On Sunday night, I whisked my two lovely parents to The Lumineers show at the Media Club on Cambie Street. They were on their way back from Hawaii and I thought I'd give them a little dose of my personal hot spots in Vancouver. I've said it many times, and i'll say it once again, the Media Club is a killer venue to see shows. Small, intimate, and always filled with up and coming artists. The Lumineers, as expected, were awesome! They played all the hits, and had the entire crowd stomping their feet and chanting along to songs like "Ho Hey" and "Dead Sea". I realize now how heavily influenced they are by Bob Dylan, after they played several covers including "Subterranean Homesick Blues", and my personal favourite "Girl from North Country".
The surprise of the evening was one of the opening bands, Portland's own, Y La Bamba. As they were setting up, their female lead singer, Luz Elena Mendoza, immediatly grabbed the attention of onlookers with her interesting spread of tattoos, thin appearance, and funky hair. But as her mouth opened up for the first time, and a gorgeous vibrato escaped from her throat, we knew we were in for a good show. Y La Bamba has latin flair, but also encompasses a lot of twisted folk rock roots, with their most upbeat songs coming from their spanish influence. The sound is unique and their show offered up something I haven't seen in awhile. I picked up their latest album, Court the Storm, which will be on heavy rotation this week.
Here is the second track off their album, Bendito:
