At the Biltmore on Tuesday, May 10

It’s not often that a venue charges more for coat check than admission, but that’s exactly what happened at the inaugural installment of Twoonie Tuesday! at the Biltmore. The launch of the new monthly event, which offers up a selection of local bands for the measly price of two bucks, was good news for Vancouver music fans, since it meant that everyone in the room had a little extra change in their pockets to be put to better use—namely drinks at the bar.

Predictably, concertgoers spent good parts of the evening lined up for beers, but all attention was on the stage when the thick black curtains were pulled back for opener Blanche Devereaux. The duo blasted through a short set of gritty, beach-ready punk, which blended speaker-frying power chords with chromatic, Dick Dale-vintage licks. In true surf-rock style, a number of the songs were instrumental, and singer-guitarist Greg Pothier fired off some nimble and noisy solos.

The frontman and drummer Dan Kurc opted not the use the house microphones, instead singing into a pair of black telephone receivers. The crackly vocals and thick reverb helped to add retro authenticity to the ’50s-style pop waltz “Never Want to Know”, which was the quietest moment in the otherwise loud and upbeat set. Unfortunately, the makeshift mikes meant that the lyrics and between-song patter were mostly unintelligible. Still, this didn’t interfere with the catchy tunes, and the group wrapped things up by screaming in unison during the explosive “Hot Mess”.

The Biltmore was never more than half full throughout the evening, suggesting that even the promise of local music for an affordable price isn’t enough to coax most Vancouverites out of the house on a rainy weeknight. Still, this didn’t appear to discourage the Boogieman, as the four-piece began with an amorphous, feedback-soaked noise jam. This soon warped into a brawny blues rocker, with chunky riffs anchored by a steady and grooving rhythm section.

The rest of the set followed in suit, with fiery cuts like “Easy on the Eyes” and “No Axe to Grind” punctuated by leader Jordon Daniel’s grave, bloodcurdling shouts. It was impressive display of hard rock ferocity, and the singer looked fittingly intimidating, stripping off his denim shirt halfway through to reveal an array of tattoos.

Those who were curious about the inspiration for the band’s boozy sound got their answer close to the end of the performance, when the musicians knocked back a round of whiskey shots and tore through a raucous version of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary”. Daniel coaxed the crowd to join in the sing-along and added, “It gives me a boner when you clap.”

In keeping with the evening’s emphasis on keeping the price low, Daniel told the crowd that the group would be selling CDs for just $5 and T-shirts for $10. And as he left the stage, he added that anyone who didn’t feel like forking out the money could download the new album, titled Blues Pops & Jazz Smokes, for free from the Boogieman’s official website.

It was after 12:20 a.m. by the time headliner Keep Tidy hit the stage, but the band rewarded the audience’s patience with a fast and frantic selection of hardcore thrashers. Frontwoman Shmoo Ritchie was electric, and within the first song she had already jumped off the stage to headbang among the fans crowded on the floor. The singer sported a vintage button-down shirt and a messy tomboy haircut, looking a bit like a punk rock Amelia Earhart as she raised her voice to a quivering shriek during the manic “Goochie Main”.

Ritchie’s unhinged yells and feverish dancing were a stark contrast to her bubbly banter, as she joked, “This is our number one hit single” when introducing the barreling “Simpsons Quotes”. A few tunes later, she giggled and noted, “All of our songs are about 30 seconds long”—as if we hadn’t noticed already. The funniest moment of all came when drummer Dustin John Bromley pulled up the bottom of his Star Trek T-shirt, prompting the singer to exclaim, “No nips, just a sweet six-pack.”

The spectacle was over in just 20 minutes, leaving the fans chanting for “one more song”. Keep Tidy didn’t oblige, but given the show’s ultra-low price, it’s unlikely that anyone felt shortchanged.