Playlist: VeganPromYVR 2011

Playlist: VeganPromYVR 2011

Catch an ear worm from one of the songs played at the prom last weekend? We did! And just so we can all re-live prom over and over again, here is a list of all the tracks we shook our yah-yahs to, courtesy of DJ Grandmaster Flash Gordon.

Title Artist Release
Not In Love (ft. Robert Smith) Crystal Castles  
The Message Grandmaster Flash  
Kids MGMT Oracular Spectacular
Billie Jean Michael Jackson Thriller
Closer (1994) Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral
Idioteque Radiohead Kid A
Close To Me The Cure The Head On The Door
Heads Will Roll Yeah Yeah Yeahs It’s Blitz!
Still DRE DR. Dre & Snoop  
Hey Ladies Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique
New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down LCD Soundsystem Sound Of Silver
Intro (ft. Zola Jesus) M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Disc 1)
Paper Planes M.I.A. Kala
Howlin’ for You The Black Keys Brothers
1901 Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Need You Now Cut Copy Zonoscope
Houdini Foster the People Torches
Animal Miike Snow Miike Snow
Under Your Spell Desire Drive
Rolling In The Deep Adele 21
Lammicken Braids Native Speaker
She Sells Sanctuary The Cult  
Seaww oOoOO Roses / Seaww – Emotion Single
Deceptacon Le Tigre Le Tigre
Living On Video Trans-X Hard To Find Classics – Alternative 80′s
Blister In The Sun Violent Femmes Violent Femmes
Wild Boys Duran Duran Decade: Greatest Hits
How Soon Is Now The Smiths Wedding Singer
Lets Dance David Bowie  
Need You Tonight INXS Kick
Shoop salt and pepa  
Ceremony New Order Marie Antoinette Soundtrack
Stars And Sons Broken Social Scene You Forgot It In People
Girls Death In Vegas Lost In Translation
Faking the books Lali Puna Faking the Books
Seven Nation Army The White Stripes Elephant
Foux Du Fafa Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords
Business Time Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords
Ulysses Franz Ferdinand Ulysses – Single
Sick Muse Metric Fantasies
Work Junior Boys Begone Dull Care
An Airbag Saved My Dub Easy Star All-Stars Radiodread
If I Had a Heart Fever Ray Fever Ray
Maximum DJ Vadim  
In Between Days The Cure The Head On The Door
Ready To Start Arcade Fire The Suburbs
Eagle In Your Mind Boards Of Canada Music Has The Right To Children
Too Raging To Cheers Mogwai Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
Hungry Like the Wolf Duran Duran Decade: Greatest Hits
Nightcall Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx Drive
Howl Florence + The Machine Lungs
Over Portishead Portishead
Hurdy Gurdy Man (Single Version) Donovan The Essential Donovan
I Wanna Be Sedated Ramones Road to Ruin
Groove is in the heart Dee-lite  
Head on Jesus and Mary Chain All About Howard
Lazy Eye Silversun Pickups E.P.
Here Comes Your Man The Pixies Doolittle
The Lovecats The Cure  
Rock the Casbah Clash The Story of the Clash – Volume I
David Bowie – Fame David Bowie  
Love Will Tear Us Apart Joy Division Substance
Blitzkrieg bop Ramones Greatest Hits
Rebel, Rebel David Bowie Diamond Dogs
Sexy boy Air  
She’s In Parties Bauhaus  
Take the Skinheads Bowling Camper van Beethoven Telephone Free Landslide Victo
This Is What You Want Public Image Ltd  
We Got The Beat Go Gos  
Stairway To Heaven Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV (1994 Remaster)
When Doves Cry Prince The Very Best Of Prince
I Will Survive Gloria Gaynor Pure Disco 1
Fat Bottomed Girls Queen Greatest Hits
Kiss Prince The Very Best Of Prince
Blister In The Sun Violent Femmes  
Gangstas Paradise Coolio (ft. l.v.) Pure Hip Hop
It Takes Two Rob Base and dj ez rock Pure Hip Hop
Push It Salt and Pepa Pure Hip Hop
Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) Eurythmics Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (Remastered + Expanded)
Blue Monday New Order  
Rebel Yell Billy Idol Essential
Dancing With Myself Billy Idol Essential
Living Room Tegan & Sara If It Was You
You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) Dead Or Alive Youthquake
I’m Too Sexy Right Said Fred 100 Greatest Dance Songs of the 90s
Love Kills Joe Strummer Sid and Nancy
Mr. Roboto Styx Like, Omigod! The ’80s Pop Culture Box (Totally) Disc 5
Electric Avenue Eddy Grant Like, Omigod! The ’80s Pop Culture Box (Totally) Disc 4
Genius Of Love Tom Tom Club Like, Omigod! The ’80s Pop Culture Box (Totally) Disc 2
Never Gonna Give You Up Rick Astley Like, Omigod! The ’80s Pop Culture Box (Totally) Disc 7
I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do) Hall & Oates Rock ‘n Soul, Pt. 1: Greatest Hits

