Music to our ears: 3 places to hear musicians playing live in Vancouver right now
The Keefer Yard, Cardero’s, and the Sandbar have brought live music back
You can catch Emily Best, an East Vancouver-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, playing live at the Sandbar.
IT’S BEEN A heart-breaking and terrible year for musicians, with everything from busking being banned on city streets to live-venues being shut. Some places have pivoted to keep music alive, from Dan Mangan’s Side Door project to livestreaming from the Rickshaw. As we anxiously await herd immunity and the safe reopening of the arts, some local restaurants and bars are reintroducing live music to their service.
The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant on Granville Island is hosting local musicians again, with live music every night from 6:30 pm.
Emily Best is on the Sandbar’s musical roster, the East Vancouver-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist having a vast repertoire that includes contemporary pop, classic rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B, neo-soul, and jazz. With formal education in jazz piano, classical voice and composition, Best just released her debut album, A Storm Came Through.
Jamie Wright is an artist originally from Liverpool, who plays a range of genres from different decades, taking inspiration from his birthplace’s greatest export, the Beatles.
Jeff Bryant, a solo artist and member of the event band Side One, covers songs by everyone from Ray Charles and Radiohead to Tom Petty and U2.
Phil Bo at the Keefer Yard.
To go with the tunes? Freshly made sushi by master Tsutomu Hoshi; share plates like crab and artichoke dip, truffle parmesan fries, wok squid; Ocean Wise seafood including fresh Dungeness crab, Atlantic lobster, grilled cedar plank salmon, and pan-seared Arctic char; seafood hot pot and vegetarian poke bowl; and more.
The Keefer Yard recently restarted its live music schedule, running Sundays through Thursdays from 6 to 10 pm.
On Sundays, the patio space at the Keefer Bar features R&B, hip hop, and lounge by DJ Honeypot; Mondays, multi-instrumentalist Phil Bo brings funk and soul; Tuesdays and Wednesdays are “groovy vibey” with Mark Woodyard; and Soul Motion is in the Yard with eclectic vinyl on Thursdays.
Industry Mondays are also back at the Keefer Yard, with happy hour all day, from $5 Scotch N’ soda to $7 Cuban Stormy to jugs of mulled wine for $40. There are deals on Champagne, too. Then there’s Champagne Sundays with bottles of Veuve Clicquot on special for $85 or $19 by the glass. (On March 21, the Keefer Yard has a collab with ShuckShuck, a sustainable oyster snack bar, for an oyster pop-up.
Live music is also back at Cardero’s Seafood Restaurant. It happens nightly in its Marina-Side Pub from 7 to 10 pm as well as Saturdays and Sundays from 3 to 5 pm.
Among the musicians on stage at the Coal Harbour spot are audio engineer-singer-guitarist Marek Joseph; singer-guitarist Lindsay Martell, who plays original material and unique cover versions of classic pop songs with a soul-folk-rock sound; and Geoff Gibbons. Gibbons, formerly of Silverlode, found musical inspiration early in life in Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young and has gone on to release five solo CDs.
The pub has a glowing fireplace; views of the marina, Stanley Park, and mountains; hand-crafted cocktails; and an extensive wine list. Its wide-ranging menu goes from snacks like har gow (shrimp dumplings), prawn cocktail, local mussels, buttermilk fried oysters, Vietnamese style chicken wings to pizza to sizzling wok dishes.
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