Author: Vincent Tao

7/19/2008

Join us on Saturday, July 19, 2008 for a two-part celebration of VANDU’s first decade of service in the Downtown Eastside.

At 12:00 noon in Oppenheimer Park (Powell and Dunlevy, Vancouver), there will be a ceremonial launch of a memorial acknowledging those who have passed away in the Downtown Eastside, as well as an unveiling of a timeline highlighting VANDU’s achievements since 1998.

The ceremony will be followed by guest speakers, including Bud Osborne, founding member of VANDU; Ann Livingston, Executive Program Director of VANDU; Libby Davies, New Democratic Member of Parliament for Vancouver East, and an awards ceremony acknowledging longstanding members of the VANDU community.

Food and refreshments will be served, barbecue-style — as well as outdoor activities.

The outdoor event will be followed in the evening by:

A Benefit for VANDU’s 10-year Anniversary
Featuring performances by:
The Neins Circa, Adrienne Pierce, Ari Shine, Veda Hille,
Paint, and Jesse Matheson and His Midnight Snacks.
Saturday, July 19 @ The Railway Club
579 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver
$10 admission at the door, 8:30 p.m. doors, 19+ with ID

THE NEINS CIRCA caught the attention of The New Pornographers’ Carl Newman who invited the group to support his solo North American tour in 2004, where they opened for Calexico and played legendary venues of the Troubadour in Los Angeles and the Bowery Ballroom in New York. Their second album, Sleeves and Wiggs reached #8 on the CBC Radio 3-30 countdown. In 2007, the Neins Circa signed on with Vancouver-based Copperspine Records.

ADRIENNE PIERCE recently interviewed herself and became her own manager. She was late for the interview but can overlook that since she had all the right answers. She has toured internationally with Jane Sibbery, Damien Rice, and Ray LaMontague, and has had songs appear on Grey’s Anatomy and Veronica Mars. Her most recent release, Faultline, was produced by Jeff Trott (Sherly Crow) and features members of R.E.M., Fiona Apple’s band, and Beck’s band. Her cover of Neil Young’s “Pocahantas” was recently released on Broken Tunes II: A Tribe to Neil Young, which also features 54-40, The Barenaked Ladies, Tom Cochrane, and Raine Maida.

ARI SHINE is a one man guitar pop crusade. Big Take Over calls him “A Paul Stanley/Rick Springfield for the millennium.” This is loud hip shakin’ guitar rock and roll from Los Angeles produced by Earle Mankey (Sparks, Concrete Blonde, Beach Boys, Three O’Clock, etc). Ari Shine co-wrote the Grand Prize Winner (Song Of The Year) at this year’s prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and has written and performed with Jennifer Finch (L7), Kari Krome (Runaways), Martyn Lenoble (Porno for Pyros), Todd Youth (Danzig), Victor Indrizzo (Beck), and co-wrote 6 songs on Australian buzz artist Kara Grangier’s record (including her duet with Amos Lee), featured in Starbucks stores across Australia. This past May, Ari created a sensation at the famous Cavern Club Liverpool, getting special praise from the BBC and gushing UK reviews for the new CD.

VEDA HILLE has been writing, recording, and touring Canada, the UK, and Europe since 1990, and has released an album roughly every 18 months since her 1994 debut album. She writes about the natural world, the trickiness of love, the constant threat of tragedy, and anything else that amazes her. She continues to make her own records, and does so in cahoots with Ape Records, run by XTC’s Andy Partridge. Veda is the in-house composer for Theatre Replacement and collaborates with them on at least one show per year. She has also been performing with the CBC Radio Orchestra.

PAINT makes music in the grand tradition of the finest storytellers, with infectious, pop-infused hooks, clever, thought-provoking narratives. Their debut release “Urban Folk Tales” was praised as “a truly unique first effort held together by frontman Robb Johannes’ strong vocals. He can sing in hushed tones one minute before switching to a full on swagger that would make James Brown proud” (Scene and Heard). The album reached the Top 10 on Canadian campus radio and was featured on UK label E3 Records’ Showcase International compilation after the band was voted fan favourite, beating out the competition by thousands of votes.

JESSE MATHESON AND HIS MIDNIGHT SNACKS – Jesse Matheson’s new record Pleasure Pounds (Copperspine Records 2008), is so full of fun, food, sexual innuendo, and sexual food innuendo you’re sure to be back for a second helping. Backed by Shawn Killaly on Drums and Lara Farcasan on keys, Jesse takes you on a funny and quirky romantic musical romp through topics such as crushes on women shopping at the grocery store, makin’ out, and listing all 23 french words you know to try and get dates and last but not least – food! BYO Napkin.