Toronto Urban Roots Festival @ Fort York Garrison Common (July 4 & 5, 2013)

   Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura: photo by Michael Ligon

The inaugural Toronto Urban Roots Festival, TURF for short, had a successful first run about a week and a half back down at Fort York Garrison Common, if I do say so. The festival also included extra night shows that took place at the Horseshoe Tavern and Lee's Palace, giving some of the acts an extra time slot to perform. The festival spanned four nights and two full days and had an admirable selection of local and international talent. And if I wasn't totally enamored with the whole lineup [that's just a matter of personal taste], the calibre of acts was decent.

With a new album Desire Lines recently released to promote, Scottish indie pop group Camera Obscura hit the summer festival circuit, much to the dismay of their British physical disposition. While lead vocalist Tracyanne Campbell mentioned to the crowd at TURF that it was nice to be in Toronto again and as the sun started to just set, she remarked something along the lines that the cooler temperatures wouldn't be so bad. Having seen them numerous times in the past, I found the set pleasant if unremarkable if only because the band are sticking to what they do best. I'm not sure if I'd wanted them to evolve their sound but overall I still have a soft spot for their brand of sparkling Scottish pop music and it was good to see them live again. They played a few new songs but it was old favourites like "Teenager", "Tears For Affairs", "French Navy" and their now predictable "Razzle Dazzle Rose" which the crowd savoured.


   Joel Plaskett: photo by Michael Ligon

TSN sports announcer Dave Hodge was a special guest this evening, making reference as to how he was suppose to have introduced this next band in Calgary during the Sled Island Music Festival several weeks prior but which got cancelled due to the massive flooding [and in retrospect how coincidentally TURF got rained on hard on the Sunday Night and then experienced the torrential storms the day after]. Introducing Joel Plasket Emergency, Joel and the band played a great set that had them riffing in classic rock style with Plaskett's clever lyrics and playful stage persona. Plaskett even admitted to being a little nervous but soon he settled into a zone. He'd just played NYC's Central Park just prior, and also Canada Day had just past and so in salute to both countries, the band delved into "True Patriot Love". Plaskett was a great frontman, playing up to the audience, his gangly physique slinking around the mic at times. That I'm not that familiar with his catalogue [although I did recognize a number of the tunes he played that night] is a bit of a shame as he played one of the better sets of the whole festival.


   She & Him: photo by Michael Ligon

I went into duo She & Him's set knowing generally what to expect even though I haven't really heard them all that much - nostalgia-tinged originals and covers, with a heavy nod to the popular music of the fifties and the sixties. There was a crack band of musicians backing them, with notable contributions from their lead guitarist as well as their two female back-up vocalists, The Chapin Sisters, Abigail and Lily. There were covers of Blondie's "Sunday Girl", "Unchained Melody" (originally made famous by The Righteous Brothers), and Buddy Holly's "Rave On". It was a bit of a disappointment that the the band had requested that the audience not take photos, going so far as to have organizers post notices all around the grounds instructing fans to please not use their cell phones to take photos and video and to enjoy the performance that the band was providing in 3D. Ok, I snuck a few photos with my point-and-shoot including the one above. This wasn't the set to necessarily convert me to the band - it felt more pleasant than than remarkable - but it was a nice, soothing way to end off Day One of TURF. The duo's on the road promoting their fourth studio full-length Volume 3 which was released this past May.

Photos: Toronto Urban Roots Festival @ Fort York Garrison Common (July 4, 2013)

-------


   Justin Townes Earle: photo by Michael Ligon

For Day Two of TURF, I arrived during the set of American singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle playing a set for the early crowd at the East Stage. I know of him having passed through town [I believe playing the Horseshoe most times, and maybe the Phoenix Concert Theatre] on numerous occasions but had not ever taken the opportunity to see him live. Seeing him live, Earle in my opinion takes that Elvis Costello approach towards pop music infusing various influences such as country and blues, making his songs wholly satisfying to a pop music fan like me who isn't a country / blues purist. Before ending the set with his last song, Earle commented on the heat ["Sweating like a whore in church"] and then dove into a terrific rendition of The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait".


   Fitz and The Tantrums: photo by Michael Ligon

Perhaps the odd-man-out act of the whole TURF lineup was Los Angeles soul / pop act Fitz and The Tantrums. While I wasn't so keen on the band musically [just a matter of personal, taste], I'd give credit to co-lead vocalists Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs keeping up the energy of the set and getting the audience to participate. The band played a cover of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" , which like some other songs during the sets included some pronounced sax work, that sounded straight up like what UK producer Mark Ronson might have produced. As the sun was just about setting, I was ready to end off day two at the East Stage with Arkells.


