Tag Archives: Music
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Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo 2019 Report

25 Jun

20190622_111629By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

It’s very rare that I get to ply my video game handle at a show. When the days of Golden (and Silver Age) gaming meets modern arts at the Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo, I’m in the zone. This event was held on June 22, 2019. It’s now in its eighth year. Tournaments, music performances, and panels make up most of this one-day show. and its present location includes a New Media Gallery.

To have this exhibition in the middle of a sprawling metropolis, the municipality of New Westminster is the right spot to locate this show. The Anvil Center is the center of a nice hub where the Fraser River cuts through. Food and the arts are nearby. On a beautiful sunny day, this neighbourhood is a nice place to explore. Those wanting a history lesson of the area will get more than one since the area includes three nearby museums.

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[From the Archives] From Baseline to Big in Japan – Tennis Pro, The Interview

17 Jun

VOD (Amazon link)

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Originally published in 2015 on Vivascene
This interview I conducted has since disappeared.
Revised edition June 2019

Ask any musician, and you will hear that breaking into the music scene is tough. To get the recognition that matters is even harder. Seattle-based band, Tennis Pro, found that they had to take their act to another country because in the good ol’ United States of America, their local music scene was quite stagnant.

“I think that Seattle, after the 90’s explosion [with grunge music], has struggled to find its identity musically,” said drummer Sean Lowry. In his opinion, the city had fallen into a melancholy folk-rock wasteland.

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Tracing the Blues with ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads

30 May

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Documentaries or biopics about musicians have really taken off since the release of Bohemian Rhapsody. Whether that’s on the big screen or small, Netflix is ripe with ’em. They have Dirt and ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads–to name a few–and I’m sure there’s more. Rocketman is due in theatres May 30th.

Fictionalized takes of these musicians are not always accurate, and I found the look at Robert Johnson‘s life not only the most concise in uncovering his legacy but also intoxicatingly beautiful with the style of artwork used. The drawings are sublime, using charcoal sketches and watercolours to convey a sense of mystery. The beauty in this work is comparable to the animated sequence in the movie, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.

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The 27 Club (2019), A Movie Review

28 May

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Street date: June 11, 2019

Soundtrack includes original songs by Evante, Knox, Jürgen Engler (die Krupps), Geri-X and Todd Rundgren with Trent Reznor.

Not to be confused with the 2008 film of the same name, The 27 Club is a 2019 horror flick exploring the urban myth of why some rock stars died at a specific age. Patrick Fogarty (Legion of the Black) wrote, directed and edited this modestly budgeted work, and Maddisyn Carter played Lily, a singer-songwriter wanting fame. Her initial plucky naivety is charmingly cute. She learns about the world she’s in from student filmmaker Jason Reeve (Derrick Denicola), and it paves the way to making bargains with occult forces for fame.

Professor Crawford (Todd Rundgren) may well know more and the young lad makes the mistake of not investigating the right people. Had he played hero, he may have saved a soul than let another one in.

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