Moist was a Discman staple of most good Canadian kids who grew up in Vancouver in the 1990s. Silver, Creature, and Mercedes 5 and Dime heavily rotated on CFOX while kids like me from Surrey would take the SkyTrain, then a bus, to all-ages shows at the Pacific Coliseum. We’d catch triple bills of our local favourites who also appeared each Friday night on TV in the Much Music Countdown.
“We never really broke up,” frontman David Usher told me over the phone today, “we announced it as a hiatus.” After 13 years Moist has regrouped and returned to the stage for a 6-city Canadian tour which lands in Vancouver on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at the Commodore.
Photo courtesy of Live Nation
From 1993 to 2001, over the course of three multiplatinum albums, MOIST led the vanguard of the Canadian alt-rock scene, sold over a million records and toured relentlessly from sea to sea to sea, literally. After an exhausting decade, the band went on hiatus in 2001 to take a breath, pursue divergent personal and professional trajectories, build families and find their lives outside of MOIST. Now, twenty years after the start of it all and with renewed vigour and an irrepressible urge to rock, MOIST is back and “The Resurrection” is upon us. [Live Nation]
Usher said that they all decided that getting back together would be fun, on a whim, and before he knew it they were “in the sh*t, as they say.” “Every year it gets brought up and there’s always a reason not to do it. This year, I don’t know why, everyone was just really into it.”
“We have found something on stage that didn’t exist before. There’s still this energy… but there’s something new as well.”
They have already recorded a Christmas tune for CBC Radio 3, which make Usher chuckle being “half Jewish, half Buddhist” but it has shown that the group’s cohesiveness hasn’t skipped a beat.
One quick scan of YouTube to look up Moist’s video collection reminds one of just how prolific the band was during its time in the spotlight. Winning the Juno Awards for Best New Group of 1995, Best Video (Gasoline) in 1997, and various video and Canadian rock awards in the years to follow. “Doing this after so many years, I wasn’t really sure what to expect and how to feel about it.” It all seemed to come back together quickly for the group. “We’re pretty goddamn happy to be doing it again.”
David Usher alone has certainly kept busy, cranking out a new solo album every 2-3 years consistently since 1998 while living in New York and then returning to Quebec. He, along with Mark Makoway, Jeff Pearce, Kevin Young, and Francis Fillion (now on drums) have now already played a few shows in Ontario since resurrecting Moist and the reception has been extremely positive.
As for a new album on the horizon, Usher told me that they’re definitely writing songs and are “pretty committed to writing new material.”
During their hiatus, Moist was gone but not forgotten. David Usher was one of the first artists that I followed on Twitter after I joined the social network in March of 2007 — he joined in August of the same year. Referring to himself as an “uber geek” when I asked about social media and Twitter in particular, which didn’t exist when Moist was in its heyday, Usher said that he’s always been a first-adopter of tools. Like many of us who like the experiment with the ever-changing media landscape, he’s found the time to disconnect and also when to let the medium play its role.
You might be like me, attending your long-awaited first “19+” Moist concert at the Commodore, or you might just be getting acquainted with this Vancouver staple of the 1990s (through the previously-mentioned trove of YouTube gems). Tickets are still available online through Ticketmaster so be sure to scoop yours up. You can follow @DavidUsher and @MoistOnline on Twitter for the latest information tour updates.
Fort Langley is a lovely area to visit at any time of year — for antiques, festivals, and historic attractions — and this season is no exception. Visit the Fort Langley National Historic Site and spend some time in Fort Langley Village to enjoy activities and local shopping.
Enjoy a traditional holiday atmosphere, crafts, and stories at Fort Langley from December 21, 2013 until January 5, 2014. At 11:00am daily hear fascinating stories about Fort Langley’s past with “Faces of the Fort.” From 11:00am to 3:30pm enjoy complimentary hot chocolate and at 2:00pm taste freshly roasted chestnuts and hear stories from the 1827-1830 Fort Langley journals. At 3:00pm join a Carolling Bonfire.
Heritage Holiday at the Fort is open daily from 10:00am until 5:00pm and will be closed December 25th, 26th, and January 1st. Admission fees are posted online. There’s also an earlybird sale on Annual Passes (save 20%).
Grouse Mountain is the Peak of Christmas in Vancouver with mountain-top ice skating, skiing, Santa’s reindeer and other snowy adventures with sweeping views high above the city.
A fire crackling in the outdoor pit, the scraping of skate blades on the ice, fresh powder falling from the sky, and the aroma of Beaver Tails wafting through the crisp mountain air. Once you purchase your lift ticket on the world-famous Grouse Mountain Sky Ride you have access to all Peak of Christmas activities, until December 24th, like visiting Santa’s reindeer Prancer, ice skating, Christmas movies in the Chalet, SOS Children’s Gingerbread Village, snowman crafts and tattoos, mountaintop sleigh rides and more.