   Arkells: photo by Michael Ligon

I lived through Hamilton rock group Arkells infancy when they'd formed in 2006 and then had afterwards had probably played Toronto and the GTA more times than I'd been able to keep track. Even when they'd started to get radio play on 102.1 FM The Edge and I'd liked what I'd heard, I for some reason just never got around to seeing them live. I heard bits of Springsteen and The Constantines in the band's sound, and I'd liken lead vocalist Max Kerman a little bit to Afghan Whigs Greg Dulli, adding a soulful grit to the vocals amidst the overall rock histronics. Fans aplenty stuck around for the set, many of them singing along to faves like "Oh, The Boss Is Coming" and "Whistleblower" and then the band ended off the night with Kernan dappering himself up with a white sportcoat and leading the band into a fantastic all-Motown covers set with members of Toronto cover band Dwayne Gretzky on back-up vocals.

Photos: Toronto Urban Roots Festival @ Fort York Garrison Common (July 5, 2013)

Camera Obscura, The Papercuts @ Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto (November 26, 2009)

  Camera Obscura @ Phoenix: photo by Michael Ligon


Throwing around descriptors like 'indie' and 'pop' (and especially when they're conjoined) can sometimes be to the detriment of bands they're applied to. Certainly, they are overused terms but as well they're also wholly inadequate on they're own. Scottish indiepop band Camera Obscura and San Franciscan indiepop band The Papercuts played the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto this past Thursday, but in my opinion could have none been more different.

Opening the show were San Francisco four-piece The Papercuts. Closest point of reference for me was Luna as The Papercuts share a similar woozy, pop-rock sensibility. But whereas Luna's pop takes it's cue from the muted energy of The Velvet Undergound, The Papercuts express their melodicism with a more spacious, dreamy quality. Lead vocalist Jason Quever had the sort of vocals that soothed it's way into your cerebelum, a nice match to the equally soothing pop-rock instrumentation. Despite a few guitar cord mishaps, which eventually seemed to be resolved, it was a good set. As first impression go, they made a good one.

At this point in their career, Scotland's Camera Obscura really need no introduction, especially with their last show in Toronto at Lee's Palace back in June being still fresh in some of our memories. I've had a little more time since then to familiarize myself with their most recent album "My Maudlin Career" and have come to like it a lot. My initial impressions were that it was 'more of the same' - as good though not better than their last album "Let's Get Out Of This Country" which in my opinion was front-to-back a fantastic pop classic. However, with each successive listen of "My Maudlin Career" it reveals itself to be downright fantastic in it's own right. And on that point alone I appreciated the new album's songs more this time than at their last show. Balancing the exhilirating uptempo numbers with melancholy slower material the band touched on their last few albums, reaching back to their debut, "Biggest Blue Hi Fi", for a sentimental rendition of 'Eighties Fan'. But what I could tell from the new material especially was that lead vocalist Tracyanne Campbell is singing with ever so slight strength and confidence, certainly not the vulnerable crackle of the recorded version of 'Eighties Fan'.

The one-two punch of 'Lloyd...' followed by 'Looks Could Kill' now seems predictable but still sounded as good as ever. The melancholy slower material almost seemed the most effective such as the new album's 'James', but even moreso the country-ish balladry of 'Forest and Sands' (with the added Toronto-centric lyric of "like a river in Toronto") which popped up during the encore sandwiched between 'Let's Get Out Of This Country' and encore closer 'Razzle Dazzle Rose' stood out for me as the highlight of the night. Unless, perhaps they bring a real string section along next time, there was not much of a visual element to Camera Obscura's stage presence except for handclaps, a shy smile, a tilted head bob from keyboardist Lindsay BoydCarey Lander, and Tracyanne's thick Scottish-accented banter (which there was precious little of this time). It didn't otherwise matter for me or the relatively packed house. It's a treat to see Camera Obscura live when the opportunity arises and am thankful that Toronto continues to be one of the band's regular stopovers.

ps. Thanks for the well-stocked merch table. My new band t-shirt is looking fine and their Christmas single 'The Blizzard' b/w 'Swans', which I picked up on vinyl is fantastic.

