifax and then Toronto before having a chance to come back and live here. The first home that I found when I returned was really great. It was so close to my office, and it was a beautiful loft space around 6th and Cambie. I loved the neighbourhood. I walked everywhere with my dog, Zoey, and barely used my car. And then out of the blue—after five-anda-half years of renting—the owner decided to sell. “That was a stressful time. I was between jobs and it was very tense looking for a new home. Everywhere I found that was pet-friendly, there were lineups of people. I went to view one place on Commercial and Venables that was an absolute dump and was only offering a six-month lease because it was about to be torn down. People were clamouring to get it. “The next building I saw was an arrangement where a woman wanted someone to live in her
This tenant was required to move a few months after renting a basement suite in Kerrisdale.
home for the majority of the month, and then she would return to see her son periodically. When she was back, we would have to share the space. It struck me as being a little strange, and we both figured that it wouldn’t work for us. “Then I found this basement suite near Kerrisdale. It’s a fantastic place, and I really loved it. I was
the first person to see it, I think, so I was really lucky in being able to snatch it up. There were a couple of red flags, though. The guy renting it didn’t want references or any kind of supporting documents. I asked him who the owner was, and he wouldn’t tell me—I just couldn’t get a name. I think the building is part of a much bigger company, but I couldn’t get much more information. I was very up-front about the fact that I wasn’t working when I took the place, and he said that he didn’t mind. I thought it was odd, but I just figured it was a gift. I was very grateful to be there. There was a big backyard for Zoey and a well-maintained dog park nearby—everything was perfect. “Six months later, I was talking to the property manager and she said that the owner had decided to move back in. The house is small: there was a couple who lived upstairs, and it was just me in the basement. We were all initially given two months’ notice, but because the woman upstairs was pregnant and delivering around the same time as they’d have to move, the owner gave us an extra month. As it turned out, the couple found a place really quickly and were gone within a few weeks. And that’s when someone made the decision to start renovating the house immediately, instead of when my notice was up.
“I was told it was going to be noisy, and that they had the right to be in there from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. I phoned the Residential Tenancy Branch and gave them the scenario and asked what my rights were. The person I spoke with quoted Division Four, Section 28 of the Tenancy Act, which is the renter’s ‘right to quiet enjoyment’. I let the property manager know about my conversation. When I heard back from her a little while later, she said that they were not in contravention of the act and that according to the city website they could work loudly within those hours. “I have no proof, but I believe that because they didn’t ask for any references or documents, they knew the owner was coming back. They just needed someone for a short period of time, and they definitely wanted me out of there fast. “I’ve just had some good news, though. After a long time looking, I’ve finally managed to find a pet-friendly suite to live, and I’ll be moving in two weeks. It’s a lovely place in Surrey, about 20 minutes away from my new job. It’s near a fenced dog park for Zoey and, fortunately, my new landlords have three pets, so they understand what it’s like to try and find a place that’s suitable. It’s been tough to be forced out of two rentals in seven months, but I’m hopeful that this one is for the long term.” -
Narcan revives dog with apparent overdose Vancouver has become notorious for the number of fentanyl-related deaths of humans, but they’re not the only victims of the drug epidemic > BY TRAVIS L UPICK
S
arah Gill was working at Insite the evening of March 25 when a couple came in with a friend they suspected had overdosed. That in itself was not unusual. People who use drugs in the Downtown Eastside know that they can go to the neighbourhood’s supervised-injection facility for help when someone runs into trouble on drugs. But this couple’s friend was an adorable, eight-week-old pit bull. “A couple came in with a dog that they had suspected had licked a cooker [a small tray used for mixing drugs] that someone had just used at their house,” Gill told the Straight. “It looked like the dog was having an opioid overdose. Her pupils were pinned, its tongue was hanging out, and it was only semiconscious.” Normally, people must be previously registered with Insite to enter the injection room, where the facility’s overdose-response supplies are stored. But staff made an exception for the puppy. “I said, ‘Okay, I guess I’m going to give this dog some Narcan,’” Gill continued. Narcan, which also goes by the generic name naloxone, is administered to block the effects of opioids. Gill had used the life-saving drug on humans before, but never on an animal. At first, she suggested the couple take the dog to an animal hospital, but they said they couldn’t af-
Insite staff are encouraging Downtown Eastside residents to keep an eye out for dangerous drugs that can kill an animal.
ford that. So Gill called one of the city’s animal emergency clinics and asked for advice. “I spoke to a vet there, because I wanted to ask how much Narcan you actually give a dog. Because as a nurse, I didn’t know. So he gave me the dose for the dog.” Gill loaded a small syringe with
10 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017
a dose of naloxone that was just a fraction of what a human would normally receive, and then injected the puppy with it. “I gave the dog two doses of Narcan and then signs of life came back,” she said. That caused the baby pit bull to poop. But then, just a few seconds
later, the dog came around. “She just kind of started whimpering and whining,” Gill says. “Then she became more alert, she started to walk around, and she was all cute and puppyish. So she was okay.” There’s no way to know whether the drug the puppy ingested was heroin or fentanyl. But it was an opioid, as
evident in the naloxone shot’s success in bringing the animal back around. Fentanyl is significantly more toxic than heroin. According to the B.C. Coroners Service, approximately 60 percent of 922 drug-overdose deaths in B.C. last year involved fentanyl. More recently, an ongoing trial program at Insite that lets people test their drugs for fentanyl found that 83 percent of drugs that users believe to be heroin actually contain fentanyl. Gill said that other staff at Insite and at health-care centres around the Downtown Eastside have similar stories of people bringing in pets who appear to have overdosed. “A coworker at Insite said they’d heard of another dog possibly overdosing up the street,” Gill explained. “And then today [March 31], at Downtown Eastside Connections, a girl came in with her dog and said that she had brought it into a dealer’s house and realized her dog got really close to getting into some drugs. It freaked her out. She realized, ‘I won’t be bringing my dog into that space again.’ “So it’s a thing,” Gill said. “Let me put this out there: don’t leave your drugs accessible to dogs that are on the ground sniffing around.” Once it was evident that the dog was okay, Gill gave its owners a take-home naloxone kit, specially equipped with “itty-bitty needles” suitable for an animal the size of a puppy. (Naloxone needles for humans are relatively large, designed to penetrate a muscle.) “They were really appreciative,” Gill said. -
HOUSING
The Name Friends Recommend Weight loss program based on your blood analysis and your health We design a complete personalized all-natural weight management program At an age when many millennials are trying to scrape up enough cash for their first home, 29-year-old Ryan Chahl is in the mood to buy a second dwelling.
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iving in cramped spaces near Vancouver, at least,” he said. is everyday life for many Getting the bank to approve a families. Because of the mortgage will likely take a bit of time. high cost of housing, many Like the more than 400,000 selfhave to make do with whatever employed people in B.C., Chahl has they can afford. to prove that his business is viable. In Vancouver, city staff estimated According to him, banks typically that more than 8,000 families with require three years’ proof of inat least one parent and a child were come. If he wants to make a purliving in a studio or a one-bedroom chase in six months to a year, he apartment in 2011. said that he may have to produce a Ryan Chahl, a 29-year-old entre- 50-percent down payment. preneur, is thinking about settling Chahl holds a business-adminisdown. He wants to tration degree from provide adequate SFU. For him, the housing for his housing market future family. isn’t just a game in Carlito Pablo “I’m kind of which he wants to looking for a home that could pot- make a quick buck. entially support a family,” Chahl “It’s something that I’m investing told the Georgia Straight in a phone in, going in long-term with the kind interview. of goal of seeing those assets appreciThat means a three-bedroom ate long-term, not kind of flip them house “with some room to grow”. in a year or two,” he said. “I’m trying to plan for the future Chahl expects home prices to and think ahead,” Chahl said. gradually decline, which is generFor now, his plan doesn’t include ally in line with the latest projections selling the Port Moody condo he by the Canadian Real Estate Assobought four years ago. “It’s an asset ciation (CREA). According to the that I can grow equity in,” he said CREA forecast issued on March 15, about the two-bedroom property home prices in B.C. will shrink by where he lives on his own, and which more than five percent in 2017. he intends to rent out eventually. Chahl is not worried that the He used to live with his parents property market has risen so fast before he purchased his apartment that it can only head for a crash. In with a five-percent down payment. September last year, Swiss bank UBS Chahl’s challenge is how to secure reported that Vancouver is number a new mortgage. one on its global list of cities with the Aimal Pamir, who was his mort- highest bubble risk. gage broker for his condo purchase, “Over the next year, maybe two, has advised him that because he is you’re going to see a decrease in prices, self-employed, it’s not going to be easy. but I can’t imagine…a bubble burstAccording to the Real Estate ing where over six months you see a Board of Greater Vancouver, the decrease of 30 or 40 percent,” he said. federal Office of the Superintendent As in his first purchase, his realtor of Financial Institutions requires and older brother, Adam Chahl, is from individuals working for them- around to help him acquire a second selves a minimum down payment of property. “Adam, being who he is, I 35 percent of the purchase price to have absolutely no issues trusting qualify for a loan. him,” he said. In 2016, Chahl set up his own Chahl said he’s happy with the consulting and project-manage- way things are going for him. ment firm. Chahl related that his His long-time girlfriend lives in a business is doing well, giving him neighbouring city 10 minutes away the confidence to approach a major from his condo. There are lots of bank for a mortgage. trails nearby where they can hike “It’s kind of been the vehicle for and walk her three dogs. me to start making those heavy Chahl can see the two of them savings that are required to be able growing a family together in the to buy a home in Vancouver or future: “That’s the plan.” -
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APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 11
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With the milder weather comes the opportunity to tackle some longer bicycle rides, including the Okanagan Trestles Tour, pictured here.
Spring brings return of holiday cycling trips > B Y G A IL JOHN SON
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APRIL 27 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
Will the public’s desire for change unseat the B.C. Liberals? Or will Premier Christy Clark’s handling of the economy and other issues give her party its fifth straight majority? In our April 27th issue, we will examine key issues that could decide this election.
To Advertise Contact 604.730.7020 | sales@straight.com 12 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017
fter Vancouver experienced one of the iciest winters on record this past year, the milder weather feels like the return of an old friend to local cyclists. And now that the days are getting longer, weekend bike trips are just two wheels away. Richard Campbell, a founding director of the British Columbia Cycling Coalition, picks the Galloping Goose Trail on Vancouver Island as one of his favourite rides in the province. The former railway is now a mixeduse trail that winds its way alongside waterways, by rolling farmlands, and through thick forests. Campbell says the picturesque trail is a great choice for people who are just starting out doing longer rides. “It’s a bike/hike trail that’s separated from traffic, and the surface is typically pretty good,” Campbell says by phone. “[From the ferry terminal in Sidney,] you can go to Victoria or you can go to Sooke and have a great time along the way. “I love being out there enjoying nature and all the scenery around,” he says. “Even on a rainy day, it’s still great, especially if you have somewhere nice to go at the end of the day. Just remember to have good rain gear in your panniers.” Other tips for novices? Determine in advance a reasonable travel plan: “You don’t want to be too overly optimistic about how far you can travel; often the nicer routes might be along a trail or gravel that might not be as fast,” Campbell says. (The BCCC is encouraging the provincial government to invest $100 million per year in bike paths and protected bike lanes, he notes; more information is at www. bccc.bc.ca/everyone.) Be sure to take breaks along the way. And to get used to lengthier rides, practise first on local routes like the dike trails in Richmond or the Traboulay PoCo Trail. Here are a few other ideas for cycling experiences throughout B.C. for road warriors needing a break from the big city. CALLAGHAN VALLEY One of the most spectacular rides in Whistler is the journey from the village to Whistler Olympic Park, where the Nordic events took place in 2010, through the Callaghan Valley. You’re likely to see black bears from a safe distance while you climb hills that will make your quadriceps crave your hotel hot tub. After a wildly successful launch
last year, the Bici Gusti Gourmet Ride is happening again this spring, with gourmet being the keyword. The May 19 to 21 extravaganza includes winetastings, cooking classes, and, on the day of the 70-kilometre ride itself, a breakfast buffet, a rest stop geared to foodies, a postcycle beer and barbecue, a white-themed dîner en blanc at the Four Seasons Resort, and more. See www.bicigusti.com/ for more info. SOUTHERN GULF ISLANDS Wheth-
er it’s Galiano, Gabriola, Mayne, Pender, or Salt Spring island, each of these B.C. gems is a potent antidote to all things stress-related, and, for cyclists, they offer quiet roads with postcard-perfect scenery. Montague Harbour Marine Provincial Park on Galiano has a bikeaccessible campground, making it an ideal place to pitch a tent and explore the surrounding shell beaches and tide pools or to return to after biking the length of the island. If you’re up for island-hopping by two-wheeler, consider a guided adventure like CircleTrek’s Gulf Islands 5 Day Tour. With dates throughout the summer and departures from Victoria, it includes stops at Mayne’s Japanese Garden and Salt Spring’s St. Mary Lake, among many others. See www.cycletreks.com/ for more deets. More than 400 kilometres long, the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, which runs from Brookmere to Midway in the Thompson Okanagan, is not only historic (dating back to 1915, when the railway was opened to transport silver ore to the coast) but also jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Unless you have the time and energy to dedicate to cycling the entire thing, head toward Kelowna. Nearby is a 12-kilometre section through Myra Canyon, featuring 18 trestle bridges that may turn your cyclist knuckles white. The trail has become part of the Great Trail, a multi-use transnational route that officially launches this summer in honour of the country’s 150th birthday. To celebrate, the Okanagan Trestles Tour, a noncompetitive 80-kilometre wine-country ride from Kelowna to Penticton, is taking place on July 2. Look for multiple rest stops with food and drink as well as a postride barbecue with live music, beer, and wine. Shorter routes are possible as well for those who wish to take it easy under the Okanagan sun. More info is at www. okanagantrestlestour.com/. -
KETTLE VALLEY
CYCLING
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s the weather warms and incessant showers give way to cherry blossoms, more and more cyclists are dusting off their two-wheelers and hitting the streets. And in a city as bikefriendly as Vancouver, it’s never been easier to look good while getting your daily dose of cardio, reducing your greenhouse-gas emissions, and, occasionally, cutting back your commute time. Ahead, we’ve rounded up some stylish cycling apparel and accessories—many of them crafted in Vancouver—that will help up your bike game this season. DREAM JEANS Figure-hugging, stiff, and movement-restricting, denim is hardly the fabric of choice for Vancouverites travelling by bike. But Dish & Duer’s performance denim makes a case for commuting in jeans. Crafted using an ultralight fabric that flexes with your body, the pants are equipped with moisture-wicking and odourneutralizing technologies that ensure a clean and comfy ride. We love the slim fit in a light-washed vintage tint ($139) for the guys and the washed-black skinny ($129) for girls. For a more casual look, check out Dish & Duer’s Live Lite collection (from $119), which uses a proprietary blend of cotton and Tencel, a silklike material made from cellulose fibres, to keep wearers cool. Find them at Dish & Duer (118 West Hastings Street). BEER O’CLOCK Transporting glass vessels by bike is a risky task—hence the popularity of canned beer in the summer—but R1creations’ bicycle growler holder ($70) makes things a whole lot easier. The leather carrier features a wooden base that holds your vessel in one of two in-transit positions—hanging on its side from your bike’s top tube or standing
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Clockwise from left, Dish & Duer’s Live Lite Adventure pants; R1creations Vancouver’s wine-bottle holder; and LetsKeepMoving’s bike handlebar bag.
upright against your seat tube—while serving as a stylish coaster when it comes time to pour. Not a beer person? R1Creations’ bicycle wine-bottle holder ($35) gets your vino of choice to patio parties, get-togethers, and backyard BBQs without harm. Find the carriers online at etsy.com/ca/ shop/R1creationsVancouver/ . COAT CHECK If you’re planning to bike in Vancouver’s rain-soaked weather, a waterproof and windresistant coat is key. (Unless you’d like to enter the office looking like you just escaped a typhoon, of course.) Enter Mountain Equipment Co-op’s Revolution jacket ($189 for women, $225 for men), a lightweight piece that’s fully equipped to face the city’s unpredictable conditions, with plenty of pockets, to boot. Triple-layer nylon fabric and a cozy fleece inner collar keep you warm and dry, while underarm zip-ups allow for ventilation
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once the sun comes out. Meanwhile, vibrant red and sunshine-yellow exteriors—coupled with reflective tape and piping all around—heighten your visibility on the road. Find it at Mountain Equipment Co-op (various locations). Keep your cellphone and other valuables in sight with Let’s Keep Moving’s adorable handlebar bag (from $45). Locally crafted from secondhand and repurposed fabrics, the water-resistant pouch fastens securely to the front of your bicycle with two recycledleather loops. Once you arrive at your destination, you can hold the sack as a clutch or attach a shoulder strap to convert it into a chic crossbody bag. Choose from a variety of designs, such as stripes, cat print, or a fluorescent-pink shade that includes a built-in light for added safety. Find it online at etsy.com/ca/ shop/LetsKeepMoving/. -
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Who’s to blame for the mess in B.C.’s schools?
