So Music Waste (has) will come to an end this week. How did you like it? Steve Louie was is all over it, so be sure to check out his photos!

Thursday, June 5
Go to the last Concert BReak for tonight's shows.

Friday, June 6
♦ Brooke Fraser @ Media Club: This singer-songwriter from New Zealand will be performing tunes from her new album, "Albertine".
♦ Honda Civic Tour @ PNE Forum: Panic at the Disco dropped the circus fetish for this tour (they've also dropped the exclamation mark from their name). The Hush Sound, Motion City Soundtrack and Phantom Planet will also be playing.
♦ Crystal Castles @ Richard's: This is the last 1/2 Alive Friday at Richard's on Richards. They'll be taking control of Pat's Pub every Friday from here on out.
♦ Erykah Badu @ Commodore: This year, Erykah Badu released her first full-length album since 2000. From what I gather, she doesn't wear the African head-dress anymore, but goes for other "distinctive" (i.e. terrifying) style choices. Freaky or not, she can still sing!
♦ Wassabi Collective @ Media Club: This band from Nelson plays hip-hop with mellow, grooving bass-lines. Who knew people in Nelson play hip-hop?
♦ Kingsway @ Fairview Pub: RC Joseph leads his merry band of local folk and rock musicians.

Did New Music West leave you a little unsatisfied? Fear not! While the folks at NMW figure out how to make their idea work, Only Magazine's Music Waste Festival arrives this week and lasts from Wednesday, June 4th - Sunday, June 8. Music Waste was created in 1994 as a protest against NMW. Fourteen years later, many people still regard the Music Waste as a better alternative to NMW. This year's festival features over 60 (mainly local) independent acts.

There are also some big-name acts in town this week to balance out all the indie that's coming your way. Continue past the jump for more listings and a video on the local indie scene.

Thursday, May 29
Last week's Concert BReak still has a little life in it...check it out for tonight's shows.

Friday, May 30
♦ The Long Blondes @ Richard's: This UK group is known for their post-punk style and glamorous looks.
♦ Smokey Robinson @ Red Robinson Show Theatre (Day One): One of the biggest names to come out of Motown Records, Smokey Robinson is back on tour. Old-school R&B lovers will have fun with this one!
♦ Felix Cartal @ Celebrities: This local dance-music-maker will be joined by Expendable Youth and Paul Devro.

With The Cure, M.I.A., R.E.M, The Foals, and Taj Mahal in town there's something for everyone in this week's Concert BReak! As usual, I'd love to hear your ideas and opinions on CB and the shows you go to; share them with me through comments and email! You can email me at ami [at] beyondrobson [dot] com.

Thursday, May 22
Here are tonight's concerts.

Friday, May 23
♦ R.E.M. @ Deer Lake: It looks like it's going to be a good day for a concert at Deer Lake! Modest Mouse will join these 90's-rock pioneers.
♦ The Breeders @ Richard's: Meet LA's The Breeders as they let loose with tripped-out alternative rock.
♦ Nas @ Plush: Nasir Jones is hitting Vancouver before the album release of his "Untitled" album, so I'm sure his setlist will be full of new tunes. Due out July 1, "Untitled" was going to be named "N**ger" before Nas changed his mind.
♦ Ladytron @ Commodore: These electric pop-rockers from Liverpool will also be playing new songs from their recently released album, "Velocifero". Datarock will be starting the fun.
♦ Sleepercar @ Media Club: This band is the sideproject of Jim Ward from the band Sparta. They'll be joined by Arkells
♦ Young and Sexy @ Biltmore: Join this local alt-pop group for their CD release with the Alchemists.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Beyond Robson is privileged to have such an excellent Flickr pool. Every day the pool expands it's collection of local images that are artistic, humorous, inspiring and provoking. Sometime this week we'll be welcoming our 500th member to the group! This benchmark is a great opportunity to further develop the group into a secondary BR discussion place. By increasing ideas, questions, tips, networking, collaborations and games, we can make our group even more valuable. If you're into Flickr games, check out a game that I recently started up!

I'd like to thank all those who have contributed images to the pool. Our Flickr group welcomes all Vancouver-related images (and video) from artists of all skill levels (from amateurs to professionals). Pictures from the Flickr pool are often featured (with credit to the photographer) in Beyond Robson articles.

This post includes images from Beyond Robson's Flickr Pool by Avienda Once, gwacdotca, Pisces Dreamer, John Goldsmith, Brendan Wilkinson, Mark Klotz, Kenny Louie, and Leigh Righton.

*Edit: My apologies to Jim Hejl for removing the credit to his great Tilt Shift shot!

In a recent post, Jon expressed his opinions on NMW—a Vancouver festival that featured 265 independent musicians. After experiencing the festival first hand, I find myself agreeing with many of Jon's points. Overall, the festival strikes me as a good idea with marks off for execution. The main problems revolve around the lack of artist and festival promotion. NMW provides no descriptions or sound-clips of their line-ups, and most people don't want to Google 265 Myspaces. The lack of festival advertising is realized by the fact that most Vancouverites don't even know what NMW is. That's pretty inexcusable for an eighteen-year-old festival.

Lucky for me, work here at BR allowed me to learn about the festival and have an idea of what to expect from many of it's featured musicians. I found myself drawn to the Plaza on May 14th, where the NMW kick-off was to begin with a local r&b artist named NaRai. The night's line-up also held some other promising acts, including Tea; so it was no-brainer for me to attend.

New Music West has officially begun. I enjoyed a great show last night and am hoping for another tonight. The first half of this week's CB is dominated by NMW so I thought I should throw in a link to the festival's schedule. Video and more dates after the jump (included non-NMWers).

Thursday, May 15
Here are tonight's concerts.

Friday, May 16
♦ Brasstronaut @ Media Club (NMW): You may have seen Jon mention these guys, or you may have seen them here on CB. An offshoot of a group called The Clips!, this band mixes modern indie pop with jazz. They'll be on with Pete Samples,Chantel Upshaw, Jason Crocker, Winston, and Aaron Nazrul.
♦ Anna Vandas @ Backstage Lounge (NMW): A local singer-songwriter, Anna will be joined by Aeroplane, GhostBrothers, Eileen Rothe and My Dearest Friends.
♦ Jarimba @ Fairview (NMW): A Mix of world music and jazz will be featured at the Fairview this Friday. Jarimba (as you might have guessed) is a local African world-music group. You can expect Dilvog, Diano Garcia, Fur Bearing Animals, Sinistrio and Dirty Bottom to play as well.
♦ FreeFlow @ Penthouse (NMW): These six locals play a mix of reggae and pop. Also on: Arkells, Kuba Oms, Redeye Empire and St. Alvia Cartel
♦ Missing Starla @ Purple Crab (NMW): There's upbeat folk-pop going on at the Purple Crab. You can mingle with Caroline Spence Band, Paul Filek, Jupiter Sunrise and Honey & the Money.
♦ Nat Jay @ The Libra Room (NMW): This local songstress has claimed minor success of late. She can be seen with Ali Milner, Dani Jean and Cindy Davis
♦ Kay Kay and his Weathered Undergound @ Royal Unicorn (NMW): This talented and eclectic Seattle group will be joined by fellow Americans: Chicane Theory, Stuporhero, The Color Bars and Portugal The Man.
♦ Tokyo Police Club @ The Plaza (NMW): Part two of the Vancouver segment of their tour.