Brittany – Have you ever heard of the band The Faceplants? Neither had I, until their April 6th performance at Joe’s Apartment. Although I had never heard any of their tracks before, their energy kept me grooving and engaged in the performance. I cannot say for sure if their influences come from Sublime, or even Jamaican beats, but you sure could get that vibe. Their lyrics were catchy and (I think) well paired with lead singer Dan Botch’s vocals. On the other hand, with every positive thing I found about their musical choices I also found myself wanting to offer some advice on how to improve the song quality so that a number of their songs could be differentiated, and the vocals could shine a little more prominently. For my own taste, I found there to be a bit too much in sync backup vocals just yelling into the mics screaming ‘Go’; which is fine for just the one song, but maybe change up the background vocals in other tracks? Or, I might even suggest melodies if the guys were up for that. I would love to see “That Much More to Me” done with a more flirty start and maybe hold off on the drums for a line or two of lyrics. I’m also not 100% positive if this was a tech problem for this performance either, but I could barely hear the keyboard player at times. I would love to see them use the keys more to their advantage, and maybe even help them get their ‘flirt’ on. With The Faceplants’ energy and Dan’s unique vocal stylings, these guys could be powerhouses. For now, I would love to see some more vocal focus and maybe tease the crowd a little bit with the lyrics before you finally slap them in the face with the guitar riff. With some more vocal experimentation and singling out certain instruments, these guys are sure to rock the Vancouver music scene, and I cannot wait to see what they do next. Stage Left will definitely be keeping a close eye for their debut EP this summer 2012.

The boys of ByStarlight are some of the coolest guys I know. This makes it just that much easier to rave about their best performance I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing. They’ve really stepped it up and put their talents to work by compiling catchy, upbeat tracks that keep you craving more. I particularly love Antics in Romantics and Monster. The past couple of weeks has brought big changes for the band. ByStarlight has managed to bring in two new powerhouses to the group including keyboard and backup vocalist, Rachel and guitarist, Jeff (or ‘the hair’ as we should call him… no seriously, his hair is so quaffed; its glorious!). Combine ByStarlight’s musical influences with the new band additions and you have MAGIC. Each member is unique and has their own personality on stage, and off, but somehow it all works. Besides some minor tech issues, lead singer Nigel Crowe’s voice keeps getting better with time and the songs are really coming together. These guys (and gal!) are headed in the right direction with their growing talents. Can’t wait to see what’s in store, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

The final performer of the night was Kristen Karma. Before she hit the stage, I was able to snag her business card, which included basic info and a picture of Kristen. The photo itself was standard and complimentary but my expectations based on the card did not match what I saw when she performed. I am still confused as to what ‘look’ she is going for, and even which genre she is categorizing herself under. Kristen Karma, as a singer, is quite talented. Although I was not blown away by her original songs, I did like her cover of Cee Lo Greens “F*** You” and Kristen seemed to really be trying to ‘up’ the performance aspect of her set. I don’t know if it was nerves or what, but even with a few mistakes, she really sold her performance. I would suggest Kristen try to nail down which market she is wanting to reach (and maybe even redo the business card to represent that?) Kristen Karma confused me a bit with her approach to performing, but definitely has artistic potential.

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