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Clean and healthy schools are vital to a child’s education. But 16 years of underfunding by the provincial government have made it impossible for custodians to do their jobs properly.
Chronic underfunding has forced some districts to cut daytime custodian positions, leaving no janitors to clean up accidents, vomit or other messes. Increased and unrealistic workloads
cause injuries. Staff have been cut in most districts. Custodians are not willing to compromise the health of the students they support by lowering their standards.
We need a government that’s committed to proper funding of public education.
schoolsareamess.ca 1-844-888-MESS
A message from the working men and women who provide support services in schools throughout B.C. APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 13
straight stars > B Y R O SE MARCUS
April 6 to 12, 2017
I
ndustriousness nets a payoff Thursday/Friday. Set yourself to task and you should make great headway. The transiting moon in Virgo keeps more of everything on the go, and—for the most part—it’s making the grade. Mind you, there’s plenty of plus and minus in the mix. Friday’s sun/Jupiter can produce an overload. Too much coming at you will require your expert discernment, but when it comes to the gains and good stuff, the complaints are at a minimum. Friday night’s reward is available in whatever package you choose. Saturday is also productive, in terms of over the hump, finish it off, and head on to something next. Venus and Saturn set a short twoweek timetable into play. Expect to stay well occupied with a process, priority, agenda, or unfolding reality. Sunday, minimize expectations. Don’t make assumptions or prejudge; take your hands off the steering wheel. Mercury in Taurus begins retrograde. If you can’t get a clear fix on what’s in your best interest, take more time to feel your way along. Allow for folks and circumstances to reveal themselves. Monday/Tuesday, the full moon in Libra will do just that. Spotlighting life’s imbalances, the full moon can find you at odds with yourself, another, or a circumstance. Personal freedom and independence can conflict with the desire or need to partner up or participate. Matters to do with fairness, justice, cooperation, sharing, mutual support, trust, alliances, and finances can reach a breaking point or a breakthrough point. A contract or legal matter hits a fast track too.
ARIES
March 20–April 20
Friday/Saturday, plans, intentions, and communications can shape up well. You can feel over the hump and on the road with someone or something. Still, note that Mercury in Taurus begins retrograde on Sunday, and on Monday/Tuesday the full moon in Libra hits full swing with Jupiter, Pluto, and Uranus. Anything goes! When things change, they change big-time. Mercury retrograde can sack or defy expectations.
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TAURUS
April 20–May 21
Thursday through Saturday, your stars are prime for making the most of it. Aim to get as much as you can said, done, or written. Sunday through Wednesday, follow rather than lead. Accomplishment or progress may not be a straightforward thing, thanks to the start of Mercury retrograde and the full moon. A relationship, money, or health matter will require extra attention. GEMINI
May 21–June 21
You are a busy one! The next few days keep you well on the go with home, family, cleanup, and clear-up projects. To feel pleased with yourself is your best reward. Make Sunday a day of rest. Monday/ Tuesday, the full moon could dish up something extra or special. Mercury retrograde may not be obvious right now, but don’t underestimate a thing.
CANCER
June 21–July 22
Thursday/Friday, put a creative spin on it. Don’t get bogged down in the details or the small stuff but do make sure to tend to the necessary stuff. Ask a question or two and you’re likely to get a floodgate response. Saturday, you’ll hit a switch track. Sunday through Tuesday takes you from one extreme to another. Expenses can multiply.
LEO
July 22–August 23
Thursday through Saturday, the Virgo moon helps you to get a better handle on what’s necessary. Thanks to the start of Mercury retrograde and the Libra full moon, Sunday to Tuesday is a mixed bag. There’s something important to share, say, or face. A compromise or concession will fast-track you.
VIRGO
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
August 23–September 23
Thursday/Friday, you’ll find a knack for hitting it just right and make the most of what there is to work with. Saturday, it’s time to switch gears. As is typical of Mercury retrograde, Sunday may not follow the plan or expectation. Expense or output is high Monday/Tuesday. You may hit a breaking point, but it paves the way for an air-clearing and/or resolution. September 23–October 23
Behind the scenes, there’s a lot on brew. There’s what you know, what you feel, and what you haven’t put your finger on yet. Thursday/ Friday, time to yourself can be put to very good use. Mercury retrograde, starting Sunday, calls for a rethink regarding pending projects, investments, or a relationship matter. Is it worth it? Monday/Tuesday, the Libra full moon calls for a decision. October 23–November 22
It’s a busy end to the workweek. You’ll go the distance and find energy to spare. Reward yourself Friday night. Saturday, quit while you are ahead and plug into something fresh. Sunday through Tuesday, allow extra leeway for the unexpected. Mercury retrograde and the full moon can mess with plans or require that you put more time or money into it. November 22–December 21
Practical, efficient, and priced right is the right aim Thursday/Friday. A little more effort works to your great benefit. Come the second half of Saturday, you’ll be onto other things. Sunday through Tuesday, keep plans and expectations open-ended. These days can occupy you with something extra and/ or launch a domino effect. Someone may need you or want to give you well-meaning but unsolicited advice. December 21–January 20
Thursday/Friday, take it on and put yourself out there. Travel, studies, and bargain-hunting deliver the goods, too. Saturday through Tuesday, what you hear may not be all of it. The appearance and the reality may not be one and the same. Meeting in the middle is the right aim, but it takes added effort and collaboration. January 20–February 18
A little goes a long way— less is more; keep it simple—through Saturday. Don’t waste your time or your money. Prior to Sunday, you can shop for a better deal. As of Sunday, go the extra/pay the extra. Mercury retrograde and the full moon can put you back in touch and/or resume something important. February 18–March 20
You may feel swamped, but Thursday to Saturday, the transiting moon supports you to take care of business quite well. In fact, you’ll get through more than you usually do. Prioritize self-interests and personal needs Saturday night. Sunday through Tuesday, Mercury retrograde and the full moon are in charge. Take it in stride. Book a reading or sign up for Rose’s
Need to play catch-up with free monthly newsletter at www.rose yourself or to finish something off? marcus.com/astrolink/.
APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 15
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THE
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TUE MAY 2 2017 I 7PM I DOORS VOGUE THEATRE
6PM
in places of Solitude
SOLITUDE
EVERYTHING IS AWFUL AND YOU’RE A TERRIBLE PERSON
By Michael Harris. Doubleday Canada, 272 pp, hardcover
By Daniel Zomparelli. Arsenal Pulp, 198 pp, softcover
REV IEWS
Since the advent of the Internet,
to Governor General’s Award–winning author Michael Harris, become nearly impossible. Rather than lamenting the slow death of solitude, however, Harris takes a proactive approach to navigating a world filled with distractions and notifications. Framing his quest to explore “a singular life in a crowded world” by examining his reticence to sit down and write his book—a practice that he acknowledges as being one of the most isolating activities one can pursue—Harris makes a compelling case for how true aloneness is both a form of expertise and a reward. The author’s personal anecdotes blend with research from cognitive scientists, examinations of culture from past centuries, big-data analytics, and a lengthy discussion of Google Maps. Arguing that individual voices are homogenized by the herd, Harris picks apart the deflation of language into its basest form, and shows how crowd mentalities eliminate true expressions of difference. Fittingly using the first person throughout, Harris creates an erudite discussion of how it is possible to reclaim moments of individuality by identifying the regions where solitude still thrives. By shunning the constant demands on one’s attention, the author argues, it’s possible to achieve a Zen-like state: a condition that “allows us to reflect and recharge, improving our relationship with ourselves and, unexpectedly, with others”. Despite its grand claims, however, Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World deftly refuses to stray into the self-help genre, with Harris instead directing his highly readable prose at exploring how modern psychology and technology can be uncoupled. For Harris, the goal of solitude is to break from the addiction to digital connections—the so-called ludic loops of scrolling through apps like Facebook or Instagram—to permit oneself to stumble upon uncharted terrain. Encouraging readers to “switch off ” and give in to the meandering thoughts of daydreaming, Harris’s celebration of nonproductivity is revolutionary in contemporary culture. Going beyond the clichéd adage that the more connected the population becomes, the weaker its interactions, the author successfully details his personal journey into a world where it is possible to get lost, and to briefly lose oneself. > KATE WILSON
918 GRANVILLE ST
THE HIDDEN BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS
Michael Harris reads from Solitude at a Vancouver Writers Fest Incite event on Wednesday (April 12) at the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library.
It has been said that mathematics is the poetry of science. Professor Cédric Villani will discuss the interface between mathematics and art, showing how both these disciplines seek to illuminate hidden beauty in the world. Tickets are FREE I Reserve tickets at pwias.ubc.ca
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16 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017
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Were it a play, Everything Is and You’re a Terrible Person would have me fidgeting and glancing longingly at exit signs. For this reader, Daniel Zomparelli’s collection of 32 narrative pieces (some an eighth of a page in size) triggered strong feelings: dispiritment mixed with boredom. Fascination? Not so much. The lowness mostly stemmed from the contemporary splinter of reality Zomparelli opts to depict. Set primarily in Vancouver’s West End (with occasional hops to T.O. near Church and Wellesley and one road trip to Atlantic Canada in the title story), it’s a kind of generational snapshot—an unapologetically urbang ay-m a l e - c e nt r i c updating of Douglas Coupland’s 1992 collection, Shampoo Planet In EveryPlanet. thing environment, thing’s bars, shopping, therapy, recreational and big-pharma drugs, YouTube videos, Grindr-profile cruising, hooking up, and relentless selfie-taking (or hashtag-making) are defining characteristics. Politics per se don’t exist. Instead, curiosity about the outside world seems replaced by notable selfabsorption and quests for constant distractions from nagging senses of discontentment. In piece after piece, though, sentiment like “failed night clubs, failed past boyfriends, failed Grindr dates”, “I have to hook up,” “my YouTube video went viral,” and “I swiped left, hit the block button, swiped left, hit the block button” encourages is-that-all-there-is exasperation or grumpy-old-personmuttering-about-impossibly-facileyoung-people responses. The cumulative boredom originates with sameness of voice and character type. Zomparelli’s young men register as being of a kind. They check their phones (which are essential prosthetic devices), hook up (or try to) using phone apps, or wander about in a haze of self-analysis. They seem uninterested in existence beyond sex apps and watching screens, and contented with their understanding that consumerism and Girls-like dissatisfaction and pep talks count as a fulfilled life. For one story, that’s a provocative enough observation about the generational state of things. Five or 10 stories later, though, it’s wearying. At 20, the bit’s stale. Given Zomparelli’s general cleverness and comic outlook, seeing how he treats material outside his comfort area will be intriguing. A gay guy in Yellowknife? One who’s older than 25? Heaven knows there are lots of options.
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FOOD
Getaways with great food
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> BY GA IL JOHNSON
V
ancouver loves to boast about its outstanding restaurant scene, and sure, we’re spoiled here with our diverse dining options. Those who are so obsessed with food that they have cookbooks on their bedside table and like to think about what to have for dinner during breakfast (hello) may worry that heading out of town will mean food that pales in comparison, a nonstop buffet of chicken tenders and subpar sandwiches. But fret not, Vancouverites: there are some fine culinary experiences to be had far beyond our city limits.
WHISKEY AND TAPAS EXPERIENCE
April 25th 2017 6pm $95 TAXES & GRATUITIES INCLUDED
VICTORIA A trip to the relaxing,
walkable seaside provincial capital would not be complete without a stop at Fan Tan Alley in historic Chinatown, the colourful, crowded street being named the narrowest in North America. Right nearby is Olo (509 Fisgard Street), a locavore restaurant with Brad Holmes at the helm. The executive chef’s name may be familiar to Vancouverites; he used to work at Lumière and West, studying under Rob Feenie and David Hawksworth. A member of the Slow Food Chefs Alliance, Holmes prides himself on knowing by name the 50 or so farmers, foragers, and small suppliers from whom he sources his food. The menu is always changing, but examples of dishes include lamb tartare, alder-smoked salmon, balsamic beets, and lingcod with gnocchi and a herb-and-shellfish foam. There are family-style dinners and tasting menus, plus weekend brunch— try the sweet soufflé pancakes with poached rhubarb, honey, and yogurt.
WHISTLER You’ve got no shortage of options here, from Mexican to Mongolian and all sorts of burgers in between. And despite the prevalence of sushi in Vancouver, don’t overlook Japanese cuisine here. There’s a reason Sushi Village (4272 Mountain Square) is still going strong after more than three decades in operation. Head chef Hideki Kobayashi offers everything from spicy ahi poké to hot-pot dinners for two with thinly sliced sirloin in sukiyaki sauce with raw egg. Check out his creative rolls, too, like the Pumpkin Delight, with pumpkin tempura, takuan (pickled daikon radish), enoki mushrooms, beets, cilantro, sesame mayo, and balsamic reduction. Pair them with a potent sake margarita, available in fun flavours like strawberry melon and strawberry banana.
Georgia Straight readers voted Miradoro at Tinhorn Creek as the best winery restaurant in this year’s Golden Plates Awards. Christopher Pouget photo. PEMBERTON Oh, Pemby, home of
one of the best restaurants in Canada. Mile One Eating House (7–7330 Arbutus Street) has everything a discerning foodie could ever want: a menu that showcases regional producers and delicious, expertly executed, top-quality food. You’ll find Cache Creek natural beef, Fraser Valley duck and smoked bacon, Salmon Arm chicken, Little Qualicum cheese, Pemberton potatoes (obviously)… The list goes on. Try the Two Rivers slow-roasted beef-brisket sandwich with Okanagan-apple sauerkraut, Mount Moriarty cheese, arugula, and red onion on a baked buttermilk bun. Mile One’s craft-beer program features ales from Red Truck Beer Company, Postmark Brewing, and Hearthstone Brewery, among many others; wines on tap include CedarCreek Estate Winery, Blasted Church Vineyards, and Stag’s Hollow winery. Worth a day trip from Vancouver. TOFINO Unless you’ve been living in a fog, you’ve heard of Wolf in the Fog (150 4 Street), the Tuff City resto that’s made waves across the country ever since day one. With art made out of pieces of driftwood and old surfboards, this place nails the concept of local, fresh, seasonal food with items like salal-infused gin, Bamfield seaweed, chanterelle mushrooms foraged in the forests right outside of town, and, of course, fish that comes in daily from a dock that’s a block away. Executive chef and owner Nick Nutting used to work at the Pointe
Restaurant at Wickaninnish Inn. The calibre of the food is on par with that at Bishop’s, but it’s served up Tofino-style; sharing is encouraged. One of its signature items is its potato-crusted oyster, with the Quadra Island bivalve wrapped in shoestring potato crust and served with julienned green apple and truffle oil. Be sure to start off with a Cedar Sour, a fragrant cocktail made with cedar-infused rye and lemon-thyme syrup—liquid rainforest in a glass. OKANAGAN With the wine-touring business booming, there are plenty of terrific winery restaurants to try out between sips. Miradoro at Tinhorn Creek (537 Tinhorn Creek Road, Oliver)—a joint venture of Tinhorn Creek and Manuel Ferreira, former owner of Le Gavroche—earned the title of best winery restaurant in the Georgia Straight’s annual Golden Plates Awards, voted on by readers, for 2017 and 2016. Chef Jeff Van Geest offers seasonal, contemporary Mediterraneaninspired wine-country cuisine. Menu items change, but examples of standout dishes include a yogurt-braised lamb shank with pistachio, mint, and cilantro accompanied by green chickpea hummus, sumac flatbread, and salted cucumber, as well as halibut in paella consommé with chorizo, confit potatoes, baby octopus, lobster oil, and spring greens. With a panoramic view of the Golden Mile Bench, the restaurant also makes authentic al forno Neapolitan pizza. -
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APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 17
FOOD
Savour sakura-inspired treats covered with a strawberry and sakura glaze, and topped with edible flowers made from fondant and dehydrated salt-packed sakura. Each doughnut comes in a custom-made pink box, which is almost as highly sought after as the goods inside it.
> B Y TA M M Y K WA N
V Authentic Greek Food Extensive Wine & Bar List
1830 Fir St. Vancouver | 604.736.9559
www.apolloniagreekrestaurant.com CLOSED MONDAYS
Lunchtime is the perfect chance to check out Bauhaus Restaurant’s modern twist on traditional German dishes. Located in Gastown, the restaurant is housed inside one of Vancouver’s unique historic buildings, The Boulder Hotel, which was originally built in 1890. LUNCH WEEKDAYS
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DINNER 7 DAYS A WEEK
1 WEST CORDOVA STREET / 604 974 1147 •
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ancouver’s winter may have dragged on a little longer than usual this year, but we’re finally seeing a bit of those captivating pink petals peeking out of bare branches. In light of the cherry-blossom season, several eateries around the city will be offering sakura-inspired menus and treats—delicious and photogenic creations that will likely prompt you to take a photo or two. Here are five places to find cherryblossom foods around town.
