Guttersnipe: Music, Movies, Comics, Books, Fashion

-Shawn Conner

Okay, I probably won’t be the last to use that heading, but I might be the first. ‘Cos I just came from the Biltmore Cabaret, Kingsway & Main East Vancouver BC, and caught the most amazing set by a local act I’ve seen in years, possibly decades.

With impetuous, Jagger-like swagger and bedroom eyes, Piper Davis owned the stage from the moment her soulful trip-hop started up. With a crack rhythm section defining the songs, and back-up vocalist/laptopper, Piper was free to roam across the stage, hand  cockily on her hip, mannish shirt hanging, and soul-singing her wised-up melodies.

The weird thing was, the number of photographers almost outnumbered the people on the dancefloor, at least early on—there must have been at least half a dozen shutterbugs capturing the magic. It was probably the most photographed Monday night gig—the first weekly event sponsored by the Skinny mag—for a burgeoning newcomer I’ve ever attended.

Who knows, maybe Piper works at Black’s or something. I knew next to nothing about her going in; at the end of the set the guy next to me, similiarly wowed, conjectured she must have taken singing lessons. I would’ve guessed dance.  Whatever. A star is born in East Van.