In the meantime on the personal enjoyment side of things here’s some of the events I checked out.

The BC Lions vs Toronto Argonauts game. It’s been forever since I’ve been to a Lions game and it couldn’t be better with such exciting play the Lions put out Friday (Thanks Jordan for the tix & Melissa for the invite). Not to mention the exciting play by the horde of security guards and single policeman for escorting out a rowdy fan in our section.

Saturday I managed to get a ton of work done in the morning which allowed me the novelty of checking out the Canada Day festivities and last few shows of the Jazz Festival down on Granville Island. The two shows I caught were at Performance Works which is a great location, since you can opt to sit outside on the grassy knoll and still get a good feel for the show. The first gig I caught was the Saul Berson Quintet which provided some great jazz beats and amazing accordian playing.

After Saul Berson was the Rumba Calzada. They’re a super popular local band and never disappoint. Playing a fusion mix of salsa, jazz, and Afro-Cuban rhythms they got everyone up on their feet and dancing. It was a totally kicking vibe. As such I left my laid back stargazing position on the grassy knoll to get in to the funktastic action.

The music was amazing and they had a special guest playing with them that night. I believe his name was Vincent Mah who’s from Edmonton and plays the trumpet. His solos were stellar! The music was a great mix for the warm night air and the Gastown amber ale from the brewery.

Sunday I went back to catch a few more shows seeing as it was the end of the Jazz Festival. I took my dog Kaila with me and we just hung out listening to the Jennifer Scott Quartet. Being surprisingly well behaved I took Kaila for a walk all around Granville Island and even checked out a few Buskers performing. I did have to leave however after one of the performers decided to don a superhero type costume with a whip. Kaila wasn’t too down with that and stole the show with her incessent barking.

C’est la vie.

Anyways, it is a free all ages event where every Friday they start off the night with free lessons from a handpicked local instructor. So Free Dance Lessons everybody! Summertime is always wedding season too. So if you’re the stumbling groom, here’s a nice place to take your soon to be wife and practice!

Tonight was the Rumba, but coming up are the Waltz, Ceroc (Jive/Salsa Fusion), West Coast Swing, Jive, Swing, Social Foxrot, Tango, and Salsa.

This runs till Sept 1st and the full schedule can be viewed here.

The peace forum will be kicking off at 9am at the Orpheum followed by the peace walk which starts at noon and heads out from 2 starting points to English Bay where the rally will be held from 2-5pm. Cindy Sheehan the “peace mom” is one of the people slated to be speaking there, it should be good.

Now as for the Jazz Festival…so many shows! Both pay and free. This year I think I’ll keep my eye on Jacksoul and Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band. I’ll have to peruse the schedule some more, but who’s up for some jazz?

Anyways I went primarily to check out my friend playing in his band Sister J. The band covers a lot of old-school funk, soul, R&B, and disco hits. They definitely worked the crowd like crazy. It drew a huge crowd I must say. I stayed after they finished to check out some of the other acts and talentwise they definitely had it all together (and I’m not just saying that because my friend is in the band). It’s cool how good groovy music draws a crowd of all ages with kids all the way up to seniors gyrating to the musical delight.

This is Sister J’s Soul Summit. From left to right: My buddy Chris “C-Note” Yip on the guitar & vocals, Paul “P-byte” Peterson on the drums & vocals, Joellel “Sister J” Lush-Tatem with the lead vocals, John “Soloflex” Scott on the bass & vocals, and finally Lincoln “the Oracle” Tatem on the keys and vocals as well.

Here’s Chip just going nutso on his axe breaking it down. Just as nutso (in a good way of course) when he starts doing the wailing “WOAHOHOH” vocals

As soon as they started the crowd just kept growing. I noticed numerous people crossing the street purposely to see what was going on. Many of whom ended up grabbing seats and sticking around for the entire set. This happy camper had a nice spot on dad’s shoulders.

Some more playing and wild vocals from everyone in the band and all the young and young at heart are feeling the beats.

Some people cleared out of the way in order to make room for those that wanted some more room to groove and move. The kids really liked it a ton and were just going dance crazy over a cover of ::wikipedia(Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan)::.

It was a totally fun vibe happening at Main and 28th with a ton of people just enjoying a Solly’s Bagel, and the live music throughout the day. I missed the first band that played before Sister J, however I did catch a few of the ones afterwards. Unfortunately I can’t remember all their names.

Unfortunately as you can see here, the crowd died down for the rest of the bands. This duo played predominantly country and folk and as a result lost the majority of the younger crowd. JRFM showed up however with their street squad and were handing out some JRFM bumper stickers, albeit not very many people were there to hand them to.

I was on my way down to the next block Main & 27th to check out the ::wikipedia(Capoeira, Capoeira):: demonstration when I bumped into this duo that was playing some really darn good folk music out the back of their old Chevy. Since they were playing midway between the two blocks they caused quite a congestion in front of the grocery store on the sidewalk.

The rest of the festival was very neat with much to see, eat and do. There was also a very dedicated and nice guy handing out leaflets about the upcoming Peace Walk happening in conjunction with the World Peace Forum in Vancouver on June 24th which I’ll be attending. It will be featuring Cindy Sheehan otherwise referred to as the “Peace Mom” and other speakers from all around the world. I remember seeing her on the news a little while back and it was quite moving.
You can find out some more info about the walk here at the World Peace Forum site or at Vancouver’s Anti-War Coalition site.