High Voltage and Vinyl

Every time I drive to Vancouver, I bring the Okanagan sun with me. Seriously, BC should pay me for climate control. I mean, we were to be in Vancouver for the whole week, and the weather proclaimed it to be just spitting on one of the 6 days. Keep in mind, this was mid-April. You're welcome, Lower Mainland.

Rest stop enroute to Burnaby, Tora has to stop at every single one…sheesh, women!

We rolled into Burnaby around 3-ish and checked into our hotel. The very first thing we did was scope out the roll-in shower like a couple of accessibility detectives as you do when you are in a wheelchair. Bingo! Fully accessible. The beds, however, were boxed in, which meant my Hoyer lift couldn’t slide under. But don’t worry, we’re seasoned pros—we made it work with some creative maneuvering and minor swearing… almost Accent Inns.

That night, I had a little birthday hangout in the meeting room of my friend Maeghan’s apartment building. We ordered takeout instead of going to a restaurant because let’s be honest, restaurants are nothing but a mosh pit of sounds contributing to the wall of noise, making basic conversations extremely difficult to maintain. The takeout was Indian food and delicious, not Everest-level, the Nepalese-Indian restaurant in West Kelowna that I frequent, but solid. My friend Victoria came all the way from Vancouver Island just for one night to celebrate my birthday (what a legend), and my buddy Johnson showed up too. It was like a mini high school reunion, only with better food and less awkward small talk.

The next day, we ventured to a record store in Burnaby, Music Madhouse Records. The catch? It was in an “abandoned mall” that somehow had people living above it. It was like walking into a post-apocalyptic SimCity expansion pack. But the record store? Absolute gem. Rob, the owner, was a hero—he helped me plow through my vinyl wishlist, and I left with 6 records in just 40 minutes. That's a record for vinyl shopping…pun absolutely intended.

Now, I had originally planned to devour Vancouver like a man on a Food Network special, so many restaurants, so little time. But I was on a weight-loss mission, so I restrained myself... mostly. The only exceptions were concert days, and I had two on this trip.

Saturday morning, we hit up a few more record stores, then for lunch, stopped at Jack’s Chowder for their fish sandwich, which lived up to the hype—crispy, golden, heaven-between-buns goodness. And of course, I had to try the dill pickle popcorn shrimp they had on the menu, because you can't not.

After lunch, while digging through records at Beat Street Records, I ran into none other than Nardwuar the Human Serviette. Yep. THE Nardwuar. I asked for a pic, and he thanked me for watching—my claim to Canadian indie fame. Coincidentally, the week prior, Tora and I were watching/listening to Nardwuar’s interview, including the famous Hip Flip game with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

That night, we saw Larkin Poe at the Commodore Ballroom. Holy hell, they tore it up. And surprise: Parker Millsap was opening! I had no idea and nearly lost it. Parker Millsap is a younger musician with a kind of niche sound. I was so happy because I never thought I'd ever get to see him live. I spent all my cash on Larkin Poe merch, but when I found out Parker had his own and was cash-only, my wallet wept. Thankfully, Tora worked some money wizardry and got it for me, and he even signed the two vinyls.

Sunday was chill. We visited my great aunt Bernice in Maple Ridge for lunch. It was Easter Sunday, so she whipped up a delish Strawberry and Feta salad with enough leftovers for me to take some to go. Later, we attempted to hit Crazy Bob’s Music Emporium in Langley. I had to go to this record store just to see how wild and crazy this Bob guy was, but Crazy Bob, being the mystery that he is, was nowhere to be found, and his shop was closed.

So, naturally, we pivoted to Best Buy, where Tora bought the Meta Ray-Bans. Tora says they are not worth it, but still, I got to try them out for a couple of weeks, and they weren't as useful for the visually impaired like myself as I was hoping. Google will be coming out with their own smart glasses soon, so sign me up for them.

Monday was Tora’s favorite day. We slept in, moved slow, and still managed to venture to… can you guess? Another record store, Yah, Apolo Records in Coquitlam. I left with more vinyl, bringing my grand total to 28 new records and my collection to 399, as of that date. Yes, I was one record away from 400, and yes, it was driving me mildly insane, so I made a purchase online of number 400 that evening.

The reason Monday was Tora’s favorite was because we spent the remainder of the day purusing Granville Island. The two best parts for me were getting to eat the lobster roll from The Lobster Man while sitting on a bench in the sun with a busker playing tunes nearby. The other was the treat I got at the Market. A cup-o-meat…Need I say more.

Finally, the day I was waiting for, the day of the AC/DC show. We started by visiting Canuck Place, a meaningful stop for me—I got to show Tora around and reconnect with people I hadn’t seen in at least 15 years. Then we picked up Judy from the bus station, because she was my concert buddy for the night (Tora is more "folk vibes" than "face-melting riffs").

We ate Italian food, grabbed some merch, and headed into the show. The opener, The Pretty Reckless, was surprisingly solid—a bit hippie, a bit grunge, a good time. Fun Fact: Taylor Momsen, the lead singer of The Pretty Reckless, played Cindy Lou Who in Jim Carrey's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And then came AC/DC. Brian Johnson did his best, bless his 77-year-old rock 'n’ roll soul. He was struggling to hit those signature high notes, but the man gave it his all. It was a great show, full of nostalgia and headbanging. Judy says she wishes she had seen them 20 years ago. Would I see them again? Probably not. But I’m glad I did.

Pre-concert Caesar and dinner at Frankies Italian Kitchen and Bar

All in all, this trip was miles better than the McGraw Mishap last year as detailed in Nightmare of 605.

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Quickie: Cheesefest