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| Stephen Drake - 11 July 2024 |
Because of family obligations and a busy schedule preparing my PowerPoint presentation for tonight’s Vancouver Rose Society meeting at Van Dusen’s Floral Hall I have had time to digest the concert I attended this past Thursday at the Lido on East Broadway.
Since The Evens (a trio with the original founder of The Odds, Stephen Drake) were not going to be on until later in the evening I wanted to avoid the backup band. I arrived at 9:30, and to my delight, the backup band was The Furniture and the trio was a fast and furious punk band. Appropriately the drummer Johnny Wildkat was wearing a Ramones T-shirt.
When guitarist Stephen Drake stepped up with his trio, Bradley Ferguson on bass, and Ian Browne on drums, I was suddenly hit by the fact that I had first photographed Drake in 1978 when he was in the band Gary Cramer and the Works with his drummer brother Adam.
I know the story that before the Drakes and parents came to Vancouver in the mid-70s they had lived in Los Angeles and they visited a friend on a farm who happened to be Neil Young. It might have been then that Stephen decided he wanted to be guitarist.
I am no music critic but I can state that Gary Cramer and the Works was a folk/rock band during the very live punk scene in Vancouver. Is a good guitarist able to play fast and furious and at the same time play with incredible skill? Yes if it Stephen Drake. On the 26th of this month at the Rickshaw both drakes will be playing with Art Bergmann. That confirms my suspicion that Stephen Drake can do anything he wants to.
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| Adam & Stephen Drake 11 July 2024 |
When I saw the song list (I squirrelled it away after the concert) I knew two astounding facts that few in the audience might have known. The tune Eat My Brain was originally a Gary Cramer and the Works tune. The lyrics were written by the now Parliamentary Poet Laureate George Bowering.
The second song of note was listed as Wendy Under the Stars. The original title could not get radio play when The Odds came out with it. Why? The original title (and in the lyrics on Thursday night) was I was Fucking Wendy Under the Stars the Night Elvis Presley Died.
I left the concert not reeking of tobacco and since I had nothing to drink I was cold sober. As I drove home I came to understand that this 81-year-old man has been blessed in knowing Adam and Stephen Drake.
A couple of years ago Stephen came to my house with a surprise. He brought me a CD he recorded in Gary Cramer’s living room on Galiano before Cramer died. It is a lovely CD (Stephen is an exceptional sound engineer) that has Neil Young moments.
I know why.
The Furniture
The Evens
