One of the great things about NewMusicWest is that it gives you the 
opportunity to check out new clubs, new bands, meet people, get drunk and get 
inspired musically. This was the first year where the festival began on a 
Wednesday, spanning from then until Sunday. The wristband was well worth the 
money just for the experience. I did end up spending quite a bit on drinks 
though. I'm sure the clubs appreciate festivals like this and look forward to 
it every year. I only wish there were more festivals like it in Vancouver.

This review is very long so for the benefit of those who want to know what 
bands I saw to see if you want to read on, here you go:

Day One:
- In Medias Res (Unit 20 - The Legion)
- Notes From The Underground (Richards on Richards)
- The Cinch (Richards on Richards)
- PleasureCraft (Ginger 62)

Day Two:
- Motion Soundtrack (The Plaza)
- Ghosts of Modern Men (The Royal)
- The High Dials (Tonic)
- The Rye Catchers (The Plaza)
- Brundlefly (Tonic)
- Paper Moon (The Purple Onion)
- Crystal Pistol (The Brickyard)

Day Three:
- The Left (The Lamplighter)
- Two Minute Miracles (The Railway Club)
- Jason Collett (The Railway Club)
- Joseph Arthur (The Railway Club)

Day Four:
- The Armchair Cynics (The Green Room)
- The Vanity Press (The Green Room)
- Clay George (The Green Room)
- Jets Overhead (formerly 'The Special Guests') (The Green Room)
- Grace Nocturnal (The Green Room)
- Moneyshot (The Green Room)

Day One - Wednesday, May 21st 2003
==================================
My first stop was at Unit 20 (The Legion). I had always heard of this place 
but never knew where it was until then. My intention was to go and see a band 
called "In Medias Res". I had seen them perform twice at Shindig and looked 
forward to seeing them again. We arrived halfway through the set. The place 
was empty except for a couple hardcore guys near the front of the stage. 
Playing so early on the opening night of the festival isn't ideal for any 
band but despite all of this, "In Medias Res" performed quite well. Their 
intricate arrangements work so well and you get lost in the music. The guitar 
work is well thought out and impressive. The guitarist is fun to watch as he 
really gets into it. The drumming was noticeably good too. The sound quality 
wasn't the best at the Legion and the bar is a little dodgy. It was difficult 
to make out the lyrics but that was the singers style much like Thom Yorke of 
Radiohead. We only caught 3 or 4 songs but left with a good impression of the 
band.

We headed over to Richards on Richards to meet up with some friends. "Notes 
From The Underground" were already on stage. The trio took turns singing 
which made things a little inconsistent. The guitarist was late but quickly 
jumped in and pulled out a decent performance. The band itself was quite good 
but the music didn't grab me. 

Shortly after that set, "The Cinch" took to the stage. I had seen them 
perform a number of times before at Shindig and other shows. Their brand of 
straight ahead pop/rock was catchy. Although I found the female vocalist's 
voice to be a little low at times. There was one point where she tested the 
upper registers and it sounded good. I'd like to see more of that. The band 
was solid although the sound was a little off when all of a sudden one of the 
guitars came in blaring, overwhelming the rest of the band. It was quite 
distracting and I'm surprised the sound guy didn't pick up on it. Overall, it 
was an enjoyable set though.

In search of something a little different, we scoured the band listings and 
decided to check out "PleasureCraft" described as blending "synthesizers, 
guitars and samples to create kinetic electro-pop. From Seattle." Sounded 
interesting at the time. We headed over to Ginger 62 and waited for them to 
set up. They were a much poppier version of Depeche Mode. There were two 
singers behind two keyboards with two guitarists at the front. The two 
singers were a little dance-happy for the environment. People didn't really 
seem all that into their dance music. The sequencing was quite good and the 
melodies were decent but it was hard to take them seriously. One of the 
singers didn't fit the part and the other one was too into it. They should 
have also remained behind their keyboards instead of dancing around at the 
front. It was a nice change from the rock but not something that I was overly 
impressed with either.

Day Two - Thursday, May 22nd 2003
=================================
I was hoping to catch "SK Robot" at 8:30pm but I was running late and missed 
it. I had seen them at Shindig in the past and thought they had some promise 
at the time. I met up with Chris (Wayside) at the Plaza and caught "Motion 
Soundtrack" near the beginning of the their set. I really like their music - 
very professional and they had excellent arrangements. It's too bad not too 
many people were there to see them. I think I really like them because they 
sounded exactly like Oasis. The lead singer even has Liam Gallagher's sneer 
down pat. That's my only knock on them - they sacrifice originality for 
sounding great.

"Beautiful 2000" didn't catch our attention immediately so we decided to 
randomly check out some of the nearby clubs. We headed over to The Royal 
where "Ghosts of Modern Men" were already on stage. There was a decent sized 
crowd there and they seemed to be into it. The music was quite heavy and 
didn't really appeal to me but others were enjoying it. The singer's throat 
must have been raw after their set. He was screaming his head off. Their 
music reminded me of heavy "Foo Fighters".

We were on our way back to the Plaza and we decided to check out Tonic on the 
way. "The High Deals" were playing and they had some catchy stuff. Very 60s 
sounding and they had some catchy material. However, it was not catchy enough 
to keep us there as we made our way back to the Plaza to catch "The Rye 
Catchers". We played with them back in NewMusicWest 2000 at the Purple Onion. 
We were looking forward to catching their Brit-Rock set. We arrived and they 
were playing acoustically. They recently lost their drummer and couldn't get 
a session drummer for the festival. They made the most of their set though 
with sweet vocal harmonies and catchy melodies. Unfortunately, the acoustic 
guitars were really quiet - the sound guy wasn't doing his job. Nevertheless, 
we were impressed with their performance. I'm sure we'll see them again soon. 
We quickly headed back to Tonic and caught the opening of "Brundlefly". We 
have seen their name around for years and figured it was about time to see 
what they were all about. They had a good rock sound and we got a good taste 
of their sound after 2 or 3 songs. Unfortunately, we were meeting friends at 
the Purple Onion and we had to leave to get there on time. 

We arrived in time to see "Paper Moon" featuring former members of "B'ehl". 
The (female) lead singer has a squeaky voice but it's actually quite 
likeable. It's a voice that you either love or hate. I enjoyed it and I found 
their set to be quite good. The singer and bassist had good personality on 
stage. The keyboards seemed a little off in one song but overall, it was a 
decent set. 

After it was over, we headed over to the Brickyard to catch some glam-rock 
revival with a band called "Crystal Pistol". It was a bit of a flash-back. 
They had the make-up, the hair, the cheesy lyrics and chants... but they were 
missing something. The stage show was there with the lead singer throwing 
beer all over the place and on other band members. They had the attitude but 
the songs were what needed the most work in the catchiness department. It was 
a decent show though and it was fun to watch. It was a good ending to a long 
night.

Day Three - Friday, May 23rd 2003
=================================
The Lamplighter - a venue that could have so much potential. The stage is 
raised and the bar is quite large. It would be a great place to feature 
regular bands. They currently only feature cover bands. I noticed a band 
called "The Left" on XFM's Last Band Standing and thought they had quite a 
decent sound so I wanted to check them out. I only had enough time to stay 
for a few songs before I had to head out to the Railway Club to meet up with 
friends. They weren't quite what I expected but they were decent. Acoustic 
rock would describe their sound. It's too bad that I only saw a couple songs 
as I'm sure I'd have a better opinion to share if I had stuck around. 

I headed over to the Railway Club where we manage to get front row seats - 
perfect for a quiet acoustic night. I arrived just in time to see "Two Minute 
Miracles". They had quite a variety of music for an acoustic set. The lead 
singer had two microphones - one with effects on it and one without. 
Switching between the two added an interesting texture to their music. After 
a few songs that were a little on the slow side, they picked it up with their 
last two songs which left me with a good impression of the band. I stuck 
around for the next artist "Jason Collett". Very mellow but he had a good 
voice and some catchy material. His stories in between songs were quite 
amusing and were well received. The set was a good one but after that I was 
in the mood for a little more action so I decided to leave my friends and 
head back to the Lamplighter to catch "Sam" and "REAL". I got there and they 
weren't letting anyone in - they were at capacity apparently. However, they 
were letting in Press, big beefy guys, people who paid cover and 20 
acquaintances of the bouncer's girlfriend. That left me with a wrist band 
waiting there for 10 minutes for people to clear out. I got sick of dealing 
with their double-standards so I headed back to the Railway Club.

