Laufey in Vancouver in A Matter of Time

Laufey has so many fans in Vancouver they filled an arena

Last night I went to watch the artist Laufey perform in concert live at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. This multi-talented half Chinese, half Icelandic singer, songwriter, cellist, pianist and guitarist knows no bounds.

She has literally had a stratospheric rise in the last few years after she started filming herself while studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston when the Covid-19 pandemic began. She played her cello, and sang jazz numbers which caught my attention. Her fashion sense is "very demure", mostly covered up, long gathered skirts, lace blouses, and flats, the opposite of the stereotypical female singer who reveals a lot of skin.

Fans wearing bows and crowns

I missed Laufey when she performed in Vancouver at the Orpheum Theatre about a year ago, so when she announced her A Matter of Time tour with a Vancouver date, I was compelled to buy a ticket, which was not cheap -- $180 and that was the early bird price too, sitting in the lower level but at the back.

In the afternoon I passed by Rogers Arena on the way to watch a documentary in the Vancouver Film Festival, I saw crowds of people already gathering outside the venue. They were super early for the concert!

After 5pm I got a quick bite of beef pho at the food court in the shopping mall and did a quick five-minute visit to the Michelin event before heading to Rogers Arena. And there were a lot of fans, mostly girls dressed in Laufey-esque outfits, skirts, ankle socks, flats, big bows in their hair, or crowns; at every concert a super fan is chosen for their outfit and is given a Laufey crown by Mei Mei, her giant bunny.

The opening act was the antithesis of Laufey, Suki Waterhouse, a model, actress and singer who wore basically black lacy lingerie with lacy pants so her form fitting shorts were showing through. A fan blew her hair constantly on stage to give her a sultry look.

After about 45 minutes her set ended and the stage was set for Laufey. The wave went around the arena several times which was fun. 

Finally when the lights dimmed people screamed and the show started off with an intro much like a musical. Laufey appeared in a white spaghetti strap dress with a billowing full skirt.

Here's the set list:

This giant arena was almost all filled last nighte

Act I

• “Clockwork”
• “Lover Girl” (extended outro)
• “Dreamer”
• “Falling Behind” (extended outro)
• “Silver Lining”
• “Bored”
• “Too Little, Too Late” (extended outro; contains elements of "Bewitched")

Act II

• “Seems Like Old Times” (Carmen Lombardo cover)
• “Valentine” (Jazz version)
• “Fragile” (Jazz version)
• “While You Were Sleeping” (Jazz version; shortened)
• “Let You Break My Heart Again”

• 

  The sets were creative and elaborate

  Act III

  • “Carousel” (Live debut)
  • “Forget-Me-Not”
  • “Cuckoo Ballet” (Interlude)

  Act IV

• “Mr. Eclectic”
• “Castle in Hollywood” (extended outro)
• “Promise” (extended intro)
• “Goddess”
• “Tough Luck”
• “Snow White”
• "From the Start" (extended outro)

She removed the billowy skirt to reveal a fringy dress, sang a few jazz numbers in her own "jazz club" in the centre mini stage, and played the piano and guitar a few times, and an interlude on her cello. 

The screens showing Laufey were helpful!

During her costume change, a pre-recorded video of her showed a "backstage" back and forth with Laufey and her sister Junia who is her stylist that was quite amusing. Laufey changed into several outfits, including Snow White that got everyone excited, and it was a song she sang towards the end of the show.

One extra song was inspired by Vancouver's rainy weather, and she sang Misty while playing the piano.

Laufey is one talented young woman, and authentic in what she says. At the end she sang From the Start, as a song to inspire everyone in the audience to chase their dreams, because she did, and now she's filling arenas around the world!

No More Costco Hotdogs for Non-members

This downtown Costco's food court is outside the warehouse

Costco's downtown on Expo Boulevard is in an excellent location, steps away from the SkyTrain station, across from BC Place and not far from Rogers Arena. What makes this Costco intriguing is that its food court is located just outside the warehouse store, not inside it.

And for years non-members have been taking advantage of the C$1.50 hotdogs with a cup of soda, pizza, chicken strips and poutine.

Non-members like the $1.50 hotdog and drink

It's probably the cheapest fast food around, beating out McDonald's at C$7.69. If you buy a hotdog at Rogers Arena, it will set you back a whopping C$9.49.

One would have thought having the food court outside at that particular location would be a great revenue stream for Costco, with streams of people coming there to get cheap food for a snack, lunch or dinner, but that will all come to an end on August 5.

Signs have gone up outside the Costco entrance, saying that customers will have to show their Costco membership card before being able to purchase items at the food court.

Today the media descended on this Costco location, asking people what they thought of this news and it was divided; members felt it should be a privilege to take advantage of the cheap food, why others who are not members and are on tight budgets are disappointed.

Signs went up today to dismay of non-members

One man interviewed said he came to this outlet two to three times a week for the cheap hotdogs.

The media tried to ask Costco why they made this announcement now, but the company would only confirm the signs were correct.

So what prompted this change? Was it complaints by members? Too much extra garbage? Unable to keep up with demand? Why have the food court outside of the warehouse store in the first place?

Many questions, and few answers...