Tons Of Rad Music Coming to Vancouver As Part of the 2010 Olympics

With the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games right around the corner, the city is in a buzz with all the arts and culture programming that is scheduled for the 2010 Cultural Olympiad. For the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, the Cultural Olympiad has a digital edition, otherwise known as CODE, that is split into four separate areas, all with different arts programming during the month of February. The four areas of CODE are CanadaCODE, a photography website that encourages submissions and remixes, CODE Screen 2010, an interactive experience that brings the arts to your home computer, CODE Motion Pictures, a curated film schedule from Canadian filmmakers, and CODE live, an 18 day festival of music and digital media installations.

All of the different areas of CODE will be an awesome way to experience the cultural side to the olympic games, yet CODE live’s 18 day festival will be an on-site experience that is best not to be missed. CODE live is split into two areas: music and digital media installations. The digital media installations are open to the public daily, at one of the three CODE live sites. I wrote an article where I picked the best digital media installations of the CODE live festival, which could help act as guide through the art portion of the festival. The second part of the CODE live event is a series of weekend concerts that are sure to make music-lovers rejoice and locals dance.

There are about 8 concerts scheduled during the CODE live Night Life section of the festival. The shows are scheduled on the three weekends that occur between the sporting events of the Olympic Games. All of the concerts will be at the Code live 1 location which is at the Great Northern Way Campus. Tickets for all the shows are available at 800-TICKETS or tickets.com and range from $20-$28.

I just wanted to highlight a few of the shows that are bound to bring the house down…

The best shows of the CODE live Night Life:

Friday February 5th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
Mike Relm and Additive TV

This opening night of the CODE live evening series is two act line-up that is sure to wow your eyes and ears. San Francisco audio/visual artist Mike Relm is quoted as a video “turntablist” that mixes video with audio, manipulated in real-time with astounding results. He has shared the stage with the Blue Man group and has performed at the closing ceremonies of the Pan Am Games in Rio de Jianaro and Bay Area Baseball game Giants vs. A’s. His notable eyeglasses and business suit are sure to set the stage for his amazing performance.
The second act of this opening night show is British duo Addictive TV, a dynamic team of audio/visual artists that is taking the world one remix at time. Addictive TV is becoming well known for remixing full feature films. Their remix credits include versions of Snakes on a Plane, Slumdog Millionaire and Iron Man. They have graciously shared the stage with Goldfrapp, Chemical Brothers and Moby. Noted as the best audio/visual artists in the world, Addictive TV is sure to make this event an unforgettable event.

Saturday February 6th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
New Forms Festival presents: LA Riots, The Golden Filter, DJ Set by Junior Boys and More

For the last few years, the New Forms Festival has been a Vancouver festival that was established to promote local artists/musicians and to create an environment where art, technology, media installations, and music could be viewed by a wider audience. It is really exciting to have this years New Forms Festival partnered up with CODE live to give us a killer line-up of non-stop dancing. The Saturday show is jam-packed with sets by LA Riots, a rising LA DJ duo that raises the bar for club hits, The Golden Filter, a live electronic duo based in New York, a DJ set by Junior Boys, a Canadian downtempo electro-pop band, U-Tern, Vancouver DJ, Humans, rad Vancouver rock band and Konrad Black, a heavy bass DJ based in Berlin. This showcase has a perfect mixture of East Coast and West Coast, with a heavy accent on the Vancouver scene. New Forms Festival is always a great time, and this Olympic edition is no exception.

Friday February 12th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
Kid Koala presents Short Attention Span Theatre

International turntable artist Kid Koala is no stranger to his hometown of Vancouver. Known for his impeccable scratching skills and his ability to manipulate records into unique sounds, Kid Koala has shared the stage with Bjork, Radiohead and Cut Chemist. This Montreal based DJ, born under the name Eric San, is one of the pioneers of eclectic turntabilism, with his style including diverse samples and elaborate turntable set-ups. Short Attention Span Theatre was a piece that is a full audio experience of masterful sound and media manipulation. It is very exciting for Kid Koala to be bringing this show to CODE live with accompaniment by Lederhosen Lucil.

Saturday February 13th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
Jamming the Networks: Modern Deep Left Quartet, Mike Shannon and more

This show’s title literally speaks for its self; this saturday night event will be jamming all the networks. This dual city experience will be a combination of parties happening simultaneously in Montreal and Vancouver. The very stacked line-up is comprised of international heavy hitters from the digital music landscape. Supergroup Modern Deep Left Quartet which consists of members Matthew Johnson, Colin the Mole, Danuel Tate and Tyger Dhula is an experience in analog-infused jazz sound. This four-piece is well versed in their digital instruments which strengthens their apparent musical relationship with each other. The rest of the show line-up includes Berlin-based artist Deadbeat, Mike Shannon, Montreal’s Jedi Electro with Vincent “Freeworm” Letellier from National Parcs, and a site-specific performance by Germany’s Groupshow. It is unclear as to what this site-specific performance will be, but I am sure it will be full of the same energy as the rest of the night. Packed with this many artists, showcased from so many different cities, this evening is sure to be an all night dance session.

Friday February 19th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
Martyn, 2562, Deadbeat and more

A night of heavy bass and lots of dub is sure to make a lot of happy dancers at this friday event at the Great Northern Way Campus. Invigorating mixes performed from some of the top players in the dub genre will grace the stage including Martyn with some infused soul rhythms, 2562 bringing the off beat heavy bass line and Deadbeat coming back for a second night of deep minimal bass. This dub-filled line-up will be accompanied by additional genre all-stars, musician/producer Michael Red, Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, Charly and Gallus who are otherwise known as BAF Soundsystem, and Vancouver’s own DAEGA Soundsystem. If you like dark, heavy bass tones mixed with body-moving dub rhythms, then this is the show for you.

The closing concert for the entire festival is a sold-out show by Chromeo. The show is on Saturday February 20th and I sure am kicking myself for not getting tickets! 🙁

During the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, there will be alot going on in the city. The reality is that you won’t be able to see it all! Hopefully this guide to the music shows presented during the CODE live festival will be a good reference if you feel the need for a night out dancing during February.

Stay tuned for more information about the must-see events of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad!

More Information:

Kid Koala discusses Short Attention Span Theatre at CODE live

2010 CODE live Twitter

CODE live event on Last.fm

CODE live at Emily Carr Institute

CODE list festival schedule in the Georgia Strait

CODE live festival closing show with Chromeo on Resident Advisor

U-Tern profile on New Forms Festival Website

LA Riots profile on New Forms Festival Website

The Golden Filter profile on New Forms Festival Website

Humans profile on New Forms Festival Website

Konrad Black on New Forms Festival Website

Junior Boys DJ Set on New Forms Festival Website

PS. While this post is not apart of my duties or job I should disclose that I do social media monitoring and strategy for the Cultural Olympiad.