This past weekend was our good pals at Vinyl Envy’s celebrated two years of being the best record shop in town by throwing one hell of an anniversary party.
Over the last year, Vinyl Envy has become the go-to venue for new and exciting music in this city. They foster diversity. Some nights, you’ll see some of the best local indie rockers. Other nights, you’ll see emo, punk, metal, americana, country, jazz, and everything between. It’s also one of the only all-ages venues in town, and we believe exposing kids to good music early is a good thing.
We made it down for Sunday’s festivities. Rocktographers might have had a hangover from Friday night which lasted well into Saturday night. That’s what we get for having too much fun at the Dirty Mountain, MIND, and Tan & Hide show at Upstairs Cabaret.
During the afternoon, we were treated to some acoustic performances from local acts like Steph Macpherson who took requests during her entire set. Tom Salter from Dirty Mountain threw out some deep cuts from her catalogue. At one point, Steph was joined by Tom’s fellow bandmate Elli Hart to sing some tracks.
Afterwards we were treated to solo set from Wise Child’s Jaya Bremer. She shared stories about her songs & travels, and performed two breathtaking covers: Iron & Wine’s Naked As We Came and Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. Following that, Jake Winter from Tan & Hide took the stage for an americana filled set, occasionally joined on vocals by fiddle player and bandmate Megan McCaffrey. It was the perfect way to end the afternoon.
Just when we thought that the day was done, we were reminded that the evening would be filled with even more great live music.
Vancouver’s alternative rocker Alexandria Maillot fired up the evening with a heavy dose of guitar and distortion. During her set, her dog Tobias came to visit, garnishing a comment from band member Isaac Sim that more people will talk about the pup than the show. He was right. Everyone loves dogs!
The night marked the kickoff of a Canadian tour with Alexandria Maillot and one of our favourite people, Kirsten Ludwig. That night, the pair released a tour-exclusive cassette featuring new songs that they debuted at Vinyl Envy. We can’t wait to hear Kirsten’s song performed with a full band.
Wrapping up the evening was Peach Pyramid. Since the last time we saw them just over a month ago, the band has done a lot of growing up. They feel more comfortable in their own skin and you can tell. They’ve certainly gained a lot of confidence. We look forward to seeing them grow more, and hopefully, we will see some physical music from them by the end of the year.
The whole day felt like the beginning of festival season. Hanging out with friends, fellow photographers, musicians, and enjoying some great music. It certainly didn’t feel like we were there almost nine hours. Plus there was a giant chocolate cake and coffee. Rocktographers is powered by cake and coffee. Mainly coffee.
Rocktographers straight up heart emojis Vinyl Envy. They’ve been amazing friends to us over the last two years, and we couldn’t think a better way to celebrate their second anniversary than with a weekend full of rad musical performances. We already can’t wait for year three!
