Rocking Out at the Legion

On Friday, January 13th, Legion Branch 43 was bursting with music. In the show, put on by CFUR, four sets of performers took the stage and got everyone dancing and rocking along with them. Sean Wesley Wood, Crones, Flying Machine, and the Karl Wyssen Trio kept the audience at the Legion enthusiastic and demanding encores. For the most part, the music from each band was a mix of rock and alternative rock genres. However, a few of the songs provided the audience with a different sound. "Surf Detective" by Crones was one song that did this. By using different settings on their microphones and electric keyboard, the band was able to give the song a futuristic sound that peaked the interest of the audience.

The bands performed well into the night, but no one was tired. The air of the Legion was filled with energy and adrenaline. And when the performers weren't up on stage, they were on the floor dancing and rocking out with the rest of the audience.

By the time Crones took the stage, more than half of the audience had let loose and taken to the dance floor.

One of the highlights of the night was Rocking Ronnie, a performer who joined the Karl Wyssen Trio in a few songs with his harmonica. You wouldn't think that someone could rock so hard with an instrument like the harmonica, but Ronnie blew the audience away with his playing. From the very beginning of the show, Ronnie tried to get the audience involved and out of their shells by grooving to the songs of Sean, Crones, and Flying Machine.

Overall, the performances were impressive and left the audience at the Legion wanting more. By the end of the night, the mood was set and no one wanted to go home.

Article and photography by: Sarah Green

SHOW REVIEW: Songs Carry On; Remembering Musicians Lost in 2016 - January 7, 2017

Last Saturday at The Legion, took place the show Songs Carry On, to pay tribute to some of the great world-known musicians that died last year. Conceived by musician Britt Meierhofer, the concert brought together local artists to perform their favorite songs by legends like David Bowie, Prince and George Michael. “I chose songs by artists that have impacted and influenced me to some degree,” said Britt, who played The Bottle Let Me Down by Merle Haggard, 100 Days 100 Nights by Sharon Jones and Modern Love by David Bowie, among other songs. The Juno Lounge of the Legion Branch 43 is a place dedicated to the military veterans and their families. Everybody that enters the place is asked to take their hat or cap off in respect to those people who served the country. This act, in a certain way, helped all present demonstrate their respect for the amazing dead artists that contributed to transforming the music scene. “I think the show went well, the turnout was better than expected and everyone was very kind and supportive,” evaluated Britt.

Some of the poems by Leonard Cohen, such as My Mother Is Not Dead and This Isn't China, were read by Jordan Tucker between performances. Tucker opened the night with one of them and handed the microphone to Sean Wesley Wood, who created a melancholic atmosphere during his performance, playing his versions of songs like The Heat Is On by Glenn Frey. Nathan Kelly animated the audience, singing some of Prince’s, David Bowie’s and George Michael’s songs with great success, like TVC 15 (Bowie), Faith (Michael) and I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Prince). Naomi Kavka kept up the vibrant climate by singing Life on Mars by David Bowie and Careless Whisper by George Michael. At some point, all the local artists played together making the crowd dance. The show that began minimalist and intimate ended joyful and vivacious, like a big part of the awesome musicians that were honored that night. 

- Photo and article by Fernanda Paulilo

2016! An Unpopular, But Not Entirely Bad Year!

Happy New Year to you, our wonderful supporters and friends! While 2016 has been garnering rather unpopular reviews by most, we at CFUR look back on a year full of growth and good times here at the station! And the music! Egads, the music! 2016 may have taken a lot of greats off the bill, but there was a LOT of really good music released (both locally and otherwise), much to our delight.

Some of our favourite regional releases of 2016 include Blocktreat's Exciting New Ventures in Fucking Up, The Joey Only Outlaw Band's No More Trouble in the Peace, Flying Machine's Flying Machine EP and The Burden's Modern Disease.

As far as national and international acts, Tanya Tagaq's Retribution blew our minds, as well as Esperanza Spalding's Emily's D+Evolution, A Tribe Called Red's We Are the Halluci Nation, The Pack AD's Positive Thinking, Black Mountain's IV, and Damien Jurado's Visions of Us on the Land, amongst many other great albums released this year. Some of those are featured on Britt A.M.'s recent episode here:

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We look forward to another year of fantastic music coming down the pipe, and we THANK YOU, our listeners, for continuing to support us in bringing you music that highlights our local and regional scenes, as well as delivering some of the best independent and alternative music from across the land!

Here's to 2017!

Donate to the Food Bank, win a Northern Sport Centre pass!

Wowzers! We have a 3-month pass to the Northern Sports Centre up for grabs!

