However, this almost didn't happen...

DOORS 8PM

We're going all out for our first ever party: we're bringing Women from Calgary. Sorry, I had to. But anyways, the JagJaguwar blog-stars will be headlining our municipal election special joined by Toronto's The Bicycles, Edmonton's Hot Panda, and locals Gang Violence and The Clips. I know, right? We don't even have to advertise for this show. In fact, we don't even have to tell you that you get one free beer per entry thanks to the readers who vote for us. We don't need to tell you that Gang Violence is one of Vancouver's best new bands. In fact, just don't come. Admire the poster from afar, but curse that the show is all the way in East Vancouver.

On Saturday, LaMontagne answered this question by taking the Vogue by storm with the high-energy, Motown-flavor of "You Are the Best Thing." The crowd responded with equal enthusiasm as they grooved to the beat. Ray continued to permeate energy into his next number, "Hold You in My Arms." While it may have seemed that the tone of the concert didn't make it easy for fans to sing-a-long, nothing could stop the die-hards from mouthing the words they knew so well. Ray is not one to talk much between numbers, but when a guy yelled out "I love your beard!" his quiet humor had the hall laughing with the quiet response, "uhhh, thats nice...but a little creepy."

The small size of the sold-out venue made for a more intimate experience as Ray played his first slow song "Let it be me." The soulfulness that LaMontagne pours out comes as a surprise when I see the shy and unassuming bearded man in person. While the lights rarely shone on Ray, he exposed himself in a different, more personal way. His throaty voice often seemed to vocalize his innermost thoughts and emotions. LaMontagne was able to muster passion from his whole body as he romanced the audience with the troubled words of the love songs, "I Still Care for you" and "Burn."

I wasn't expecting a lot out of this show. Lykke Li had sold out Richard's on Richard's, and the scalpers outside the Commodore foreshadowed a poor turnout. Although the show did not sell out, the crowds that arrived after the opener, Passion Pit, were instantly grabbed by Yelle's driving beats and spectacular lights.

Sweden's newest pop sensation Lykke Li performed songs off her debut album Youth Novels, as well as a couple unexpected covers from frat boy pop band Vampire Weekend and Tribe Called Quest's classic "Can I Kick It?" And "kick it" she certainly did, with her many displays of crumping and gyrating against the microphone that suited her cymbal crashing, blowhorn blaring songs perfectly.

Their latest album was at first conceived to be played completely on "junkstruments" created by artist Iner Souster, but then evolved to be a combination of those strange sounds and a little conventional rock from more traditional instruments. The resulting mix is quite interesting, and is made more original with improvisations and collaboration with outside musicians throughout the album's production.

Beyond Robson has a pair of tickets to see the FemBots on Thursday, and a handful of their new CDs to give away to select readers.

Contest details after the jump...

This past Thursday, October 9th marked the arrival of Melbourne electropop group Cut Copy, a trio of charming young men who absolutely destroyed the The Commodore's dance floor in just over an hour. Although forcing yourself into the heart of a crowd isn't much of a survival skill, I had a feeling that broken toes were worth the show and after week of painful rehabilitation, I'm still smiling.

As good as the show was, a late Thursday night out seals the deal on an artistically empty turkey weekend for Jonny. I missed the must-have-been-rigged Vancouver/Calgary game, so Saturday I must make amends and witness the revenge, and other than that it'll be a load of busywork and a trip home to Cowtown. So once again I call on you readers to hit the city, as there's the usual abundance of great art to experience. Here's a handful of things I wish I had time to do...

Best described as an "indie hip hop rock band," Why? made their way to Vancouver in support of their latest release Alopecia, and limited release Almost Live From Eli's Room. The band fused their hip hop qualities, with Yoni Wolf taking control of the microphone with his awkward rhymes, and his older brother Josiah and fellow bandmates creating the rock sound with rolling drums, heavy bass, and trickling keyboards.

Earlier this year in Toronto was the closest I've come to a spiritual experience without the use of some mind bending pharmaceuticals. It was in a tiny church in Kensington Market. Two of the sweetest people I've ever met took the stage. High Places set up two small suitcases, one with a sampler and mic with pedals, the other with an electronic drum, various marimbas and shakers, and even more pedals. The natural acoustics of the vaulted ceilings and the reverb on the tin drum lifted me to some sort of psychic dimension where only me and the band existed. We were on a tropical island on some ocean planet. A vacuum; a stasis leak in the space-time manifold. I'm sorry I've done too many drugs. But you get the idea. You have to go to Richards TONIGHT.

Chad VanGaalen must be one of the few reasons I'll still openly admit to being raised in Calgary (that and maybe the upside down church... oh and that dreamy Bertuzzi guy). Chad has been a familiar face to myself and many Calgarians since his days busking downtown, and the multi-talented artist has now made his name as one of the scene's strongest singer-songwriters, releasing two widely acclaimed records on American indie power label Sub Pop (represented in Canada by the tiny Flemish Eye).

His latest record, Soft Airplane, was released on September 9th and contains, far and away, the man's best material to date (see the rave reviews). It's one of my favourite albums of the year, and I personally can't wait for his performance here in Vancouver at Richards on Richards on October 9th. We've got a handful of copies of 'Soft Airplane' to give away, as well as a pair of tickets to the sold out show. Details after the jump...

It's an apt way to describe a show with music written like elaborate plots, full of twists, turns, evolving characters, and multiple climaxes. Frontman Will Sheff has been known to write wordy and elegant lyrics to paint pictures of people in shitty places in life. He also sings these words in a manner that can vary from a wild wail to a delicate down-tempo ballad.

This band's current tour promotes their latest album, the Stand-Ins, which is generally regarded as a sequel to their breakthrough fourth album, the Stage Names. (In fact, the nifty album art of both albums go together quite well.) But unlike typical Hollywood sequels, this album has given the band some staying power, being well received by even the most pretentious of music critics (i.e. Pitchfork). I was very eager to see how they'd translate their albums into a live show.