Years & Years // Commodore Ballroom

April 29, 2016 - Repost from Vancity Buzz - review by Yasmin.

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Setlist

1. Foundation
2. Take Shelter
3. Worship
4. Border
5. Memo
6. Shine
7. See Me Now
8. Eyes Shut
9. Darkhorse Bling
10. Ties
11. Gold
12. Without
13. I Want to Love
14. Real
15. Desire
16. King

Suicide Girls Blackheart Burlesque 2016 // Vogue Theatre [NSFW]

April 26, 2016 - The alternative mega-babes that are the Suicide Girls have made their return in Vancouver for its third consecutive year, this time with a venue upgrade to the Vogue Theatre.  This year's lineup consists of Katherine Suicide as host, Cheri on DJ duty with Lucerne, Liryc, Peneloppe, Sunny, Cartoon and Yuni as the primary dancers.

A quick recap for those who don't know what they're expecting, the Blackheart Burlesque isn't necessarily a true burlesque, but more of a live show showcasing dance numbers illustrating pop culture - of course with the half-naked ladies.  Katherine encouraged the crowd to share images and take as many pictures as you pleased - unlike many other artists that come into town.  The crowd itself came from all walks of life, including your to-be-expected alt crowd and local suicide girls to the clean-cut 9-5 workers; singles and couples!

Courtesy of the Suicide Girls Facebook page.

For purposes of this blog-post and the excess of images, I've divided them up into smaller segments for easier viewing and organization.

First on the docket was a welcome from Katherine which quickly  transitioned onto an animal onesie dance number.  Following that was a superhero segment, featuring the likes of Batgirl, Thor, Wonderwoman and Supergirl.  Cue Gary Jules' cover of Mad World and Cartoon took the stage in a Donnie Darko tribute.

And here's a fairly large gallery of Liryc as Beetlejuice, co-starring Sunny Suicide.  Adventure Time to follow!

Up next came Katherine in a schoolgirl outfit for a play on Fifty Shades of Grey, possibly the hottest set of the night.  Tuned perfectly to the Weeknd's Earned It, it was a spectacle featuring BDSM in a positive light.

The ladies had some quick downtime as they transitioned into a small show with Katherine got a couple up on stage and asked who could perform a better lapdance for the lady: Liryc or the husband?  Long story short - he came off super sassy, strutted his junk and won himself a nice subscription to the site!

The next two acts were a dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller and Katherine as Charmander from Pokemon.  Unfortunately, due to some restrictions there was usage of "light balls" as opposed to fire as used in the states.

Yuni came on strong with acrobatics as Link from The Legend of Zelda.  Following was a cutesy, silly take on the Planet of the Apes and the Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Sunny then proceeded to make my childhood memory of the Little Mermaid a lot sexier, with a NSFW take on "A Part of Your World", asking not for legs to walk and run, but rather for..."twat".  Super clever and super playful, the adaptation was seamless and not overplayed at all.

Rounding up the show were performances portraying The Fifth Element, Slave Leia and Sailor Moon.

As per every show, a bunch of the local ladies were called up to the stage to show off their curves and dance moves, and for lack of a better expression, "to get freaky".  There was twerking, grinding, flashing and the works - the winner receiving a subscription to Suicide Girls and an audition to become one!

And as per tradition, ending with a Star Wars number - resulting in rowdy crowd cheering and chanting as many nerdgasms were fulfilled.

Being my third year covering the event, not much is new to the table but the content is always performed extremely well.  Exhibitionist in nature, the show itself I feel represents a greater picture of sex-positivism.  Despite being labelled as alternative, not all Suicide Girls sport the tattoos, piercing or coloured hair - but are rather inclusive and more against the establishment if anything.  Inviting everyone to see and share, it was not only an event but an idea for everyone to celebrate together.

For anyone into alt-babes, pop culture references or for something a bit outside of your comfort zone, definitely check these ladies out the next time they roll around near you!

Pentatonix // Pacific Coliseum

April 28, 2016 - Quick reblog from Vancity Buzz.  Review written by Vanessa Tam.

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Setlist

1. Cracked
2. Na Na Na
3. Cheerleader (OMI cover)
4. Can't Sleep Love
5. Evolution of Michael Jackson
6. Love Yourself (Justin Bieber cover)
7. Where Are Ü Now (Jack Ü cover)
8. If I Ever Fall in Love (Shai cover - collaboration with Us The Duo)
9. Celloboxing Solo by Kevin Olusola
10. Medley: Radioactive (Imagine Dragons cover) / Say Something (A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera cover) / Papaoutai (Stromae cover)
11. NO (Meghan Trainor cover)
12. Misbehavin' 
13. Water
14. Aha! (Imogen Heap cover)
15. Daft Punk
16. Rose Gold
17. New Year's Day
18. Light in the Hallway (Encore - no microphones)
19. Sing (Encore)

The 1975 // Thunderbird Arena

April 27, 2016 - Quick re-blog for Aesthetic Magazine.

"UK indie rock quartet The 1975, who released their second album, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, on February 26th, 2016 via Interscope, which was produced by Mike Crossey (Foals, Keane, Jake Bugg, Arctic Monkeys), and which followed up their 2013 debut self-titled album, performed at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver last night. "

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Setlist

1. Love Me
2. UGH!
3. Heart Out
4. A Change of Heart
5. She's American
6. Anobrain
7. Menswear
8. The Ballad of Me and My Brain
9. Me
10. fallingforyou
11. Somebody Else
12. An Encounter
13. Robbers
14. You
15. Loving Someone
16. Paris
17. Girls
18. If I Believe You (Encore)
19. Chocolate (Encore)
20. The Sound (Encore)
21. Sex (Encore)