Spring

Spring is starting and so JH and I went to take pics at the UBC Botanical Garden. Hope spring has sprung where you are (and, if not, hang in there … it is coming). In the meantime, here’s some pics of pretty flowers to tide you over:

Vancouver Bhangra

Photos from the competition at this year’s Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration (including an opening performance by Delhi2Dublin):

English Bay Photos

Some shots from English Bay can be found by clicking on the photo below:

D2D @ CBC

Hold it right there! Before reading the rest of this post, there is something you need to do. First, raise the volume on your computer. Second, click here and listen for a bit. Click on the music and downloads and listen to “Celtic Dub” and then to “Nightstep”. Third, sit still. Can’t do it, can you. Some part of you is tapping or bobbing or even gyrating wildly, isn’t it? Nope, that’s not some sort of weird mind-control trick, that’s the sound of Vancouver’s own Delhi2Dublin. Go ahead, you can stand up and dance now and then come back and read the rest of this. I won’t mind.

You’re back? Great. Now just imagine that, but even better. How, you say? What could be better? Seeing them live, of course. Since first seeing Delhi2Dublin live at a summer festival last year I have become a big fan. I listen to a lot of what is usually termed “world fusion” (or some other ridiculous term) and it is not hard to see that fusing multiple musical traditions can be really tricky and seem forced or jarring. Delhi2Dublin do not have that problem. Their core is a mix of indian, celtic and electronic (along with a few other things) that mixes them in a way that reinforces each and draws them together into a new multilayered sound. Ah hell, I could go on and try to describe (even with my limited knowledge of musical terminology) why they are so good, but that misses the point. The bottom line is that they will blow you away and last night proved it to me.

Delhi2Dublin were in the CBC studios recording for a show that will air later this year and I took JH and RPV along after they had listened to the D2D album and really loved it. The studio is kind of old, there was no room to dance in the front, it was full of chairs and, unfortunately, the studio audience was maybe a little over half of what it could have been. This is a band that clearly feeds off the energy of its audience and I couldn’t have imagined a worse setup for them. But they pulled it off. They got some of the audience up and dancing on the side (I really don’t understand how the rest of them could sit there, bobbing in their seats, clearly enjoying it and not get up and dance). Their performance was phenomenal. Sure, it would be better to see them in a club or at an outdoor festival, but the fact that they did so well in that setting really showed that they have what it takes to be a great band. In part, I think it is that they just love the music and have fun up there. All of them gave everything they had to the show and you could see it.

Oh, and go their site to listen to some more tracks and maybe buy the album. Unfortunately the album just does not do justice to their live performances. But if you at all like this kind of stuff, you won’t regret it. As for me, I’ll be at the next show.

UPDATE: RPV has his review here, including some pics.

Vancouver Sunset

JH and I took advantage of a rare beuatiful winter day in Vancouver to hang out at Kits Beach and take some shots. Here’s an attempt to use the High Dynamic Range technique to catch the city and mountains at sunset. A few more shots can be found after the jump.