Seven things to do in Metro Vancouver, Aug. 22-29: Monstercat Compound, Sonny Landreth, and more
Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2019 18:00:48 +0000
Whether you’re looking for date ideas, free things to do or just something fun to do, you can’t go wrong with our list of events happening around Metro Vancouver between Aug 22 and 29.
For more ideas, click HERE for our coverage of Vancouver’s arts scene, or HERE to search our entertainment listings database.
Here are seven things to do in Metro Vancouver this week:
When: Aug. 24, 2-9 p.m.
Where: Monstercat HQ, 380 Railway St.
Free: RSVP at monstercat.com. Premium tickets, $27.50 at ticketfairy.com
Vancouver record label Monstercat has built a global brand in popular dance music, regularly showcasing its artists in China, Europe and across North America. As the brand has grown, so has the annual celebration that the company throws at its headquarters. Not only do you get two stages with constant tunes blasting out, there is a live art experience, food, a rendition gaming zone, more games, music education seminars and — new this year — an educational panel featuring Orri Sacher (Monstercat), Paige Chan (This Is Blueprint), Shannon Luttmer (The District), Spencer Reid (Tails) and Kristina Lao (Nimbus School) talking about the business of music and making art. Oh yeah, there is also the wicked Monstercat Street Piano, an ordinary piano on the outside that has been outfitted with a Roland JUNO-DS88 synthesizer that lets the public make their own loops to blast out of built-in Roland CUBE Street Ex Battery powered speakers. Rumour has it the thing has an LED light show and smoke machine loaded up, too.
When: Aug. 23-25
Where: Westin Bayshore
Tickets and info: creationent.com
Since it premiered in 2005, the horror/thriller (often comedy) series Supernatural has been a massive hit on the CW, and is the longest running American live-action fantasy TV series. Following the exploits of monster-hunting brothers Dean and Sam (Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, pictured) Winchester as they take on everything from being put into Scooby-Doo episodes to vying with God and Lucifer has not only been entertaining, it has also created a legacy in the Vancouver film and TV scene. It seems that every actor’s resume includes a turn on the set and now it’s coming to a close with season 15. This fan convention brings many of the cast together for chats, meet and greets, photo ops and more. With the CW’s other long-running show Arrow coming to a close, it’s like saying goodbye to old friends.
When: Aug. 24, 8 p.m.
Where: Commodore Ballroom
Tickets and info: $35 at Red Cat Records and ticketmaster.ca
This Montreal experimental post-rock collective has spawned a whole scene of similar acts, but none has been able to match GSY!BE for sheer intensity. Fronted — as much as the band has any kind of hierarchy — by guitarist Efrim Manuel Menuck (pictured), the multi-member unit usually plays spaces larger than the Commodore. It should be extra in-your-face to have the band up close and personal as it crafts walls of sound that chime and shatter like amplified broken glass.
When: Until Aug. 24
Where: Bau-Xi Gallery
Free:bau-xi.com
The exhibit displays the works of four women artists — two painters and two photographers — who have all developed a reputation for their ways of representing the female form. Pieces such as photographer Barbara Cole’s Falling Through Time (pictured), try to emphasize the power and potency of the female body in motion. Painter Vicki Smith has a series on swimmers in lakes and pools, and so on. The show highlights the female form through the lenses of four talented artists.
When: Aug. 24, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Rio Theatre
Tickets and info: $36, ticketmaster.ca
The Rio welcomes the so-called King of Slydeco, as in the funky Cajun slide guitar sounds which he plays so well. A resident of Breaux Brigde, dead centre in Louisiana’s Cajun country near the famous Bayou Teche, Landreth — with bassist Dave Ranson and drummer Brian Brrignac — delivers high-energy stomps in amplified swamp rock. It’s easy to understand why John Hiatt hired him to front his band The Goners for many years ,and why Eric Clapton has invited him to play at his Crossroads Festival for the past 24 years.
When: until Sept. 15, various dates and times
Where: PNE Fairgrounds
Tickets and info: pne.ca
Yes, the local amusement park has had a bit of bother recently. But that just adds one more level of excitement to hopping on the wooden roller-coaster or the Mighty Mouse. And they were pretty dang awesome rides already. Add in the Fair at the PNE and you can get some riding in, watch some SuperDogs, eat things you never imagined could be deep fried and then head back for some more G-force pulling amusement park action.
When: Online now
Where: Most podcast servers
Free: mailchimp.com
The Jump is where Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson (pictured) sits down with some of her favourite artists to get into the nitty gritty details of their songwriting process and successes and failures. Among the artists that the Scottish belter brings into the studio are Perfume Genius, Neko Case, Big Boi, Esperanza Spalding, and more. For someone known to drop a few F-bombs or more in concert, she is an utterly G-rated host with a light laugh and some good questions.
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