Great Thrift and Consignment Stores in Vancouver, BC

Great Thrift and Consignment Stores in Vancouver, BC

If you’re looking for a perfect Vegan Prom outfit and you’ve realized we’re knee deep in Halloween costume hunting season, fret not! You do not need to brave Value Village at this time of year if you’re armed with this list.

SPCA Thrift Store, Victoria and 37th, Vancouver
This thrift store is a mess of great deals. You might be searching for a while but the prices will make up for it. The owners are very kind, and as a bonus, there are some very sweet kitties living in this store.

St Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, Hastings and Salsbury, Vancouver
This thrift store is very close to the Prom! The guy who runs this place will let you haggle. There’s a fairly small selection of clothing but there are certainly some gems.

Community Thrift Store, Cordova and Carrall, Vancouver
This thrift store is in downtown/Gastown Vancouver and carries a great selection of interesting and hip items for remarkably good prices.

Front and Company, Main and 23rd, Vancouver
This is a consignment store and the prices reflect that, but you are sure to find something gorgeous that you’ll wear again and again at this shop. There’s jewelry, shoes, belts, and bags as well.

Main St Thrift
There are quite a few thrift stores between 16th and 25th on Main, especially on the west side of the street. It’s worth a stroll if you happen to find a sunny day between now and Prom.

Tickets now available online!

Tickets now available online!

IMPORTANT NOTE: ONLINE TICKET SALES HAVE NOW ENDED (as of November 5th at 12pm).

If you waited to the last minute to get your ticket, you should call or visit Karmavore (T. 604.527.4212) to pick up your tickets in-person, or make a plan to have a delicious vegan meal with Vegan Mischief ($5 for ticket holders) before prom where they will be selling tickets right up until prom starts at 8pm. See their Facebook event page for details.

See you tonight, prommers!!!!

 

You asked, and we listened. You can now buy tickets to the prom online!

To purchase tickets, click on the “Tickets” tab above and fill out the form on that page. Once we receive your email request, we’ll get the ball rolling and soon you’ll have your tickets. How’s that for easy and awesome?

Please indicate in your request if you would like to purchase your tickets via an electronic funds transfer (EMT) from your bank or if you’d prefer to use PayPal. We don’t charge anything extra on EMTs, though your bank may have a service fee associated with sending them. PayPal orders incur a $0.76 fee on *each* ticket purchased.

Tickets will be available for pick-up at the door on the night of the prom. But remember – there are no ticket sales at the door, so buy your tickets soon before they all sell out. And please don’t forget to bring your ID with you on the night of the prom because IDs will be checked at the door.

Where to Eat Supper Before the Vegan Prom

Where to Eat Supper Before the Vegan Prom

You may have heard that we are offering food at the Vegan Prom – but we ain’t feeding you dinner. If you’re looking for a place to eat a vegan meal before the Prom, here are some vegan-friendly restaurants in the area. (The Prom happens at the WISE Hall, located at Victoria Drive and Adanac St in East Vancouver). This list is by no means complete, and if you have suggestions for other places on or around the Drive that might help fellow prom attendees find some grub, please be sure to leave a comment on this post!