BUTTER • MERE PATISSERIE (958 Main Street) The young pastry chefs behind the butter • mere pâtisserie combine French-pastry techniques and Asian flavours for a unique take on desserts. Its latest seasonal offerings (through April) feature cherry blossoms as an ingredient. Its menu includes everything from a sakura roll ($35, sakura paste and cured sakura) to sakura macarons ($3.30 each) to a cherry-blossom cake ($65, milktea-cherry light cream, matcha-andblack-sesame sponge, cured sakura). This relatively new dessert business creates its eye-catching treats out of Torafuku’s kitchen, so its products must be ordered and are pickup-only.
Tihs month, Masayoshi is serving sakura mushi. Leila Kwok photo.
dessert. Guests can expect a tasty meal created using traditional cooking techniques and locally sourced ingredients. Limited quantities are available each night, and reservaMASAYOSHI (4376 Fraser Street) tions must be made at least three Paying homage to the city’s blos- days in advance. soming buds, Masayoshi will be serving its specially crafted sakura LUCKY’S DOUGHNUTS (2902 Main omakase ($120 per person) through Street and 2198 West 4th Avenue) If April 30. The 10-course omakase you’re able to get your hands on one (dishes selected by the chef) features of Lucky’s Doughnuts’ sakura-cherry intricate creations such as canola doughnuts this year, then props to flower (edible flower imported from you. Each location makes only 12 of Japan) with spicy cod caviar, sakura these cherry-blossom-themed treats mushi (steamed tofu and chopped ($5) daily, and they begin selling at scallop wrapped in a cherry leaf), 9 a.m. What makes them so special? golden-eye snapper with yuzu soy The Bismarcks are filled with whitesauce, and a sakura-mochi crepe for chocolate-and-matcha pastry cream,
50
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OFF
Limited time offer. Reservations recommended. Coupon must be presented.
860 BURRARD ST. VANCOUVER • 604.685.7770 Across from the Sutton Place Hotel
18 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017
TWG TEA SALON & BOUTIQUE
(1070 West Georgia Street) This Singapore-based tea salon officially opened its first North American location in Vancouver at the end of last year. It is offering a sakura set menu ($65) in light of cherry blossoms around town. The three-course meal starts off with a soup (Japanese sweet-potato curry with lobster and white asparagus) before the main course (duck breast with sour-cherry jus, brandade, Sakura! Sakura! tea– infused butter-poached kanpachi) and, finally, dessert (chocolate-cherry mousse cake, scoop of Sakura! Sakura! tea sorbet). This special menu is offered throughout April. -
Golden Mile feted at event
A
s the British Columbian wine industry continues to grow, it’s important to maintain awareness of our history and embrace aspects of our heritage that have brought us to where we are today. Granted, we are a very young region in the world of wine, but our roots are literally and figuratively getting deeper all the time. All aspects of this, from the soils where these roots grow to the cultural and business aspects that affect our Road 13 Vineyards has 49-year-old modern wine industry, will be disvines. Chris Mason Stearns photo. cussed at an event called Origins of Wine: The Golden Mile Bench next pears, lemon curd, and brioche, with Thursday (April 13) at Science World. a lovely kiss of honey on the finish. Many winemakers and princiEven harder to come by is their pals from the Golden Mile Bench, sparkling version of the wine, made the Okanagan Valley’s first officially in the traditional method (just as the designated subregion (technically re- sparklers in Champagne are made), ferred to as a subgiving the Chenin Designated Vitia little extra pizcultural Area), zazz. Check out will be pouring their wine club at Kurtis Kolt at the event, then Road13Vineyards. weighing in on these topics during a com; joining it is the best way of guardiscussion moderated by yours truly anteeing yourself a spot at the front of in the Omnimax Theatre. the line when the wine is released. Spearheading much of this is Joe While we’re talking rarities, a sevenLuckhurst, the general manager minute drive from Road 13 is Hester of Road 13 Vineyards, who will Creek Estate Winery, the proprietors be on hand and very likely speak- of which are also caretakers of preing about one of his signature cious 1968 vines and will be at Science wines, the Old Vines Chenin Blanc World for the event as well. A classic (sourced from vines planted at the British Columbian oddity, and perwinery’s home vineyard in 1968). sonal favourite, is Hester Creek’s Old Those are some legit old vines! Vines Trebbiano Block 16. (The 2016 Although the Chenin’s 2015 vin- vintage is currently available for $23.95 tage is available at private stores at HesterCreek.com/.) These 49-yeararound town ($27 to $32, recently old vines bring us a multilayered wine spotted at Firefly Fine Wines and with gobs of tropical fruit like passion Ales), it’s a wine with a strong cult fruit and mango, and aromatic herbs following and it can often be difficult like sage and sorrel, all kept crackingly to track down a bottle. First off, there fresh with lively acidity. As much as poring over history are very few wineries in B.C. making Chenin Blanc, and none that I know books and statistics about what of have vines that have been going makes this region unique is importthis long. After basking in the hot ant, it’s also valuable to have folks Oliver sun all summer, this vineyard on hand who have been farming the produces a rich and ripe wine, full of region, growing grapes and making
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MIKU (70–200 Granville Street) To celebrate the city’s cherry-blossom season, this upscale waterfront dining establishment will be offering a sakura feature menu until April 14. Its highlighted dishes include the family-style sakura joshu wagyu (highly prized beef raised in Japan’s Gunma prefecture) steak ($280) served with grilled market veggies, rose flakes, and edible flowers; sakura roll ($19) with scallop, pickled wasabi, and salted sakura flower; and sour-cherry clafoutis ($14) with Guanaja darkchocolate ganache and amaretto ice cream. Pair it with something from Miku’s selection of sake or a special sakura-season cocktail, the Persephone ($13)—made with Nakano Sakagura Nigori Umeshu sake, Odd Society bittersweet vermouth, Absolut Vanilla, sparkling wine, amaretto rinse, and edible flowers.
wine going back a good stretch of time. Bill Eggert of Fairview Cellars carries a good dose of this tribal knowledge, having planted his own vineyard in 1993 and produced his first wines from the 1997 vintage. While Eggert will be pouring some of his juicy, opulent reds and vibrant whites, he’ll also have a great deal of wisdom to offer, as he’s been scoping out the lay of the land for quite some time. Plenty of others are making the trip down the Coquihalla for the event, all with their own unique take on the history and the local and global context of our terroir. Andrew Moon is an Australian expat who is the vineyard manager at Tinhorn Creek Vineyards. Interestingly, the team at Tinhorn Creek recently pulled out some of their older Kerner vines, planted in the mid ’90s, in favour of new plantings of Roussanne. This just goes to show that wineries don’t always believe that maintaining heritage vines is the best step forward. These decisions are most often linked to what vines are most suitable for the land; I’m looking forward to drilling down into what makes the Golden Mile unique, what goes into making these big viticultural choices, and what those on the Golden Mile Bench believe the future holds. Proceeds from the event go to Science World’s On the Road program, which brings programming and educational-curriculum presentations to schools outside of Metro Vancouver, so our sipping and dialogue will be for a good cause! Oh, and besides the nine wineries in attendance, Oliver’s Backyard Farm and Tinhorn Creek’s Miradoro Restaurant will be providing food pairings for all the Golden Mile wines being poured. Tickets for Origins of Wine: The Golden Mile Bench are $65 and are available at www.scienceworld.ca/.
ARTS
French dance artist Hervé Koubi went to BY JANET SM IT H
Algeria in 2009 in search of his own cultural heritage. And what he discovered after heading over the Mediterranean Sea to the former colony has had a profound effect on both his art and his life. “He wanted to find his roots, and he found maybe more: he found brothers,” says Compagnie Hervé Koubi cofounder, choreographic assistant, and long-time friend Guillaume Gabriel. Speaking to the Straight from Maui, where the French troupe is doing classes and performances, he’s referring to the 12 male dancers—11 Algerians and one from Burkina Faso—whom Koubi ended up recruiting to his company on that trip. They appear here in What the Day Owes to the Night (Ce que le jour doit à la nuit), a dreamlike, intensely physical, street-dance-inflected conjuring of Koubi’s North African origins. But first, it’s important to back up a bit. Gabriel, who’s talking to the Straight as the stronger English speaker of the duo, met the Cannes-born Koubi before he had any idea about his Algerian heritage. Both were young students, Koubi immersed in pharmacology training, Gabriel in business and banking. Koubi was already heavily into dance, and he encouraged Gabriel to try it out. “I was not dancing till I was 23,” Gabriel says with a laugh. “I only had danced for fun in discotheques. But Hervé said, ‘You’re gifted; you should take ballet class.’ So I took one, then two, then three. And then I gave up my former life of business school.” Koubi had been dancing for other troupes, but soon Gabriel was helping him set up his own company and pursue his own choreography, based in Cannes. It wasn’t until the late 2000s that Koubi’s focus took a sudden turn toward North Africa.
A homeland lost and found
In What the Day Owes to the Night, 12 dancers draw from their hip-hop and street-dance backgrounds and wear dervish-like pants. Nathalie Sternalski photo.
But we didn’t know where But it’s much more, too. There’s an intensity and we were going with that authenticity that arise directly from the North Afproject. We just said, ‘Let’s ricans who are performing it, Gabriel says. Hervé Koubi travelled to Algeria to search for his hidden see what happens.’ ” “If you are working with French dancers or cultural roots; while there, he forged a new brotherhood Koubi set a day of cast- European dancers you are working with people ing, and 250 showed up— who have been taught dance,” Gabriel tries to “When he was 25 he found out that he had Al- 249 of them young men. “So the choice was quite explain. “With this, it was more: these were also gerian roots,” Gabriel explains. “He was asking clear to work with boys,” Gabriel says with a laugh. men who dance. They are not just pretending his father ‘Where do we come from?’ and ‘Koubi Besides having a defi nite masculine energy, to be; they are just men on-stage. So the most doesn’t sound like a French name.’ Then one day the piece would require a stylistic shift from interesting thing is not to have dancers onhis father showed him this picture of an old man Koubi’s more contemporary choreography. Most stage, but to have real men on-stage with their dressed in Arabic style and he told him, ‘That’s of the dancers had backgrounds in hip-hop and real cultural background. Not that we ever your great-grandfather.’ It was a shock for Hervé capoiera, hyperphysical forms that are visible in want them to have Arabic or ‘Oriental’ style. and he had to go to Algeria and find his roots.” What the Day Owes to the Night. But with only dancers only from France I Why would a parent hide a child’s cultural “We asked those dancers to make doubt it would have the same impact or heritage from him all those years? The answer an answer to the choreography we weight.” illustrates the complicated history between the showed them,” Gabriel explains. “It Check out… Though the resulting work makes STRAIGHT.COM two countries. Algeria was a colony of France for was not so much a change [from no political claim, Gabriel stresses, it Visit our website more than a century before a prolonged, bloody what Koubi was doing before] as I clearly offers a vision of cross-cultural for morning-after war for independence launched in 1954. think it was more of what he was reconciliation that takes on new power reviews and local “The story between Algeria and France is looking for.” in these badly divided times—both in arts news not a peaceful story,” Gabriel explains. “Algeria The result, which travels to VancouEurope and here in North America. wanted independence. Some Algerians wanted ver this weekend, is a heady mix of music, “That is something he really wants: to to remain French and some wanted to remain physicality, and imagery. The men tumble, put people together and try to unify people in Algeria. Why Koubi didn’t know anything fly, and spin with bare chests and flowing, long and never forget we have a belonging that is older about his Algerian roots is that his parents white skirt-pants that allude to dervish or Arab- than nations,” Gabriel says of his artistic partner. wanted to be more French than the French.” style robes. It draws its title from a 2008 novel “Too often we are split between Catholics and Before their first trip in 2009, Koubi and Gab- by Yasmina Khadra (the nom de plume of Al- Muslims and Jews and North Africans and Euroriel asked the French Institute in Algiers for the gerian army officer Mohammed Moulessehoul) peans and black and white. names of dance schools or dancers that the com- about a conf licted young man during his coun“We are historically blind to see that we could pany could contact to create a work. try’s war for independence. The soundtrack is and should live together.” “We were told, ‘There’s no dancers in Algeria, a mix of Sufi rhythms, Johann Sebastian Bach good luck,’ ” Gabriel says. “But we decided to go counterpoint, and hypnotic oud-driven music DanceHouse presents What the Day Owes to the there anyway. We sent a few messages with Face- by Nubian composer Hamza El Din (played by Night at the Vancouver Playhouse on Friday and Saturday (April 7 and 8). book and email saying we were looking for dancers. the Kronos Quartet).
THINGS TO DO
ARTS High five
Editor’s choice BALTIC BRILLIANCE It’s no secret that the nations surrounding the Baltic Sea are home to some of the world’s most vivid choral traditions—but Vancouver, which shares a similar maritime climate, seems to be catching up fast. BC/Baltica finds the excellent local men’s choir Chor Leoni paying tribute to their transoceanic peers, with a special focus on the music of Estonian pioneer Veljo Tormis, who died earlier this year. Also on the bill is his countryman Jaakko Mäntyjärvi’s Grim and Glacial Funeral Waltzes, but if that title suggests unremitting bleakness, Chor Leoni artistic director Erick Lichte assures us that “hope, grace, challenge, and humour” are also part of the Baltic character. BC/Baltica is at Ryerson United Church on Friday and Saturday (April 7 and 8) and West Vancouver United Church on Sunday (April 9).
Five events you just can’t miss this week
1
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (April 7 to 9 at the Orpheum) Drop everything, Potterheads: the VSO plays every note of the movie’s magical score.
2
WESTERN WORLD (April 6 to May 13 at the Improv Centre) The brilliant comic minds at TheatreSports parody HBO’s hit Westworld.
3
CROSSROADS OF DIVERCITY (To April 30 at the Centre Culturel Francophone) Denis Bouvier and Pierre Grenier lens Vancouver and Syria at the Capture Photography Festival.
4
ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE (To April 23 at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage) An epic play helmed by a visionary Vancouver director.
5
MATISSE DRAWINGS (To May 22 at the Audain Art Museum) More than worth a stop if you’re spring skiing in Whistler.
In the news NEW CULTCH SEASON The Cultch has just unveiled a wildly diverse 2017-18 roster that spans two puppet shows, two circusarts works, and the return of the holiday-time East Van Panto with Snow White. The season kicks off on October 3 at the York Theatre with New Zealand’s Dust Palace and its contemporary-circus The Goblin Market (shown here). Among the multicultural highlights in the rest of the season—all part of a Democratizing Our Stages project—are Tetsuro Shigematsu’s 1 Hour Photo, about a figure in the Japanese internment (October at the Historic Theatre); Carmen Aguirre’s Latin-dance-infused Broken Tailbone in February 2018; the Indian–U.S. Navarasa Dance Theater with Encounter (October at the York); and Saga Collectif’s look at gender, sexuality, and race, Black Boys (January at the Historic Theatre). Elsewhere, Ronnie Burkett returns with Little Dickens December 5 to 22 at the Historic Theatre, the Old Trout Puppet Workshop brings its Underland to the York in February, and Switzerland’s acrobatics- and clowning-driven Compagnia Baccalà performs Pss Pss at the York later that same month. There’s much more; see thecultch.com/. APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 19
ARTS
Max Raabe traces his love of interwar-era songs back to old radio shows, black-and-white movies, and flea-market records. Gregor Honnenberg photo.
