2009-02-28: Planks at Cafe Montmartre with Erin Graves

We're back at our monthly appearance at Cafe Montmartre (down at 4362 Main Street at 28th Avenue) with our friend Erin Graves who we met last September at Trees and resolved to do more work with.  The usual sequence of events there has us playing an opening set starting by 8:45 for 45 minutes, then our guest plays a similar set (possibly with some Planks sitting in!), then another one from us.  We play on a pass-the-hat basis, so bring some friends and a great hunger for crepes, wine and hat-filling.

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And here we were!

Photo by Erin Graves. Daisy Jones-Locher can't be seen just off to the left.

2009-02-19: Memewar Launch "Gods and Idols" issue at the Railway Club

We had so much fun with the crew of Memewar magazine at their last release party that they invited us back.Here's it's poster:

As you can see, once again it's at the Railway Club (579 Dunsmuir Street at Seymour, upstairs), and we're being joined by readings from the magazine (and its "Gods and Idols" theme) from C.J. Leon, Rhoda Hodjati and Tony Power and music from Wintermitts and Victoria's Ballgag 'n Chain Gang... and something involving the Vancouver Cantata Singers.  Admission gets you a copy of the magazine (it's a great business model -- each party's cover pays for the subsequent issue, whose release party pays for the subsequent issue... and so forth).

Next up we've got a private engagement on the 27th (then see how fast we can peel off to catch Geoff Berner's CD launch at the Biltmore!), but stay tuned for another Planky evening at Cafe Montmartre Saturday February 28th!

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And here we were!

Photo by Missy Clarkson

2009-02-14: I ♥ Kitties - a night of cat-love

... Saturday, February 14th (yep, that's valentine's day)
... @ the Secret Location
... doors at 9pm
... show from 10pm onwards:
... performances by the creaking planks, manpuss, and others
... arts and crafts auction
... dance party featuring dj derivative and more
... entrance by donation

Sir Hobbes the Cat, the noble friend, roommate, attorney, confidant and stalwart of Vancouver nightlife passed away recently. He lived a long and uncompromising life and will live on in the hearts of those he knew as one of the most familiar, most admired, most beloved, and, without any doubt the most extraordinary of cats.

You are invited to a celebration for Hobbes and all cats: A night of performance, art auction, and dance party on February 14th at the Secret Location.

All proceeds go to help Mosa with her vet bills.

2009-02: Planks catchup

On Friday February 6th, Free Geek Vancouver (one of our now three "house band" arrangements, though admittedly they don't have incredibly frequent occasions on which to call on us) invited us to do a brief set opening for a speech on copyright and freedom by renowned hacker Richard Stallman at the Maritime Labour Centre.  We rolled out a couple of technological standards (Korobeiniki aka "the Tetris song", Kraftwerk's "Computer Love") as well as a new piece for the occasion (Flanders and Swann's "the GNU song" -- enjoy this rendition by the Muppets!)  Most harrowingly, however, the organizers hoped for us to join the evening's main speaker for a stirring rendition of his Free Software Song, in the unorthodox time signature of 7/4.  Due to complications, we were unable to secure either a sound check or a moment's rehearsal with the main attraction, so what follows is a raw document (c/o Alan Zisman, who recorded our whole set -- perhaps to be exposed here once it's recovered) of us bucking up and boldly plunging once more unto the breach.

(The Feb 19th, 2009 episode of Each For All at Co-op Radio used a recording of our Korobeinki rendition to open the episode before discussing Free Software and rebroadcasting Stallman's lecture.)

Also, cheers to Julie Peters who threw our new, "kid-friendly" rendition of Closer (straight from our CJSF apperance, from one campus station to the next) on the Feb 11th episode of her radio show Audio Text (on CiTR, 101.9 fm) alongside passionate appearances from RC Weslowski, Magpie Ulysses, and Duncan Shields.  If you like, you can download a podcast recording of the episode here -- though we only turn up with the one song.  The rest of the crew do their bit to make it a charged, erotic recording that meets its holiday occasion head-on.

Unrelatedly, If anyone out there (I'm looking at you, Portland) has ended up with any early Creaking Planks demo material, would it be possible for you to send us a digital photo of the design and packaging (such as it is)?  We're perversely interested in putting up a gallery here of merchandise that is essentially unobtainable.  See what you missed?

2009-02-13: HIDDEN AGENDA Variety Show at the Waterfront Theatre

Last month we bore witness to a surprising revival of a long-dormant variety show series, Ehren Salazar's HIDDEN AGENDA, resurrected on three days' notice as a benefit for our old pal Becky of Sweetie Pie Press.  Formerly the series largely took place at Wink, with sporadic upswellings at the Butchershop Floor and, later, its scion the Little Mountain Studios.  Not this time, though.  We've decided to shoot for the stars and take advantage of a good price on one of Vancouver's classic rooms, booting the event right out of the LMS backroom and booking the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island (1412 Cartwright Street).

