PechaKucha Night 15 at the Vogue Theatre Feb 24 2011

Office Supplies Incorporated street art in Vancouver

I had to leave my skepticism at the door for this one, especially after seeing the words “green”, “designer” and “architecture” associated with some of the speakers. But I was definitely rewarded for my patience. Though uneven, the 15th Vancouver installment of the international (over 300 cities host their own versions) phenomenon PechaKucha was definitely worthwhile, and even inspiring.

The idea is a number of people – last night it was 12; not sure if this is a hard-fast rule – have a brief window of time to talk about whatever they want, usually something to do with their passion. Each speaker has 20 images to work with and 20 seconds per image, and though this occasionally came off as nothing more than a commercial for someone’s product or website, there was also lots of interesting material and good energy.

So, in that spirit, rather than dwell on the negative, I’ll mention, in order of appearance, my favourites of the event (which, by the way, was held at a sold-out Vogue Theatre):

Scott Hawthorne, co-founder of Salt: on the value and potential of small spaces and random meetings;

Lindsay Brown, designer: on Habitat, a 1976 symposium in Vancouver on housing that has been all but forgotten;

Office Supplies Incorporated, street artist: on communicating via mash-up with “outsider” street artists.

So, three out of 12, with at least five of the others being at least moderately interesting and/or passionate, and only four being duds (or, to be fair, talking about ideas/subjects I had no interest in, and failing to make them interesting to me).

But probably the most important thing I took away from PechaKucha Night 15 was this: though I like to complain about the city – its uptightness, its NIMBY-ness, its political correctness, its lack of happy hours – there’s a lot happening here, and plenty of reasons to get excited about its potential.

Also, thanks to Think! Social Media‘s Robyn Hanson and Ben Vadasz for dragging my sorry ass out (Robyn) and the ticket (Ben).

Shoe star of the day – Stars’ Amy Millan

Amy Millan with Stars at the Vogue, Nov 4 2010. Skot Nelson photo

Montreal’s Stars played a show at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver last week. Writes Skot Nelson, “[Singer/guitarist] Amy Millan may be pregnant, but she still brings it with the shoes…”

Amy Millan with Stars at the Vogue Theatre, Nov 4 2010. Skot Nelson photo

(More Stars at the Vogue Theatre, Vancouver photos)

Shoe star of the day – Young Galaxy’s Catherine McCandless

Catherine McCandless with Young Galaxy at the Vogue, Vancouver, Nov 4 2010. Skot Nelson photo

Photos – Young Galaxy at the Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, Nov 4

Young Galaxy is one of Canada’s hottest new-ish acts. The five-year-old band has two albums under its collective belt, including the latest Invisible Republic, and, in lead singer Catherine McCandless, also has one of the most charismatic belters on the indie-rock circuit.

Here’s Catherine performing with Young Galaxy when the band opened for Stars at the Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, Nov 4 2010. Skot Nelson photos.

Catherine McCandless and shoes with Young Galaxy at the Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, Nov 4 2010. Skot Nelson photo

(More Young Galaxy at the Vogue Theatre photos)

Concert review – Dean and Britta at the Vogue Theatre, Vancouver

13 Most Beautiful… at the Vogue Theatre, Vancouver Jan 30 2009

- by Gina Tessaro

“If I had to cast an acting role,” Andy Warhol once said, “I want the wrong person for the part.”  And so, over a two year period in the mid-sixties he set a 16mm motion picture camera on a tripod in his Manhattan studio and candidly shot the denizens of his crazy world in a series of over 400 screen tests.

Thirteen of the silent, black-and-white test shots have been culled from the Andy Warhol Museum’s archive in Pittsburgh to become the basis for a collaborative work with musicians Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips (formerly of Luna and, in Wareham’s case, Galaxie 500 as well).

“13 Most Beautiful… Songs For Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests” played to a packed Vogue Theatre last Friday evening, Jan. 30, as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, finally rectifying the fact that the audio has always been the least interesting aspect of Warhol’s films…

(Read Gina Tessaro’s full Dean and Britta at the Vogue Theatre concert review)

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