Suave Max Raabe revives band music of old Berlin > B Y TO NY MON TAGUE
O Public Art Spotlight Discover these artworks and more. Brand New Era Social Club Alex Morrison
Inorganic Seductions Barb Choit, Anne Collier,
BC Hydro Dal Grauer Substation Apr 1, 2017 – Mar 31, 2018
Annette Kelm, Evan Lee Pattison Billboards, 17 Locations Apr 1 – Apr 23, 2017
On and Off the Road Multiple Artists 7 Canada Line Stations
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was able to play them. I found scores in the archives of music stores as well as in the markets. After a while we had 20 to 30 pieces, and started rehearsing. But it wasn’t easy for us. The first year we had hardly any work.” The Palast Orchester got its first big engagement just in the nick of time. “I was singing with a piano player and we were asked to perform in the lobby at the Berliner Theaterball,” Raabe recalls. “I said ‘Yes, but I have an orchestra as well.’ The guy, who I’m deeply grateful to, didn’t ask how big or small it was but said ‘Okay, come with the orchestra.’ It was not only a big opportunity for us, but our last chance, I think—we would have parted otherwise, because if you want to keep good musicians together you have to be able to pay them.” On that evening the fresh-faced orchestra with the sophisticated, smoothvoiced singer proved so popular that people started leaving the ballroom for the lobby to hear them. Within a few years Raabe and the 12-piece Palast Orchester were acclaimed throughout their homeland, and afterwards in Europe and around the world. They’ve recorded more than 20 albums, and at the time of the Georgia Straight interview had just begun a three-week engagement at Berlin’s prestigious Admiralspalast, presenting their latest program of music. “It’s a beautiful old cabaret revue theatre that dates from the ’20s and ’30s,” says Raabe. “My grandmother told me that she was there in the audience watching the shows when she was very young—but she was afraid of telling her parents about it, because the ballet dancers on-stage were only wearing a few bananas, and nothing else.” -
ver the past three decades Max Raabe and Palast Orchester have become the voice of old Berlin, playing the band music of the German capital in the ’20s and early ’30s—the years of the Weimar Republic. Always impeccably attired in period style, Raabe cuts a poised and elegant figure onstage as he brings new life and new fans to the songs he loves. But he can’t account for his fascination with the music of the deeply troubled but artistically rich interwar era. “I really don’t have any idea where it comes from,” says the genial Raabe, reached at his Berlin apartment. “But that music was never really gone. Once a week, for instance, there was a radio show in my hometown in Westphalia with a collector who played gramophone records from that time. And when I was growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, every Sunday we had these old black-and-white movies on TV where you would see an orchestra playing in the background, and somebody dancing or singing. Later, in the collection of my parents, I found a 78 recording of a song that was very fast and funny but with a sad note, and that touched me. Then I started buying old records in flea markets. All these musics, these orchestras, and singing groups such as the Comedian Harmonists were important for me in finding my own way.” Raabe went on to study music at the Berlin University of the Arts with a view to becoming a baritone opera singer. He formed the Palast Orchester there in 1985 with a group of fellow students. “We created the orchestra because we loved the music, but also to help finance our studies. The original arrangements we found were for saxophone, clarinet, oboe, Max Raabe and Palast Orchester and harp, and for lots of instru- perform at the Chan Centre for the ments—so any orchestra of any size Performing Arts on Sunday (April 9).
APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 21
ARTS
The New York City–based sextet Mantra Percussion has collected an array of spanking-new work to build its “evening-length experience” for fans.
Mantra’s beat mavericks serve up rich “aural meal” > B Y A LE XAN DER VAR TY
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“Fascinating…A bygone era evoked!” – The New York Times
Max Raabe & Palast Orchester C H A N C E N T R E AT U B C Tickets and info at chancentre.com
CHANTICLEER in Concert
“The world’s reigning male chorus.” — The New Yorker
they can sit down, relax, forget about their problems, forget about life and what’s going on, and just become engrossed by the music.” Vancouver New Music artistic director Giorgio Magnanensi commissioned Dolden’s work for Mantra to perform, and it’s a wise choice. Although the former Vancouverite is known for the speed and density of his compositions—many of which, like Mantra Groove, mix live virtuosity with complex prerecorded structures—he balances those elements with other, more populist inclinations. “The thing that really fascinates me is groove,” Dolden tells the Straight in a separate telephone conversation from his home in Montreal. “Of course, this is not James Brown or an Afro-Cuban piece, but I have analyzed the push and pull of beats, of what most musicians would say is a great groove, and I’ve tried to emulate some of that in my writing of the last 15 years.” With that in mind, Dolden has opted to use unpitched percussion— including djembés, talking drums, congas, cowbells, and cymbals—exclusively in Mantra Groove. “I feel that there’s a lot of works for four to six marimbas or vibraphones floating about,” he says. “I love that sound, but there’s a lack of unpitched-percussion scores in composed music. We’re all so concerned with notes in western music; this obsession with notes is endless. The nice thing about working with unpitched percussion is you have to think differently. You can’t just start up a harmonic formula that carries you through, like, three minutes of material with very little input: it’s all rhythm, and that’s a challenge.” -
ew music doesn’t get much newer than what Mantra Percussion has planned for its return to Vancouver this weekend. The world premiere of Paul Dolden’s Mantra Groove. The second-ever performance of Aaron Siegel’s A Great Many, which will be unveiled a night earlier at Western Washington University’s annual Percussion Festival. Canadian premieres of Leslie Flanigan’s Hedera, with the composer singing, and Tristan Perich’s Moment of Inertia. Those wanting to discover current directions in percussion music will probably have already booked their tickets, especially if they caught the New York–based sextet’s local performance of Michael Gordon’s Timber in 2013. You might remember hearing about that one, a symphony-long minimalist masterpiece played entirely on hardware-store-sourced two-by-fours. The instruments, this time around, are more conventional. But, in compensation, the presentation will depart from what Mantra’s executive director Al Cerulo describes as the “piece, clap, piece, clap” format of most concerts. “In general, we look to create evening-length works or evening-length experiences for the audience,” Cerulo explains, in a telephone interview from New York. “So even though none of the works on this program are eveninglength pieces like Timber, what we’re going to do with the night’s music is make it more stream-of-consciousness. We’re not going to pause at all throughout the entire night. With percussion, as you can imagine, there are a lot of set changes, but we’re going to have some incidental music played in between— almost like palate cleansers, in a sense. Vancouver New Music presents Man“We hope it’s like an aural meal,” tra Percussion at the Orpheum Annex he adds. “As the audience comes in, on Saturday (April 8).
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Defined by digital light, Hong Kong Exile’s Room 2048 refers to the future of its namesake city and draws on the films of Wong Kar-wai. Remi Theriault photo.
Room 2048 conjures a world of sound and light > BY JA NET SM IT H
W
appointed election committee that chose pro-Beijing candidate Carrie Lam on March 26. “We’ve just watched things get worse and worse in Hong Kong. Through the development of this piece all sorts of things have happened and it really doesn’t seem like it is getting any better. “But one of the big identifiers of this work is this is being made in Vancouver,” he adds. “We’re diaspora, having grown up and been in Vancouver. And we’re trying to understand our role as diaspora at a distance.” Like NINEEIGHT, though, Room 2048’s political concerns are abstracted to an experiential, emotional level. Again, the work draws from film— this time from the stylish cinema of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai and his mood of nostalgic yearning. His influences are evident in many stylistic choices in the dance-theatre piece performed by Michelle Lui, Milton Lim, and Alex Tam—and not just with the atmospheric fog that appears now and then. “I was just trying to create these worlds of light,” says Siu, who, for the first time, is using all-digital projected light and a sampled soundtrack of bombastic pop music. “And some of the colour was definitely drawn from the palette Wong Kar-wai would use.” He says the piece also plays with cinematic devices, re-creating them through design and choreography— cutting back and forth in time like a film montage, or mimicking a camera’s slow pan. These techniques also play with the work’s larger theme: time, and there is a large breadth of time to consider when you are imagining three decades into the future. “It’s more about how to play with the passage of time, and how that passage of time can stand in for a really long passage of time—as in generational,” he says. Just what you ought to conclude from their heady mix of sound, light, and movement about that distant future across the Pacific is left open by the troupe. “We didn’t prescribe how the audience will see these things,” Siu says. “Our goal at this point is to make something interesting for people to look at, and the process. “We’ve always really worried about being didactic about it. But we do want it to be textural. There’s a nice ambiguity about this work—maybe even compared to our other work. It’s much more abstracted here. It’s really felt versus explaining anything at all.” -
hen you are immersed in the distinctive sensory worlds that the multimedia mavericks at Hong Kong Exile create, it’s sometimes fun to pull yourself out, for just a moment, and imagine the guy working the digital controls. After all, it is collective member Remy Siu, the composer turned lighting-and-projection wizard, who is conjuring these environments. In the new work Room 2048, he’ll be triggering live sound and projected light, in a performance unseen by the audience but a performance nonetheless. “Thinking about sound and design and light: that’s my favourite part,” he admits to the Straight over the phone, enjoying a quick coffee in the Crosstown ’hood near his historic Gold Saucer Studios. “It’s a trajectory I’ve been on for a while. I wrote composition, orchestral music, then did programming, then moved from that to lighting. So I’m starting to think of all these pieces as a creative apparatus for our shows.” He’s part of an ensemble that defies easy categorization. Made up of theatre artist Milton Lim, dance artist Natalie Gan (who’s choreographing Room 2048), and Siu himself, the trio came together out of the SFU School for the Contemporary Arts and named itself for the unique diasporic, dissociative mood that fuels its work. The three take turns leading projects, but more and more, Siu reveals, their art forms are melting into one another so “that we can only think of them as multimedia works”. Room 2048 is a follow-up to NINEEIGHT, where Siu live-triggered the percussion-and-soundeffects score and projections and Gan’s performers drew from the silly Cantonese slapstick comedies called mo lei tau. The title pointed to the year after the political handover of Hong Kong to China—a period around when these films were also made. Now the ensemble moves forward in time. When the British handed Hong Kong back to Mainland China on July 1, 1997, the agreement set out a 50-year period of “One Country, Two Systems”—a situation whose rights infringements have already drawn unrest. And 2048 will mark the year after this period of preservation. Over the two-year process of creating Room 2048, Siu says, his group has watched the situation in Hong Kong deteriorate—“especially after the most recent quote-unquote Room 2048 is at the Firehall Arts Cenelection, or the selection, of the tre from Tuesday to next Saturday CEO,” he says, referring to the small, (April 11 to 15).
(FRANCE) WHAT THE DAY OWES TO THE NIGHT
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APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 23
ARTS
Angels makes epic work move; Redpatch stuns TH E AT RE
Today, it still feels relevant, but for different reasons. It’s Cohn’s manipulation of American presidents and Louis and Prior’s debate about identity politics that resonate. In his introduction to a recent edition of the play, Kushner writes, “I’ve always written, perched on the knife’s edge of terror and hope.” This is also how we watch his masterwork.
ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES By Tony Kushner. Directed by Kim Collier. Produced by the Arts Club Theatre Company. At the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage on Wednesday, March 29. Continues until April 23
Tony Kushner’s Angels in America is the most influential American play of the past 30 years. Not only was it an essential voice for the AIDS crisis and gay rights, it revived a moribund Broadway theatre scene and redrew the boundaries of what was possible in contemporary drama. A thousand lesser plays have imitated its brash style and audacious scope. The play defies tidy summation, but there are three couples at its heart. It’s 1985, and Joe (Craig Erickson) and his wife, Harper (Celine Stubel), are Mormons living in a prehipster Brooklyn. Joe is deeply closeted, and Harper nurses his unspoken secret with Valium-powered hallucinations. Professionally, Joe is being recruited by the Machiavellian Roy Cohn (Brian Markinson), who has “helped make presidents and unmake them”. Law clerk Louis (Ryan Beil) and his boyfriend Prior (Damien Atkins) are the third couple, but they’re actually a trio. Prior has AIDS, and his sickness throws their relationship off-kilter. Atkins is the standout amid a reliable, well-rehearsed ensemble. He understands that Prior refuses to be defined or confined by his illness, and yet shows a striking vulnerability when confronting his own mortality. This is only Part One of the theatrical epic that’s subtitled A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Part Two, Perestroika, comes to the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage this fall. Directing Angels in America is, like
> DARREN BAREFOOT
2
REDPATCH
Angels in America, Part One (with Stephen Jackman-Torkoff and Damien Atkins) shifts dizzyingly between the visceral and the mythic. David Cooper photo.
playing a Sergei Rachmaninoff piano concerto or attempting a quadtriple combination, a high-risk and high-reward proposition. Eight actors play 20 characters on a set that must accommodate everywhere from an abandoned lot in the South Bronx to an imaginary Antarctic snowscape. It’s a dense and shaggy script, full of complex ideas and themes. There are angels. Director Kim Collier sticks the landing, maintaining a sprightly pace that almost made me forget the play’s three-hour length. Its constant shifts between the visceral and the mythic can be dizzying, but Collier keeps the audience on solid ground. I was perplexed by Collier’s decision to cast Craig Erickson in the role of Joe. Joe is a young lawyer, clerking for a judge. Cohn refers to him as “my pretty young punk friend”. Erickson does an admirable job in the role, but he’s in his mid-40s. The character of Joe seems much closer to 25 than 45. It wasn’t apparent why Collier chose to make Joe just 10 years younger
than the manipulative Cohn. Ken MacKenzie’s set, with its five towering columns in front of steep, marbled steps, suggests a Roman senate. Or maybe a Roman bathhouse. Practically speaking, it echoes the courthouse where Joe works, the park where Louis cruises, and maybe even Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace, which is a setting in Perestroika. It’s also efficiently modular, full of hidden panels and trap doors to accommodate the play’s many locations. Collier uses the set as a backdrop for a peculiar addition she makes to the play. In a few scenes, actors carry very modern cameras on-stage and point them at their fellow performers. Their live close-up images are projected across the back of the set. While this aligns with the play’s porous relationship with the theatrical fourth wall, it felt more distracting than additive. I first saw Angels 21 years ago, as a 21-year-old. With its on-stage nudity, simulated sex, and frank talk of gay love and AIDS, it was the most transgressive play I’d ever seen.
“A HILARIOUS TRIBUTE TO MOTHERHOOD”
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—The Globe and Mail on Mom’s the Word 2: Unhinged
Now playing! The moms you love are back again!
Cowritten by Raes Calvert. Cowritten and directed by Sean Harris Oliver. Produced by Hardline Productions. At Presentation House Theatre on Thursday, March 30. Continues at at Presentation House Theatre until April 9, and runs at Studio 16 from April 12 to 16
From the opening minutes of
2 Raes Calvert and Sean Harris
Oliver’s ambitious and artful new work—an immediate sensory feast of incredible lighting and sound design, choreography, and props—it’s clear that Redpatch is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. And that includes its source material. Redpatch is inspired by a story that’s largely absent from Canadian history books: the number of indigenous men who fought in the First World War alongside mostly white Canadians. Half-Blood (played by Calvert) has been serving in the army for three years, and he wants out. He’s tormented by personal tragedy, a trickster raven (Reneltta Arluk), racist soldiers, and the horrors of the blood on his hands from his assignment in the trenches. Half-Blood begs his friend Jonathon (Deneh’Cho Thompson) to understand why he’s eager to go home, back to the safety of his grandma (also played by Arluk), but Jonathon calls him a coward. Everything comes to a head at Vimy Ridge, which was the first
time the four Canadian infantry divisions fought together. The 1917 battle, in which Canada defeated the Germans, lasted from April 9 to 12, and marks its 100th anniversary during Redpatch’s run. Every member of the cast is indigenous, and it’s a powerful experience to read in the program bios about all of the different backgrounds and Nations represented on the stage and that have survived colonization. Every performance is strong, but two stand out. Calvert shrinks and expands to convey Half-Blood’s arduous journey with moments of exquisite subtlety and massive emotional and physical excess. A small hunch of his shoulders and a slight adjustment to his vocal patterns and he’s a little boy. Minutes later, he’s brandishing HalfBlood’s weapon, his shoulders square and his stance violent, embodying the racist stereotype of “the savage” as demanded by people like Sgt. MacGuinty (played again by Arluk). Arluk, who is tasked with three roles that couldn’t be more different, is a revelation. As an elder and HalfBlood’s grandmother, her voice takes on warm wisdom and her physicality is that of a woman whose connection to this world is strong and sacred. As the raven, Arluk embodies the bird’s mischief with a strut, the tilt of her head, even in the tone of her bird noises. As MacGuinty, she boasts a thick Scottish accent and a rigid, no-nonsense demeanour, and Arluk nails every nuance. It’s an all too rare thing when a world premiere literally feels like something brand-new; as if more than just a story or a script, it’s an actual experience that the world hasn’t seen before. Redpatch is wholly immersive and brilliantly inventive theatre that, hopefully, heralds a new age of risk-takers and innovators on Vancouver stages. > ANDREA WARNER
A Firehall Arts Centre Residency presentation The World Premiere of
Hong Kong Exile
ROOM 2048 A multimedia dream machine for the Cantonese diaspora
By the Mom’s the Word Collective
Choreographer
Natalie Tin Yin Gan Performers
the cast. photo by emily cooper
Michelle Lui Milton Lim Alex Tam
stanley industrial alliance stage
APR 11-15
playing Anna at Starring Galvin as Queen II granvilleElizabeth goldcorp island stage
stage at the bmo theatre centre
Tue - Sat 8pm
604.689.0926
firehallartscentre.ca
24 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017
280 E Cordova St Michelle Lui Photo: Caulfield White Creative Industries
ARTS
Nature meets culture at Capture VISUAL AR TS MARIAN PENNER BANCROFT: RADIAL SYSTEMS At Republic Gallery until April 15
MARK MIZGALA: SHIFT At the Vancouver Art Gallery until June 9
The complex and sometimes
2 barbed interface between nature
and culture is addressed by two small exhibitions, on now as part of the expansive Capture Photography Festival. Marian Penner Bancroft’s Radial Systems, which includes nine C-prints and a video work, is at Republic Gallery, up two steep flights of stairs from Richards Street. Shift, Mark Mizgala’s show of ink-jet prints, is on view in the art rental and sales space, at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Both artists examine the ways human beings alter the natural world; they also touch on the social construction of nature. Penner Bancroft has used a macro lens to greatly enlarge the organic forms that are the subjects of her still photographs, imbuing them with luminous presence and wondrous detail. The natural objects she focuses on include seedpods, rosehips, tightly furled buds, a seashell, and a striated fossil whose shape resembles that of a human skull. All were found, she says in her statement, “on or near the ground and in the water”. A couple of months ago, when I first read a description of her show, I mistakenly thought that Penner Bancroft had encountered all these natural objects on the banks of the Fraser River. In fact, as her notes reveal, the Fraser River estuary is one of the subjects of her video. The still photos are based on findings from different gardens and beaches in Vancouver and Victoria and on Salt Spring Island. The parasol mushroom, whose intricately layered underside
At left, Marian Penner Bancroft’s Japanese Lantern at Republic Gallery; at right, Mark Mizgala’s Shift (Tricycle) at the VAG Art Rental and Sales space.
greets gallery visitors as they walk in the door, was discovered on the side of a road in Suffolk, U.K. The artist’s notes also inform us about the far-distant origins of the different plant and animal species she depicts, indicating ways in which human beings have cultivated aspects of nature and transported them around the globe over time. The subject of Japanese Lantern, a gorgeous image of a familiar reddish-orange seedpod, which seems to be lit from within, was found in a Kitsilano garden and is native to southern Europe, South Asia, and Japan, Penner Bancroft tells us. The open seedpod of Tibetan Tree Peony is found in Vancouver because seeds of the species were brought to the West in 1936 by a British officer stationed in Lhasa, Tibet. Penner Bancroft’s 22-minute video, Estuaries, was shot locally and at the mouth of the River Blythe (which runs through the English Midlands). It silently communicates the ways a Romantic view of nature has been infiltrated by, if not exactly the industrial sublime, then certainly industrial development. Penner Bancroft uses extreme beauty to convey troubling ideas.
