Written By: Michelle Panton       Sunday, February 20th, 2011

Klatu… Verata… Nik.. -cough!
- Ash

A cabin in the woods.. Books bound in human flesh, ancient evil spirits, castles, and some killer  one liners. This was the theme for the afternoon at the Rio Theatre ( riotheatre.ca/ ) just off Commercial Drive at 1660 East Broadway. The venerable 73 year old, 445 seat theatre has been re-vamped and is the home to cult movies, classics, current blockbusters, live music, featured events & shows, satellite broadcasts, and the occasional movie marathon. Today’s choices (Evil Dead 1 & 2, and Army  Of Darkness) are some of my personal favourites and having never seen any on the big screen I found myself lined up with ghouls and fans  alike for the triple feature.

Armed with a bucket of popcorn (real butter!!), soda, and the obligatory Junior Mints box, I joined the large crowd for blessedly commercial free (They show only local ads onscreen before the movie starts) entertainment. The Rio staff are a fantastic bunch of folk and  and on some nights will have contests and games set up for the intermissions. They are even licensed for alcohol sales on some nights during feature films, a rare thing in Vancouver!  Every person was there for the same reason and we hooted, hollered, and cheered our way through almost 5 hours of the cult classics. There’s something almost sublime about sharing that cult experience with so many people..

Having vanquished both the Deadite army and my movie snacks, I gathered myself up and headed off to East Hastings to stop back in at Funky Winkerbeans for a couple of hours of hardcore music. Tonight’s show was the Vancouver stop of The Liquor Store Tour, a Pacific North-West tour featuring a healthy mix of Canadian and American punk, metal, and hardcore bands. Due to some unfortunate border issues, Symbol Six (www.SymbolSix.com) and The Killed Spirits (www.myspace.com/thekilledspirits) were unable to make it, but that merely meant the three existing bands had more room to play with in their sets. I missed the first act Shockload, but made it in just in time for Off By An Inch (www.myspace.com/offbyaninch) and Third Lit (www.myspace.com/thirdlit), two great local Vancouver bands with very dedicated, ravenous fans.

Their almost harmonic and hardcore punk sounds immediately grabbed my attention despite some technical difficulties like loose cables, gremlins, and so on. These were well handled by the Winkerbeans’ sound guy, who is one of the hardest working guys I’ve seen in a while. In a venue dominated by large sturdy wooden barriers and duct tape there to keep the oft-times unruly crowd at bay, delicacy is seldom a priority! Both bands were anchored by Rodney on drums and Travis on lead guitar, two expert musicians who may continue to do double duty on various spots along the tour. While the crowd was considerably smaller than my last visit (it was, after all, a Sunday night), they were no less dedicated and clearly wanted to have a good, loud time. It is gratifying to know that a cool $10 can still get you more than 3 hours of aggressive entertainment at a place with affordable drinks and good people!

Keep your eyes peeled for more adventures as I continue to trek about Vancouver. It can’t always be a No Fun City – not on Our watch!

The first ever gig of Shockload. Watch the video: