Date: October 10, 2008
Venue: The Drake

I’ve been meaning to get to this for a while now, but best laid plans and all that nonsense…In any case, I learned a valuable lesson about shows at The Drake while seeing The Buttless Chaps there a few weeks ago: go early.

You see, The Drake is one of those places that likes so get concerts over and done by 11pm so they can get on with their Friday club night. Unfortunately for my friend and I, we arrived at 10 assuming that would be plenty of time. Little did we know that by then we had already missed the opening sets by both Tim Vesely and Wax Mannequin. All wasn’t lost however, as we got there just as the Vancouver headliners were getting started.

To be honest, aside from a slight giggle at their name and a huge affinity for the title track to their 2001 album, Death Scenes I II III, I’ve only recently started giving these guys the attention they deserve—and deserve it they do. This fact was evidenced by their excellent performance on this particular evening. Personally, I was loving the spacey sounds guitarist Lasse Lutick was getting out of his Boss Space Echo pedal (I’m a bit of a gear head…) and Morgan McDonald’s synth and keyboard sounds added a welcome layer of versatility to Dave Gowans’ acoustic guitar and unique vocals.

They didn’t play my beloved “Death Scenes I II III,” but maybe next time I’ll make a request.

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Here’s a clip of The Buttless Chaps performing “Complications May Arise,” from Cartography, as shot for Zunior.tv live at The Drake:

The Buttless Chaps - Death Scenes I II III

Here more at the band’s Myspace page or grab digital copies of their albums from Zunior.