Mizgala’s tightly art-directed series of colour photographs yearns for a future in which, according to the exhibition statement, “humanity and nature find greater harmony.” Each image consists of a consumer item that has been subtly infiltrated by plant material: a hairbrush sprouting a little cluster of evergreen needles, a child’s tricycle whose plastic streamers have been replaced by long strands of grass, a shiny metal napkin dispenser filled with large green leaves. One of the most appealing images here is of a high-top running shoe laced with a slender vine. Mizgala’s visual conceit is an arresting one, and is delivered with an ad man’s sense of colour, composition, and captivating design. I’m not sure, however, that the work entirely communicates the artist’s concerns about the catastrophic impacts of pollution and climate change on the natural world. Some of these images suggest not so much idealistic harmony as insidious displacement— although whether it’s nature displacing culture or the other way around is up to the viewer to decide.
Simply, one of the great pianists of our time.
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Susan Point, Behind Four Winds, 2012, screenprint on paper, Courtesy of the Artist Photo: Rachel Topham, Vancouver Art Gallery
APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 25
and Sean Harris Oliver’s historical drama about a young MÊtis volunteer soldier who is deployed to fight in World War I. Apr 12-16, Studio 16 (1545 W. 7th). Tix $25-33, info www.hardlineproductions.ca/ redpatch/.
2ONGOING
ar ts/ timeout THEATRE DANCE MUSIC COMEDY LITERARY EVENTS ET CETERA GALLERIES MUSEUMS OUT OF TOWN
THE DAISY THEATRE Puppeteer provocateur Ronnie Burkett and his resident company of over 40 marionettes perform different shows each night. To Apr 9, The Cultch (1895 Venables). Tix from $20, info www.thecultch.com/.
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THE REFUGEE HOTEL Studio 58 presents writer-director Carmen Aguirreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dark comedy that tells the story of eight Chilean exiles who struggle with the effects of fleeing their homeland. To Apr 9, Studio 58 (Langara College, 100 W. 49th). Tix from $12.25, info www.studio58.ca/. THE TRAIN DRIVER United Players presents Athol Fugardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exploration of guilt, suffering, redemption, and the powerful bonds that grow between strangers. To Apr 16, Jericho Arts Centre (1675 Discovery). Tix $20-24, info www.unitedplayers.com/.
ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES The Arts THEATRE Club Theatre Company presents Tony Kushnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tale of companionship and 2OPENINGS abandonment that takes place in New York City at the height of the Reagan era GENETIC DRIFT Presented as part of Boca del Lupoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Micro Performance Series, and the beginning of the AIDS crisis. To Apr 23, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage Pi Theatreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s production examines the (2750 Granville). Tix from $29, info www. ethics of science, specifically the hubris artsclub.com/. associated with scientists and politicians playing God, as it explores how climate VALLEY SONG Pacific Theatre presents change will affect the world 150 years the story of a South African man who tills into the future. Apr 5-8, The Fishbowl on land he will never own while his grandGranville Island (100-1398 Cartwright). Tix daughter dreams of the Johannesburg $15/12, info www.bocadellupo.com/. stage. To Apr 8, 8-10 pm, Pacific Theatre (1440 W. 12th). Tix $34.95, info www.pacific RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S theatre.org/season/2016-2017-season/ CINDERELLA Broadway Across Canada mainstage/valley-song/. presents a musical take on the classic fairy tale that features songs such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;In My Own REDPATCH Hardline Productions preLittle Cornerâ&#x20AC;?, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Impossible/Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Possibleâ&#x20AC;?, sents the world premiere of Raes Calvert and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ten Minutes Agoâ&#x20AC;?. Apr 11-16, 7:30 pm, and Sean Harris Oliverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historical drama Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton). Tix about a young MĂŠtis volunteer soldier from $30 (plus service charges), info www. deployed to fight in World War I. To broadwayacrosscanada.ca/. Apr 9, Presentation House Theatre (333 REDPATCH Hardline Productions preChesterfield Ave.). Tix $25/20/15, info www.hardlineproductions.ca/. sents the world premiere of Raes Calvert
MARION BRIDGE Daniel MacIvorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s play tells the story of three estranged sisters who reunite in their family home on Cape Breton Island to say goodbye to their dying mother. To Apr 15, 8 pm, Deep Cove Shaw Theatre (4360 Gallant Ave., North Van). Tix $20, info www.deepcovestage.com/. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEST August Fourth Productions presents Dale Wassermanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1963 stage adaptation of the 1962 novel by Ken Kasey. To Apr 14, PAL Theatre (8th floor, 581 Cardero). Tix $25, info www.facebook.com/augustfourth productions/.
straight choices
H20 ALARM Torontoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NOW Magazine called it â&#x20AC;&#x153;must-see theatreâ&#x20AC;?, and the subject alone is timely enough to back that up. Annabel Soutarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Watershed is part investigative documentary, part cross-Canada family road trip, as it looks at our countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conflicted relationship to its natural resourcesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;mostly fresh water. Funny, informative, and urgent, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coproduced by Productions Porte Parole and Crowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Theatre, at Richmondâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gateway Theatre from Thursday (April 6) to April 15.
DANCE 2THIS WEEK COMPAGNIE DANSE NYATA NYATA Themes of time and memory inspire Mozongi, a contemporary African dance work created by Montreal choreographer Zab Maboungou. Apr 6-8, 8 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie). Tix $32/24, info www.thedancecentre.ca/. COMPAGNIE HERVE KOUBI DanceHouse presents the French dance company in performances of What the day owes to the night. Apr 7-8, 8 pm,
Wanna Yuk? GORD GRDINAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NYC QUARTET APR. 8 @ 8 PM JUNO-winning oud & guitar player blending jazz & Arabic classical
VENUE: WESTERN FRONT
VENUE: ST. JAMES HALL
PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP APR. 23 @ 8 PM
Afro-Cuban master percussionist w/ his red hot, dance-inducing band
VENUE: ST. JAMES HALL
Tickets: 604.990.7810 â&#x20AC;˘ Online: capilanou.ca/centre Capilano University â&#x20AC;˘ 2055 Purcell Way â&#x20AC;˘ North Vancouver
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MOZONGI RETURN April 6-8, 2017 | 8pm Scotiabank Dance Centre
Tickets ticketstonight.ca Info thedancecentre.ca
26 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 / 2017
ROOM 2048 Hong Kong Exile presents the world premiere of a dance-theatre piece that explores the sociopolitical realities of the Cantonese diaspora. Apr 11-15, 8 pm, Firehall Arts Centre (280 E. Cordova). Tix $12-28, info www.hongkongexile.com/.
MUSIC 2THIS WEEK 21ST CENTURY MADRIGALS Evening of new music composed for four singers by SCA student composers using found texts. Apr 6, 8 pm, Djavad Mowafaghian World Arts Centre (SFU Woodwardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, 149 W. Hastings). Tix $15/10/7, info www.sfu. ca/sca/events/category/sca-event/. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS As part of the Harry Potter Film Concert Series, Justin Freer conducts the VSO in a performance of John Williamsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s score of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, while the film plays on a big screen. Apr 7-8, 7 pm; Apr 9, 2 pm, Orpheum Theatre (601 Smithe). Info www.vancouversymphony.ca/. NOTE-ABLY CANADIAN Pandoraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vox and Espiritu vocal ensembles and guests ProArteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CatchingART Contemporary Ballet Theatre present a musical celebration of Canada in honour of Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 150th year. Hosted by Vicki Gabereau. Apr 7, 8 pm; Apr 8, 2 pm, West Vancouver United Church (2062 Esquimalt). Tix $28/24/14, info www.pandorasvox.ca/. BC/BALTICA Chor Leoniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s program takes inspiration from the long tradition of Baltic and Scandinavian menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choirs, and the compositions written for them. Includes Edvard Griegâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s settings of Kvalings Halling, Gunnar Idenstamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Oh Kristus valgus oled sa, and Jaakko Mäntyjärviâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Grim and Glacial Funeral Waltzes. Apr 7-8, 8 pm, Ryerson United Church (2195 W. 45th). The concert also runs Apr 9, 4:30 pm, at the West Vancouver United Church. Tix $10-40, info www.chorleoni.org/.
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straight choices
12 MINUTES MAX STUDIO SHOWING Dance artists Carolina Bergonzoni, Jenn Edwards, and Greer Whillans give an informal studio showing of works in progress. Apr 11, 6 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie). Free admission, info www.thedancecentre.ca/programs/12_ minutes_max/.
For up-to-the-minute, searchable Arts Time Out listings, visit
MICHAEL YO
ZAB MABOUNGOU COMPAGNIE DANSE NYATA NYATA Montreal
REGENERACIĂ&#x201C;N Deborah Dawson, Michelle Zaharik, and Sula Boxall showcase their personal flamenco styles as they join Flamenco Rosarioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artistic director Rosario Ancer and musical director Victor Kolstee on stage. Apr 8, 8 pm, Centro Flamenco Studio (102-2083 Alma). Tix $20, info www.flamencorosario.org/.
donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss out!
JACK BROADBENT APR. 9 @ 8 PM
The new master of the slide guitar and British blues sensation
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton). Tix from $35, info www.dancehouse.ca/.
A SONG OF JOYS: CELEBRATING THE CHAN CENTRE AT 20 UBC Symphony Orchestra, University Singers, and UBC Choral Union perform Mozartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Requiem and Chatmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A Song of Joys. Apr 8, 2 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Tix $25/15, info www.chancentre.com/. MOZARTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GREAT MASS IN C MINOR, AND OPERA CHORUSES Capilano Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 120-voice choir and the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra perform works by classical composer Mozart. Apr 8, 8 pm; Apr 9, 3 pm, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). Tix $25/20/10, info www.capilanou.ca/centre/. MANTRA PERCUSSION Vancouver New Music presents the American classical ensemble in a performance of Leslie Flaniganâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hedera, Tristan Perichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Moment of Inertia, Paul Doldenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mantra Groove,
STUDIO FIRE Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one thing to watch fiery flamenco dancing on a big stage. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite another to experience it in an intimate setting, as fans of the form will find out at Flamenco Rosarioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in-studio performance RegeneraciĂłn. Staged at the long-time Vancouver companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kitsilano headquarters (102â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2083 Alma Street) on Saturday (April 8), the show features star graduate Deborah Dawson (shown here), whose international career now finds her based in France. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s joined by artistic director Rosario Ancer, musical director and flamenco guitarist extraordinaire Victor Kolstee, and guest singer Jafelin Helten, as well as other dancers. A Q&A follows the upclose-and-personal format. and Aaron Siegelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A Great Many. Apr 8, 8 pm, Orpheum Annex (823 Seymour). Tix $35/15, info www.newmusic.org/.
HAN FINCKEL SETZER TRIO The Friends of Chamber Music present a concert by cellist David Finckel, violinist Philip Setzer, and pianist Wu Han. Apr 11, 8 pm, Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton). Tix $25, info www.friendsofchambermusic.ca/ concert/han-finckel-setzer-trio-2/. TESTAMENT Explore the songs and stories of Jesusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s childhood, by artists such as Woody Guthrie, Patty Griffin, Sam Cooke, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, and Bruce Cockburn. Apr 12-15, 8 pm, Pacific Theatre (1440 W. 12th). Tix $34.95, info www.pacific theatre.org/.
COMEDY 2ONGOING THE COMEDY MIX 1015 Burrard, Century Plaza Hotel & Spa, 604-684-5050, www. thecomedymix.com/. Comedy club with pro-am night Tue at 8:30 pm, showcase Wed at 8:30 pm, and featured headliners Thu at 8:30 pm and Fri-Sat at 8 and 10:30 pm. Cover $8 Tue, $10 Wed, $15 Thu, $18 Fri, $20 Sat. 2DAN SODER Apr 6-8 2IVAN DECKER Apr 13-15 2CHARLIE DEMERS Apr 20-22 2DINO ARCHIE Apr 27-29 2BRYAN CALLEN May 4-6 YUK YUKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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. 2MICHAEL YO Apr 7-8 2BYRON BERTRAM Apr 13-15 2DAMONDE TSCHRITTER Apr 20-22 2EDDIE DELLA SIEPE Apr 27-29 VANCOUVER THEATRESPORTS LEAGUE Some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most daring and innovative improv. Firecracker! (Wed, 9:15 pm); #NoFilter (Thu, 9:15 pm); Ok Tinder (Fri and Sat, 11:15 pm); Rookie Night (Sun, 7:30 pm); TheatreSports (Wed,
see page 28
LAYERS OF INFLUENCE
moa.ubc.ca
Unfolding Cloth Across Cultures
Last Chance! Exhibition Closes Sunday, April 9
AETERNA
MEDIA SPONSOR
Pergolesi Stabat Mater & Duruflé Requiem
Museum of Anthropology at UBC A place of world arts + cultures
8pm Friday, April 14, 2017 Orpheum Theatre Vancouver Chamber Choir and Orchestra Pacifica Singers | Jon Washburn, Conductor The Vancouver Chamber Choir brings you the finest repertoire for chorus and orchestra every Good Friday in hopes that you will make it part of your family's musical tradition. Enjoy Pergolesi’s magnificent Stabat Mater, a pinnacle of Italian Baroque music, and the sublimely beautiful Requiem based on Gregorian chant by French master Maurice Duruflé.
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> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < SUNNY SUNDAY @ 2:00 ON E. HASTINGS ‘HERB’ SHOPPE.
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 2, 2017 WHERE: East Hastings Street, Dispensary. Met you briefly. We chatted for a heavenly minute. Your smile & voice captivated me! Spell-bound by your deep eyes & blonde hair. You told me of your loyal door-crashing empathetic poodle, and that you would dine with family that evening. Thanks for the good-bye too. Me, tall & slender, brown longish-hair, brown coat. Would love to talk more by phone or over coffee. I’m here.
MADISON H. KMS TOOLS. YOU ASKED FOR MY NUMBER!
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 4, 2017 WHERE: KMS Tools Coquitlam You were my cashier at KMS Tools in Coquitlam a few weeks back. We had a good conversation and you asked me for my number, and I never heard back from you! You were quite the bane and had a great sense of humour. I was really looking forward to hearing from you. I went back and haven't seen you around so I figured I would try this.
ATHLETIC VIKING HOTTIE
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 30, 2017 WHERE: Nesters Woodward’s I spotted you by the chips and then in dairy and again near the check out. Numerous double takes due to your striking look. You were rocking the athletic wear and casual snap back very sexily. I actually thought I recognized you and then realized you are a doppelganger of Rolo from Vikings. I was in a beige wool wrap and tapered grey pants... On the off chance you’re single and happen across this, I would love to grab coffee sometime.
AK BUS #17, LOVES TO COOK!
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 31, 2017 WHERE: Broadway
You asked me where to catch the 17, I was returning from Michaels to buy last minute cake things. Lots of randomness. You really hoped there would be alcohol at the party you were heading to! You took my number, and where did you go? Curiosity for these random intriguing bus meets.
SEAFAIR SAFEWAY
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 29, 2017 WHERE: Richmond Seafair Safeway I was intrigued as you passed by and we both turned to look... then you were shopping in the same aisles that I was, and I wanted to connect. Then I saw a girlfriend and by the time we finished catching up, I couldn't see you around. And I sure would like to see you around - soon!
