SPRING FLING
ARTS PREVIEW: Rihanna leads a roster of talented artists performing around the region this season
My Father And The Man In Black, plus Big River When: March 21, 8 p.m. Where: Red Robinson Show Theatre, 2080 United Blvd., Coquitlam
Why: Jonathan Holiff directed this documentary film of Saul Holiff’s management of Johnny Cash, and his relationship with his family. Holiff’s taped reminiscences were found at Jonathan’s mother’s house in Nanaimo and became the basis for a film that has been making the festival rounds and getting good reviews. Afterward, Big River performs its Cash tribute. Singer David James is the voice of Johnny Cash in the movie.
Tickets: $29.50 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca Motown Meltdown
When: March 23, 8 p.m.
Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St.
Why: The fundraiser for the Shooting Star Foundation has become an annual event. As the name suggests, the music leaps from the Motown songbook with the assistance of many local performers backed by David Sinclair’s house band. A prize should go to anyone who digs up Yvonne Fair’s Walk Out The Door If You Wanna.
Tickets: $30 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band When: March 27, 7:30 p.m. Where: Rogers Arena, 800 Griffiths Way
Why: Seger has kept a low profile this decade, not counting a solo album and a hits package, but at one time he was a candidate for the hardest-working man in show business. Not only were his shows great but they also had conviction. He really wanted to deliver.
Tickets: $60 to $145 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca The Specials When: March 29-30, 9:30 p.m. Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St. (March 29); Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville St. (March 30)
Why: To see if lightning can strike twice 30 years apart. In the early 1980s, the band played the Commodore and blew the place apart. The next night, The Specials blew The Police off the PNE Gardens stage. That postpunk Two Tone sound had arrived in an explosive way. Long ago reunited, The Specials also have resurrected Two Tone. At the Commodore, which sold out instantly, and then the next night at the Vogue.
Tickets: $35 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca, northerntickets.com
Rihanna Diamonds World Tour When: April 1, 7:30 p.m. Where: Rogers Arena, 800 Griffiths Way
Why: That she might be regarded as completely artificial tends to be refuted by Rihanna scoring a dozen No. 1 records. She’s doing something right, possibly obeying her manager, even if her relationship with Chris Brown seems wrong. Maybe her return to Rogers will be more revealing, less controlled, than Rihanna’s last appearance.
Tickets: $52.25 to $147.25 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca
Billy Bragg When: April 5, 8 p.m. Where: Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville St.
Why: Bragg’s appearance comes a few weeks ahead of the album, Tooth And Nail. His first time in Vancouver was at the folk festival where he symbolized a renewed folk consciousness and the revival of the protest song. As the intervening years have proven, Bragg always was more than that. With Australian good guy, Kim Churchill.
Tickets: $35 plus service charges at northerntickets.com Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark When: April 5, 9:30 p.m. Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St.
Why: If this spring preview seems nostalgic, it’s because it’s feeling a strong pull — if The Specials can come back, so can OMD. Although founders Andy McLuskey and Paul Humphries represent the opposite of Two Tone, the duo are from around the same time. In their hands, synth-pop rarely sounded as good. Hit single Enola Gay still resounds today. McLuskey never really let go, which is why OMD is on the rebound.
Tickets: $32.50 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca
Marianas Trench When: April 12, 7 p.m. Where: Pacific Coliseum, 100N Renfrew St.
Why: A Vancouver band making a big move, and a bold one. Marianas Trench even skipped the stepping-stone represented by the Commodore. That’s a testament to its national impact (though the less said about it’s half time song at the Grey Cup the better). Josh Ramsay, who produced Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, quarterbacks the band’s pop rock. Marianas Trench is up for a Juno (fan favourite award) while Ramsay has been nominated for producer of the year.
Tickets: $29.50 to $45 plus service charges at ticketleader.ca
Classified When: April 12, 8 p.m. Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St.
Why: Classified is Luke Boyd and he has made 15 albums. What makes his hip hop different isn’t that he’s from Nova Scotia, as anybody can be seen by anyone anywhere in the world, but that his subject matter (his topicality) avoids hip hop cliché. That awareness might be a vestige of regionalism but 15 albums suggests he’s seen a lot of the world.
Tickets: $25 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca
Marina & The Diamonds When: May 3, 9:30 p.m. Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St.
Why: Of all the new bands on the
road in the next three months, Marina might prove to be the best bet. A favourite in the U.K., Marina is part of a wave of female British singers (Greek father, Welsh mother) topped by Adele. Her style is far ranging (influences include Tom Waits and Britney Spears) and so, for better or worse, avoids easy labels.
Tickets: $28.50 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca
Fleetwood Mac When: May 19, 7:30 p.m. Where: Rogers Arena, 800 Griffiths
Way
Why: The two-hour show focuses on the hugely popular and proven timeless album, Rumours, played in its entirety. Although it was Fleetwood Mac’s 11th LP, it was the second to feature the drastically revamped band with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham fronting. It also captured a band whose relationships were a mess, which gave Rumours an extra measure of substance and which the band long ago overcame.
Tickets: $49.50 to $199.50 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca
Yo La Tengo When: May 18, 8:30 p.m. Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St.
Why: Ira Kaplan’s band is versatile enough to be all things to all people, but it’s most fondly thought of as a thinking person’s power-pop band. Yo La Tengo might be at home with a variety of styles but the band’s choice of covers (or involvement in different projects) reveals its awareness. This show slightly will reflect that as it’s divided into two portions — acoustic and electric.
Tickets: $35.25 plus service charges at Red Cat Records and Zulu Records
Decibel Magazine When: May 21, 8 p.m. Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St.
Why: For almost 10 years, Decibel Magazine has covered heavy metal, the more extreme the better. On that basis, it has chosen some favourite, and representative, heavy bands to support on tour. Cannibal Corpse headlines over Napalm Death, Immolation and Beyond Creation.
Tickets: $28.50 plus service charges at ticketmaster.ca
Fall Out Boy When: June 20, 9:30 p.m. Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St.
Why: Here comes summer! If it seems like Fall Out Boy is starting over, well, it is. The band never really broke up but went on hiatus in 2004, filling up the years with solo projects. When last here, the huge success of Under The Cork Tree meant Fall Out Boy could play the hockey arenas. As well, its punkinformed style picked it out as the prime example of wise guy rock.
Tickets: SOLD OUT