Last night the rain was relentless. In fact, there was no reprieve all day. It made it the perfect evening to go for some mellow out music with The Swell Season.
Their show was lengthy but good. I'm glad I got to see them. Marketa is super cute live, borderline shy, it's endearing. I guess compared to Glen, he would make anyone look shy.
Here they are on Letterman from 2007, singing their Academy Award winning song, Falling Slowly, which they did last night in one of their encores:
The sun poked out today, and it's been dry so far. Fingers crossed!
It has been raining for about three weeks straight here in Vancouver. Oy. Today is a torrential downpour. It's just disgusting. I don't like it. We've had a few reprieves but for the most part, it's either drizzle, mist, or downright cats and dogs. Tomorrow the sun is supposed to make a cameo. Keep your fingers crossed.
It was complete fun!! Total camp, and of course, blood splattering everywhere! Including all over me, since I was in the "splatter zone"! I made sure I bought Splatter Zone tickets.
So, there is a bit of controversy going on around this production. They bought the rights to put it on, and so they are doing so. HOWEVER, one week later, it gets announced that the touring company of this show is also coming to Vancouver at the exact same time that this production is going on.
That really sucks for these guys. I mean, the touring production has a way bigger budget, bigger venue, and more advertising. I've seen full page ads and heard their cast on radio stations, etc.
It isn't right that they would do that to this little theatre company like that. Basically screwed them over, you know? I mean, these people put their time and energy and money into this production, only to have the big guys come in and take all that possible business away?
So, if you're in Vancouver or have friends here, please encourage them to go see the local production of Evil Dead: The Musical. Support local theatre, local arts. This production was fantastic! Why pay double the price when you can enjoy the exact same thing for less? Buy your tickets here!
I'm so mad I won't be able to go see Jay Brannan when he arrives in town next Thursday at the Biltmore Cabaret. Tickets are only $17, so it's a total deal to go check him out! He's awesome live and will probably be doing songs from his latest release, In Living Cover.
The last time I went, he did Jann Arden's Good Mother and it was soooooo heartbreaking, I fell in love with it. I'm so glad he included this song on the new album. In addition, he's done this brilliant cover of The Cranberries' Zombie:
Last night I found myself up on the 58th floor of Vancouver's tallest building, the Shangri-La hotel. I was there in attendance for the launch of Shinan Govani's book, Bold Face Names.
Lainey from LaineyGossip had invited me along, but I thought she just wanted to meet up quickly with me beforehand, not realizing she wanted me to be her Gay Date for the evening! So, there they were, everyone looking fabulous, and I was all schleppy in my jeans and ratty sweater and in bad need of a haircut. "It's a Vancouver crowd," Lainey assured me.
It was a bit of a frantic evening as I was technically still at work. Lainey insisted on meeting me at promptly at 5, and I wasn't off work till 5:30. I managed to sneak out of work for 20 minutes and one cocktail and 58 flights later, I was back at work finishing up my shift.
At 5:30, I hightailed it back to the Shangri La because I didn't want to shrug off my duties as the Gay Date. I went back, had another cocktail, mingled a bit, and left an hour later - since I had dinner plans in the works, too, and a friend had already been waiting and starving for an hour for me!! Whoops!
I grabbed a swag bag on the way out, which contained the book, a thinly veiled fictional account of the life of a gossip columnist (the author is a gossip columnist). So, looking forward to reading it!!
Wow, Saturday night's Pet Shop Boys concert was brilliant!! Fantastic show!!
When the Pet Shop Boys sang Jealousy, I was instantly resonating with the song and its lyrics....
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would...
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
I never knew time passed so slow
I wish I'd never met you...
The Pet Shop Boys didn't sing What Have I Done To Deserve This, which caused me major sadness. I was also looking forward to Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money). The set was so simple and effective, though, made up entirely of white cardboard boxes, which would collapse and crumble and then get rebuilt again into different shapes and walls, which was used as a projection screen. At the end, they were lifted into the air and spiraled like hanging mobiles. So good!!!
One of my favourite songs in the entire world is by the Pet Shop Boys, and when they sang it, I was in heaven. Here's Being Boring:
