well, i guess its been about 3 weeks since i last wrote about the camping trek i did. getting slack!!
Before i get into details, i just have to say how disappointed i've been with the Vancouver summer thus far. All through the winter and spring I was hearing all the big hype about how 'awwwesommme' the summer was going to be, temperatures in the high twenties and low-mid thirties almost every day, just perrrfect for all the outdoors activities that everyone gets up into in this fitness-activity (and image) obsessed city - hiking, biking, camping, climbing, kayaking, sailing, etc etc etc. I was to be in my element.
well....all of June was basically crap - barely a day over 20 degrees, overcast and gloomy, with rain forecast on probably 4 days out of 7 in a week. The first 1/2 of July was pretty much the same too. I feel ripped off!! ;-) To be fair tho, the past week or so has been better, the sun has come out and has some decent warmth to it, pushing temps into the mid 20's, and its now looking good. I s'pose I shouldn't complain too much either, given that 1/2 of you reading this are in Britain and Ireland, and what i've described thus far would almost be considered good!! ha ha!
And it has been on its best behaviour when it counted, namely with the International Jazz Festival and Folk Music Festival held in late June/early July and last weekend in July respectively. During the Jazz Fest, my friend Kellie and I spent the bulk of the July 1st Canada Day long weekend cruising various outdoor venues checking out all of the free Jazzy entertainment on offer. Given the occasion and the weather, there were people out in their thousands celebrating thier nations' Day, in fantastic mood, milling about and creating an energetic and relaxed, chilled out vibe.
The famous Granville Island Public Market was particularly popular, people wandering the tightly packed aisles of fruit and veg, cheeses and meats, arts and crafts, and delicious (altho over-priced) food vendor stalls inside, while 3 stages outside entertained those soaking up the sun (in the morning at least - the weather turned a tad nasty mid-afternoon).
David Lam Park the following day was a picture of tranquility, nestled in between the glass-encased high-rise apartment blocks and the False Creek Marina, thousands of folk and thier kids draping picnic blankets over the grass, having a relaxing day out in the hot sun with some cool jazz, rhythm and blues, salsa, reggae and latin bands keeping a very happy vibe indeed.
It was actually quite funny on the Saturday, Kellie and I not knowing exactly what we wanted to do or where we planned to go. Rollerblading around Stanley Park popped up as an idea, with me on bike, but we had to get to Stanley Park to rent blades first-quite some distance away. Then Kellie suggested I 'dink' her down there on my bike!! I haven't done anything like that since I was about 18!! - and neither had she!! After a nervous start we headed out, down the side streets and laneways, with her resting on her butt on the front handlebars, and me doing all the hard work, pedalling and looking over her shoulder to see where we were going, as well as any oncoming traffic! We got as far as David Lam Park when we saw all the Jazz stuff going on, and ditched the blading idea. But man, that was a crazy little flashback to our teenage days, and we got quite a few odd looks from folk as we passed them, seeing 2 people in their late-20's/early 30's larking about like that!
All in all, we had a blast, and Vancouver once again proved it knows how to throw a party.
There was one other Jazz Fest event I went to, at the always-awesome venue, The Commodore Ballroom. I had heard of this Algerian/French superstar called Rachid Taha (www.rachidtaha.artistes.universalmusic.fr) , and saw him live at Womadelaide Music Festival in Adelaide in March2003, and again recently via KEXP FM, and liked what i heard so had to check him out in a live setting.
A punk in attitude and gritty rocker in style, he immediately grabs your attention. He has been around for 15 years or so, and in that time become quite famous as an eclectic artist, popular in his native lands, and has built up a formidable reputation as a man not afraid to speak his mind politically. He sings in Arabic mostly, with some French and uses a wide-ranging fusion of North African sounds of traditional Arabic instruments, while drawing on the western rhythms of alternative rock, hip-hop, reggae, and occasionally edgy techno samples and remixes. The result is a sharp sound halfway between Led Zeppelin and Johnny Cash, where the guitar riffs cut their way wildly through the oriental wreaths of sound. His most recent release includes a cover version of The Clash's 'Rock The Casbah', lyrics translated into Arabic. Interesting, huh!
When he came out on stage though, he honestly looked like he'd taken somewhat of a great deal of the famously narcotic BC bud - incredibly potent strains of locally grown marijuana. He was a mess. I thought he was crap, all over the shop, sweating like a bastard, he could barely stand, let alone sing. Eventually tho, he got it together, and by the end of the gig he had redeemed himself in my eyes. Despite struggling with the language barrier, he still managed to interact with and energise the audience, and at several points throughout the show, had a member of the audience on stage dancing with him, including one particular girl whose ass-shakin', hip-wobblin' belly dance routine brought the house down with audience cheers.
I should also give an honourable mention to the support act too, a West African tribal rhythm band 'Aboubacar Camara and Doundounba', from Guinea, an amazing 8-piece ensemble of players and dancers dressed in full traditional regalia. Man, they drummed and danced up a storm for over an hour themselves, and were a perfect warm-up act, getting the entire 1000-strong audience in to the mood.
The long-weekend for was extended by an extra day, given that I work for a company that deals with US trades, and the Monday was July 4th, Independence Day! Woo-hoo! I Love It!
Cheers, Tony