If you would like to experience the Peak of Christmas at Grouse Mountain this season I have a family pass to give away that includes admission for 2 adults and 2 children/youth (under 18) and access to the Skyride, Holly the Jolly Reindeer show, antler making, sleigh rides, Gingerbread Lane, mountaintop ice-skating, Santa’s Workshop and more festive fun.
Here’s how you can enter to win:
Leave a comment naming your favourite snowy-day activity (1 entry)
Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
RT to enter to win @grousemountain #PeakofChristmas tix from @miss604 http://ow.ly/rB1aP
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 10:00am on Friday, December 13, 2013. Family pass is valid for the 2013 Peak of Christmas which runs until December 24, 2013. Follow Grouse Mountain on Facebook and Twitter for more information about events, activities, and conditions this season.
Everyone loves dreamy timelapse videos of Vancouver that illustrate a day in the life of our coastal city. Clouds dancing, water shifting, and lights twinkling. I found a few recent timelapse video uploads to Vimeo to share including the first one below where the creator captured one morning outside their window, every day, for a full year. Enjoy!
Ice skating at Fry’s Corner in Surrey was something we looked forward to as kids as soon as it turned cold. Decades later, those who run God’s Little Acre farm in Surrey have taken it upon themselves to rekindle those magical memories on their own piece of land, flooding their field for a cause.
Where: God’s Little Acre – 16582 40th Ave Surrey When: December 7, 2013 to December 31, 2013 from 10:00am to 8:00pm More info: (604) 375-1172
The outdoor rink was created by Jas Singh, the farmer behind God’s Little Acre, a hay field-turned-vegetable farm in Surrey that has provided fresh food to local food banks and soup kitchens since 2011 [Source: The Province]
From Desi Events: The farm, which also runs a produce bank, grows vegetables for local soup kitchens and pre-registered hamper groups from Vancouver to Chiliwack. Proceeds from the skating rink this weekend will go toward the purchase of seeds for the upcoming season. Organizers have set a goal of $7,000, which would allow the farm to buy enough seeds to grow approximately 500,000 pounds of produce. Staff have been working over the course of two days to perfect the ice, with the help of local firefighters. Skate rentals are being donated by Sports Replay, and there will be hot chocolate and music.
God’s Little Acre Farm has been working tirelessly to put this amazing attraction together and it all paid off on Friday and Saturday. Here’s what they had to say on Facebook:
Long story short…I spent two days getting this rink together….13 years waiting for the perfect storm since the last time I did it….made many people go insane like Superman…Kriss…Traya and especially Penni to help me do this so I’m not alone….I told them all my homies will show up LOL. We have washrooms, lots of parking….open at ten….going to go to pawn off my bass guitar and amp right after this post to see if I can rent those big lights to light the place up….have music….dance lights…and fun. Surrey Fire Fighters coming back at 1:30 today to smooth over my mess like they did last night. Skates are coming in from Sports replay (Langley Bypass) who just called me and will offer used skates for free….that’s a corporate hero…buy your skates from them used because they are good and cheap. Rick and Sue diamond bringing barbecue wagon..bring your own chairs if you are watching….we will have wagons to sit on. If anyone has a generator…night lights…a pa system….a dj they know…..any kind of heating so people can get warm please text me because my phone is already going nuts….remember that in August???1200 phone calls…lol….if you cant afford to make a donation do not hesitate to come and please bring your children. Anyone really wanting to help out with the seed in any other way…please come and see me….much appreciated….texting is the way to go and I will call you back accordingly….feel free to ask questions on here as well. Will look at the fb page later today. If you have any of the above items to help….we are setting up tonight if we get the gen. and the lights otherwise we will only be open from 10-dark.
Please send this and share this to anyone and everyone you can. This is a family event and no alcohol permitted. Please tweet media….they can meet me and the fire department at 130 today to take a peak.16582-40th ave surrey bc….my number is 604-375-1172…please come and help as you have done before…dont know skate sizes call sport replay in Langley!….Thanks again!
So far they have raised over $2,200 and I’m sure much more will come flooding in as word spreads. Skating is open again today and parking is available along with skate rentals and refreshments. Please bring a cash donation to help this incredible cause. Follow God’s Little Acre Farm on Facebook for more information.
Update Monday, December 9, 2013 — They are just shy of their goal, as Jas posted on Facebook.
This weekend average joe family and single people came and took over and said “We’ve got your back Jas” and donated what they could because they believe in good. Yesterday we raised almost $4,000 for the seed we need to buy to give away 500,000 lbs. of product. This means we have raised $6,100.00 less expenses for the event which I estimate to be $600 so far. This includes the $300.00 we spent getting more food for the barbecue yesterday. We are short $1500 dollars for seed and then we will tackle the operating costs / repair costs and get that seed in the ground come march. Anyone interested in looking at our budget numbers to see if they can help will be great…just email me at [email protected].
There’s still plenty of time to head to the farm and skate this week and next. Be sure to stop by and play some pond hockey, skate around with the kids, and enjoy some hot chocolate to help the farm’s produce bank.
