Soy Bomb was less of a jerk

I've seen Joel Plaskett play three times live now, each in a tiny venue that either has (Kingston's Grad Club) or could (Vancouver's Media Club) double as someone's house. My feeling is that if the idiots at Joel's label marketed his albums properly, he could be filling venues ten times the size. Yet at the same time, the intimate setting suits his act just fine.



The great thing about seeing Joel live is that he offers commentary for his songs, oftentimes right in the middle of them. ("Chris Martin eat your heart out.") Opener Peter Elkas came up on stage to play a few songs with Joel, and was first asked to play some guitar solos and then jokingly asked to stop because he was "too good." Like Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Joel is a hilarious entertainer, my favorite line of the night being:

"How much did they charge you for this show, ten dollars? You paid twelve?? Peter Elkas we're rich!!"



There was, of course, the standard issue concert-going jerk in attendance. See Thom's blog for a full account of this. Let's just say we can all stand a little chatter during a show, but this guy actually told entire stories (with full-body actions) to uninterested members of the fairer sex, while standing in the front row no less.

Before the show, we stopped at Guu with Garlic, a remarkable Japanese izakaya restaurant on Robson Street whose food is best described as tapas. Cheap, delicious, and - when the waiter forgets who's been waiting an hour and seats you almost immediately - even better!

The night also featured a stop at the Virgin Records store downtown, which was notable for a very strange occurence. I waited about ten minutes for a guy to finish at the listening station for the new Basement Jaxx album. While I browsed, I kept looking over, and he seemed to be really into it, making me want to listen to it all the more. When he finally left and I took the headphones, there was nothing, not even static. Apparently the headphones were dead, and there was a now-visible sign indicating how the station was out of order. What music from beyond the grave haunted that man for so long? And can I download a copy?