WCMA weekend review: Friday night, part one

This past weekend, Brandon was treated to some amazing musical performances thanks to the Western Canadian Music Awards coming to town.

More than just a series of concerts, the WCMA’s was also an industry event, with conferences taking place on Saturday, culminating in the awards show which took place on Sunday.

Seriously, this was a big deal for Brandon.

Of course, not being connected to the music industry, my interest was solely in the festival and the incredibly talented musicians that descended on our town.

My experience of the festival, including pictures, after the jump!

Our (our including Grant and Keith from the blog) Friday night started at the Double Decker, which boasted the great lineup of Jeffery Straker (from Regina), Adaline and Dan Mangan (both from Vancouver).

First up was Jeffery Straker, who is an outright performer, in every sense. He told stories throughout his set (like how he and his band thought they were making good time from Saskatchewan, only to realize the time changed when they crossed the border — damn us crazy Manitobans!) and was quick to shout at the talkers in the back. He certainly commanded your attention.

Straker was animated the entire time; he had the audience laughing, and started a sing-along to a couple of his songs. And he was sure to let us know when our singing sucked and to do better.

Straker reminded me so much of Elton John in his flamboyancy and ability to engage the crowd. His music is really fun cabaret-pop, and I found his voice very similar to Ben Folds.

Also, he was an incredibly friendly guy (as were all the musicians, really) and as Grant and Keith tell me, he is very excited about the 50 mile hike that’s being planned.

Check out Jeffery Straker’s music on his myspace.

Next up we heard Adaline. As she explained to us, her album is more electronic, but on this weekend it was just her and her piano.

Adaline’s voice is both powerful and soft, and she effortlessly went from singing sweetly to belting it out.

And this girl had style. Damn. She looked good.

I think I want one of those hats now.

Like I said before, Adaline’s album tracks are more electronic and dancey, but they were just as good slowed down, simply her and a piano, which I think is a testament to her songwriting ability and a sign of her versatility as an artist. At times she reminded me of another Canadian singer-songwriter with a piano, Sarah Slean.

Adaline was very sweet. Check her out here.

The last artist we saw at the Decker was Dan Mangan, the guy I was waiting for all weekend. I blogged about my experience with Dan’s song Sold awhile ago, and started listening to his myspace a lot after I heard it. I have to say, I was pretty excited he was coming, and it probably showed.

Before he actually started performing, he came behind our table to set his guitar somewhere. Keith introduced himself, and then me as Dan’s “world’s biggest fan.” Embarrassing.

But Dan was super friendly, and seemed genuinely pleased that we made it out to hear his set. He told us how he wanted the smallest venue because it was just him and his guitar, which absolutely worked for him.

Mangan didn’t disappoint. He has a fantastic timbre in his voice, and gets a raw, gravelly tone when he sings just a little harder.

I think Mangan has an amazing way with words, like the line “Body and soul were bought and sold” from the song Sold, or “So find dodge and then get out of it” from Road Regrets. His delivery is at times sly, even coy, but on songs like Basket, about his grandfather’s scattered memories, he gives it his all. And the result is powerful.

He ended his set with Robots a really fun song with a sing-along at the end.

Robots need love too … they want to be loved by you … they want to be loved by you.

He actually ended up on our table, leading the sing-along. It was pretty great.

And again, I can’t say enough about how nice he was (ALL the artists that night, really). He signed my CD and was kind enough to take a photo. I went away with an incredible experience and an amazing indie/folk album I haven’t been able to stop listening to since.

Check out some of his music at his myspace.

And since this post is quickly becoming HUGE, I’ll do the last two bands we saw Friday night in another post, and then Saturday’s bands in a third. Stay tuned!