I'm A Groupie For Shane Koyczan And Dan Mangan

I became a groupie as soon as I heard Shane Koyczan's voice. That's all it took for me. Couple that with the acoustic performance of Dan Mangan, and I didn't stand a chance.

My first experience seeing spoken word poetry was on Halloween at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. I dragged my father with me, him not having the faintest idea as to what to expect. We found our seats after combing through the very eclectic crowd, and sat down. I whispered in my Dad's ear as Shane was coming onto the stage, "Prepare to be wowed."

We weren't disappointed. At times it felt like a religious moment for me, as Shane's quick tongue, wove words into patterns, which were completely unexpected, layering metaphors like blocks, all the while having Dan's music cut in and out, without losing rhythm or intensity.

I learned that evening, that Dan and Shane together on stage, is organically perfect. As an audience member, you get the sense that every time they look at each other, they are thinking, "Can you believe that we get to do this?"

After that performance, I spent weeks trying to explain the unexplainable to anyone and everyone that would listen. When I found out that Shane and Dan were going to be performing in Penticton, where Shane currently hangs his hat, I called my most impulsive girlfriend and within a couple hours, we were groupies. We rented a car, got a hotel and braved the Hope-Princeton Highway in November. All the while, I knew that a four-hour drive would be worth the two hours of magic I expected later that night.