Unfortunately, there was a lineup that was all the way down the stairs and 
out the door. I decided to stick around and try to get back in. Thanks to the 
awesome door guy (Keith) who was rejecting everyone who was trying to skip 
the line (including girlfriends), it only took about half an hour to get back 
in. I squeezed in just as Joseph Arthur was starting his set. The Railway 
Club was jam packed. It was almost impossible to move - I have never seen it 
that full. There was a buzz around Joseph Arthur. He uses various loop pedals 
to sample parts that he plays and then he plays on top of the looped sample. 
It was all very interesting but also all very loud. It was a good show but I 
didn't leave it remembering any of his songs. 

Day Four - Saturday, May 25th 2003
==================================
There were only two bands that I wanted to see on Saturday and they were both 
playing at the Green Room so I decided to spend the evening there. All of the 
bands featured that night were from Vancouver Island. The Island is a 
breeding ground for a lot of talent (Wayside included.) Once again, we 
managed to get front row seats so there wasn't much incentive to go elsewhere.

"The Armchair Cynics" were on first and they pumped out a very catchy radio-
friendly brand of music. We performed with them at the bandFEST2002 
Provincial Finals at Mavericks last summer. They sound like someone... I'm 
just not sure who they sound like. The singer has got a good voice. The music 
is catchy and listenable. I enjoyed their set.

"The Vanity Press" followed shortly after with a "Vines" type sound but with 
a female vocalist. A lot of it sounded the same but there were a few gems 
that stood out. Unfortunately, the band itself had no stage presence and 
looked as if they hadn't performed very often. The keyboardist and bassist 
switched instruments for one song but the temporary bassist faced the drummer 
the whole time. There just wasn't much energy on stage for their energetic 
sound. Vocal harmonies would help fatten up the sound. There's promise here 
but they still need a little work.

Next came "Clay George" - a solo artist whose voice was reminiscent of Neil 
Diamond. There was a slight element of country in his music which is not 
usually my cup of tea but he performed well and had some catchy material. 
It's really too bad that there were so many (obnoxious) people talking in the 
audience. That's the problem with acoustic music. It was enjoyable but I 
wanted more energy.

"Jets Overhead" were the cure. Formerly known as "The Special Guests", this 
band rocked. Brandishing a new line-up of songs that have a distinct sound of 
their own. We have performed with "The Special Guests" a few times in the 
past. It's great to see them succeed at what they do best. There new material 
demonstrates how much they have matured since their last release. Jocelyn's 
intricate bass lines really shape the music... The drumming is excellent with 
Brendan making use of all of his drums. Adam's voice is as strong and 
likeable as ever and Piers pulls it all together. For this show, they added 
another vocalist to sing backup. Jocelyn also sang along with Brendan which 
was new. The additional voices really helped fatten up the sound. Although 
their new songs aren't as irresistably catchy as their older material, their 
new material does retain elements of that catchiness and adds a whole lot 
more. Their songs have influences from the the 50s, the 70s rock world, and 
today. The crowd was really into it and showed their appreciation.

"Grace Nocturnal" was nothing like what its name would indicate. They were 
the second coming of the Rolling Stones. The lead singer had the attitude and 
vocal chops to pull it off. At times, Mick Jagger came out... At other times, 
Jim Morrison rose from the dead. The music featured straight ahead rock and 
roll and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. The singer made a number of trips out 
into the audience and managed to get people into it. 

The last band of the night and festival for me was called "Moneyshot". They 
were a rock band featuring two singers. Each took turns singing verses. All 
of the members seemed to be really into it and they had a lot of energy. I 
found that the vocalists weren't unique enough though. They did however end 
the night with an awesome hockey song called "Blades of Steel". That was a 
great ending to a fun-filled Festival. 

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That's about it... If you have any questions or want to talk about the 
festival, bands in the festival, etc... reply to this message and lets begin 
a discussion!