Another great Vancouver Folk Festival has come and gone. Here are my musical discoveries this year.
Good for Grapes
A young band from Vancouver that blew everyone away. People seated around me couldn’t believe how good they were and wondered why they hadn’t heard them before. Watch for them to explode in the next few years. Amazing on-stage energy. The accordion player was jumping around in the tightest hipster skinny jeans, I was worried his pants would split. After the show, I picked up their EP, which only has six of the songs they performed. It’s good (especially London Fog), but it lacks the punch their performance had. I can’t wait until their first full LP and hope it captures some of their energy.
River City Extension
Another high-energy folk-rock band, with a have a similar sound to Good for Grapes but with a more polish. They finished their set by wandering into the crowd and singing acoustically with lots of hand claps. I loved it. Listen to the Ballad of Oregon and then go buy the album.
One of the headliners of the festival, and for a good reason. They played some excellent tunes on the main stage Saturday night.
My last discovery, wasn’t a band, but a new Vancouver food cart – Street Meet, which stood out from the myriad of food options. They make a tasty, home-made quinoa and chickpea veggie burger. They’re normally parked at Burrard and Pender, so I’ll be making another trip to see them soon.
Canadian Veggie 