Vonnegut Dollhouse

It's funny with goodbyes. They can be quick and get-on-with-your-life kinda thing or carefully planned and lived as a special moment in a moment in time.



With East Vancouver's Vonnegut Dollhouse playing their last show at the Honey Lounge last night it was kind of between the two extremes. Without even an official announcement on their Myspace and I got an e-mail from Alyson (vocals, [rhythm] guitarist) saying to come down to Honey and see them for the last time.



I arrived just in time for the start of their set just after 10pm. I wasn't planning on shooting that night so I wasn't lugging my six million dollar bag around. It's the second show this year that I've attended without a camera and not taking photos. It felt pretty weird.



I still don't like the Honey Lounge as a live music venue because of no stage lighting of any sort and the sound isn't great but other than that I'm not complaining because Corey is planning to book a regular night of shows on Thursday nights there.



It's been awhile since I've heard Vonnegut live since they did a good string of shows earlier this year. With new songs in tow, they played pretty much a full hour of tight spacey rock, it's the best set i've seen them play. It's like they headlined the show.



There weren't that many words spoken in between songs but Daniel (guitarist) while tuning his guitar pointed out to the 40 or so folks in the crowd - "Thanks for coming out. This is our last show." Alyson chimed in - "It's kind of a funeral, but we're still alive."



Alyson, wearing a shiny-ish dress speckled with spades alongside her immaculately dressed band mates didn't let up in the mood of their songs - no funeral here - songs were loud and full out.



The band was also handing out free merch for those in attendance. If you ever come across their record, it's an actual dollhouse. Listen to rock, make and play house.



Not wanting their last song to be forgotten by the masses, their last song "Vonnegut will Steal Your Soul" was an onslaught of everything the band could scream in your ears and then some. Exhausted drummer Jakub leaned back on the red soft back lounge seats for temporary rest before rocking into this last closing foray of the etherworld of vonneguts. --Steve Louie, Photographer



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"Ornamental Etherworld presents familiar Canadian indie pop fare with adequate doses of weirdness, clever lyrics, pseudo-artsy references to the late, great Kurt Vonnegut, and ear-friendly music. What's not so typical about Vonnegut Dollhouse is the intertwining of crunchy, 70s jazz-rock guitar licks with electronic keyboards that sound like a cross between 80's Moog and a church organ."



-Anne-Marie Brugger, !earshot



(read more.)



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"The music is wicked fine. Imagine the Beach Boys meets Botch while the B-52s fly by and XTC counts it out. And that's all in one song, "Ugly Kids Steal Bikes." Oh yeah, they've got a knack for titles as well. B+"



-Stuart Derdeyn, The Province



(read more.)



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-a judge at citr's Shindig



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