Rooted on the Drive Cafe

Rooted on the Drive is the all organic & vegan cafe within the organic grocery store, Eternal Abundance, between Deserts and Sweet Cherubim. The cafe features mainly raw items but several cooked items, including daily soups, desserts, and a juice and smoothie bar!

Sweet Cherubim – One of Vancouver’s longest-lived veggie restaurants, they’re a great place to grab a smoothie and some pakoras!

Deserts – Inexpensive, delicious, a bit eclectic (is it Indian? Middle Eastern? Fusion? Who knows?) with an all-vegetarian menu. Curries, falafal, naan bread. Emphasis on inexpensive!

Bandidas Taqueria – 100% vegetarian- and very vegan-friendly Mexican place. They make all their own corn tortillas in-house, and they also have Daiya available so that you can totally mow down on vegan nachos to your heart’s content. Try one of their hibiscus cocktails too! It’s almost always packed, especially on the weekends, so give yourself lots of time.

Cafe Deux Soleils – A Commercial Drive mainstay and a very arty and crunchy type of place to sit down, sip a brewsky, and munch on some vegan Caesar salad. Party tip: this is a good place to go the morning after prom, to drown your post-prom blues/hangover in teriyaki tofu scramble and greasy hashbrowns. True story.

Taiyo Sushi – You can’t throw a rock in Vancouver without hitting a sushiya…but why would you want to throw rocks? Just sit down and eat your seaweed like a good vegan.

Addis Cafe – A small Eritrean/Ethiopian place with some of the finest misir wat you’ll ever taste. Leave yourself lots of time to linger over their large injera-covered platters.

Cafe Kathmandu – There’s a 50/50 chance you’ve never tried Himalayan or Nepalese cuisine before, just like there’s a 50/50 chance you’ve never been to an all-vegan prom before. Why not try two new things in one night? Bucket list material, I’m telling you!

Nuba Cafe at the Waldorf Hotel – There’s a reason why Nuba now has four locations all over Vancouver – it’s the best Lebanese food in town. You don’t want to miss Najib’s special crispy cauliflower or their lentil mjadra.

Vegan Pizza House – If you’re traveling towards Vegan Prom from Mt. Pleasant or any points south or west of Mt. Pleasant, you should do yourself a favour and stop in at Vancouver’s first and only 100% vegan pizza joint. If you’re looking for “healthy” pizza with a cardboard-y crust, no “cheese”, heaped high with alfalfa sprouts, pass this place by. If you’re looking for the pizza you remember fondly from your pre-vegan days, with a crispy crust, oodles of greasy toppings, zesty sauce, and lots of cheese (they use Daiya!), this is your place. Bonus: they have gluten-free options.

There are also a WHOLE BUNCH of great restaurants outside of the immediate vicinity of the prom, so for those of you looking for more options, stay tuned – we’ll try and get some posts up talking about our other favourite vegan eateries in Vancouver, too.

Prom Attire

Prom Attire

If you’re not at all like me, you’re probably fretting over what to wear to Vegan Prom YVR! I mean, totally freaking out a la Molly Ringwald in ‘Pretty in Pink’! Me, I’m not freaking out because I hardly ever freak out about clothing, and also I know that Vegan Prom YVR is going to be TEWTALLY chill about the dress code.

That’s not to say you should show up in your regular street clothes (whatever those may be). Come on, we get so few opportunities to really go all out with our attire in our daily lives, so why not make the effort to bust out the old plaid blazer or taffeta bubble skirt? What? You don’t have a plaid blazer or tafetta bubble skirt (OMG how awesome would putting those two pieces together be!)? Well, for those of you who may be stumped as to what on earth they’re going to wear to the event of the season, I luckily have a couple of ideas for you.

1. The Duct Tape Prom Dress/Tuxedo

If you’re intrigued, here’s a link to a site that offers a pattern for a basic dress (that I assume you could embellish as desired). If you want to make a duct tape tuxedo, I’m afraid the best advice I found online was to buy a cheap/used/THRIFTED (ahem – note this year’s prom theme?) suit or tuxedo and cover it with the duct tape of your choice. (You can Google this yourself, I’m sure.)

