2 posts tagged “owen pallett”
The other night Lydia and I went to the Centre for the Performing Arts downtown to see a union funded concert that was apparently to stop the government from privatizing BC Hydro. How having a free concert was going to stop that from happening I'm not sure, but since Final Fantasy was there so were we.
We caught three of the four acts and the only one worth talking about was Final Fantasy. The previous two were old folkies who appeal to that sort of wealthy over-50 crowd that you see manning the telephones on funding drive for PBS when in fact you're trying to watch the Red Dwarf marathon.
It was completely obvious within about three minutes that they did not get Final Fantasy, a one man band, nor did they want to get him. So by the end of his set, the final set of the night, the auditorium was quiet empty and those that had braved the full concert seemed more confused than anything.
The show we saw at UBC in the winter was a much better audience, and a longer show. Still Lydia was glad to see him again and once again I realize that he's got some fiddle moves that one.
We caught three of the four acts and the only one worth talking about was Final Fantasy. The previous two were old folkies who appeal to that sort of wealthy over-50 crowd that you see manning the telephones on funding drive for PBS when in fact you're trying to watch the Red Dwarf marathon.
It was completely obvious within about three minutes that they did not get Final Fantasy, a one man band, nor did they want to get him. So by the end of his set, the final set of the night, the auditorium was quiet empty and those that had braved the full concert seemed more confused than anything.
The show we saw at UBC in the winter was a much better audience, and a longer show. Still Lydia was glad to see him again and once again I realize that he's got some fiddle moves that one.
One of Lydia's favorite bands is Final Fantasy [wp], so when it was announced that they'd (he'd) be coming to Vancouver for a show on the University of British Columbia campus she snapped up tickets right away. Last night was the show and it was actually pretty good. The entire show is done by one fellow, Owen Pallett, on violin with a ton of looping and just a tiny bit of piano.
There's two albums out, and it's worth checking out if you've got the time and inclination. His last album won the first Polaris Music prize the day before yesterday, so it's award winning don't you know. If you like violin based indie music this is right up your alley. Pallet did a lot of the string arrangements on the Arcade Fire album that everyone loves so much, so if you're into the music it's likely you've heard some of his work before. If you've gone to a U2 concert on their latest tour it's also likely you've heard his work, since U2 comes onto the stage to "Wake Up" by the Arcade Fire.
It all comes back to Bono doesn't it?
P.S. I forgot to add that I actually really enjoyed opener Bob Wiseman [wp]. His music was good and his videos were hilarious.
