Andrew W.K. and Evaporator photos up (but not here)

As per my previous post on the Andrew W.K. and Evaporator concert Tuesday night, photos are now up here on uptownsound.ca.

Not a concert… not necessarily a celebration either

I feel fortunate to have escaped with my camera, my health and my dignity intact after taking photos of Tuesday’s Andrew W.K. concert at the Biltmore Cabaret for uptownsound.

The photos should be up soon, as should a review by my colleague, Quentin.

Some observations, though.

First, you can actually get into bars with a piece of identification from Guam. Makes you wonder why teenagers try to forge B.C. drivers licenses when they could make up Id’s for places like, say, Micronesia or Palau.

Second, getting people to stand up at a concert is easy. Getting them to sit down on a dance floor during a rock concert is infinitely harder, but that’s something Nardwuar, of Muchmusic fame, was able to accomplish with his band the Evaporators. Pretty cool. And makes for easy photos.

Andrew W.K. prefaced his show by saying “this isn’t a concert, It’s a celebration.” Well, it wasn’t much of a concert. Not much of a celebration either. More just a gongshow with half the audience ending up on stage and crashing around speakers, monitors and other seemingly valuable pieces of equipment. If you think it’s hard shooting a concert in your normal bar, where there is no convenient barrier between a slightly-elevated band and a raucous crowd, imagine the difficulty when the crowd joins the sole performer on stage. Fortunately, they all fell down in a heap. Again, go to uptownsound.ca.

Eventually, the concert ended with Andrew W.K. telling the crowd that sound equipment had been damaged and he couldn’t keep playing. Interesting to say the least.

Winter’s last days (photos)

A certain important web critic has brought it to my attention that I have neglected posting many photos recently so here are a couple of Warsaw’s old town that the weather will soon render dated:

Statues of libertiski (photos)

In addition to the photo I posted last week, there are a ton of statues here:

This isn’t a statue. It’s called the Belvedere and Poles call it their White House. Except the President doesn’t live there (any more). It’s used for balls every now and then, though.

Looking out (photo)

This statue stands just before one drives under the old city of Warsaw. Apparently it’s a tribute for those who fought during the Warsaw Uprising (not for the Nazis, obviously). To be honest, it’s kind of scary.

Cold, red Torun (photos)

Having sufficiently de-thawed my once blue fingers, I can now finally post photos from our recent skull-chattering trip to Torun, a historic city a couple hours west of Warsaw notable for its brick architecture.

A common observation of the trip was how, when you’re travelling in the middle of January, taking photos becomes less like part of the trip and more like the focus. You walk out of your hostel, shiver and bee-line your way towards the attractions, quickly snap some photos, go to the next attraction then try and find somewhere to warm up, be it a restaurant or museum.

Torun boasts its own leaning tower. Literally, that’s what this is called:

And did I mention it was cold?

No winter cruisin’ for us.

Icetime (photos)

Ice and Light (photos)

A Mazurian Winter (photos)

Polish Winter, volume 1 (photos)

Up, and down, Warsaw’s main tourist drag at night in December: