Tonight I took in my first taste of New Music West alongside Arieanna, Ianiv, and Duane (who was my official photographer for the evening) at the Red Room.

The event was the 604 Records showcase - no relation although my ears did perk up whenever someone thanked ‘604′.

Unfortunately I must admit that despite the acts being incredibly talented our overall experience at the Red Room was pretty sour.

We arrived in time to catch Jessie Farrell on stage and Lisa Bettany in the crowd, snapping some shots of her performance. Although country music never has been my thing, you can tell these artists are very talented and from the reaction of the audience they have a huge fan-base.

The next set was performed by Aaron Pritchett and his band. Again, super country JRfm type tunes but Aaron had a pretty amazing voice… and dang were his arms muscular… but I digress. Duane started to get in the country music groove relating to such lyrics as, “hold my beer while I kiss your girlfriend.”

Before Armchair Cynics took the stage we discovered something unsettling; Ianiv was being hassled at the bar because they wanted him to pay for a glass of water. Apparently the Red Room has a policy that tap water is only free if you order it alongside a purchased alcoholic beverage.

Being the designated driver for the evening he was not about to order a rum and coke so he disputed the charge they were enforcing for a single glass of H20.

With a bitter taste left in our parched mouths, we sat through two songs of the set by Armchair Cynics and took off. For a girl who never has and never will like country music, the first half of the night was the most enjoyable by far - until we ran into the Red Room’s preposterous “designated drivers must pay for tap water” policy. As Duane said, “what, you want me to go drink from the toilet?”

Tomorrow we’ll check out some more talent but I’m afraid I will not be stepping foot inside the Red Room at any point in the foreseeable future.

For more of this evening’s coverage, check out Duane’s Flickr photos, and Ianiv’s wrap up post including his photos as well.

I must admit this is a pretty proud moment for me. Not only do I get to use my social media skills to promote and live blog a community event, but this is for a festival in my old neighbourhood, in my hometown - and it’s going to be pretty darn great. Miss604.com is pleased to be an official media partner for Surrey Fusion Festival 2008:

Surrey Fusion Festival will be Surrey’s largest 3-day multicultural celebration with 40 international pavilions celebrating music, food and culture. 5 stages of entertainment with headline performers on the World Music Stage and the Celebrations dance stage, all this in a brand new beautiful urban park.

What:
Surrey Fusion Festival 2008

Where:
Holland Park (SW Corner of King George Highway & Old Yale Road)
Between Surrey Central Skytrain station and King George Skytrain Station

When:
Friday, July 18, 4pm – 11pm
Saturday, July 19, 11am – 11pm
Sunday, July 20th, 11am – 9pm

Photo credit: Paul Hillsdon on Flickr

There will be a world music stage, a headliner stage (including a performance by Juno Award winning Jully Black), a celebration dance stage (featuring Irish dancers, entourages from Korea and China, Elite Bhangra and Hip-Hop crews, traditional oriental artistry, historical Persian performances, salsa, sambas, caporeia, calypso and modern tap).

Food, activities for kids, three days in the sunshine (crossing our fingers on that one) and the cost? In the grand tradition of other community event like Winterfest, Surrey’s Fusion Festival is absolutely FREE to everyone. Simply enjoy Canada’s 2008 Cultural Capital and if you’re still not convinced, I’ll have blog posts and Flickr photos being published throughout the entire weekend to entice you out.

We’re still a few months away and there’s a lot to prepare for, check the website for updates and if you would like to help out they’re also in need of 200 volunteers. Find out more on the Surrey Fusion Festival site.

Okay, seriously, how come no one told me about this show? It’s happening in just under two weeks and I just stumbled upon it while browsing upcoming events at the Commodore.