‘I MISS YOU’ @ MOTHER MOTHER
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 28, 2017 WHERE: Commodore Ballroom I was that bearded guy with the Blink 182 shirt you said ‘I miss you’ too. Your familiar face made me miss the clever reference and you left before I could talk to you after the show.
BRIGHT EYES ON THE RUSH HOUR BUS
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 28, 2017 WHERE: Marine Dr & Fell, North Vancouver As the 240 Vancouver pulled up to your stop at Fell Ave on Tuesday evening, I noticed you in the crowd. You sat down at the front, wearing a rain jacket in a lovely green and drinking from a yellow water bottle. We made sustained eye contact twice before I got out at the next stop. I’d love to get to know you over tea.
BELONGING TO THE UNIVERSE, SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 28, 2017 WHERE: Back Seat of the B Line, Between Cambie and Main St. You were reading a book that made me curious. I showed you something I had written in my journal. You said “thank you”. I wish I had stayed on the bus for another stop to connect with you and ask you what you think of the book. Right as I stepped off the bus, something came to my mind that I would love to share with you.
SHRED KELLY SHOW
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 25, 2017 WHERE: Fox Cabaret on Main You: a Blonde wearing black, with friends near the merch table. Me: an Asian guy with glasses. Regret not saying hi. You were having so much fun dancing to the music and with your friends, I did not want to bother you, plus I got nervous. I would love to get to know you if you see this.
STUNNING AND CLASSY BLONDE LADY, URBAN FARE, COAL HARBOUR
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 27, 2017 WHERE: Urban Fare, Coal Harbour Me: tall, short hair, paramilitary look (due to work), nottoo-hard-on-the-eyes; You: stunning, classy blonde in the checkout line upstairs while I hovered waiting for my americano. You were wearing a fawn coloured wool coat and slacks. We exchanged numerous glances, smiles, and a few words before you left and despite my best efforts to catch up with you and hand you my phone number - you ducked into the Coast Coal Harbour. In a city where even the slightest innocuous connection is cherished, it sure seems like there is a possibility that we share a spark...
Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _ APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 27
Arts time out
from page 26
7:30 pm; Fri and Sat, 9:30 pm); Western World (Thu, Fri, and Sat, 7:30 pm). Apr 5-12, The Improv Centre (1502 Duranleau, Granville Island). Info www.vtsl.com/.
2THIS WEEK #NOFILTER Interactive improv-comedy show uses live-stream social-media feeds and audience suggestions to drive the action. To Jun 30, 9:15 pm, The Improv Centre (1502 Duranleau, Granville Island). Tix $7.50, info www.vtsl.com/show/nofilter/. RON LYNCH Talent Time presents the alternative comedian, with guests Amrit Bains and Graham Clark. Apr 5, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret (2321 Main). Tix $18/15, info www. facebook.com/events/1006263102837307/. DAN SODER New York City–based standup comedian performs a solo show. Apr 6-8, The Comedy MIX (1015 Burrard). Tix $20/18/15, info www.thecomedymix.com/. WESTERN WORLD The Vancouver TheatreSports League presents an improv-comedy show based on HBO’s Westworld. Apr 6–May 13, 7:30 pm, The Improv Centre (1502 Duranleau, Granville Island). Tix $15.50-29, info www.vtsl.com/. MICHAEL YO American actor, TV host, and standup comedian. Apr 7-8, Yuk
Yuk’s Comedy Club (2837 Cambie). Tix $19.05/9.53, info www.yukyuks.com/ vancouver/. WESTERN CANADA COMEDY TOUR Comedy by Erik Stolhanske, Spencer Rice, Sam Losco, Tyrone, Tom Garland, and Rude Dowg. Apr 8, 7-10 pm, Alexander Gastown (91 Powell). Tix $20-40 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketweb. ca/, info www.alexandergastown.com/. LATE-NIGHT DOUBLE FEATURE Spectral Theatre presents two scripts by local writers performed in the style of old-time radio shows. Apr 8, 7-10:30 pm, Revue Stage (1601 Johnston Street). Tix $20/15, info www.spectraltheatre.com/. GRAHAM CLARK’S QUIZ SHOW Graham Clark hosts an evening of comedy that combines segments from various game shows. Apr 8, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret (2321 Main). Tix $12/10, info www. facebook.com/events/263357370768931/.
LITERARY EVENTS 2THIS WEEK A FLOTILLA OF POETS Celebrate the launch of Christopher Levenson’s newest book of poetry A Tattered Coat Upon a Stick. The night also features poets Jane Munro (Blue Sonoma) and Rob Taylor (The News). Apr 6, 7-8:30 pm, Alice MacKay Room (Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia). Free admission, info www.vpl.ca/events/.
“EXHILARATING” – Manohla Dargis, NEW YORK TIMES
“FASCINATING.
BEAUTIFUL.
It just might leave you breathless.”
NORTH SHORE WRITERS FESTIVAL Celebrate the written word with a local authors’ book fair, a literary trivia night, and author readings. Includes headlining authors Zoe Whittall, Deborah Campbell, and Anosh Irani. Apr 7-8, North Vancouver City Library (120 W. 14th). Free admission, info www.northshorewritersfestival.com/.
ET CETERA 2THIS WEEK CAPTURE PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL Annual not-for-profit festival aims to nurture emerging talent, engage community, and spark public dialogue about photography as an art form and a vessel for communication. To Apr 28, various Vancouver venues. Info www.capturephotofest.com/. ARTIST’S TALK: HOWIE TSUI Vancouver-based artist Howie Tsui unpacks the multilayered references within his solo exhibition Retainers of Anarchy. Apr 11, 7 pm, Vancouver Art Gallery Gift Shop (750 Hornby Street). Talk included with gallery admission/membership, info www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/index.html/. GASTOWN CABARET: ASTONISHING APRIL Evening of belly dancer Scarlet Lux, contortionist Vixen Von Flex, and burlesque dancer April O’Peel. Apr 11, 8-11:30 pm, Guilt & Co. (1 Alexander). Tix $10, info www. facebook.com/events/1840247772883606/.
GALLERIES VANCOUVER ART GALLERY 750 Hornby, 604-662-4719, www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/. 2WE COME TO WITNESS: SONNY ASSU IN DIALOGUE WITH EMILY CARR (Sonny Assu creates a new series of digital tags on a body of Emily Carr paintings) to Apr 23 2SUSAN POINT: SPINDLE WHORL (exhibition surveys Point’s entire career through more than a hundred artworks that take the spindle whorl as their starting point) to May 28 2PACIFIC CROSSINGS: HONG KONG ARTISTS IN VANCOUVER (exhibition presents works from wellknown Hong Kong artists created after their relocation to Vancouver throughout the 1960-90s) to May 28
straight choices
– Bilge Ebiri, VILLAGE VOICE
“DAZZLING…
Malick catches life at its most dynamic.” – Richard Brody, THE NEW YORKER HELLA LAUGHS It’s hard to describe the laid-back but articulately crafted appeal of Coloradoborn comedian Dan Soder. We don’t know if it’s the deep, semi-raspy voice mixed with the stream-of-consciousness rants, perma-confused facial expressions, or weed jokes, but he’s one funny dude. You’ve heard him cohosting The Bonfire on Sirius XM Radio, or seen him hosting the Yahoo! Screen web series Mansome, performing on Live at Gotham on Comedy Central, or showing up on Inside Amy Schumer. He hits the Comedy MIX from Thursday to Saturday (April 6 to 8).
MUSEUMS
LOVE. OBSESSION. BETRAYAL.
THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT UBC 6393 NW Marine Drive, 604-822-5087, www.moa.ubc.ca/. 2AMAZONIA: THE RIGHTS OF NATURE (exhibition features Amazonian basketry, textiles, carvings, feather works, and ceramics both of everyday and of ceremonial use, representing indigenous, Maroon, and white settler communities) to Jan 28, 2018 2LAYERS OF INFLUENCE: UNFOLDING CLOTH ACROSS CULTURES (exhibition features more than 130 diverse cultural garments, from Japanese kimonos, to colourful Indian saris, to the elaborate feather cloaks of the Maori people of New Zealand) to Apr 9
OUT OF TOWN 2THIS WEEK SHADOWLANDS See works by Fred Herzog, the Canadian pioneer of colour street photography. To May 22, Audain Art Museum (4350 Blackcomb Way, Whistler). Info www.audain artmuseum.com/.
A FILM BY TERRENCE MALICK SUBJECT TO CLASSIFICATION
EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT STARTS FRIDAY CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORY FOR SHOWTIMES
28 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017
FIFTH AVENUE
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.
MOVIES REVIEWS DAVID LYNCH: THE ART LIFE A documentary by Rick Barnes, Olivia NeergaardHolm, and Jon Nguyen. Rated PG
Everything about David Lynch seems simul-
2 taneously simple, banal, disturbing, playful,
and mysterious, so you would expect his studiobound visual work to be the same. The Art Life ostensibly looks at Lynch’s painting, drawing, and mixed-media sculpture, but it turns out to be yet another form of autobiography. The 90-minute doc was nominally directed by newcomers Rick Barnes and Olivia NeergaardHolm, plus Jon Nguyen, who 10 years ago produced a doc about Lynch’s cinematic output. But the film feels masterminded by Lynch himself, usually seen in a chair, contemplating something or other while shrouded in billows of telegenic smoke. He’s also seen moving gooey paint around on huge canvases, fashioning typography out of metal wire, and sitting in a little room with a standing mike—presumably where his off-screen narration comes from. Ploddingly exact yet full of tantalizingly odd contradictions, Lynch’s commentary lays out the bare outline of a childhood spent in “a superhappy household” that he, for unexplained rea-
The illustrated David Lynch
The artist formerly known as FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole finds himself enveloped in telegenic clouds of smoke in David Lynch: The Art Life.
something bigger and broader in Chokeslam, but the movie’s too small for her talents. Some terrific films can have big ambitions with tiny budgets. (Moonlight and Napoleon Dynamite were made with this kind of money.) But some viewers will feel trapped by claustrophobia haunting the main characters in this miniature tale, shot in a Regina needlessly passing for a nowhere American burg. Events centre on Yank TV veteran Chris Marquette as Corey Swanson, a 28-year-old nebbish working at a deli counter and still living with his stern mom (Gwynyth Walsh). Time has stood still for him since the departure of his teenage paramour, so the upcoming highschool reunion is a big deal, bringing the return of Crew’s Sheena DeWilde, a tacky pro wrestler currently on the skids for bad behaviour. Also failing to live up to glory-days potential is a grungy hustler played by Michael Eklund, who manages to make being too old for the part work for him. These two losers bond before the 10-year reunion, which Corey hopes will restore his lost love, who towers above him when they’re finally seen together. (In real life, Crew is only two inches taller than Marquette.) When the evening unfolds, though, her presence is plagued by both anger issues and a slick manager/boyfriend (Alberta-born Niall Matter) who barely notices Corey is there. Despite the presence of old-timers like Mick Foley and the odd tossed-away ring scene, the movie doesn’t make much of its wrestling milieu. Writer Jason Long and director Robert Cuffley, who worked together on such almost-there projects as Turning Paige and Walk All Over Me, keep > KEN EISNER > STEVE NEWTON their mildly amusing focus on the Corey/Sheena thing. But it’s never really clear why we should THE VOID CHOKESLAM root for them, together or apart—except that they are the lead characters in a pratfall-happy, coinciStarring Aaron Poole. Rating unavailable Starring Amanda Crew. Rated PG dence-packed rom-com, and that’s what those The Void is like a cosmic cross between As she has shown in the HBO series Silicon kinds of people are supposed to do. In fact, no the original Hellraiser, John Carpenter’s Valley and movies like Sex Drive, Langley- one here does more or less than what’s expected of The Thing, some freaky Lovecraft shit, and that born Amanda Crew has natural comic abilities them. And what’s that good for, exactly? > KEN EISNER skinless-human Body Worlds exhibition Science and also provides an excellent, common sense foil World had running a few years back. to personalities goofier than her own. She goes for see next page
But I still didn’t like it that much. The Sault Ste. Marie–shot horror flick opens with a young man and woman running for their lives from an An intriguing documentary allows the visual artist behind the filmmaker to reveal his own inland empire old house in the woods. The girl dies badly, but a hapless sons, found nightmarish. Moving from the Pacific patrolman (Aaron Poole from CBC’s Strange EmNorthwest to Virginia, to be near his dad’s Wash- pire) finds the guy and rushes him to the hospital ington, D.C., job, Lynch was a moody teen drawn where the cop’s ex (Kathleen Munroe) and her dad to art as a way to soothe his savage breast. He (Kenneth Welsh from The Fog) are on duty. Soon repeatedly describes the horrors of his inner life after the place gets surrounded by knife-wielding without making any clear connections to his un- KKK/coven types in white robes with dark triangles on their hoods. usually supportive parents and siblings. Canadian screen vet Art Hindle (Black ChristSame goes for art schools in Boston and Philadelphia, places he was drawn to and then mas, The Brood) shows up as a state trooper with repelled by. For better or worse, Lynch has ’tude before everything goes totally nuts and the maintained the autodidact’s freedom from re- flesh starts flying nonstop. Conveniently located strictions and absence of detailed knowledge of scalpels sever jugulars and a tentacled monster what has gone before. In any case, the worms comes to gooey life so it can get repeatedly axed crawling beneath the rock of normal appear- and shotgunned. Then some of the guys head ances would become the leitmotif of his cine- down to the basement, where a portal to hell or to matic storytelling, from Blue Velvet onward. everlasting life or whatever awaits. Steven Kostanski—who wrote and directed Here, however, the emphasis is on his equally dark still imagery, which often puts dreamlike The Void with Jeremy Gillespie—has makeupfigures in stark, roughly splattered settings. FX credits for crappy sequels like Resident Evil: The movie doesn’t give enough context to let us Retribution and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, so it’s know which works are new or old, or how they no surprise when the barrage of gore and creature relate to what he’s talking about, but everything effects becomes the sole focus of the show. But even the most ardent gorehounds will wish wends back to the beginnings of his film career. Eraserhead was a student project, the one that the filmmakers had put half as much effort into told him movies were the main way to go, and story, pacing, and dialogue as into the ’80s-style the place where this intriguing movie ends. To practical effects. Man does not live by gore alone, and if he did he’d take the B.C.–shot Slither any day. be continued, it seems.
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WEEK IN WIDESCREEN
MOVIES
The projector
1 2 Bone appetite BLOOD DINER On the occasion of its 30th birthday, the
Rio Theatre welcomes Jackie Kong’s insane VHS–era gorefest back to the big screen with the director in tow for a postfilm Q&A. Meanwhile, organizer Shane Burzynski tells the Straight to expect a “big announcement” about this year’s Northwest Horror Show at the screening, on Friday (April 7). -
3
What to see and where to see it
Lynchfest
CONTEMPORARY COLOR Flag spin-
ning meets art school in this document of a David Byrne event in Brooklyn in 2015, with friends including St. Vincent and a whole lot of teenagers twirling their rifles. At the Vancity Theatre on Thursday and Friday (April 6 and 7).
CLAIRE’S KNEE One of Eric Rohmer’s
Six Moral Tales, this incomparable masterpiece from 1970 returns to the Cinematheque for a final screening on Friday (April 7). Double-billed with the French filmmaker’s 1972 feature Love in the Afternoon.
SILENCE So many years after asking “You
talkin’ to me?”, Martin Scorsese answers with a resounding Silence. The “most sorely underrated film of 2016” (Time Out New York) gets three screenings at the Vancity Theatre starting Sunday (April 9).
ERASERHEAD Still crazy after all these years, David Lynch’s feature debut celebrates its 40th birthday at the Vancity Theatre on Saturday (April 8). Augmenting a weeklong run of Lynch doc The Art Life, things get even weirder with Inland Empire on Sunday and Thursday (April 9 and 13), plus a program of (mostly) early shorts on Tuesday and Thursday (April 11 and 13). APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 29
Movie reviews
from previous page
LIFE Starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Rated 14A
The premise is an intriguing one:
2 what would happen if scientists
were able to retrieve a specimen of life from Mars? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what happens when six astronauts aboard an international space station extract a single-celled organism from soil samples obtained on the Red Planet, in this mashup of Gravity and the Alien franchise from director Daniel Espinosa (Safe House). The international crew consists of U.S. senior medical officer Dr. David
Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), British quarantine officer Dr. Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson), British biologist Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare), Japanese systems engineer Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Sanada), Russian commander Katerina Golovkina (Olga Dihovichnaya), and U.S. pilot Rory Adams (Deadpool, otherwise known as Ryan Reynolds, reuniting with Deadpool screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick). An introverted Dr. Jordan finds Sexy Jake Gyllenhaal is way tougher solace in life on the space station; than a bunch of tiny Martians in Life. Murakami watches his wife give birth back home on a tablet. Yet with- offer little to empathize with. While out imminent danger, these low-key Reynoldsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mechanic with a mouth characters, although well-performed, is more suited to the action, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
the odd one out here. His smart-ass quips thud beside their more cerebral dialogue. Yet one of the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strengths (in addition to convincing depictions of weightlessness) is its ability to convey the awe and wonder of discovering a new life form. The alien being is a cross between a translucent starfish and a 1980s octopus wall tumbler toy, with the speed of a silverfish. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Calvinâ&#x20AC;?, as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s named, turns out to be highly adaptable and fast-growing. Unfortunately for the crew (and possibly for us), it also turns out to be malevolent. As a metaphor for contagion, the film raises interesting questions
about what sacrifices must be made for the safety of others. What works well is how the threat begins on a small scale, expanding eventually from the crew to life on Earth. More thriller than horror, the film is light on scares and leans more heavily on stress-filled situations and the race against time, while the potential to raise ethical questions about scientific research might have f lourished inside a more seriously dramatic story line. Instead, the result is serviceable entertainment that may leave audience members wondering if thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more to Life than this. > CRAIG TAKEUCHI
Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth 1660 EAST BROADWAY @ COMMERCIAL MEDIA SPONSOR
NOW PLAYING!
