Live Review: The Evaporators & The Choir Practice @ Ukrainian Hall

Let's just stop for a second while I wipe the saliva from my chin. For the first time in a few months, I will admit that I'm floored: my ringing ears and dropped jaw may indicate I have a deadly fly-borne disease, but I prefer to think I'm overcome with the symptoms of being completely rocked out. I shall hope for the latter and boldly continue with this review.

Last night's CiTR/Mint Records presentation brought the indie throngs out to Ukrainian Hall in ye good olde Strathcona, featuring Chrisarrific (of whom I only had the pleasure of seeing for 30 seconds), The Choir Practice, and headliners The (notorious!) Evaporators starring Nardwuar the Human Serviette.

The Choir Practice
Personally selected to open for Jarvis Cocker, new indie supergroup The Choir Practice is a union of what seems like 15 zillion choir singers representing local bands from Great Aunt Ida to P:ano to The Gay Straights (and minus Coco Culbertson, who's in Saskatchewan reproducing for the good of all mankind). Reviews keep touting them as the grown-up Langley Schools Music Project (just because they're a choir?), but I simply hear a tasty mix of gospel-folk-psychedelica -- a fine musical injection into the local scene. Within minutes of their live show, I had this crazy desire to reenact the James Brown gospel service scene from the Blues Brothers but, alas, I had no fancy hat or fan.

The Evaporators
But the serious rawk-out of the evening came from The Evaporators. Now, let's discuss Nardwuar: my guess is you either love him or you hate him. As a teenager interested in anything eclectic, I adored what he represented. As I got older and maybe a little bit jaded, and as his career expanded to include regular spots on MuchMusic's Going Coastal, I found him terrifyingly difficult to watch. I feared the worst.

However, I'll be the first to admit that his fidgety mannerisms and constant chatter works well on stage and does a marvelous job at engaging fans in the moment. If for one second you forget you're at an Evaporators show, Nardwuar will bring you back to reality pretty quickly, whether he's directing a microphone at your mouth, challenging you with trivia, or forcing you to carry him around the dance floor. An Evaporators show is not just a concert: it's a music spectacle and encyclopedic rundown of all things Canadiana. The audience itself is an enthusiastic microcosm of the east side, a network of people who adore music, look each other in the eye and aren't afraid to throw their hands in the air and wave 'em like they just don't care. With forced body surfing and high fiving, it's a truly interactive affair: if you somehow end up without one droplet of Nardwuar's sweat sliding down your skin (or anyone else's for that matter) then you obviously weren't in the venue.

Phooof. Must nap, recover, and then remove some of that Nardwuar sweat.