The Best Shows Hitting Vancouver in September 2022

From rock legends galore to local surf rock, it’s all happening this month

1. Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Poison, and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts at BC Place Stadium – Friday, September 2

Mötley CrüeLegend has it this entire Stadium Tour idea started after a random fan approached Machine Gun Kelly about his portrayal of Tommy Lee in Netflix’s Mötley Crüe documentary, The Dirt. Evidently, this guy lamented how he’d never had a chance to see the Crüe in concert when they were actually a big deal. Seriously, that was enough. So, these dudes who signed a death pact in blood to ensure they’d never reunite, well, they saw some dollar signs on the horizon. If you’ve ever watched any YouTube videos of Vince Neil blathering something attempting to resemble lyrics of songs he purportedly sang on record back in the day (anybody got Marc LaFrance’s phone number?) will understand this is not a very sound idea. However, the tour has been going gangbusters, and I believe it’s due to the professionalism of Def Leppard because, despite the fact they never change their setlist or on-stage banter, they continue to deliver an iconic performance time and time again. It also helps matters that the always fun Poison are on hand to provide “Nothin’ But a Good Time,” and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts will show up with their “Bad Reputation” to launch this whole shindig. Personally, I will be taking in this event from the comfort of my own balcony, consuming beer that is not made by Budweiser and is not served in a $15 plastic cup. I will enjoy the 10 songs Def Leppard always performs, and then I will go inside and slide the door shut to block out Vince Neil’s mumble vocal manslaughter.
Tickets from $69.90

2. Dirty Honey at Rickshaw Theatre – Monday, September 5

By Photo by Daniel Prakopcyk, Public DomainIt’s pretty cool when you start up a band and the song you release independently somehow finds its way onto the radio and ends up at No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart without even being signed to a label. Such was the case for Dirty Honey when their single “When I’m Gone” hit the airwaves. That tune served instrumental in getting the guys on the road opening for Slash, The Who, Skillet, Alter Bridge and Guns N’ Roses. Really, that is not a shabby start for the hard-rockers who got together in Los Angeles in an effort to dredge up the same sort of success as GNR, so it looks like everything’s working out as planned. Fresh off their co-headlining tour with Mammoth WVH (who, unfortunately, won’t be joining them on this run), you probably won’t want to miss what could be the next big thing as the band will hit the Rickshaw on their California Dreamin’ tour with support from Detroit Rock City’s Mac Saturn.
Tickets $36.89

3. Peach Pit at Malkin Bowl – Saturday, September 10Peach Pit

Not to be confused with the diner in Beverly Hills, 90210, Peach Pit are VanCity’s own indie-pop darlings and they’re taking on Stanley Park’s premiere outdoor venue before heading out on a substantially extensive U.S. tour. If you’ve never heard of this band before, they describe their music as “chewed bubblegum pop,” although I’m not sure that masticated Dubble Bubble is exactly the definition I’d run with, but sure, OK. Critics seem to prefer to label them as “surf rock” or even “sad pop,” so I’m going to leave it up to you as to whatever title you’d like to emblazon upon them. Nonetheless, this show is on the verge of selling out, so if you want to experience some surfy melancholia, you’d best get on that ticket link before your gum gets stale.
Tickets from $53.75

4. Roger Waters at Rogers Arena – Thursday, September 15

Eddie Berman, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsIn recent news, perennial “old man shouting at clouds” Roger Waters took it upon himself to castigate a Globe & Mail journalist for choosing to review concerts featuring The Weeknd and Drake instead of his This Is Not a Drill extravaganza. His argument was that he was “more important” than those two guys. It may be truth that Waters (particularly in the form of his previous employer) factors heavily in my own record collection, while the other two are conspicuously absent, that doesn’t mean he’s considered more relevant in the grand scheme of the current musical landscape. And while it’s also fact that these T-Dot sons are not exactly immune to their own media outbursts (let’s not forget, The Weeknd complained heavily about being snubbed for Grammy nominations, and Drake completely lost his composure after being bumped for a Rolling Stone cover due to the untimely death of Philip Seymour Hoffman), this torrent just demonstrates a complete lack of self-awareness and a total inability to read the room. Dude, you were in Toronto! Nevertheless, this show is a must-see for all Pink Floyd fans, so regardless of where you sit on Roger’s fence of significance, it’s best just to show up and not tell the guy that the arena was not exactly named after him. Just… shush!
Tickets from $87.15

5. Eagles at Rogers Arena – Thursday, September 22

When you’re the holding the third-place position on the list of best-selling albums of all time (worldwide), you can celebrate by performing that record live in its entirety from start to finish on tour. That’s exactly what the Eagles plan to do with their 42-million+ seller Hotel California (if you haven’t heard of it, ask your parents) when they visit us on the first day of Autumn. It also helps that they hold the second-place spot on the same ledger because they’ll dip into Their Greatest Hits after the intermission. What’s up with that? You’d think these guys were legendary or something!
Tickets from $187.50

6. Stewart Copeland’s Police Deranged with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at Orpheum Theatre – Friday, September 30th and Saturday, October 1st

Vancouver Symphony OrchestraWith all due respect to Buddy Rich, Neil Peart, or even Vinnie Colaiuta, one drummer stands as my favourite of all time, and that would be Stewart Copeland, so what a complete delight to discover he’ll be sitting in with the VSO for two orchestral evenings celebrating his legendary work with The Police. With a career spanning nearly five decades, the youthful 70-year-old is not just your everyday percussionist; he’s also a renowned and prolific composer of film and TV scores, video game soundtracks, and a fair amount of ballets and operas, so I think he might know a thing or two about hanging out with a symphony orchestra. Get ready for a high-energy performance bursting with The Police’s greatest hits, and then send me your recaps because I’ll sadly have to miss these gigs and it’s breaking my heart.
Tickets from $34.50