APRIL 7
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Regular admission: $7 child/youth/senior; $10 adult Opening Night Gala: $12 child/youth/senior; $15 adult (includes reception)
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WEST COAST PREMIERE
WEST COAST PREMIERE POLINA
Polina danser sa vie DIRS ValĂŠrie Muller, Angelin Preljocaj | France | 2016 | 112 min In French and Russian with English subtitles
14
At the height of her prospects with the BolshoĂŻ Academy, Polina yearns to step beyond the rigid structures of ballet. After much examination, her deepest artistic voice pushes her toward contemporary dance. Starring Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Niels L\ag^b]^k !A^Zkm[^Zml"% ma^ IZkbl Hi^kZ ;Zee^m l CÂŽkÂŽfb^ ;ÂŽebg`Zk]% Zg] g^p\hf^k Anastasia Shevtsova.
LOUISE BY THE SHORE
DIR François Laguionie | France, Canada | 2016 | 75 min In French with English subtitles
Alone in the small Breton seaside resort town where she habitually spends a^k lnff^kl% l^imnZ`^gZkbZg Ehnbl^ !ohb\^] [r =hfbgbjn^ ?khm" k^Zebs^l maZm la^ l stranded; the last train has departed without her. On her own for a season, she knfbgZm^l hg a^k \abe]ahh] Zg] fhkmZebmr' Ehnbl^ l ob`hk _hk eb_^% `^gme^g^ll% Zg] endearing idiosyncrasies make for a captivating, minimal portrait of a woman who is ebm^kZeer Zg] Ă&#x203A;`nkZmbo^er Zm hg^ pbma a^kl^e_'
Preceded by: Being and Nothingness | Alejandro Alvarez Cadilla | Canada | 8min Preceded by: Mamie | Janice Nadeau | Canada | 2016 | 6min
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30 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 / 2017
Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth is grateful for the support of:
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APRIL 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 31
MUSIC “Who is Reggie Watts?” is a perfectly valid question. That’s not because the formerly Seattle-based keyboardist, singer, comedian, impressionist, rapper, and show-biz philosopher is unknown, however. Although he hasn’t yet hit Alist celebrity status, his gig as bandleader on The Late Late Show With James Corden beams him into millions of homes across North America on a daily basis. It’s more that whatever flows through his fingers and comes out of his mouth is both frequently brilliant and stunningly varied. If Watts isn’t a man of a million voices, he’s got at least a few dozen at his ready disposal. He can rap at speed in Spanish, French, and something that sounds very eastern European, although it could just as easily be entirely made-up. He’s got a soul-man falsetto that rivals Al Green’s, and he can also shift it an octave higher to imitate the sound of a sped-up tape recording, complete with authentic wow and flutter. TED Talks and standup performances find him eNUNciating in perfect BBC English, although often what he’s saying is intentionally nonsensical, more Peter Sellers than David Attenborough. And his beatboxing skills are unparalleled. All of these things rush out of him at speed; it’s almost like there’s some kind of button that can be
2
Maestro of mouth music
Before he landed his late-night-TV-bandleader gig, Reggie Watts used to set up a booth on freeways and bridges to collect a toll from gullible motorists.
stressing them out—and transform it,” he says. “In a way it’s a form of relief, so you’re not held hostage by the constant, 24-hour Reggie Watts makes brilliant, stunningly varied sounds crisis cycle.…That’s really that reflect his essentially absurdist world-view important: to remind pushed to produce Joycean text-storms, Compton people of the broader aspects of life.” > ALEXANDER VARTY rap, post-Wittgenstein philosophy, or pixellated wordplay at will. And, once upon a time, there was. “When I was a little kid, primarily mimicry was Reggie Watts plays the Vogue Theatre on Sunday what got me into sound, or at least playing with (April 9). sound vocally,” Watts tells the Straight, checking in from a Los Angeles freeway en route to the Corden show. “Just hearing songs—and not only learning the songs, but trying to sound like the singer that sang the song. When the musicians of H’Sao left Chad— “I especially gravitated to female voices,” he contheir homeland, in north-central Africa—for tinues. “I remember learning Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Physical’, and being able to sing at that range. Of Montreal 16 years ago, they had to deal with macourse, as a kid that wasn’t that hard, but trying jor changes in the fabric of their lives, not least to mimic her breathiness and all of that, and then the climate. The shift from one of the hottest, and acting kind of like a radio station at times.…In ele- poorest, countries in the world to Quebec in the mentary school, in the playground I’d have people full blast of winter was shocking. Though not press a fake button on me to get this fake radio sta- everything proved so tough. “We were coming from 40 degrees in the shade tion, so there was a lot of mimicry.” Watts could likely make a career out of any one to minus 25 or 30!” says Dono Bei Ledjebgue, who of his vocal talents. But there’s a point to his di- plays drums and percussion in H’Sao, reached in versity: in addition to mirroring his mixed-race Montreal. “Snow and cold isolates you. You don’t heritage, it reflects an essentially absurdist world- go out often, and it’s hard compared to our counview. That isn’t unusual in music, comedy, or try where you’re never alone—there’s no place musical comedy, but Watts delivers his unsettling for lonely people. But we came as a band, which helped a lot. And there’s so much happening culinsights with uncanny charm and compassion. Part of his shtick is to play a genuinely nice per- turally in Montreal that it made it easy as a musison—which is not, for Watts, a stretch—wrestling cian coming from Africa.” The three other members of H’Sao are brothers. with genuinely bad taste. (See his tear-inducingly hilarious video for “Fuck Shit Stack” on YouTube.) Guitarist Caleb Rimtobaye is leader of the group; the Part is to deliver real insights that at first make sense, eldest, Mossbasss, plays bass, and Izra L plays keythen don’t, and then come into sharper relief after a boards. All are superbly agile vocalists who learned moment’s contemplation. (“Tomorrow is a day that their skills from their father, a pastor. At an early age is always never going to be here,” he intones in one the siblings sang and played hymns together, but in especially Zen TED-type presentation.) And, in- time felt the urge to branch into secular music and creasingly, Watts sees some value in offering absurd- started composing material with a contemporary ist balm to a world that, every day, makes him feel sound. Ledjebgue ran into Caleb by chance on the like he’s “living inside one of my own stupid setups”. street in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, in his mid“Applying the principles of alchemy, I try to take teens, and has been with H’Sao ever since. The group’s unusual name holds particuwhatever is coming my way—whatever’s annoying me, whatever’s annoying the people around me or lar significance. “H stands for hirondelle—
Montreal’s H’Sao draws inspiration from the band’s African homeland
2
CHECK THIS OUT
HOW U WANT IT? A Tupac Shakur–themed café called Tupac’s Powamekka Café will open in New York this weekend, with a menu including meatloaf, gumbo, and chicken wings. Expect endless waits for your meal, though, as everything will be prepared by a hologram.
GORD GRDINA’S NYC QUARTET Vancouver guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina has picked up more than just a few lessons during his ongoing visits to New York City: he’s also acquired a crew of international accomplices who call that metropolis home. Grdina’s NYC Quartet, which plays the Western Front on Saturday (April 8), includes saxophonist Oscar Noriega, best known for his work with Tim Berne’s mind-blowing Snakeoil band; pianist Russ Lossing, a Paul Motian protegé known for his compositional ability; and Satoshi Takeishi, an uncommonly subtle percussionist who shares Grdina’s interest in the music of the Middle East. Openness and energy characterize all four musicians; expect near-telepathic interplay and an endless array of instrumental shadings. -
32 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017
> TONY MONTAGUE
H’Sao plays the Rickshaw Theatre on Friday (April 7), as part of the Vancouver World Music Festival, which runs from Thursday to Saturday (April 6 to 8) at various venues. For a full schedule, visit www. worldmusicfest.ca/. see page 38
MUSIC Let’s talk about
You gotta see
the French for ‘swallow’, the messenger bird. The Sao were the first people to settle around Lake Chad. We wanted to be the messengers of Chadian people, sharing the social and cultural values of our country with others,” Ledjebgue explains. “Almost all our songs are original— we all write—though we draw inspiration from traditional sources in our country, where there are a huge number of ethnic groups and languages. We listen to all music really—old musicians from Africa as well as U.S. and European artists. So it’s actually a big mix.” H’Sao has recorded four albums in Canada, which feature the elaborate vocal harmonies that have become the band’s hallmark sound, and also reflect its humble origins. At first only Caleb could afford an instrument, and his guitar was frequently missing strings. “When we got together to make music, often all we had was our voices, and objects that we tapped for percussion,” recalls Ledjebgue. “So we worked with these resources. It’s only really when we started touring overseas—to Europe and then to Canada—that each of us got our own instrument.” H’Sao’s latest release, Saar, marks a return to that early approach. “Saar means ‘roots’ in my language,” Ledjebgue says. “We wanted to come back to what we were before. On the other albums there are a number of a cappella tracks, but with this one we wanted to put the voices first, so fewer instruments are used.” Last October H’Sao performed in Spain at the prestigious Womex world-music trade fair, where the group’s tightness and unique vocals made a strong impression and opened new doors overseas. “It’s a market we really want to explore,” notes Ledjebgue. “In September we’ll be doing a big tour in France and Europe. We now have a contract with an agent over there. So we’re crossing fingers and making things happen.”
LOUDER, PLEASE AC/DC singer Brian Johnson is launching a new TV series called Life on the Road, where he’ll grill artists ranging from Roger Daltrey to Robert Plant about touring. Unfortunately, every answer he gets will be immediately followed by the question “What?” A NOBEL MAN Bob Dylan accepted his Nobel Prize on April 1. The press wasn’t invited to the private event in Stockholm, but the legendary songwriter is reported to have remarked, “Hee munnah gway ma noogle. Bun dabby go widda lidda bidda so.” JUNO WHAT? Many were offended when Junos cohost Russell Peters joked about statutory rape while MCing the annual Canadian music-industry awards. Others were shocked to learn that Canada still has a music industry.
Fresh and local HOLZKOPF ARSON IN THE FREE WORLD Jacob Audrey Revington Taves likes noise. The experimental electronicmusic artist also known as Holzkopf makes that clear from the opening track of this six-song collection. “Inverse” features some potentially speaker-blowing synth swoops layered over a clattering beat. Far from an exercise in aural torture, however, the effect is trippy and the rhythm oddly trance-inducing. The rest of Arson in the Free World also rides the line between sheer chaos and ecstatic psychedelia, with “Lack of Tremour and Sourness”— which sounds a bit like a drum ’n’ bass banger spun on slowly melting vinyl—a melon-twisting highlight. -
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APRIL 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 33
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34 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017
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CONCERTS < CLUBS & VENUES <
CONCERTS AN EVENING WITH PETE YORN American alt-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist tours in support of latest studio release Arranging Time. May 18, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Biltmore Cabaret (2755 Prince Edward). Tix on sale Apr 7, 10 am, $35 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. WOODS American indie-rock band tours in support of upcoming release Love Is Love. May 24, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Fox Cabaret (2321 Main). Tix on sale Apr 7, 12 pm, $15 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketweb.ca/. MOUNT KIMBIE English electronica duo, with guests Ash Koosha and Tirzah. Jun 8, 9 pm, The Imperial (319 Main). Tix on sale Apr 7, 10 am, $20 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketweb.ca/. HELLYEAH American heavy-metal band tours in support of fifth album Unden!able. Jun 12, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix on sale Apr 7, 10 am, $29.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. (SANDY) ALEX G Philadelphia indie musician tours in support of upcoming release Rocket, with guests Japanese Breakfast and Cende. Jun 21, 9 pm, Cobalt (917 Main). Tix on sale Apr 5, 12 pm, $17 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketweb.ca/. THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS English postpunk rock band, with guest Robyn Hitchcock. Jul 19, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on sale Apr 7, 10 am, $39.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. MAGIC GIANT Los Angeles indie-folk band tours in support of debut album In the Wind. Jul 21, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Fox Cabaret (2321 Main). Tix on sale Apr 7, 10 am, $15 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. MIRANDA LAMBERT American country singer-songwriter performs on her Highway Vagabond Tour, with guest Brandy Clark. Sep 29, 7 pm, Rogers Arena
WALKERS REQUIRED The Georgia Straight requires energetic, physically fit, and customer service oriented walkers. Walkers will distribute The Georgia Straight on the West Side (Approx. 3-5 hrs) Vehicle Required. Interested candidates please email your resume to:
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RED CROSS www.redcross.ca Canadian Red Cross / Croix-Rouge Canadienne
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE Hiring one full-time Cook
$17/hr, Min 1 yrs exp. Speak basic English/Thai an asset. Duties: prepare & cook complete Thai meals,oversee kitchen operations, supervise & train kitchen staffs, maintain inventory & records of food, supplies & equipment. Thida Thai Restaurant 1193 Davie St. Vancouver BC V6E 1N2 Email: wanchawee_t@hotmail.com
2THIS WEEK
BACKSTAGE LOUNGE 1585 Johnston, 604-687-1354. 2BRUDDAH ADRIAN Apr 5 2THE PHONIX Apr 6
CITY AND COLOUR Canadian singersongwriter Dallas Green performs a solo concert. Apr 6, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton). Tix at www.livenation.com/. B3 FOR BUNNY: FROM NEW YORK, MIKE LEDONNE WITH CORY WEEDS This performance brings together Vancouver-based alto saxophonist Cory Weeds with New York’s LeDonne, a double threat on piano and Hammond B3 organ. Presented by Coastal Jazz. Apr 7, 8, 8 pm, Frankie’s Jazz Club (765 Beatty). $20, info www.coastaljazz.ca/.
2JUST ANNOUNCED
HELP WANTED
CLUBS & VENUES
VANCOUVER WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL World Rhythms for Youth Society and CubbyHole Artists present musical artists from Mexico, Colombia, Iran, Brazil, Nicaragua, Cuba, Spain, London, Africa, and British Columbia. Performers include Tanga, Toque, H’Sao, Locarno, Breaking Boundaries, the B.C. World Music Collective, and Farnaz Ohadi and the Mashregh Ensemble. Apr 6-8, various Vancouver venues. Tix $45/25, info www. worldmusicfest.ca/.
music/ timeout
EMPLOYMENT
(800 Griffiths Way). Tix on sale Apr 7, 10 am, at www.livenation.com/.
BILTMORE CABARET 2755 Prince Edward, 604-676-0541. 2MITSKI Apr 7 2JENN GRANT Apr 8 2WHITNEY Apr 10 BLUE MARTINI JAZZ CAFE 1516 Yew, 604428-2691. 2BILL RUNGE, ANDRE LECHANCE, AND BUFF ALLEN Apr 6 2RON JOHNSTON TRIO Apr 7 2FRAN JARÉ Apr 8 2LINDSAY MARTEL Apr 11 2UNOMAS Apr 12 COBALT 917 Main, 778-918-3671. 2THE COURTNEYS AND JAY SOM Apr 11 COMMODORE BALLROOM 868 Granville, 604-739-4550. 2MOTOWN MELTDOWN Apr 8 2GOOD CHARLOTTE Apr 10 FORTUNE SOUND CLUB 147 E. Pender, 604-569-1758. 2BLACK JOE LEWIS AND THE HONEYBEARS Apr 7 2AB-SOUL Apr 12 2WINDHAND Apr 22 FRANKIE’S JAZZ CLUB 765 Beatty, 778727-0337. 2MIKE LEDONNE WITH CORY WEEDS Apr 7 2CARI BURDETT Apr 9 FUNKY WINKER BEANS 37 W. Hastings. Evil Bastard Karaoke Experience Sun-Thurs.
VANESSA CARLTON Nashville-based pop-rock singer-songwriter. Apr 7, 8 pm, Rio Theatre (1660 E. Broadway). Tix $25, info www.vanessacarlton.com/.
IVANHOE PUB 1038 Main, 604-608-1444. Pub with live bands on weekends and open jam night Sun from 4 to 8 pm. Pool tourney Thu. No cover.
