Carol Pope

1981, taken at the Commodore. SLR camera, 135 mm lens. It was difficult to get shots due to the standing audience jostling from behind, plus one notable fellow who was stoned out of his mind and wanting to pick fights. Just another night at the Commodore!
Carole Pope first rose to fame as the vocalist of Toronto-based rock group Rough Trade. Although the band’s 1980 single “High School Confidential” explicitly referenced same-sex feelings and featured controversial lyrics, Canadian audiences embraced Pope. The new wave legend was showered with Junos, winning the award for most promising female vocalist of the year in ’81 and best female vocalist of the year in ’83 and ’84 (and, of course, spicing up the broadcast with some onstage antics during the ’82 awards). [crotch grabbing]
Pope was backed by her band Rough Trade for this Vancouver concert. We saw her years later in a much smaller venue, The Press Club, with just an accompanying guitar player. That woman could still sing!