Vancouver Buzz: Counting Heartbeats Hit The Road And Lots Of Bands Release New Albums

On the local venue front, the news that everyone has been talking about is the May 6 shooting incident at Richard's On Richards. As a result of this, venue officials have stated they'll no longer be booking hip-hop shows.

New Music West has come and gone, falling somewhere between a bang and a whimper. Those who braved multiple sleepless nights to catch the bevy of local talent on offer were rewarded with several awesome showcases and the odd steaming pile of musical crapola. The band that knocked my socks off was Victoria's Counting Heartbeats. I was lucky enough to catch a truly inspiring performance at the Media Club on the second night of the festival, and apparently I'm not the only one impressed with these guys. Word has it they've been courted by several labels in recent days.

I caught up with the Heartbeat crew at Thursday night's tour kick-off show at The Lamplighter to get some inside info on who these guys are, where they're going and what's going on.

"Dude, we're touring everywhere in B.C. over the next few weeks," exclaimed frontman Joshua Van Leeuwen. "We're even playing legendary high-profile shows in famous places like Lumby, B.C."

After multiple jokes about how Lumby is the new Budokan, Van Leeuwen continued.

"We are just all about getting our album out and touring as much as possible to get some buzz going."

If you live in a rural locale in B.C., odds are that the Heartbeat boys will be playing near you very soon. If you want to catch a band on their way up, this act is a sure bet. Here are their tour dates:

May 12 Kamloops, BC @ Sopranos
May 14 Edmonton, AB @ The Core
May 15 Lumby, BC @ Lumby Legion
May 16 Vernon, BC @ Vernon Legion
May 19 Kelowna, BC @ OK Mission Hall
May 20 Quesnel, BC @ The Hall
May 21 100 Mile, BC @ 100 Mile Community Hall
June 9 Sidney, BC @ Sidney Pentecostal Church

To celebrate the release of their latest album, Yet Why Not Say What Happened, Billy And The Lost Boys are playing an all-ages show at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Azure. The bill also features The Flairs, Crystal Pistol and The Smears.

That same evening, Kid is rockin' a show for the grown-ups at the Lamplighter with Pepper Sands, New Years Resolution, Orchards & Vines and Treacherous Machete.

The aforementioned Flairs are releasing their long-awaited debut album, Shut Up And Drive, with a party at the Lamplighter on May 19. It's about time that this album sees the light of day. It was quickly becoming an indie rock Chinese Democracy. The show also features The Furios and Todd Kerns. Word has it that the first single/video from the album is a redux of the Skid Row classic, "18 & Life." Watching Flairs frontwoman Dawn Mandarino do her best Sebastian Bach impression is worth the price of admission alone.