The Vincent Black Shadow

Blending a visual style influenced by European cabaret of the 1930s with music that's a spirited gumbo of pop, punk, metal, and ska, Vincent Black Shadow is one of the more unusual acts to emerge from Vancouver's pop music scene in the new millennium. The Vincent Black Shadow story began when singer Cassandra Ford caught the attention guitarist Robbie Kirkham when they ordered the same drink at a Vancouver cocktail lounge. Born in the Philippines and raised in Vancouver, Ford had recently returned to Canada after a record deal with a label in Manila had gone sour (they wanted to remake her into a pre-fab pop idol while she had more ambitious things in mind), while Robbie (whose father spent nearly four decades with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra) was trying to put together a new band with his brothers Chris on bass and Anthony on drums. Borrowing their name from a motorcycle name-checked by Hunter S. Thompson in his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Vincent Black Shadow wasted no time earning a loyal following in their hometown, as much for Ford's striking good looks, the band's snappy retro duds, and their choreographed dance steps as their bold blend of various musical forms. Mary Ancheta next signed on as Vincent Black Shadow's keyboard player, helping to push the pop accents and melodramatic textures of their songs into the forefront. In 2006, the Canadian label Bodog Music signed Vincent Black Shadow, and the group's debut album, Fear's in the Water, was released in June of that year. A video for the song "Metro" (featuring clips from the horror film Feast, which used the tune on the soundtrack) began receiving airplay in both Canada and the United States, the group enjoyed a well-received spot on the 2006 Warped Tour, and was expected to attract more new fans during a major American tour opening for Halifax.