Vriend Friend

My lovely friend Ann Vriend was in town last weekend and performing at one on my favourite places, the Cocoa Nymph. A talented girl named Anna Boots opened up for Ann and later Rachel even played kazoo for one song. Excellent evening.

What Darlings, The O'Darling...

Busy busy busy for a Sunday evening in Vancouver.

First I headed to the Railway to see Matt Epp perform again. He was just as great as the night before and I'm glad I went! Had to miss
Ann Vriend to jump over to the Media Club for show #2...




By the time I got there I had missed Benny Schütze, Said The Whale, Aidan Knight and only caught the last song by Hey Ocean!... From what I hear it was a free-for-all of Vancouver's indie music scene. Dan Mangan was in the crowd and got called on stage, performed two songs and then it was on to the main act...
The O'Darling.

They are a pretty amazing band...apparently originally from Victoria, but based in Toronto now. They had the entire crowd on their feet, many of them dancing. Aidan joined them on stage for a few songs too. I'm excited to see him perform at Dan's CD Release show on Friday. By the end of the evening most everyone's facebook and twitter statuses changed to praise for the band and the evening.
Here are some shots from the love-fest at the Media Club:

You Don't Know That I Was Up 'Til 3am Last Night... Working on These Photos!

First surprise of the evening: passing Matt on the street and meeting one of the nicest people I've ever encountered.
Second surprise: walking into the Cocoa Nymph and realizing...I've been there before.

As it happens, I shot some of their chocolate for Vancouver Magazine's 101 Things to Eat Before You Die last year!:

and apparently they do shows in the cafe area!

I was introduced to Matt Epp (@mattepplife) by Jon and got addicted to his song This Old House (listen on his Myspace). It hit me yesterday that Matt was on tour and would probably be in Vancouver soon.
Turns out, it was that very evening!

So after Dan's show I hustled home, made dinner and took off again for 10th and Alma.

Matt is touring with Edmonton based singer-songwriter Ann Vriend who was up first on the piano. She reminded me so much of Nat Jay and I'm going to put a playlist of Vancouver music together for her!

The night was pretty amazing. I took a few photos, but it was super dark and moody in Cocoa Nymph so the photos in turn are dark and moody. But that's okay because they're playing again tonight (Aug 23rd) at the Railway Club in Vancouver...and I'll take more then.
In the meantime..enjoy: