By: Richard Chu

Some of my most interesting and memorable experiences seem to happen by chance, and meeting Noah Nine was no different.  On an early-Spring day, my girlfriend and I decided to go walking around downtown Vancouver, looking for some CDs we’d had wanted to get for quite a while.  Walking in to the Virgin Megastore, and going downstairs we find a local band setting up to perform, who turned out to be Noah Nine.

For me, personally, I wasn’t too interested in sticking around to listen.  In fact, I rarely enjoy listening to any kind of pop, rock, or alternative music.  But Karen, a loyal Matthew Good Band fan, insisted we stay to hear them out.  After all, Vancouver is home to many music ‘greats,’ including MGB.  Who knows, we could be listening to the next big group from BC.  For her sake, I decided to wait for her, getting myself to roam around Virgin until the band were done.  Little did I know I’d be doing laps around the Virgin Megastore at least four times before I decided to stop and listen to Noah Nine.

I tried my best to listen, but couldn’t stand there listening while the drums virtually drowned out the voices and music.  Without really paying attention to the performers, Sean, Richard, and Dave, I decided to roam the store yet again, hoping I’d find something interesting to keep my attention until the band was done.  My girlfriend, on the other hand, was transfixed on the guys, and glancing over several times throughout the performance, I could tell she saw something good in these guys.

By the time they were done, I walked over to her and she raced towards the Virgin cashier to buy the Noah Nine CD, “Prehistoric Astronaut.”  She raced back to the band to get the guys’ signatures, and chatted a bit with them.  She was totally in to the band, and all she talked about for the next half and hour after we left was how good they were.  She really enjoyed “Whatever It Takes” where the guys alternate singing the lyrics every few words.  Seeing Richard play his keyboards perpendicular to each other in an ‘L’ shape was also a highlight she noted.

When I got home, I listened to “Prehistoric Astronaut” and understood what she saw in the band.  Listening to “Whatever It Takes” on the CD was interesting, but I was regretting not seeing it done live.  It’s interesting on the CD, but I thought it could easily be recorded and mixed that way.  But if my girlfriend saw it done live, it must’ve been truly impressive.  After listening to the CD, I realized myself that these guys had a lot of talent, and I’d try not to miss their next performance.

My chance came relatively soon as Noah Nine was scheduled to play at The Roxy on July 19th and my girlfriend got tickets.  For me it was really interesting because this Noah Nine performance would be the first “concert” I’d have ever gone to—believe it or not (remember, I’m not much of a fan of pop, rock, or alternative music).

 I suppose we arrived pretty early because the place was pretty empty when we got there, but it slowly filled up waiting for the music to start.  It was cool to be greeted by Sean as he roamed around the place until show time.  I also saw a guy with a shiny/flashy light-blue top roaming the room as well.  Little did I know it was Dave until my girlfriend chuckled and noted that Dave wore ‘interesting’ clothes at Virgin as well.

 As the show began with an intro by Trace Ventura from 99.3FM The Fox, the room was pretty crowded, if not packed, and they started the show.  It’s hard to express myself about the moment, but I can only say that hearing them live was 1000% better than just listening to the CD.  I always thought that the CD surely must have the best recording of a band’s songs, but I realized that night, that it wasn’t necessarily true.  Nothing beats Noah Nine live!!

 We were treated with a lot of extra songs that weren’t on the CD, like the second song they performed, which I didn’t catch the name of, but really enjoyed a lot!  It was a really fun song.  And finally, we got to see “Whatever It Takes,” and saw just how truly cool the song was.

 “Whatever It Takes” is a piece that I think symbolizes or represents the amazing unity and cohesion these guys have together.  In my years paying attention to ‘popular music in all its forms,' I’ve noticed that most, if not all bands and groups have a leader, or at least someone who dominates the whole group.  It was noticable to me how Noah Nine breaks this mold.  At first, I thought Sean would be the ‘lead singer,’ but in fact in the performance I noticed how he literally shared the stage with both Richard and Dave.  Throughout the performance there were many songs with Richard or Dave as the main voice in a song, letting each of the members shine.  In my opinion, with this kind of cohesion, they have great potential to become really successful together.

 To conclude, we took a lot of pictures—around two rolls—so if you noticed a lot of camera flashes, it was most likely from my girlfriend and I!  She had suggested on creating a fan site for Noah Nine, and these pictures would be the first of, hopefully, many more sets of pictures from various Noah Nine performances.

 I, for one, am truly happy in meeting and truly enjoying Noah Nine, and look forward to many, many more performances in the future!!