RPM.fm, VIMAF & W2 Media Cafe Present: Ryan McMahon & A Tribe Called Red In Vancouver

This past weekend RPM.fm had the honour to present a performance by Ryan McMahon with special guests A Tribe Called Red at the W2 Media Cafe as a fundraiser for the Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival.

Earlier this month we were approached to help find a venue to host a show with Ryan McMahon out here in Vancouver. It just so happened that Ottawa super group, A Tribe Called Red, were also slated to be in town. Naturally an amazing community space came to mind, the W2 Media Cafe, which is always a great place for these kinds of events. The venue is run by promoter and community activist, Irwin Oostindie.

The opportunity to have these greats acts here was something I couldn’t resist. Vancouver has a wide variety of music shows coming in and out of town regularly, but it is not as frequent a case for Indigenous music and comedy acts to showcase their artistry in an accessible venue. With no budget and MUCH help from the staff at W2, we were able to present an intimate show to the community.

Ryan McMahon, the Ojibwe comedian taking the internet by storm, started his journey on Friday with his drive out to Vancouver from Winnipeg - no easy task for one person. A Tribe Called Red brought their unique styling of Electric Powwow music to the masses at the New Forms Festival held at the Waldorf in Vancouver on September 10th to a packed house and rave reviews.

The crew at W2 were working hard all weekend with their media coverage of the New Forms Festival and tying up the last details to get put this show together. Using their new facilities upstairs from the Media Cafe at W2, a cafe/lounge and a great sound system were set up, and all things were go for 8pm.

Hosted by Ostwelve, the show began with an opening comedy act, Sliammon First Nation comedian Cliff Paul, who displayed a great set of jokes to warm up the crowd.  Ryan McMahon’s set followed and  opened with a recording session of his new podcast show, Red Man Laughing, for which he interviewed A Tribe Called Red before they gave the crowd a small dose of their music.

Ryan McMahon didn’t fail to deliver as he told us a story about how he saw an exploding elk on the highway en route to Vancouver, which he described as both “very sad and totally awesome”. After a 45 minute set, Ryan stepped off stage for a bit while the crowd got an intermission from the late summer heat before coming back out as his alter ego Clarence Two Toes, garnering the laughs that Clarence always does.

Closing the evening was a very special performance by A Tribe Called Red. As the legends have stated, they bring to the stage an amazingly high-energy show, lacing their sounds of Powwow-step music with Moombahton rhythms that had everyone out of their seats and moving their moccasins.

RPM.fm is honoured to bring this show to the community and very thankful to the people at W2 Media Cafe, Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival, A Tribe Called Red, Ryan McMahon and everyone who came out to support this event.

Be on the lookout for our announcement of RPM.fm’s Official Launch Party in Vancouver coming soon!