By Des Dougan

"Unique" is one of those words whose meaning has been devalued by overuse, mostly by over-the-top advertising, but there are still some truly unique experiences out there. We saw one today, when a BC native, Ashleigh McIvor, scored a unique triumph - the first ever Olympic Ski-Cross gold medal.

Another unique experience, and one I have had the pleasure and privilege of enjoying, involves getting down on your hands and knees and crawling underneath a piano - a concert grand, no less. So why, you ask, would you crawl under a piano?

In the words of Craig Addy, founder of Vancouver's one-of-a-kind Under the Piano, a business that bathes the listener in improvised piano music:

When you crawl under my grand piano and nestle amongst opulent quilts and cushions you are treated to about 40 minutes of piano improvisations. You are surrounded by the music and enveloped by the sound. Your entire body is bathed by sound vibrations. You get to enjoy your very own personal concert and a remarkably relaxing and healing experience.

Every word there is true - the sound vibrations envelop the listener and you emerge incredibly relaxed and feeling totally at peace.

Craig, a classically-trained pianist, has developed a business idea that he believes is the only one of its kind in the world. If you're in this wonderfully warm and welcoming city for the Olympics and are looking for a memento unlike any other, visit Under The Piano - you won't regret it.

Des Dougan is Principal of Dougan Consulting Group, which provides technology support services to small businesses in the Metro Vancouver area. Des can be contacted here and via @ddougan on Twitter.

By Adam and Kev Photography - follow us on Twitter: #adamandkev

Nations unite in their appreciation of Téa's pink amp.

Let's get one thing straight from the start.  It's Téa.  Pronounced Tay-ah.  That said, I might be wrong on the pronounciation.  It just sounds way better coming from the lady herself.

The Serbian-born Kits resident is another star from the Peak Performance Project who put in months of stress, sweat, and song-stuff (I ran out of "s" words - put the Pulitzer on ice) during her journey into the top 20.  She normally performs with a band, but when she strolled into the Blenz on Hastings on a sunny Sunday morning, holding nothing but a small pink battery-power amp, it was up to her and her alone to convince those inside to put down their coffee and enjoy the Téa.  Ouch.

To describe hearing her sing and seeing her play piano is tricky.  It's hypnotic.  Imagine if Amy Winehouse didn't lose her mind, looks, and empathy and your halfway there.  Again, I'm clearly not doing it justice.  Check her out here and save yourself any more of my ramblings:

http://www.teasmusic.com/

More acts to follow in the next couple of days, including a young girl who should go far, and seven girls who recently played to 15,000 people at one of the torch ceromines.  As always, keep an eye on Twtter:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

By Adam and Kev Photography – www.adamandkev.com

By Adam and Kev Photography - follow us on Twitter: @adamandkev

Danny Echo

I wasn't entirley sure how this one would go.  When you take a band with a reputation for audacious (read: probably dangerous) show pieces involving pyrotechnics, smoking guitars, and even the odd fire extinguisher, and then strip them of every piece of electrical equipment and put them on a cafe patio at three o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, you have to make sure you insurance is in order.  If they sneak something in, it could all go Backdraft very quickly.

As it turned out, the boys from Danny Echo put on a great accoustic show.  They've had some very recent experience with a very simular idea - as part of their top 20 finish in the Peak Performance Project (if you haven't heard of it, check it out here) they undertook a tour of the GRVD skytrain system.  They made it quite a fair way before security decided it was all a little bit too exciting and sent them on their way.  We did no such thing, as Blenz again played gracious host in Yaletown.

The boys went down very well with the passing crowds - some of whom may have been running from the death metal band playing at one end of the street, or the jazz band playing at the other.  Either way, lots of music and/or coffee lovers found refuge in the heavan created by the boys, though one little kid did seem more interested in his Tonka firetruck.  They left after three songs, and within minutes were putting on another impromtu gig about a block away on the walk back to the car.

Canadians. Good at hockey. Bad at dancing.

Check them out at www.dannyecho.com. We're pretty much doing another show every day next week (two in some cases), so keep an eye on Twitter:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

By Adam and Kev Photography – www.adamandkev.com

-by Adam and Kev Photography

Besides all the flag waving, all the cheers in the streets, all the hi fives with strangers and foreigners, besides all that fun is the endless stream of musical performances going on while the Olympics continues to build in Vancouver. There are bands performing in the streets, at cafes, at the Live City sites and all the regular favorite venues are packed up with great shows.

On February 16th and 17th East Van's rockers Mongoose opened up for Los Angeles' Steel Panther. Adam and Kev were there on the 17th to catch these guys rocking it like they always do. With stage presence in abundance, RC, Shockk and Johnny Wildkat got the crowd warmed up and ready for the glam rock/heavy metal parody band from LA to do their thing.

Mongoose's next live show is April 8th at the Biltmore (www.biltmorecabaret.com). Check em out. Follow them on the their myspace page http://www.myspace.com/mongooserocks.