All you have to do is bring a non-perishable food item to CFUR to enter the draw (which happens on Tuesday Dec. 5)!

#communityradio #gympass#sports #fooddrive #youwineitherway

All donations got to the NUGSS Food Bank

Accepting donations throughout the weekend.

Check us out on facebook!

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Already have a pass? They make great gifts!

Alice In Wonderland Takes the Stage for Another 2 Nights!

From Nov-17th now to December 9th, take a romp through your imagination and out the other side in this year's fully original interpretation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland." It's an incredible journey through the perspective of a child, and the lens of the wisest mystic.

Get tickets & find out more here

Go ask Alice...

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C.R. Avery and Eliza Mary Doyle at the Legion

On October 22nd, C.R. Avery travelled through space and time to close out his West Coast tour at the Legion, branch 43.

Backed by four musicians who brought with them a tight understanding of tried and true folk tunes and original songs alike.

Each song, whether formerly heard or not, was brought into a new understanding of what it means to truly perform a song that has been kicking around the folk world for ages and to craft one’s own work into a composition that fits it like a well built cabin in the woods would a hermit.

Eliza Mary Doyle, a supreme Saskatchewan banjo picker also took the stage as the opening act. A three piece harmonious experience with a pumped up vibe that kicked off the night.

While talking with C.R. Avery between sets, he expressed that he aims to find a new home for a song by experimenting with genres and styles. In short, to not bore and not to be bored. The night was visually stimulating with various lights being consciously chosen for segments of songs and a theatrical demeanour that occurs when you’ve got a musician who is also a performer. Not to mention the fantastic pre-recorded samples being played alongside live performance and futuristic harmonica beat-boxing that sounds like ocean, trains and all of these other things you don’t always get to hear from the short harp.

So you missed out this last weekend but want to see what the Legion has to offer next? Don’t worry, Mad Loon Entertainment and CFUR have got you covered. On Friday, October 28th there’s a hallowe’en show featuring Blackberry Wood and High Society.

Adam Farnsworth who was on keys and Chelsea Johnson who played bass, tambo and sang with C.R. Avery are both in High Society. While speaking with Chelsea, I learned she has a background in theatre that manifests itself somehow in every band she’s in. This coupled with the infamous Blackberry Wood means you best put on some kind of costume and get out there!

UNBC makes a step forward

UNBC makes another step forward

by Grant Bachand

09-30-2016

The University of Northern British Columbia and the Lheidli T’enneh signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The ceremony which was held Friday morning saw the unveiling of a sign at the entrance of UNBC in the Dakehl (Carrier) language which reads “House of Learning.” Accompanying the unveiling of the sign a Lheidli T'enneh flag has now been hoisted to fly high amongst the Canadian, British Columbia and Prince George flags.

“These permanent fixtures on campus are just more examples of how the UNBC community and the Lheidli T’enneh can continue to build a co-operative, long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationship where principles of respect, communication, trust and understanding will lead to positive and meaningful collaborations and partnerships.” - Daniel Weeks President of UNBC

This will be one of many steps forward in educating the students, staff and faculty at UNBC about the history of Prince George and the Lheidli T’enneh. Weeks talked about a new program going to be launched which will help educate new students, staff and faculty about the history as well.

UNBC's Anomaly of a Party: Backyard BBQ 2016

Last weekend, UNBC hosted its wildest party to date.  Backyard BBQ has been an annual going-on for the past handful of years.  It's NUGSS' way of saying "hey welcome back, here's some beer and music - enjoy yourselves before the academic year roundhouse kicks you in the heart!" This year's line-up was a pleasant and impressive surprise - The Zolas, Sleepy Tom, and LOUDPVCK (the V reads like an A, so Loud Pack). I only know as much about the EDM scene as anyone else who occasionally reads VICE, but I was told by friends that Sleepy Tom and LOUDPVCK are big names.  As for The Zolas, I think it's pretty cool that UNBC scored an indie act, even if that act is starting to sound more and more like The 1975 or some other alternative-but-not-really-alternative-anymore pop band.

I arrived at campus around 7pm and caught the tail end of the event's opening act.  Not much was happening, so I decided to start drinking.  It turns out the beer garden was where I would spent the majority of my night.  While there, I even made small talk with the drummer of The Zolas while he cooly smoked a cigarette (in a non-smoking zone).  By the time The Zolas took the stage, more people had arrived and it became evident that many UNBCers and townies had come to see this Vancouver band.  The songs they played were mostly from their newer EP.  People sang along.  Somebody waved a lighter in the air.  The band opened with Molotov Girls and later played You're Too Cool, which are two of my three favourite Zolas tracks, so I'd say it was a good set.