And what will we be presenting at that theatre, well you might ask?  Not only is Aaron Read joined by the Sunday Service's genuises of comic improv, not only will Anna Vandas be making sweet music, NOT ONLY are the Creaking Planks also on board... but the event will also be featuring screenings from 2008's Animatron festival of animation.  All that plus handy hosting by Ehren "Monster Dinosaur" Salazar and, who knows, perhaps some special guests.

Doors are at 7:30, with the show beginning promptly at 8 pm; admission is $12 at the door or $10 with a food bank donation.

2009-01-26: Planks feature on Melodies in Mind at CJSF 90.1 fm

Building somewhat from the somewhat meagre turnout the previous time we had representation on this show a year ago, Ryan Fletcher kindly invited us back and we now offer a wider selection of Planks for delightful infernal noisemaking from 8 through 8:30 pm, after which we give up the mic for a half-hour to Seva ... then jump back in to the song circle from 9 through 9:30, with Sayde Davis Black, Sillken and Vanessa Silva. If you can't catch the station on the air, you can try to stream its signal online!

Then we'll be back in a week to play the Highland Pub Monday Feb 2nd... if we have it in us to scale Burnaby Mountain twice in one month! Phew!

Update: Blackbox, Rumblebucket and Cap'n Jack Spare-ribs made it up through the fog and snow and had a gas on the air... then, later, the episode was kindly made available to us. A groomed recording of the show (largely omitting the other guests) will shortly be made available in this very spot (and here it is)! Highlights of the show include:

• 01.22 Dead Man's Pants


• 08.27 Osasa


• 13.48 Song of the Count


• 18.22 Numbers and Names


• 23.10 our new kid-friendly version of Closer


• 28.14 Insane in the Membrane


• 37.24 Lousy Lover and


• 43:09 Snazzy Portland (guess we shouldn't have bothered with that kid-friendliness!)

Bonus! Our stalwart horn stepped in to join Sayde Davis Black for a tune, "Livin' it Right" from 32:12-36:44! Also from 41:01-42:07 we improvise a tune to a public service announcement (a bit of flavour particular to this show) which is unlikely to turn up on any of our set lists despite its distinctive and unmistakable Plankian flavour. All that plus a pile of interviewish remarks and sorry wordplay. Makes you kind of wish you were there... and now, through the miracle of technology, you can be!

2009-01-23: The Creaking Planks meet AWESOME FACE

Winters in Vancouver can be a gloomy, dreary affair.  Even when we're not snowbound and strangled by insidious mists (as we have been for weeks, now!) one can go for days, weeks and, yea, even months without seeing the sun.  This contributes to a depressing psychological condition known as SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is often treated with exposure to a full-spectrum daylight lamp.  Another treatment recommended by holistic and alternative health practitioners is exposure to AWESOME FACE.  AWESOME FACE? AWESOME FACE is a local (or is that loco?) power performance poetry supergroup consisting of charismatic weirdoes par excellence RC Weslowski, Brendan McLeod and Chris Gilpin (as Dr. WTF??)  With a mandate as "the kids' show for adults", for their sophomore engagement at 9 pm this Friday they have boldly proclaimed a goal of nothing less than combating SAD.  Poet Sasha Langford demonstrates:

Their method of engaging SAD is to throw a beach party at Cafe Deux Soleils (2096 Commercial Drive).  As such, the wearing of beachwear is encouraged, and will reduce admission from $8 to $5.  Sasha demonstrates further:

To further audience involvement, AWESOME FACE have solicited contributions from their fans as lyrics for a new song, to be performed at this event, describing Jet Li kicking SAD's ass (egregiously) at the beach.  Similarly, the Planks, who are opening for this crew of well-intentioned miscreants, and whose greatest talent is inverting a song's emotional content, aim to rustle up some lines from our fans also.  The trademark macabre CP rendition of summer camp classic "Down By The Bay" debuted at Blackbox's first performance as a Plank, at Miserylovescompany2: A night of sad songs at the old Blim April 23rd, 2005... and has only been performed likely once since (at that year's Horace Phair celebration in Portland.)  But in honour of the occasion we are digging deep into the vaults and pulling out an array of splendid tunes to relish in our love/hate relationship with SAD.  If you could put on your thinking cap and send us your best faux-grim couplet for Down By The Bay (a sample from Lord Eel: "Have you ever seen a corpse / stabbed with ten thousand forks?") we would find it most useful.

Also joining us will be a display of the ever-boggling talents of legerdemain and mentalism from the Planks' steel guitarist, Dr. Steelhand.

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And here we were!