Cultural Olympiad Brings Phoenix, Feist, Lou Reed, Steve Earle to Vancouver

Today marks the first day of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver, B.C. Over the next 60 days more than 500 artists from around the world will perform throughout Metro Vancouver and Whistler as part of the massive cultural event.

Billed as a 'celebration of the contemporary imagination,' the ambitious showcase will feature a variety of music, dance, theatre, visual arts, film and digital media experiences.

Kicking off the music component of the series tonight at the historic Orpheum theatre is Grammy-nominated Phoenix, who recently shared their thoughts about being a part of 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

From now until March 21, when the cultural fiesta concludes, Vancouver will be a hotbed of live music action. In order to keep those on the west coast on track, Spinner compiled a list of a few can't-miss concerts.

Taking place at the Orpheum, 884 Granville Street:
January 23 -- Country staple Steve Earle
February 15 -- Alexisonfire main-man Dallas Green's solo project City and Colour with openers the Rural Alberta Advantage
February 17 -- Canadian indie golden-girl Feist (pictured above)
February 19 -- Dream-pop outfit Stars are joined by Polaris Prize-nominees Hey Rosetta!
February 25 -- Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan
March 12 -- Southport indie rock heavyweights Gomez

Taking place at the CODE Live Great Northern Way Campus:
February 12 -- Turntablist-extraordinaire Kid Koala
February 18 -- Chamber-pop collective Bell Orchestre
February 20 -- Montreal electro duo Chromeo

Taking place at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 600 Block Hamilton Street:
February 18 -- Hal Willner's Neil Young Project: Lou Reed, Ron Sexsmith, Iron and Wine, Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning and many more amazing guests will perform during the special tribute to Canadian rock icon Neil Young.

More information on these concerts and the rest of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad events can be found here.