BRIAN WILSON American pop legend presents the final performance of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds album in its entirety. Apr 8, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton). Tix $125/85/55 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.
QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE 650 Hamilton, 604-665-3050. 2CITY AND COLOUR Apr 6 2BRIAN WILSON Apr 8
don’t miss out! www.straight.com
MAX RAABE AND PALAST ORCHESTER German big-band vocalist and his ensemble perform songs that range from Kurt Weill’s “Alabama Song” to the Walter Jurmann classic “Mein Gorilla hat ‘ne Villa im Zoo”. Apr 9, 7 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Tix at www.chancentre.com/. A BOOGIE WIT DA HOODIE Bronx rapper tours in support of latest EP release TBA, with guests Illyminiachi and Acdatyoungneighbour. Apr 10, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Rio Theatre (1660 E. Broadway). Tix $25 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketweb.ca/. SEASONS FESTIVAL Electronic-music festival features performances by Excision, Above & Beyond, Galantis, Alan Walker, Metro Boomin, Troyboi, Kungs, Playboi Carti, and Loco Dice. Apr 12-16, Pacific Coliseum & various Downtown venues. Tix from $20 to $169.50, info seasonsfesti val.com.
Hiring One Full-time Pasta Chef
TRADES
Glaziers (All Levels)
Install window and door systems for commercial projects. Must have transportation to job site and must be fit as some heavy lifting required. Send resume to: admin@glastech.ca Fax 604-941-3113 www.glastech.ca
TILESETTER
ARV Construction Ltd. Salary: $25.25hourly Job Type: FT, Permanent. Minimum Education: High School. Position Available: 1 10207 143A St. Surrey BC V3T 5C1 Main Duties: Prepare, measure and mark surface. Clean and level the surface to be tiled. May prepare cost estimates and orders. Work Location: Various locations in Lower Mainland, BC. Qualification: 2 years of relevant experience required. To apply please send your resume to arvconstructionltd@gmail.com
Construction Related Field
Private/houses & commercial buildings Installation, frames, Dry-Wall, familiarity with carpentry, experience on working on buildings (house/commercial) made out of wood and metal frames. Experience required 3-4 yrs. Salary $26.00/hr Email: lagarrigo@hotmail.com
NEW ORLEANS INSPIRED CUISINE
RICKSHAW THEATRE 254 E. Hastings, 604-681-8915. 2ELECTRIC SIX Apr 5 2VANCOUVER WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL Apr 7 2SOHN Apr 8 2HINDS AND TWIN PEAKS Apr 9
For up-to-the-minute, searchable Music Time Out listings, visit
$23.50/hr, benefits offered after 1 yr, high school/equivalent, speak basic to moderate English, 2 yrs cooking exp, excellent customer interaction & service, respectful, self-motivated & good team player. Main duties: prepare & cook complete Italian meals or specialty foods & create decorative food displays for special events such as half buffet & catering, instruct cooks in preparation, cooking, garnishing & presentation of food, plan menus & create new recipes, supervise cooks & other kitchen staff & requisition food & kitchen supplies. Email: wholesale1@cioffisgroup.com Cioffi’s Meat Market & Deli Ltd. 4158 East Hastings St. Burnaby BC V5C 2J4
RAILWAY STAGE AND BEER CAFÉ 579 Dunsmuir, 604-564-1430. Vancouver’s original live-music venue reopens with a facelift and new approach to music and beer. 2RAILWAY GRAND OPENING Apr 5
RIVER ROCK SHOW THEATRE River Rock Casino Resort, 8811 River Rd., 604-2478900. 2MELISSA ETHERIDGE May 5 ST. JAMES HALL 3214 W. 10th, 604736-3022. 2NORDIC FIDDLERS BLOC & ANDREW COLLINS TRIO Apr 6 2KAREN SAVOCA AND PETE HEINTZMAN Apr 8 2JACK BROADBENT Apr 9 VOGUE THEATRE 918 Granville, 604569-1144.2THE ZOLAS Apr 6 2CARLOS NUNEZ Apr 7 2NF Apr 8 2REGGIE WATTS Apr 9 2KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD Apr 10 2NICHOLAS JAAR Apr 11
FAT TUESDAY!
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Pasta is $ 95 from 5 till 9
WISE HALL 1882 Adanac, 604-254-5858. 2DANIEL CHAMPAGNE Apr 6 2OLD TIME DANCE PARTY Apr 7 2GOSPEL TRAIN Apr 9 2 PETUNIA AND THE VIPERS Apr 10
TIME OUT MUSIC LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge. 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.
Come down for 1/2 price pasta and free live jazz! BLUEMARTINIJAZZCAFE.COM 1516 YEW STREET, VANCOUVER, BC | 604 428 2691
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redhotdateline.com 18+ APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 37
Music previews
from page 32
Twin Peaks frontman not afraid to suffer for his art While the supremacy of rock
2 ’n’ roll might be in slow decline,
Chicago-based band Twin Peaks is making sure that its impact is not forgotten. Idolizing groups like the Kinks, T. Rex, and the Rolling Stones—so much so that singer and guitarist Cadien Lake James tattooed LET IT BLEED on his chest in honour of the Stones’ seminal album—the five-piece plays its half garage rock, half punk music loud and fast. “We normally end up going twice the speed of the record when we’re on-stage,” James tells the Straight on the line from Rogers Park, Chicago. “We’re all about the high-energy music. We want to put on a show.” The guitarist isn’t joking. Deciding early on that “nothing would slow them down,” the band’s members have been so committed to Twin Peaks’ live dates that James once played a week of concerts with an undiagnosed broken leg. “I was about 20,” he recalls. “I was in New Orleans for the first time, and there was a lot of liquor. It’s safe to say that I partook. I jumped up onstage with another band in just my really short shorts, and started singing along and doing all kinds of goofy stuff with their guitars. At one point I had their singer on my back and collapsed under his weight. I tried to stand up and couldn’t, so I shimmied off-stage. Everybody was like, ‘Don’t
worry, it’s just a sprain. Walk it off.’ “The next morning we arrived at South by Southwest festival,” he continues. “I was doing three or four shows a day. At one point during our downtime, I took a tab of acid and walked a mile to see a band on my fractured ankle, not knowing that it was so busted. By the time we got to Arizona on the tour, I realized that I had to see a doctor. He told me that I was an idiot, and that I should have gone to the hospital immediately. They had to re-break my leg before they’d give me the cast. I didn’t stop playing shows after that, though—I just did it on a stool or in a wheelchair for the next seven months.” For James, injuries come with the territory of playing rock ’n’ roll. “It happens,” he says. “Last Wednesday we were playing a show at the Empty Bottle and I accidentally cut [bandmate] Clay’s head with my guitar on-stage—he had a big gash. Luckily, we have insurance now.” Despite James’s preference for strumming at a hundred miles a minute, Twin Peaks’ live shows also honour the group’s catchy harmonies and jaunty riffs. Tracks like the ’60s-inspired “Walk to the One You Love”, from the band’s latest LP, Down in Heaven, are accentuated in performance by raucous punk vocals, while standout song “Keep It Together” trades its ragtime feel for distorted guitars without losing its melodic swagger. “You can listen to our albums forwards, or you can listen to them backwards,” James says. “All of our tracks are pretty different. We have
four songwriters, and everyone composes in various styles. We all have different singing voices, and we all work in different ways. Having numerous people writing and arranging is what this project is—but it still manages to sound cohesive. We work well together as musicians, and we end up creating reasonably consistent songs because of the unique way that we each play our instruments. “It’s not too easy to make a living these days in rock music,” he continues. “There’s not a lot of money in it, so you have to work all the time. Having so many songwriters takes the pressure off continually coming up with great tracks, and it also means that we get to be out on the road a whole lot. We’re basically living the dream.” > KATE WILSON
Twin Peaks plays the Rickshaw Theatre on Sunday (April 9).
Jacques Greene aims to make music of his time Before establishing himself as
2 one of Canada’s most respected
purveyors of R&B–laced electronic music, the artist known as Jacques Greene had a thing for guitar-based powerhouses that trafficked in enraged angst and full-bore aggression. “I was into Thursday and At the Drive-In and Alexisonfire and things like that,” says the Toronto-based producer born Philippe Aubin-Dionne, on the line from a Berlin tour stop. “I still love a lot of those records. The few that have aged well are great, energetic
savage love
I’m a woman in my late 40s. In my early 20s, I married a much older man. We did all the requisite things: kids, house, intercourse once a week. When the sex fell off due to his declining health, he surprised me by suggesting we open our marriage. He said I was too young to be limited and he didn’t want me to leave him for sex. I spent time contemplating how to truly fulfill my desires. I read a lot of erotica, indulged in porn, and discovered that what turned me on was dominance. Not intercourse, particularly, but power play with me as the queen controlling a slave. I like chastity, face-sitting, and light bondage. I have found that this type of play appeals to smart and kinky gents. But I am finding that despite a gentleman’s declaration of “wanting something long-term”, perhaps a friends-withbenefits arrangement, they tend to drop out in short order. Three times in the past two years, I have spent a great deal of time getting to know someone before there was any play—a lot of time chatting online, several vanilla dates. In each of these instances, I felt that I had found a good friend. Each of these three men dumped me in exactly the same way. Each said that I was too overwhelmingly beautiful and powerful, and that their obsession with me took up too much room in their lives. This is very frustrating because I feel like I give someone the space they need. I think this is likely B.S. Could “I’m overwhelmed” be the new “It’s not you;
it’s me”? I am tired of having my will say so, DOMME, but submissive feelings hurt. Must I hang up my guys who aren’t looking for something long-term will say so too, if crop forever? > DONE OFFERING MY MENTAL they sense that’s what you want to ENERGY hear. In order to be safe while avoiding avoidable heartache, DOMME, Forever hanging up your crop be- you’ll want to invest a little time in cause a few guys tactfully ended getting to know guys before you things over a two-year period seems play—again, for your safety—but a bit melodramatic. So hang in there, not so much emotional energy that DOMME, and hold on to that crop. you’ll be annoyed/upset/devastated The mistake you’re making, if if it doesn’t work out. I may be so bold as to offer some constructive criticism to the Last night, the GF was on the queen, is investing too much time receiving end of a session of oral sex, and energy upfront, i.e., you’re but maybe because we were in her making large emotional invest- sister’s spare bedroom, or for whatments in these guys before you get ever reason, she would repeatedly around to the play. You’ll want to get within a whisker of coming only screen guys for your own safety, of to say, “Stop! Too intense!” But I am course, but spending “a great deal persistent if nothing else, and on the of time getting to know” a poten- fourth try, we got there. Boy, did we tial kinky FWB is a recipe for dis- get there! I can’t ask for personal inappointment. Because if you don’t sights, Dan, since performing oral click during play—if your style of sex on women isn’t your thing. But BDSM doesn’t do it for them or vice perhaps your readers have a few versa—there are really no “bene- surefire tricks that work when all else fails? fits” in continuing. > PERHAPS EVERYONE REALLY I suspect that was the case with SAYS IT’S SOME TRICK your last three gents. But instead of ghosting you or saying something that could be construed as critical or Your first three attempts got the GF unkind, all three heaped praise on close, PERSIST, and the fourth got you instead. You were too beautiful, her off. You obviously know what too overwhelming, et cetera. It was, works for your girlfriend and don’t indeed, a kinder, gentler, subbier way really need tricks or tips. You just keep doing what you’re doing, and of saying, “It’s not you; it’s me.” Dominant women are in such next time you want to brag about short supply relative to demand that your ability to get your GF there, go submissive men will, well, they’ll ahead and send me an honest brag. submit to an endless vetting process. There’s no need to phrase your bragDuring that process, submissive ging in the form of a question—this guys open to something long-term is Savage Love, not Sex Jeopardy.
youth records that make a lot of sense. I was really into it and was playing in a posthardcore band, then a teacher in my high school put me onto Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin. What happened is that I started to think about the idea of trying to line up practices with four other people versus just making the music that I wanted to make at home by myself. It meant not having to fight with my bandmates going, ‘No, I don’t want a tom fill there.’” A stint in the Montreal offices of the legendary Ninja Tune label would further steer the producer toward a career that has yielded a string of highly touted singles and EPs as well as the years-in-the-making debut album, Feel Infinite. The Quebecer helped mail out promo copies of records, and the label paid him in vinyl, thus shaping the aesthetic that’s built Greene a devoted following over the past seven years. You can hear the influence of Ninja Tune’s all-time greats—Amon Tobin, the Herbaliser, and Funki Porcini—in the 27-yearold’s work, but more in spirit than in any sort of throwback homage. The slow-building “To Say” mixes diamond-shimmer synths with old-school swamp-squelch percussion, while the posthouse thumper “I Won’t Judge” marries from-thecatacombs beats with Far East vocal loops. Greene plays things baroquely regal on the quick interlude “Cycles” and sounds like a man imagining the future of Motown with the futuristic R&B of “You See All My Light”. Ultimately, the producer is more determined to move ahead than to re-create the past.
“I’m more interested in being part of a continual lineage,” he offers. “A lot of my drum-programming or drum-sound choices will harken more to late-2000 Timbaland. I try to be current, not in a way where I’m on today’s hot trends, but more with the samples that I choose and the way that I DJ or even with mixing style. So I’m not really interested in going for something that’s been done before— day to day, I always feel of my time.” So at a time when the biggest acts in EDM are still obsessed with skybursting synths and ground-shaking bass drops, Feel Infinite takes a decidedly more cerebral path. This is club music for when the glitter cannons have been shut off and the dancing bananas have left the stage. “I’m not someone who has ever felt ‘Oh, man, I was meant for another era—if only I’d been around for peak rave culture,’ ” Greene says with a laugh. “I admire that time and have books on the subject, but it did just fine without me. I think that showing nostalgia for times and eras that were not yours is something that I don’t fully understand. For the most part, I tend to look forward and live in the moment. I feel kind of bad for people who want to sound like something from 35 years ago. A lot of my friends are cognizant and aware of lineage and history, but will also try and do things in a new way. That’s where things get really exciting.”
> MIKE USINGER
Jacques Greene plays Fortune Sound Club on Sunday (April 9).
> BY DAN SAVAGE
My husband is wonderful. We
are into BDSM. It’s always been super hot for me, and he’s always respected my boundaries. The other night, both of us had a lot to drink. I had WAY too much. We’d also been talking all night about me sucking his dick later. When we got home, he asked if I was too drunk for sex and I said we should have sex. I encouraged him. But when kinky stuff happened—him fucking my mouth, slapping my face a little—I quickly realized I was too drunk. I felt hurt and confused instead of feeling turned on, I felt sad, but I didn’t want to tell him to stop. At some point, he realized I was too drunk for what we were doing and he stopped. The next day, I felt so sad. He feels horrible and says that regardless of me insisting (more than once) that he continue, he should’ve known I was too drunk. He feels bad. I feel bad. Any direction you could point me in—perhaps a book to read?—would be appreciated. > DIDN’T KNOW MY LIMITS
You don’t need a book, DKML, you need a shift—a shift in focus. Right now, you’re focused on everything that went wrong that night—the boozing, the confusion, a bad sexual experience with a trusted partner—and you don’t seem to be really registering or giving enough weight to what went right that night. Your husband sensed you weren’t feeling it, realized you were too drunk (a little late, but still), and then, despite the fact that you encouraged him to continue, he sensed you weren’t in the right head space (you weren’t enjoying yourself, you
were too drunk) and stopped. Your husband, even with a hard dick, even inebriated himself, even while topping during BDSM, didn’t lose sight of your safety and comfort. Don’t feel bad about the sex or the kink or your partner, DKML. Learn from this experience—BDSM and boozing don’t mix—and move on.
My wife and I are poly. Next week, my wife is going on a business trip and I made plans with a woman who we sometimes hook up with to come over. The complication is that at 8 a.m. the next morning, our housekeeper is supposed to show up—and she’s likely to see that my wife is away but I’m eating breakfast with another woman. I’m not sure what to do. We’re open about being poly, but that seems like an awkward and inappropriate conversation to have with your housekeeper. > AN INCONVENIENT GUEST
You shouldn’t have to sneak around in front of your housekeeper, AIG, but your housekeeper probably— definitely—doesn’t want to hear the details of your sex life. So sneak out the back door or pass your lady friend off as a houseguest (remember to rumple the sheets in the guest room)—or reschedule either your housekeeper or your hookup. On the Lovecast, the science of monogamous versus nonmonogamous happiness: savagelovecast.com . Email: mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage . ITMFA.org. Humpfilmfest.com.
LOOK FOR THIS WEEK'S CONTESTS ON • ROOM 2048 • LESLEY TELFORD • FULL FATHOM FIVE: SHAKESPEARE IN SONG • VERTICAL INFLUENCES • LA TARARA • LONG DIVISION • THE ZOMBIES • CARAVAN WORLD RHYTHMS - DAKHABRAKH • A QUIET PASSION • MELISSA ETHERIDGE • THE MICHTER’S BOURBON MASTERCLASS 38 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 6 – 13 / 2017