Five concerts to see in September and October
Blame all those years of the school year starting after Labour Day weekend for that feeling that a new year is starting. Add in the temperature shift, raindrops and earlier sunsets, and it’s clear that the summer season is over.
That means that the fall concert season is upon us and the urge to get up and dance at the outdoor festival often gets replaced with more cerebral listening — often in the cosy confines of a warm, dark venue. Here are five shows in September and October that will keep your spirits high as the warm months sigh their last and we brace for Canadian winter:
MIKE FARRIS
When: Sept. 19, 8 p.m.
Where: St. James Community Hall Tickets and info: $36 at roguefolk. bc.ca
In 2015, former Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies lead singer Mike Farris picked up the Grammy Award for best roots gospel album for his Shine for All the People. It was a pretty amazing payoff for the battle he waged to reach four years sober, having been an alcoholic-drug addict since age 15. Silver * Stone is the followup to that release and it finds Farris getting his swampsoul sound tuned up on songs such as Golden Wings and the killer cover of Bill Withers’ Hope She’ll Be Happier, which he dedicates to his wife Julie, who stuck it out with him for the past 23 years. A totally dedicated performer, this should tear the roof off the old church hall.
A WORLD OF RHYTHM: TRICHY SANKARAN WITH THE OFFERING OF CURTIS ANDREWS
When: Sept. 22, 8 p.m.
Where: Roundhouse Performance Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews Tickets and info: $20 advance at caravanbc.com or $25 at the door
Trichy Sankaran is a master of the South Indian mridangam and kanjira hand drums that define the regional musical styles he plays. For six decades, Sankaran has travelled the world educating and performing with other musicians and one of these longtime students is percussionist Curtis Andrews. Andrews’ band the Offering of Curtis Andrews includes some of the local improvising scene’s aces, and special guests on this gig include Vidyasagar Vankayala (South Indian vocal) and Kaushik Sivaramakrishnan (South Indian violin). Expect to hear some very fast, complex and hypnotic rhythmic exchanges and solo flights at the Caravan World Rhythms show.
STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES: 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF COPPERHEAD ROAD
When: Sept. 29, 30, 7 p.m.
Where: Commodore Ballroom Tickets and info: $65 at livenation. com
While he was already well-established after the debut EP Pink & Black and breakout 1996 album Guitar Town, Steve Earle really hit one out of the park with 1988’s Copperhead Road. With his life out of control with drugs, alcohol and cyclical marriage and divorce, Earle somehow managed to drop a career-defining album of badass outlaw rock ’n’ roll. Copperhead Road took him into rock radio, European success and even a duet with the Pogues. By the time the tour cycle was over on the album, Earle was in a tailspin he didn’t really emerge from for another seven years with the acoustic comeback Train a Comin’. Given his subsequent rise to folk/rock-legend status and string of successful releases, it’s going to be interesting to see how he and the Dukes “celebrate” this 30th anniversary.
FIRST AID KIT
When: Oct. 2, 7 p.m.
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre Tickets and info: $40 at ticketmaster.ca
Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg just might be the folk Abba. As teenagers in the town of Enskede, the two began writing and hit radio in their Scandinavian homeland with the song Tangerine from the 2008 debut EP Drunken Trees. Making affiliations with everyone from Jack White to Conor Oberst, the two saw their album The Lion’s Roar break internationally, while Stay Gold went better than gold at home and hit the top 25 in Canada, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Firmly established, the group is touring in support of its new album Ruins, which has garnered solid support in rock, folk and pop circles.
AN EVENING WITH PAT METHENY, ANTONIO SANCHEZ, LINDA MAY HAN OH AND GWILYM SIMCOCK
When: Oct. 20, 7 p.m.
Where: Vogue Theatre
Tickets and info: From $56 at ticketfly.com
The folks at Cap Jazz present an evening of material spanning guitarist Metheny’s entire career. Accompanied by an ensemble featuring his longtime drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Linda May Han Oh and pianist Gwilym Simcock, Metheny has said that the show could be “anything and everything,” and to be prepared for plenty of improvisational flights no matter what the group performs. A 20-times Grammy Award-winner, it’s no doubt that the night will be something special. Keep your eyes on the Cap Jazz offers this season too as the music presented at the BlueShore Financial Centre for the Arts at Capilano University is always top-tier.