"I wrote this song in Port Colborne on the edge of Lake Erie"

My heart did a little leap when Tony Dekker uttered those words...and I may have involuntarily let out a loud WOOO!

With Jon-Rae Fletcher opening for them, Great Lake Swimmers played to a boisterous sold out Vogue Theater Friday night.




--

Spotted: My Photos On The Internet

So I have a few shots that have made their way into internet land, and I might as well highlight them here:

First up is one of my Kate shots that accompanied a Science Fiction website's "2009’s Sexiest Geeks". Gotta love that:




Some of the Peak Performance Project finale photos ended up on Melissa Lai's blog: http://hellolissa.com/ (I can't find the exact link anymore, but here's a screen shot):


I found one of my 101 To Eat shots, of the homemade marshmallows, on the GuestLife website:


And lastly, I have a photo on The Racoons' Wikipedia Page! And while there is a liscening thing that says basically the world can use it however they want (not really true at all) the Metadata on the photo shows up! Which has my copyright on it:

Meat Schmeat...

New friends Jess and Bridget are starting a little thing called The Vegan Project.

"We are passionate about our health, the environment, and the treatment of animals. We are learning about what it means to be vegan and documenting our experiences here."

The girls posted on their twitter the other day that they wanted some photos and offered goodies and love. Working for food? I'm in.

I had lunch with Jess at Nuba (Cafe...the one on Hastings lost power!) first which was delicious (I had the falafel):


We then went over to Bridget's house and the girls made vegan peanut butter crispy squares (I tried them later and they were tasty):


After that it was off to Commercial Drive for some shots of of their favourite restaurants/organic stores, as well as a stop into Addis Cafe, an Ethiopian restaurant, to try some of their food as a 3pm snack (it was really good...The Veggie Combo: omen, fasolia, yater alitcha, meser wot):

It was a great afternoon and full of yummy food (I still couldn't give up cheese...yet), and I will be with them again next week to shoot a bit more!

The Zolas CD Release @ The Biltmore

My friends, The Zolas had their belated CD Release party at the Biltmore on the 27th, with Henry & The Nightcrawlers and We Are The City opening up. It was an excellent show and I'm very happy for their success.


The Zolas and We Are The City are now on tour across western Canada...for dates/cities, click here.

Valentimes...

I stopped by the Cocoa Nymph the other day to shoot Rachel's Valentine's Day chocolates: Brandied Cherries!

She's also made cinnamon, champagne, rose and cherry chocolates.

Go eat some chocolate, I'm full of it right now!

I Wish I'd Written Them Too...

Okay, so Zach (from the Zolas) wrote the article on songs he wishes he had written...but I spent about 2 hours doing the HTML and finding the photos etc...so I wanted to post it again!

Go read it, then go buy a ticket to the show, and then go listen to their songs.

Social Bites!

I don't remember how I came across Social Bites. I know it was through Twitter, but whomever pointed me in its direction, THANKS!

The second I learned what it was about, I was in. I signed up to be a "Hobby Chef" and have 2 groups of 4 strangers each come to my house and eat what I cooked for them!

It went down this past Saturday and was a ton of fun.

I took a few shots after I made my food, and then some at the "Hot Spot" afterward, which was Call The Kettle Black (a cookware store). There, we did a Dao Tea tasting, ate some of my wonderful friend Rachel's chocolate from the Cocoa Nymph and the winner of top hobby chef was awarded.
I didn't win, but I got to take home some tea, a gift certificate to CTKBlack and a free pass to a future Social Bites event. (The next one is in March and I'm hoping to go!)

Here are some shots from the evening:

And The Winner Is....

WE ARE THE CITY!

My favourite part of watching WATC win $150,000, was watching their girlfriends freak out...and then seeing the boys in shock on stage.

The three of them are so genuinely nice, and insanely talented, that you couldn't help but smile the entire time.

Oh yah...Bend Sinister picked up $50K, The Left got $75K and there was a giant concert that happened too:
(To see all of the photos, go here: www.mcavoy.ca/peakfinale )

"Everyone Should Come Play In Here...

...the lighting is AMAZING."

I've come to realize that clothing stores know how to light their merch.
Thus, put a musician in the store and the lighting is already set to Amazing.

This was the case at the Sitka store on 4th Ave in Vancouver when Aidan Knight came back into town to play. (There was also art on display and an open bar, which made me miss Toronto art openings pretty bad.)

Here are the shots (many familiar faces in the audience):

I Love MBF

I think the first time I saw Michael Bernard Fitzgerald was at the very fun Hey Ocean show at Richards... instant love for him.

The second time I saw him/took photos was at the Media Club and he gave me his CD...even MORE love.

So the second I saw he'd be in Vancouver again, I knew I'd HAVE to go.

He played crowd there to see (Canadian Idol star) Carly-Rae Jepsen, and MBF had them dancing along to his music(and laughing at the signature covers that he plays to close the set... which ended this time with THIS :s).

Anyways, here are some shots, including guest appearance by the always lovely Ashleigh Ball:

Pilsner Party

Pilsner + Party = Pilsner Party at the Media Club (really? I'm NEVER there...)
Sweetheart played too! $5 to get in and a free can of beer...it got crazy fast.

Here are some photos:

Em Oh Vee!

I took advantage of my membership and went to the opening of ART of CRAFT at the Museum of Vancouver on Wednesday night.

Arts/Crafts + Wine? Sold.

There was some amazing stuff...several things that I would have bought! Including a campfire necklace, boots with mussels on them (though they were ceramic), teapots and a dress made with old baseballs!

Here are some shots: (there are also photos: here)

Talent Time

I almost forgot to blog this...


I went to my first "Talent Time" the other night at the Biltmore. Really, what sold me (and the wonderful Alicia Katz, pictured below) to come out on a Wednesday evening was the fact that they advertised a hot tub would be there. Upon arrival, no hot tub. I did hear promises that there would be a party with one eventually.

The night was still great with sun lamps, comedy, a ukulele king, music and a burlesque show.

I've Got A Date With A Wrecking Ball (Day 2)

Another evening, another James Lamb performance. Another show at Cafe Montmartre too...the staff remembered me, always a good thing.

James & David had another great show (also playing that night was Erica Mah) performing to a slightly larger, but 10x hotter (temperature wise) crowd.





If you read this blog and aren't in Vancouver, here are their tour dates for the next two weeks:

Tuesday, January 12th - Ymir
The School House

Wednesday, January 13th - Nelson
TBA

Thursday, January 14th - Penticton
The Can

Friday, January 15th - Kamloops
The Art We Are

Saturday, January 16th - Valemount
Anglican/United Church - 7:30pm - $12

Sunday, January 17th - Prince George
Artspace

Monday, January 18th - Wells
The Bears Paw Cafe

Thursday, January 22nd - Prince Rupert
House Concert

Friday, January 23rd - Smithers
The Church

I've Got A Date With A Wrecking Ball (Day 1)

Whenever I see there is another show at The Cocoa Nymph I am excited...so when I saw that the talented James Lamb would be playing there, my plans were set.

There were about 20 people squeezed into the little chocolate store, seated so close to James (and David Newberry) that they remarked the only way they could be closer is if they were sitting in our laps.

Tariq Musiq

I took a trip up Main Street in Vancouver to Cafe Montmartre where I finally got to see the wonderful Tariq Hussain play.


There's a line in one of his songs that's been stuck in my head: "I call shotgun on your heart."
Laura Smith and I looked at each other and decided that was a pretty good line, but would probably only work on a girl in song-form...not so much as a pick-up line at a bar.

One Night Stand II

For a second year in a row some of Vancouver's best came together on New Years Eve to play some covers, drink some booze and have a ton of fun.

I was asked to set up a photo booth for the evening, which ended up being a source of great amusement and hilarious photos.


It was truly a amazing night (I even played cowbell/tambourine for a few songs, and sang Hey Jude with the ensemble on stage at the end of the night).

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS

and for kicks, here's the video that I shot of the band/ladies covering M.I.A.'s Paper Planes:

Nu Haus; Christmas in Ridgeville

Flew home to Ontario to have Christmas with the family...in a house I've never lived in before!
In fact, today (the 8th of January) is the day my house in Port Colborne closed...as my parents have reminded me about 5 times between them today. I think they are TRYING to bum me out.

Anyways, "home" was a nice break, but it went way too quickly (and was too full of doctor/dentist appointments for my liking).

Here are some of my shots (I could post 30 of my dog, but I'll restrain myself):






(goodbye house)

Catch Up/Wrap Up!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged...but it makes sense given that I shot 5 shows in 6 days and then flew to Ontario for Christmas.

So to sum up my last days in Vancouver before Christmas:

Saturday the 12th:
Aidan Knight @ The Media Club, where I finally met/got to hear the WONDERFUL Jody Glenham



Monday the 14th:
The Aidan Knight Experience continued with a show at the Biltmore, where We Are The City also came to support. Very nice guys. And THEN I ran (and taxied) as fast as I could The Media Club, but still missed Dave Vertesi's set...my friend and fellow photographer Mark Cohene was having an art show that night. After I checked that out, I went and relaxed for the rest of the night at the Racoon's Christmas Party:





Tuesday the 15th:
Racoons @ Fortune! See post.

Wednesday the 16th:
DAY OFF! zzzz.

Thursday the 17th:
Ridiculous spandex suited Topless Gay Love Tekno Party took over my 2nd home (aka the Media Club)(with opening act For British Eyes Only) and a giant dance party began, which led to my going home covered in sparkles and confetti...




Friday the 18th:
The Zolas & Hey Ocean at the Vogue. I seriously love the lighting in this venue. My favourite part of the evening was getting access to the closed off balcony to take some shots, and then taking a 2 minute dance break...which amused me because only the band could see me. Dave-O even waved...







Saturday the 19th:
NIGHT BEFORE MY 8AM FLIGHT!
I was once again at the Media Club (they're so good to me) for Undercover Brothers...a selection of cover/tribute bands, of which I caught Neverland (Michael Jackson) and Wheezler (Weezer). It was great fun and I even cut my knee wide open:






Longest Post ever! Hope you liked all the shots.