Old Sock Drawer

Currently listening to: “Dear Elkhorn” – Said the Whale

Tap-dancing Acadian fiddlers rapping, playing jigs, and singing the blues. If that doesn’t already sound like a recipe for an epic evening, I don’t know what does. Named for the Acadian expulsion from Nova Scotia (historical context woohoo!), Grand Dérangement was definitely a delightful treat which Cameron and I stumbled upon on our cross-Vancouver Olympic adventure. We had arrived at the Place de la Franco this afternoon as we poked around Granville Island; upon hearing their rehearsal and soundcheck, we were so blown away that we simply had to return to watch their actual show. And what a show it was! These incredibly diverse tap-dancing musicians rocked their way through a continuous stream of toe-tapping crowd-rousing pieces including Acadian rap, Irish ceilidh-inspired tunes, jazzy blues, and traditional Nova Scotian folk songs. In addition, the crowd was fantastic- kids were dancing circles around their parents, while exuberant audience members linked arms, singing and circle-dancing along. The atmosphere was brimming with a frisson of life I’m glad the Olympics have roused in sleepy Vancouverites. Overall, we definitely had ourselves a most brilliant Atlantic Canadian evening and I’m looking forward to seeing more this Sunday from Ode à l’Acadie (6 pm) before the Cowboys Fringants show at 7.30 pm!

Check them out on their website and MySpace pages.

Twenty-second videoclip of the performance. Yes, my camera is definitely not of the fancy videotaping variety.

(On that note, my fellow bloggers, how are you guys getting your YouTube videos and such to embed? Technological ineptness aside, I cannot seem to get it to work.)

Tags:   acadian · cultural olympiad · Grand Dérangement · live music · Vancouver 20106 Comments