After The Zolas is when things got a bit crazy.  Even more people came for the DJs.  First and second years who pre-drank in their dorms were now drunk in public for the first time.  They made up the bulk of the front of the crowd, dancing and shoving and laughing and grinding.  Yes, they grinded.  I felt sorry for the middle-age security guards who had to stand around looking stoic and authoritative while 18 year olds awkwardly and excitedly rubbed their bodies together.  Sleepy Tom played a good set, with danceable beats that everyone (including myself) enjoyed gettin' jiggy to.  LOUDPVCK's DJ style was a bit more aggressive, as his all-caps stage name might suggest.  He dropped a lot of F-bombs, asking if we were F-ed up, etc. but at this point in the night people were really into that.  They yelled back and cheered and things were getting sloppy in the front rows.  My friends and I danced along until the buzz of our $4 drinks wore off, at which point we returned to the beer garden for our night cap(s).  Did I mention that it had been raining the entire time? A light consistent drizzle - enough to turn the field into mud, but not enough to deter everyone from dancing.  If anything, the images created by the rain (muddy shoes, wet hair, running mascara) made the night more memorable.

The #15 has never been as crowded as it was that night, probably around 1am.  The music had stopped, the field was pure mud, and the NUSC event spaced smelled mildly of cheap beer vomit.  Oh, to be young. So my first Backyard BBQ experience mostly consisted of dancing, people-watching, drinking, and catching up with friends I hadn't seen all summer.  But ask any 18 year-old who was there and I think their story would be a bit blurrier. All the same, I think NUGSS can pat itself on the back for this one.   Whether NUGSS continues to move the event in the direction of EDM or attempts to take on more indie bands, they've set a solid precedent for years of Backyard BBQ'ing to come.

Post and photography by Dara Campbell

My Artswells Experience

So I just got back from Artswells, and it was absolutely amazing, I had a blast. But this was my first ever festival and as I walked into the tiny town of Wells, I honestly didn't know what I was getting myself into. I was camped behind my car in a parking lot and there were definitely people from all walks of life in the town. As well, although I went with the CFUR crew and I did hang out with all those lovely people, for a good majority of the time I was by myself (which was at first pretty intimidating). I checked out all the vendors and food trucks to begin with, and it was really nifty. Nifty is honestly the best word to describe, it was unique, creative, and personable, and each vendor seemed to love the festival. On the second day I talked to two vendor owners, and the executive director of Island Mountain Arts on why they have decided to keep coming back to the festival, and some favourite memories <iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276565450&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true"></iframe>

The food there is pretty great there as well: My Saturday night dinner consisted of a veggie taco and wild rose tea, and it was SO good. Maybe it was just because i was tired, hungry, and a little cold, but it ranks up there with the best tacos I've ever had.

Now, of course my favourite part was the music, its the reason  why you go to a festival! I am not exaggerating when I say there was something for everyone ! From beat boxing, to a Balkan inspierd orchestra, to a rock band, there was so many different types of music there. Three performances stick out to me, and each for different reasons. The first one was by a newer duo by name of Kitty and the Rooster. It was one of the first bands i saw and they  honestly just put a smile on my face. It was during that performance really got excited that I was actually at Artswells. The two were having so much fun on stage, and so was the crowd. The ridiculous lyrics, and the surf rock groove was the perfect combo. The next performance  that really suck out to me was Bend Sinister. I personally just love their sound and energy, you could tell the band was having a blast and that positive vide was contagious. The entire hall felt it, and we managed to convince them to come back for one more song. The final performance that sticks out to me was the Gabriel Palatchi Trio. Their sound was so different, as they were a latin-jazz group. Not only was their sound very cool, but it was awesome to see how everyone who started sitting down ended up pushing the chairs to the side to  dance.

But I think that one of the things that stood out to me in this festival was the general vibe, and the people that were there. Everyone was friendly; I don't think I could count how many random people said "Hi". I also met lots of people, and simply talked to them for a few moments before going on our own ways. By being by myself I got to watch people, and see how they interacted and greeted everyone. As well, all the artists interacted with both their fans and other artists. I wasn't at one performance without seeing another artist there supporting them. It was great to see.

Overall I had such a fun time. I was crazy busy and I was pretty tired for the drive home, but i am so glad i went. I think its a great festival for both those who have had festival experience and for first timers like me; its not too big but there's still some great headliners. As well, although some people got a little crazy late at night, in general it was pretty chill and there were even families that were there. If you like any type of music...or any type of art in general, you may want to check out Artswells for 2017! And if you don't have someone to go with you, don't let that stop you, you can still have fun at a festival by yourself.

-Laura Smith, Twitter: @lasmith98