More to come, and it looks like this has turned into the start of another project that’s bigger (and way more complicated) than we’d ever imagined.  More on that later.

To keep your appetite wet, here’s the delightful Aliqua. Seven/eight/depends on the date young ladies, backed up by some blurry guy in the back who really likes the song.

Enjoy…

The people who made it happen:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

Our gracious hosts Blenz: @BlenzCoffee:

And of course, us: @adamandkev

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Nations unite in their appreciation of Téa

Let’s get one thing straight from the start.  It’s Téa.  Pronounced Tay-ah.  That said, I might be wrong on the pronounciation.  It just sounds way better coming from the lady herself.

The Serbian-born Kits resident is another star from the Peak Performance Project who put in months of stress, sweat, and song-stuff (I ran out of “s” words – put the Pulitzer on ice) during her journey into the top 20.  She normally performs with a band, but when she strolled into the Blenz on Hastings on a sunny Sunday morning, holding nothing but a small pink battery-power amp, it was up to her and her alone to convince those inside to put down their coffee and enjoy the Téa.  Ouch.

To describe hearing her sing and seeing her play piano is tricky.  It’s hypnotic.  Imagine if Amy Winehouse didn’t lose her mind, looks, and empathy and your halfway there.  Again, I’m clearly not doing it justice.  Check her out here and save yourself any more of my ramblings:

http://www.teasmusic.com/

More acts to follow in the next couple of days, including a young girl who should go far, and seven girls who recently played to 15,000 people at one of the torch ceromines.  As always, keep an eye on Twtter:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

By Adam and Kev Photography – www.adamandkev.com

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Danny Echo

I wasn’t entirley sure how this one would go.  When you take a band with a reputation for audacious (read: probably dangerous) show pieces involving pyrotechnics, smoking guitars, and even the odd fire extinguisher, and then strip them of every piece of electrical equipment and put them on a cafe patio at three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, you have to make sure you insurance is in order.  If they sneak something in, it could all go Backdraft very quickly.

As it turned out, the boys from Danny Echo put on a great accoustic show.  They’ve had some very recent experience with a very simular idea – as part of their top 20 finish in the Peak Performance Project (if you haven’t heard of it, check it out here) they undertook a tour of the GRVD skytrain system.  They made it quite a fair way before security decided it was all a little bit too exciting and sent them on their way.  We did no such thing, as Blenz again played gracious host in Yaletown.

The boys went down very well with the passing crowds – some of whom may have been running from the death metal band playing at one end of the street, or the jazz band playing at the other.  Either way, lots of music and/or coffee lovers found refuge in the heavan created by the boys, though one little kid did seem more interested in his Tonka firetruck.  They left after three songs, and within minutes were putting on another impromtu gig about a block away on the walk back to the car.

Canadians. Good at Hockey. Bad at Dancing.

Check them out at www.dannyecho.com. We’re pretty much doing another show every day next week (two in some cases), so keep an eye on Twitter:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

By Adam and Kev Photography – www.adamandkev.com

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Garrett Kato just after his three-song secret session.

He’s had a busy year – top ten in 99.3 The Fox’s “Seeds”, top 20 in 100.5 The Peak’s (incredible yet somehow not that well known yet) Peak Performance Project, and he played the Van’s Warped Tour.  Despite all this, Garrett generously gave us some time tonight to be the second of the surprise gigs that will be erupting across the city over the next couple of weeks.

Garrett has a voice that stops people in their tracks.  Especially female people.  Glad I bought my girlfriend with me then.  I could tell you all about his music but I’d never do it justice.  Better you just go here and check it out instead:

http://garrettkato.com/music

The venue (Blenz on Davie and Granville) had a couple of points of interest.  On the outside Canadian fans and a man dressed as a banana (over?) celebrated an 8-0 win over rank outsiders Norway.  No offence guys, but they were 1000-1 to win the gold before the tournament even started.  I think my odds of wining it weren’t too far behind.  Inside the cafe, a lady in full make-up was sleeping on a stool.  That takes awesome balance.  Or a lot of booze.

Next secret gig coming soon (and video of the last two I promise!).  Here are the Twitter feeds you need to be following now so you don’t miss the next one, and we might not announce it from all of us.  Maybe we’re lazy, maybe we’re forgetful, or maybe we’re just plain sneaky.  Either way, you’ve been warned.   And remember, you’ll only get a few hours notice:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

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Aaron Grant caught in the parade.

Saturday night saw the first of many spontaneous mini-sessions – artists and bands playing impromptu gigs throughout the city.  Blenz were kind enough to play host for this project, and there will no doubt be many more bemused/surprised/gleeful coffee drinkers in the weeks to come as the local (and maybe not so local) talents break into acoustic loveliness.  Follow the guys below on Twitter to get announcements for the next gig.  Hint: it’s really soon.  And you’ll only get a few hours notice:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

The brave act for gig #1 was Broken Condom Babies frontman Aaron Grant (http://www.myspace.com/aarongrantmusic) playing songs from his solo project.  The set was punctuated by screams as a parade of thousands poured by the Helmcken & Hamilton Blenz, and in addition to some phenomenal one-man moments of musical mastery, we managed to get him in the crowd for a very quick photo.

Stay tuned for video of the show – it’ll be worth the wait.  For now, keep your eyes peeled on Twitter and wait for the next show…

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The highlight of the evening was probably Neil Young stumbling on stage, grabbing a beer without really acknowledging the crowd, then launching into 45 minutes of greatness.

Yes, he looked a bit worse for wear.  In fact, he was shaking like a cat shitting glass in between songs.  But that didn’t stop all but one of the 9,000 in attendance from loving every second.  The exception to that all but one was the girl who hit the beer tent a little too hard and fell asleep for the whole set.

How anyone managed to put that much booze away is anyone’s guess -getting to the bar took just under an hour unless you were in the premo seats at the front.

Before that, Sheryl Crow made me fall in love with her once again, though she did make some weird comments mid-set about the troubles of finding heterosexual Vancouver men that left me and a few others a little bit bemused.

Sarah McLachlan finished off the music, and Adam finished off the night itself with some possibly unintentional car park posing.  Fabio must be shitting himself…

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