there is more than cheap drinks on offer at the legion tonight

and katherine penfold has a new album

It's on again... Tonight is Indie Rock night at Sechelt Legion

Following Sinmobile's mental show at the Legion in January, they're back playing tonight (Sat March 5) with BONE Machine & Shanto. CHEAP drinks and NO cover (9:00pm).

Hip Hop Hooray - Volume 1 at Lil' Legion

The original beats & live performance by JoMega and Rich Cross tonight are sure to give the Roberts Creek Legion a beating. Expect loads of hip hop freaks losing their shit. Doors open at 9:00pm with an open mic by special guest MC Herc. The place will be pumping till 1:00am with DJ Yum Yum rocking the party until close. Tix are available at the door - $5 for members and $10 for guests.

Give Katherine Penfold's new album an airing

If the name doesn't mean much to you, it ought to. Katherine Penfold is new to the Coast but not new to music. If you missed her first live performance in Gibsons last week (as many of us did with the snowy weather) make sure you check in on her website for updates on when we'll be getting our next dose of jazzy, folky, bluesy, rockin' funk. Her album, Katherine Penfold, Live at The Park can be bought on www.katherinepenfold.com or from iTunes.

the girl knows how to shake a red tambourine

H'sao

Fri 18 Feb, Roberts Creek Hall, 9:00pm

Wanna bop tonight? Six-piece Montreal afropop group H’Sao are bound to turn the Roberts Creek Hall into a dance party with their high energy mix of Chadian traditional music, beatboxing and pop. The band draws influences from gospel, traditional African music, soul and R&B but it's their masterful A Capella singing, oozing rhythm and stunning dance moves that set them apart on the world music stage. Dancer and singer Taroum is known for performing barefoot in a sparkling blue onesie while shaking a red star tambourine - let's hope the Winter chill doesn't put her off bringing some sparkle to the Coast!  

It only costs 20 bucks for an unmissable night and tickets can be bought at Gaia's Fair Trade and Gifts in Gibsons, MELOmania in Roberts Creek and Strait Music in Sechelt.

See the H'sao website for the low down.

Images: elbo.ws, thescope.ca, signalblog.ca

white stripes eulogy

The White Stripes have stabbed a knife in the heart of music lovers everywhere with the announcement today that the band is breaking up. Damn it!

They broke the news on their website Whitestripes.com which included the statement, "The reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health issues as both Meg and Jack are feeling fine and in good health. It is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band have it stay that way.”

Thankfully for all those fans who had them on their 'must see before they die list' we have their youtube channel to get us through the lonely years ahead. And today had such promise before this news...

Image: Annie Leibovitz

music: pay off your credit cards kids...

There are some seriously good gigs coming to town!

2011 looked like it was starting slowly and I was beginning to get nostalgic for 2010 when the Editors and the Cribs rocked Vancouver, but thankfully a bunch of seriously good concerts have just been announced.

The Dodos, Thursday 31st March

The Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver

Without doubt the best gig I caught in 2009, and that includes a 3 day stint at Lollapalooza. This twosome rock! I have no idea how they can produce the sounds they do, but they are phenomenal live. I missed them when they played at Rifflandia last year so I'm super excited that they're heading our way again. If you check out their website dodos.net you can download a free track from their new album and catch a video of them in studio. Bring on March!

The Foals - Sunday 10th April

The Commodore, Vancouver

The Georgia Straight and Live Nation have just announced they're bringing the Foals to town in April. The group will be showcasing tunes from their latest album, Total Life Forever, which won album of the year at the 2010 Mercury Music Awards. Tickets for the Foals are priced at $21.50 (plus service fees) and go on sale this Friday (January 21), 10 a.m at livenation.com, but if you check out Straight.com you can take advantage of their presale which is on now (Thursday), from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Robert Plant, Sunday 17th April

Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver

I think I'm going to be getting trigger happy on Friday with Live Nation also announcing that tickets to legendary rocker, Robert Plant will also go on sale tomorrow, 21st January. Plant will bring his Americana group the Band of Joy to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 17. The six-piece band, which features vocalist Patti Griffin and guitarist-vocalist Buddy Miller, will be performing tunes from its self-titled debut album, which includes the singles "Angel Dance" and "Can't Buy Me Love".

Tickets for Robert Plant and Band of Joy are priced at $115, $89.50, and $69.50 (plus service charges), and are available at livenation.com

The Pixies, Tuesday 3rd May

The Orpheum, Vancouver

The Pixies are bringing their “Dolittle Tour” to 13 Canadian cities this spring, their most extensive Canadian tour ever. Apparently they've done the North American tour to death, but as someone who only really started appreciating Frank Black 2 years ago, I can't wait.

For the Doolittle tour, the band will be performing all of the songs from their 1989 classic Doolittle and its related B-sides, “Weird at My School,” “Dancing the Manta Ray,” and “Bailey’s Walk”. An imaginative cinematic production has been created for the tour. Designed by long-time Pixies lighting designer Myles Mangino and designer Paul Normandale, the set features four huge, undulating, eyeball-like spheres flown just below the lighting rig and are part of the concert’s light show. Filmmakers Judy Jacobs, Tom Winkler, Brent Felix and Melinda Tupling were brought on board to create 11 films especially for the production. The films are projected onto a massive backdrop video screen to accompany 12 of the 21 songs that comprise the show.

Again, starting tomorrow, a limited number of tickets for the tour dates will be available through a special presale on pixiesmusic.com. In addition, all pre-sale purchases will include a “download taster” of live tracks from the “Doolittle” show. The public on-sale will kick off next Friday, January 28 – log onto pixiesmusic.com for all details. Lock in the date.

The Kills, Sunday 8th May

The Commodore, Vancouver

Never seem 'em. Probably should. Anglo-American indie garage-rock duo the Kills will play the Commodore on May 8. The group—composed of American singer Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie Hince—will perform tunes from its latest album, Blood Pressures, with guests Cold Cave and the Entrance Band.

Got RSI yet? Now you will. You guessed it, tickets for the Kills are priced at $25 (plus service fees) and go on sale this Friday (January 21), 10 a.m., at livenation.com, but Straight.com readers are again being offered advantage presale today from 10am to 10pm. Take advantage of it by visiting their site for details.

Coachella, Friday 15th to Sunday 17th April

Empire Polo Field, Indio, CA

The Coachella lineup for this year’s festival has just been released, and so far I'm loving what I see. Besides headliners like Arcade Fire and The Strokes, they’ve also got other favorites like Two Door Cinema Club, Menomena, Elbow and Canadian group, Broken Social Scene. 

It all goes down April 15-17 in California, so that means we need to start planning…now. It's a better Easter treat than chocolate bunnies! Click here for more information and to buy tickets! And watch out for some of their line-up doing side shows in Vancouver....

Image Sources: last.fm, straight.com, coachella.com, deadjournalist.com