2009-04-11: Planks at the Atlantic Trap & Gill

Never say never! Our piratical and sea shanty days apparently long since behind us (save in our name and iconography), a friend of a relative (and here's where the chain breaks down somewhat, the story garbles, producing results that are difficult to believe). At the end of it, we found ourselves engaged to play a backbreaking three sets this Saturday night at the Atlantic Trap & Gill (612 Davie at Seymour), the home away from home for teeming legions of Maritimers guiltily enjoying the clement climate on the We(s)t Coast. And play we will, musical notes sweating and bleeding down our little arms as we motor through three sets, the first starting at 8:30 pm, then 9:45, then 11. At midnight, we're done... or we cast our nets and chumbuckets to the weird Sargasso of Granville Street and see what treasures we can troll up from the briny deep.

Update! A grand old time was had by all, the gang achieving their most efficient ever square-feet-per-musician ratio in an elaborate arrangement of interlocking mic stands and music holders. I don't think the poor fellows at the Trap & Gill knew what to expect, and by golly we knocked them for a loop from our contorted corner.

Thanks to Qousqous for the photo!

2009-04-10: Planks in BurnBC Bunnarchy at the Waldorf

First up -- PHEW! a big thanks to everyone who came out to the Ship of Fools variety show we hosted last weekend and helped to make it such a room-filling success! Hours and hours of Planks in different textures and configurations!

Now, where were we? Oh yes -- Eventually able to take up a gig invitation extended to us as we turned a room over to RMS, this Friday night we're pleased to return to the Waldorf (1489 E. Hastings) and another party thrown by the incendiary folks at BurnBC, who hope to disseminate Black Rock City ideas and happenings throughout Cascadia, now at the Waldorf on the second Friday of every month. The last time we played one of their shows there we met the fabulous Marmaladies (and Jane "Break Your Freak" Panek, a whole other story 8) and got the scoop on the giant robot spider that's been terrifying people at Car-Free days; this time we're pleased to keep the good company of DJ BTox and Dialectic (live PA) as well as the customary fire show and perhaps an alternative Easter celebration, "Bunnarchy". Our hour-long set is scheduled to start at 10 pm, following an open stage of sorts. Admission is on a sliding scale -- $10 for those "in an expressive state" (as judged by the people at the door, presumably) up to $30 for the plebs in their everyday street duds.

2009-04-04: Blackbox Squeezebeard's April Ship of Fools birthday celebration at Cafe Montmartre

As an experiment into filling a whole night at Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main Street at 28th Avenue) with varied textures of performance from members of our multifarious crew and extended family, the Creaking Planks celebrate Blackbox Squeezebeard entering into his fourth decade with the April (Ship of) Fools Variety Show from 8 pm through "late" (past midnight!) Saturday, April 4th. Performances will include magic from Travis, interstitial improvisation and ukulele from Ehren Salazar and John Barbour, new music from familiar faces Paul Hendriks (aka the Rev. Lucian Rumblebucket), possibly demonstrating his banjo aptitude, and Eryn Holbrook (aka Daisy Jones-Locher -- who worked a wonderful whimsical adaptation of Hieronymus Bosch's "Ship of Fools" into the show's poster!) contributing a solo set a couple of months earlier than usual, sharing her voice-and-keys songwriting not much heard since the days of her Perpetual Dream Theory project. Also joining us will be a very special set from washtub bass outsider Al Mader, the Minimalist Jug Band, and of course a couple of sets of Creaking Planks creaking and planking.

At Montmartre we play for tips, but we anticipate your generosity in support of this jam-packed night and its auspicious occasion.

Edit: phew! What a night! Check out VanCityMike's gallery of shots from the variety show up on Flickr!

2009-03-26: Planks back at Beans on Lonsdale

Slightly under a year later, the Planks return to the wilds of North Van, packing along their unruly brand of demented trad. Starting at 8 pm, we'll be playing a couple of sets at Beans on Lonsdale (1804 Lonsdale).

For the occasion, we re-worked Daisy Jones-Locher's poster template -- a revisitation of old imagery, reminiscent of our previous engagement but still very different. Maybe our set will be, too!

2009-03-17: Planks help restore Hidden Agenda to its native habitat

Licking its hard-earned wounds from the recent critical success at the Waterfront Theatre, the series resumes at the Little Mountain Studios (195 E. 26th at Main) presenting its varied music and comedy variety show, now on a monthly basis.

Acts this time around include the Planks, Stick Twigs, the unique improvised musical stylings of host EC Salazar, & more acts to be announced...

Salazar intones fatefully: "there may very well be multi colored balloons."

2009-03-07: Planks at the Purple Crab

The crew that put the icing on the cake of Obama's inauguration party at Zawa's is back again in a new room, the Purple Crab (3916 Main Street at 23rd), with fewer pesky televised distractions (however historical) cluttering up the performance schedule. (That crew being: Thee Ahs aka Lovenschtein and Schteige, Sister DJ's Radio Band, and a closing set from us.) All that, plus: a set of magic from Dr. Steelhand, in honour of Sister DJ's descent from the namesake of Mandrake the Magician!

2009-03-06: Planks at Trees

Every few months, John Pippus invites us on over to open a session of his weekly Friday night songwriters' circle. The other performers tend to be solo acts, so as we often do, our role here is: contrast. There have been some highs and lows there, but Trees (450 Granville) is a lovely room (dare I say the sole survivor of the war of attrition on the Granville Mall?) with awesome cheesecake. But that's describing the food, not the performances from Susanna Lonsdale and Jesse Nicholson following our inaugural set at 8 pm.

Enjoy and hope to see you out!