Adam and Kev are commercial photographers based out of Vancouver. Among other types of work they also shoot musicians - they love shooting musicians. Check out their work at www.adamandkev.com and follow them on twitter at @adamandkev.

Last night I went to check out Buck 65 at Live City downtown.  I got there a few hours early and found the line ups a lot faster then I anticipated.

The venue was at capacity but when I got inside there was a group called Fresh I.E. on stage who are Christian rappers from Winnipeg.  I grabbed a spot at the front of the stage and took some shots of these guys, who sang about life changes from what I gathered.

It was clear that people were pumped to see Buck 65 as the area in front of the stage became packed quickly when Fresh IE named their last song.  The audience was ecstatic when Buck 65 finally walked on stage.  He played two amazingly entertaining songs at the start of his set, one about Zombies and the other with reference to Michael Jackson.  Both he mentioned were new but it didn't deter the crowd in the least.  Part way through the show someone handed him a stack of fake money which he proceeded to share with the audience and went into a tune about what a nice guy he is.  This was my first time seeing him play live and I thought he was incredibly charismatic and appreciative of his cheering fans.  He signed autographs and grabbed reaching hands, and played several additional encore songs, even when he lost power to his laptop, he used his finger to tap the mic for a beat and rapped over top.  I thoroughly enjoyed the show and by the force that held me up against the stage wall throughout the concert, I believe that was the general consensus!

I grabbed some footage of a few of his songs and posted one below of the last song before his encore:

Article & imagery by Leigh Righton

Follow on twitter: @madmannequin Website: www.madmannequin.com

By: Nicholas Pavlich

Those of us in the know, or those in attendance lucky enough to stumble upon Jewish Reggae-star Matisyahu, Monday night in concert, at LiveCity Yale Town, revelled in a performance that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Even the pouring rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd that cheered in excitement as Matisyahu, took the stage.  New York City based artist wowed the audience with his unique blend of reggae grooves, Torah-inspired lyrics and hip-hop-beat boxing, all accompanied by a three-piece electric band. The show closed on a high note with the famed star performing his hit, pop-soul song, One Day.

Written By: Nicholas Pavlich
Video By: thekitsguy on Youtube
Nicholas Pavlich is a public relations and marketing professional and freelance writer. Nicholas is @NicholasPR on Twitter and can be reached professionally through www.FuelledCommunications.com

By Adam and Kev Photography - follow us on Twitter: @adamandkev

He's had a busy year - top ten in 99.3 The Fox's "Seeds", top 20 in 100.5 The Peak's (incredible yet somehow not that well known yet) Peak Performance Project, and he played the Van's Warped Tour.  Despite all this, Garrett generously gave us some time tonight to be the second of the surprise gigs that will be erupting across the city over the next couple of weeks.

Garrett Kato just after his three-song secret session.

Garrett has a voice that stops people in their tracks.  Especially female people.  Glad I bought my girlfriend with me then.  I could tell you all about his music but I’d never do it justice.  Better you just go here and check it out instead:

http://garrettkato.com/music

The venue (Blenz on Davie and Granville) had a couple of points of interest.  On the outside Canadian fans and a man dressed as a banana (over?) celebrated an 8-0 win over rank outsiders Norway.  No offence guys, but they were 1000-1 to win the gold before the tournament even started.  I think my odds of wining it weren’t too far behind.  Inside the cafe, a lady in full make-up was sleeping on a stool.  That takes awesome balance.  Or a lot of booze.

Next secret gig coming soon (and video of the last two I promise!).  Here are the Twitter feeds you need to be following now so you don't miss the next one, and we might not announce it from all of us.  Maybe we're lazy, maybe we're forgetful, or maybe we're just plain sneaky.  Either way, you've been warned.   And remember, you’ll only get a few hours notice:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

By Adam and Kev Photography – www.adamandkev.com.

Tonight saw the first of many spontaneous mini-sessions - artists and bands playing impromptu gigs throughout the city.  Blenz were kind enough to play host for this project, and there will no doubt be many more bemused/surprised/gleeful coffee drinkers in the weeks to come as the local (and maybe not so local) talents break into acoustic loveliness.  Follow the guys below on Twitter to get announcements for the next gig.  Hint: it’s really soon.  And you’ll only get a few hours notice:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

The brave act for gig #1 was Aaron Grant (http://www.myspace.com/aarongrantmusic - he’s also in a very cool band that I’ll let you find out all about), playing songs from his solo project.  The set was punctuated by screams as a parade of thousands poured by the Helmcken & Hamilton Blenz, and in addition to some phenomenal one-man moments of musical mastery, we managed to get him on the crowd for a very quick photo.

Stay tuned for video of the show – it’ll be worth the wait.  For now, keep your eyes peeled on Twitter and wait for the next show…

Photos: 1. Aaron Grant caught in the parade  2.street luging.