The Coup - Richards on Richards

There wasn't much going on this past Saturday night so I decided to roll through The Coup at Richards. I have a couple dusty singles by this group that have been out of my regular rotation for more than a minute but i'm not one to turn down a free show. The plan was to link up around 10 for some drinks with Grimey. However at around 9:45 i got the call, apparently this would be another EARLY show with the headliners coming on at 10:30 (is this an all ages event?). Thanks for the memo you f***'s. At 10:10 i was getting off the train at Burrard station, angry, and trying to decide what to buy at when i arrived at the liquor store, seeing as i now only had 15 minutes to drink it. I copped 2 tall boys of stella and met up with Grimey around the block. When we got to the show it was about 10:35 and there were a couple hundred people inside (i guess most people did get the memo); at this point i was praising myself for getting free tickets. Shortly after getting inside The Coup came on. I have always appreciated groups that bring a LIVE feel to their show so my spirits were suddenly up when Boots got on stage backed by a live band. The show was actually really dope. The band was great (especially the guitarist) and Boots lyrics were supported by vocalist Silk-E who played a couple of her own joints ("Baby lets have a baby"... nice). They had a really funky vibe which sometimes bordered on a rage against the machine feel, the revolutionary lyrics of Boots Riley probably being a factor in that. They were on stage for more than an hour and i never found myself bored. They closed the show with "Love/Laugh/Fuck" followed by "Sneaking In" which happen to be 2 of the only Coup songs i still know. They came back on with an encore but it wasn't too strong, it seemed as though it had been unplanned and a spur of the moment idea. Would i go see them again? Definitely, but i hope the promoter gets them a later start and books a venue that doesn't want to get rid of the crowd by 12am. Time for me to dig out those dusty singles and give them another chance.