The suffocating crowds and the cooler than expected temperatures notwithstanding yesterday, the free Feist/Apostle of Hustle Canada Day show was very good. I'd gone down to Harbourfront with a friend yesterday and grabbed a spot in a row of surprisingly-empty seats, but of course, it was too good to be true as a Harbourfront employee later came out and instructed us and everyone else in our row(and the row in front of us) to find new seats because the section(which had actually been taped off) was reserved for family and friends of the artists. So who is it that strolls up but Mr. Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene with his dinner plate in hand, politely making sure that all of us get up and go. Ok, if you say so Mr. Drew. My friend and I were a little disappointed that we had to give up our seats, but hey what can you do. We ended up standing at the back where we met up with another of my friends where we spent part of the night watching the show. A slight consolation, but part way through Apostle's set we managed to snag some seats near the back.Apostle of Hustle's set was a perfect mood-setter for the evening. There was an energy but also an airiness about their music which complimented the summer aesthetic quite nicely. Uptempo BSS-sounding rave-ups like the poppy "Energy Of Death" or the slow-burning-then-explosive horns-filled instrumental "Folkloric Feel"(which opened the set) were amazing. Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene and Leslie Feist joined the band for "Folkloric Feel" to contribute some percussive noise-making but then receded to the wings to let Apostle of Hustle take over. Also, really sounding great was the sly, jazz-influenced "Dark is What I Want/Strutters Ball". The percussive flamenco dancing of Ilse Gudino was a real crowd-pleaser.
As we waited for Feist's set, it unfortunately it got a bit windy and chilly. Fortunately though, the crowd filled in to the aisles providing a barrier somewhat to the wind blowing in from the lake. Things did heat up though once Leslie Feist took the stage to an enthusiatic crowd response. A homecoming it was(6 months of of winning Junos and touring since her last Toronto appearance), and it was a spectacular night. She played alot of songs that I DIDN'T recognize. (Were these new songs or songs off her first album which I'm not entirely familiar with?). Otherwise she played favourites like "Mushaboom", "One Evening"(complete with crowd-participation "ba-ba-ba's), "Leisure Suite", her wonderful cover of Ron Sexsmith's "Secret Heart" and saved a sped-up funky version of her Bee Gees cover "Inside and Out" as well as a intimate-sounding "Let It Die" for her encore. Favourite moment of the night: seeing Leslie and a fan she pulled up on stage do a bout of Saturday Night Fever-style disco dancing during "Inside and Out". At one point in her set, the Canada Day fireworks over at Ontario Place started which prompted Leslie to mimic explosions of her heart to the audience. That really defined this spectacular night: Leslie gave alot of her heart, and we were most thankful. [photos]
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A torrent of Wilco's show in Buffalo, NY from sveral days ago[June 29th] has turned up on dimeadozen.org!
The new issue[July 2005] of Being There is now online including features on NXNE as well as Toronto's own Valery Gore.
Zoilus has a first draft of his typically comprehensive Toronto concerts list for the month of July '05. Start planning because it's gonna be a good month.
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