What: Turn Up Winter concert film series
When: Wednesday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.
Where: MY Millennium Place
Admission: $10, $8 Club Shred
Pemberton Festival may not be coming back to town anytime soon, but anyone looking for big-name bands is in luck: they can catch performances by the Talking Heads, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and other bands at MY Millennium Place this winter.
Sure, they may not be live concerts, but G.D. Maxwell and Scott Pass, two locals with an appreciation for timeless good music, have organized a film series capturing performances by some of the best rock bands, ever (in their opinions, of course).
"We want to show some of the best rock concerts ever captured on DVD at Millennium Place," Maxwell explained in a recent interview.
The idea first came about when Maxwell and Pass attended a presentation of The Dark Side of Oz a couple of years ago at Millennium Place.
"We both came back in our seats at what an incredible sound system we had, and how nothing else we'd ever attended there really showcased the sound system," Maxwell recalled.
"The sound of Dark Side of the Moon was just incredible - it was so clean, and it was so crisp, and it was so loud that we both kind of staggered out of it saying, 'How can we watch concert DVDs at this place?'"
It was an experience they simply couldn't replicate at home, despite their best efforts.
"As nice as something like that is in the comfort of your living room on your own TV and stereo system, to really get the 'be there now' feeling of it, you're going to have your neighbours beating down your walls because its going to be so bloody loud, it's going to bleed into their living room," he said.
Though their motives may not have been entirely altruistic at the beginning, Maxwell and Pass have decided to turn their concert film series into a fundraiser, with all net proceeds going towards the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation's Presentation Technology Fund.
Starting on Jan. 28 and running each subsequent Wednesday evening for up to seven weeks (excluding March 4), the Turn Up Winter concert film series will have two screenings each Wednesday, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The series kicks off with Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The rest of the schedule has yet to be determined, but Pink Floyd: Pulse, Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same, Neil Young: Rust Never Sleeps, AC/DC: Live at Donington, Pearl Jam: Imagine in Cornice, Radiohead: Live, and Foo Fighters: Live at Wembley, are among possible future presentations.
"It's just going to be a gas to watch some of these concerts. Some of them are relatively recent, and some of them are almost archival, but nonetheless, they all seem to revolve around artists and music that I hear on almost everybody's iPod," Maxwell said, pointing out that these performances transcend age barriers and genres.
It may seem like an arduous task, culling stacks of concert DVDs in search of the best of the best, but Maxwell and Pass have been up to the challenge.
Rather, one of the hardest parts of organizing the series hasn't been selecting the films, but getting permission to show them.
Tickets are $10, and can be purchased in advance at MY Millennium Place box office. Club Shred members receive a discounted rate of $8.
Check
Pique'
s entertainment listings to find out about future Wednesday evening concert film presentations.