What: NOFX with No Use For A Name and American Steel
When: May 9, 2008
Where: Commodore Ballroom

Hm, perhaps no one knew I liked these bands? I suppose that’s a viable excuse, however I was a teenager growing up in Surrey, frequenting skate parks and going to shows at Seylynn Hall and the Langley Civic Centre before I was old enough to get into those fancy downtown concert at places like The Starfish Room. I’ve been to my fair share of punk shows although unfortunately I think the last one I attended of the sort was Me First and the Gimme Gimmes in 2004 at Richards on Richards.

Regardless of my history, varying musical tastes, and my weakness for anything involving Fat Mike, I’m truly bummed that I found out about this so late in the game as the concert is sold out. However… stay tuned for a related announcement.

It’s been a while since we’ve done a regular episode but when I recently got the chance to speak with New Music West’s own Jory Groberman about the upcoming festival, I thought what better way to capture it than on RadioZoom.

New Music West is… “The largest and most influential new music event in Western North America… The only annual public new music showcase in Western Canada… Operating since 1990… Showcases over 200 bands to the public and industry… Takes place in 30 venues across Vancouver… $30 “All You Can Hear” wristbands… Conference, networking events and educational workshops.” [New Music West]

Episode run time is 13:36, listen online, subscribe or grab the audio file.

What’s better than watching a completely rockin’ band at the Commodore for $20? Not much at all really. Despite the fact that I felt out of place with out a fedora, horn-rimmed glasses, a beard, or a jean jacket, I thoroughly enjoyed The Black Keys.

The volume and caliber of nostril-tickling sound that those two men produce is beyond compare in rock today. Boy am I sure glad John introduced me to them a few years ago.

Update: The Black Keys website has a fan photo gallery where they’re aggregating in photos with the appropriate tags from Flickr. The photo in this post (above) is now on there. Awesome.

I have so many mini topics to cover that if I were to write a blog post for each people would get annoyed about how I’m too prolific and my feed would swamp their readers and it would just be a mess. On that note, if you’d like to simply get my feed (without Flickr photos too) you can grab it here, or stay with the main feed, cause it’s pretty fun.

Photo Credit: PatZ on Flickr

Photo: John Bollwitt

That’s it for now, happy (sunny) Thursday everyone!

As we gear up for concert season, our dance card is getting pretty full. Luckily a lot of great bands tend to make their way over to our fair city to treat us with some excellent live shows - which are always a good time. It just so happens that through the magic of my contact form, and the band’s management, I have two tickets to give away for upcoming concert at The Plaza Club featuring The Submarines.

Source: Spin Magazine

Side note: In 2006 The Submarines made the component tracks for their song “Peace & Hate” available for remix under a by nc-sa Creative Commons license (same as the license on Miss604.com) on the Jamglue online mixing site as a contest.

From what I’ve heard so far, The Submarines seem to have the 1 man, 1 women element of Mates of State, plus the softer melodies of Stars. You can visit their Facebook page, sample a few songs on their MySpace, and here’s a little something from YouTube:

If you’d like to go to the concert, simply leave a comment below and as usual with my contests, I’ll draw the winners name. The deadline to enter is March 24th, 2008 - Good luck!

My Surrey touchstone in the blog world, Paul, sent along a Facebook invite to the following event that made me (almost) get up and do the chicken dance.

“Bring your friends and kick it old style as we bring back Stardust Roller Skating! Battle of the Bands, vote for your favorite! Dance demonstrations, roller skating, contests and more! For youth grades 8-12, $7 admission, $2 skate rental. No Drinking. No Drugs. No Jerks.”

When: Saturday May 3rd, 7:00pm - midnight
Where: North Surrey Rec Centre
More info: The Surrey Youth Council or the Facebook Event.

After carefully looking over the “who should come” section of the flyer I realized I’m about 10 years too old to participate. Honestly though I think it’s a case of ageism. Do these kids even remember Stardust in all its glory? I think they’re just co-opting the memory of our psychedelic hang out cause retro is *in* right now.

I kid. In all honesty it sounds like a pretty good time… I can pass for an 11th grader… right?