Tanya at the Starfish Room in Vancouver, Canada November 3, 1997
Bryce reports:
Last night Tanya kicked off the western leg of her tour. And what a show. She was playing at the Starfish room in Vancouver. I called ahead after work to confirm that the show was on, just in case her virus had gotten worse. Also to confirm the show starting time of 10 pm, kind of late.
Doors were to open at 9 so I showed up around quarter past. There was maybe a dozen people already in the club, including a former roommate of mine. Turns out he decided to show up because he's found that he's always been impressed by my favourite artists, so he wanted to check out Tanya's performance. So we talked while waiting for the opening band to perform.
I'd never been to the Starfish room before, it's a small bar/club that's seen better days. It's not a dump by any means mind you, but I can see it's going to need some work in a few years or it will be a dump. The stage was low (yes!), about a foot and a half. The stage was actually quite spacious with a lot of room to move around.
Black Lab came on stage around 10:30, probably a little later. I really didn't mind them at all for an opening band. I don't think their sound really lends itself to Tanya's sound. I always try to listen to opening bands with an open mind.
The place was filling up gradually and there was a decent crowd by the time Black Lab was done. I was a little surprised by the amount of men at the show, when I saw Belly two years ago the crowd had been mostly women, but here it was the other way round. I also noticed Rich Gilbert and David Narcizo hangig around the backstage entrance.
After Black Lab was done a few people starting heading up to the stage so I went up as well and ended up right at the front just a foot left of center.
The setup didn't take too long, as the stage was so low I could see the setlists. It wasn't very long after the setup that Tanya came onstage. I don't know if people were asleep at the wheel or what, but I was the only person cheering as she came on stage. She stumbled as she walked up to the front of the stage and out of one of her red platform shoes (or whatever you'd call them), which she was hardly embarassed by. She came on stage alone to play The Bees on her acoustic, the set list was as follows.
The Bees (acoustic)
Acrobat (acoustic)
Breathe Around You
Low Red Moon
Lantern (accordian)
Swoon
Pretty Deep
Bright Light
Dusted
Human
Bum
Mysteries of the Unexplained
Landspeed Song
Clipped
encore
Morna!
Time of the Season
The Bees was great live, I don't remember her voice sounding near as good when I saw Belly. I was so close to her I couldn't believe it, I was almost embarassed (not sure why, but I was). After The Bees the rest of the band came on stage and she introduced everyone and then started Acrobat. Is it just me or does Rich Gilbert look a little like Mike Mills of R.E.M.? Breathe Around You was great, WAY better live, her voice was so good I wished I had a recorder. She introduced the next song as an old one. When she started playing Low Red Moon it became apparent that the crowd was more familiar with her music from Belly given their reaction. After every song she'd smile at the crowds response and say thank you, really quiet.
It was around this time that I noticed her cough a little between songs, so in fact she is still suffering from the virus she picked up a few weeks ago. It didn't seem to affect her singing any, but she wasn't too talkative with the audience and she didn't move around the stage much. I also noticed Dean give her a few concerned looks during the show.
My only complaint during Lantern was that I couldn't hear enough of the accordion, I love accordions, I know it sounds strange. Otherwise great. Swoon was beautiful, I thought I'd miss the string arrangements, but it sounded so good that I almost didn't even notice. Pretty Deep was when the band started gaining some more steam, I noticed David was really getting into it at this point.
Bright Light was one of the highlights of the night for me. I didn't expect Tanya's voice to sound so good. I thought it sounded better than the version on LFU. She introduced as it being about ET. Then she introduced Dusted as another old song. Human was so cool, I'm not sure how many people were familiar with this one but it was well received and very very cool. They screwed up the beginning, Tanya tried to signal to them not to start, but David missed it and started, but when they realized she wasn't playing they stopped. She apologized to the audience, explaining that it was her first wahwah (sp?) pedal and it was a little quirky, also that it didn't seem to matter which chords you played.
Bum was great too, she introduced it as,'this song is called...bum.' Iknow she hates being called cute, but that's the only way I can think of to describe the way she said bum. Mysteries of the Unexplained did not disappoint in the least. Landspeed Song and Clipped were both excellent, Tanya's voice held up the whole night despite the fact that she coughed more between songs as the night progressed. Though for those concerned it wasn't a bad cough and from what I've read about her condition at earlier shows, she is getting better.
When they left the stage I noticed one of guys at the front snag Tanya's setlist, so I quickly grabbed Dean's. The only other setlist I've ever gotten was the Belly one from two years back so I figured that was appropriate.
There was no encore listed on the setlist, but we cheered and yelled until they came back on. Tanya thanked the crowd, it was a very sincere thank you, she really appreciated our enthusiasm. Then she told us that they had ridden on their tour bus all the way from Washington, DC. This surprised the hell out of me, I thought they would have flown. They described the experience as being on Muir, except that no one came to them with supplies. The whole band was grinning as she talked about their trip, sounded like it was a LONG trip. At some point someone in the crowd yelled out 'welcome home'. This confused Dean some, he commented that he didn't think this was her home. Someone then yelled out that the guy had been sniffing glue, Dean responded with ,'ah, that explains it.'
Then Tanya introduced the next song as one they hadn't played live before so she warned us that they might screw it up. She spent a few moments doublechecking chords before introducing it as Morna! Apparently I wasn't the only person who recognized the song as someone in the back yelled out approval. It was so cool live, I don't think they screwed it up in the least. Then they played Time of the Season. I knew from past reviews of shows that they were performing this one, but I didn't recognize the name. But as soon as they played it I recognized the song, I just had never known it's name. Rich and Dean looked kinda funny when they were doing the heavy 'ah' into their mikes.
At one point Tanya looked down at me and smiled, probably because of the shirt I was wearing. I don't have any Tanya-related shirts, the closest I had was one of my Catherine Wheel shirts, not that anyone really cares but it was an Adam & Eve shirt and is a really nice shirt.
When they went off they turned off the lights and started playing music, so I knew it was over. I hung around the stage for a bit to see if anyone from the band would come out. Dean did after a few minutes, he was talking to some guy. It looked like they knew each other from the way they were talking. I heard Dean say that Tanya was exhausted, though she did a good job of not showing it.
I asked who I think is the bands head tech, name starts with a D, but it escapes me right now, if they were selling any shirts. Apparently they sold out at the Washington show and the shipment they were supposed to get in Vancouver never got there.
What a show. The crowd was fairly laid back, I was probably moving around the most, though I've got no sense of rhythm, so I probably look pretty silly. Though given the set, it's kind of mellow, it's not surprising the crowd awas laid back, not that I'm complaining. Though at times I thought the crowd could have been more energetic, it would have given the band more energy to feed off.
Overall it will stand out it my mind as one the best shows ever. Being so close made it seem really intimate. My former roommate was very impressed and he's probably converted into a Tanya fan now.
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Bryce Jensen