As astounding as these examples are, I think we can all agree these look like way too much work. If I was going to make a duct tape prom dress I’d show up looking like this guy:

…only with sensible pumps and glitter.

Here’s my second idea for prom wear….the corsage/boutonniere! We’ve all seen those moments in our favourite family-friendly movies and TV shows. The guy shows up at the girl’s house. He’s nervous, and his nervousness isn’t helped by the fact that her stern (but good hearted) father answers the door, looking stern and suspicious and stern. He’s probably wearing a Cosby sweater. He invites the nervous young man in and they exchange pleasantries. The girl’s mother comes down the stairs and says something about her just putting some last minute touches on her outfit. And then the girl appears at the top of the stair case, ready for her close-up. The boy is transfixed! Overwhelmed by her beauty! The father is proud of his lovely daughter (since her beauty is of course a reflection of his manhood via his genetic code being reproduced or something) but keeps his eyes on the young man at the bottom of the stairs. And the girl descends, her ruffles and lace poofing around her like clouds! Or icing off a cupcake! And the boy manages to stutter something about how breathtaking she is and she blushes demurely and then…..it’s that moment. The one where he produces the plastic box containing the corsage he has selected for her. And unless he had some good advice from someone who’d been there and gotten her a wrist corsage….he’s going to be expected to pin the flowers on her dress. Usually somewhat near to her…..BOSOM. Cue awkward shuffling and collar-pulling while the disapproving father looks on and the unfortunate young hero is left fumbling with a pin, some flowers he’s probably allergic to, and boobs.

First, I just gotta say, BOO to the heteronormative gender foolishness we are exposed to in these media tropes!

ONE: you don’t need a date to come to Vegan Prom YVR.
TWO: if you do wanna bring a date, you can bring a date of any gender you want!
THREE: there’s no rule that says you have to provide cut flowers to your date!
FOUR: you can actually DIY a corsage or boutonniere OUT OF PAPER, FABRIC or RIBBONS so it lasts FOREVER! (Also, hello? Thrifty!)


Oh Happy Day! has instructions for making paper poppies & roses, both of which could be used for either corsages or boutonnieres!

DIY:happy has a printable patterns for some very realistic looking rose corsages/boutonnieres, too.


Project Wedding has some great looking ideas for paper boutonnieres.

There are a lot more ideas for paper/fabric/ribbon corsages varying from simple to extremely fancy (check out Martha Stewart’s stuff for weddings, for example)…..so use your Google powers for good and embrace the DIY fever that’s gripped our prom preparations!

“I Never Went to My High School Prom.”

“I Never Went to My High School Prom.”

It’s something you hear now and then; and it’s something that was on our minds as we organized this event. “I never went to my high school prom.” The reasons vary: I didn’t have a date; I thought it was going to suck because all the jocks and cheerleaders were organizing it; I was sick; I was the only vegan and there was nothing on the menu for me; In high school I was basically ‘Carrie’ and I lacked the telekinesis to really make it work for me.

The good news, YOU are the reason why we decided to make Vegan Prom YVR a reality. This is truly the prom for EVERYONE. Whether you graduated high school in 1950 or just last year; whether you were one of the cool kids or one of the freaks and geeks (though we will admit to having a certain affinity for the latter two); whether you are vegan or just vegan-curious; whether you went to your first prom or didn’t – we want to see you here! This event is about celebrating the diverse nature of our community in a fun and lighthearted way.

Let’s face it: our culture stereotypes vegans as dour, serious, malnourished, and unpleasant. If we’re ever going to get this movement going anywhere we’re going to have to work at it….by having as much fun and being as inclusive as possible (without sacrificing our ethics/ideals). The truth is, if you missed your prom, there’s a good chance you opted out of attending because you felt you didn’t “fit in” in some way. Vegan Prom is the antidote to that feeling. Now what are you waiting for? Get on those dancing shoes! Pull on that tutu! Dye your beard pink! We wanna see you out there having the time of your life!


Tickets are now on sale!