Photos: Camera Obscura, The Papercuts @ Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto (November 26, 2009)
MySpace: The Papercuts
MySpace: Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura, Anni Rossi @ Lee's Palace (June 27, 2009)

  Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura: photo by Michael Ligon


There were so many music options in the city this past weekend(Pride, Toronto City Roots Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, Zunior 5th Anniversary show at Tranzac) that I'd thought a simple gig at Lee's Palace might not suffice. However, I can always make an exception for Glasgow, Scotland's Camera Obscura whose magnificent pop melodies could send chills up my spine at just the right moments.

Chicagoan Anni Rossi, scheduled to have started her set at 10:15 pm according to the Lee's Palace website, finally came on after 10:30 pm. A deservedly sold-out show for Camera Obscura but a good number of patrons had shown up for Ms. Rossi's opening set. It was a pleasant introduction to her music. She had a creative and casual flair to her viola playing that was reminiscent to artists like Owen Pallett though perhaps warmer sounding than the starker tones that Pallett favours. Ms. Rossi, a petite brunette, stood on a suitcase of some sort which I'd thought she was using to raise her height on stage, but she actually used it to accompany herself with her own foot-stomping percussion. Anni's vocals had a nice clear timbre and range that reminded me of Regina Spektor. The combination of these components emphasized her well-developed melodies and song structure and produced a surprisingly rich sound. Too short of a set at 20 minutes as I thought she was only starting to warm up. It was hard to tell if people were enjoying her as a chatty crowd especially near the back may have pointed otherwise but the response between songs was enthusiastic.

It was not too hard for Camera Obscura to sell-out Lee's Palace considering they'd played well-attended shows in Toronto at larger venues The Opera House(in January 2007) and Phoenix Concert Theatre(in August 2007) in the past. I'd only given their latest album "My Maudlin Career" a cursory listen prior to the show, although their single 'French Navy' I'd listened to far more times on their MySpace. While the album hasn't yet made an impact as their previous album "Let's Get Out Of This Country" had immediately done, 'French Navy' is a succinct slice of pop and a great addition to their oeuvre.

The setlist was a mix of the new album and their previous and reaching back to "Underachievers Please Try Harder"(for 'Teenager') and "Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" (for 'Eighties Fan'). For the most part the atmosphere within the crowd was a mixture of enthusisam and politeness. Camera obscura don't intend to impress visually (unless like myself you have a crush on Tracyanne or Carey, or you're the dude who yelled out to Tracyanne that he loved her) so the set's mostly reliant on the music and perhaps a bit of humourous banter along the way. Although the set started with some slower tunes, the more uptempo songs (like 'French Navy', 'If Looks Could Kill'[I couldn't help singing the lyric "Tell me where it all went wrong, Maybe I can make it better"], 'Let's Get Out of This Country') predictably got the crowd going. A move like inserting 'Toronto' within the lyrics of 'Forests & Sands' prompted a cheer from the crowd, a cliched move it was but it got the job done.. The lyric "But if the blood pumping through my veins could freeze like a river in Toronto" during 'Forest & Sands' also prompted a cheer from the crowd. Banter was minimal, but Tracyanne did thank the city for being the first sold-out show of the tour and mentioned hopefully they'll play a larger venue next-time and charge a lower-ticket price. The three-song encore which ended with the one-two punch of 'Lloyd Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken' and 'Razzle Dazzle Rose'[this song almost never fails to give me goosebumps] concluded the show on a high-note, a show that was predictably enjoyable for someone like myself who's now seem them live four times although is looking for a surprise or two from the band next time they roll through town.

Photos: Camera Obscura, Anni Rossi @ Lee's Palace (June 27, 2009)

Chromewaves and The Panic Manual have reviews and photos of the show as well.

MySpace: Anni Rossi
MySpace: Camera Obscura
:
:
Happy Canada Day everyone! So what will it be for me tonight? The Constantines and Chad VanGaalen down at Harbourfront Centre or Sloan here in Mississauga at the Civic Centre?

Come Back Margaret

On a jump from tomorrow when I hope to post more about yesterday's great Camera Obscura gig at the Phoenix, check out Eye Weekly and It's Not The Band I Hate... who both review the show and basically said almost everything I wanted to say anyway. So maybe I won't ramble any more about it tomorrow. Or maybe I will.

I have some photos from the show. Tracyanne's a doll.

Okay, here's some concert announcements:

You Say Party! We Say Die!, k-os, and M.I.A. are playing at Toronto Centre Island on September 7 as part of Ryerson University's frosh festivities. I got the info off of YSPWSD's MySpace and I think I might just crash this[supposedly the show's only for Ryerson students] in lieu of the Virgin Festival[happening Sept 7-8 oops, I meant Sept 8-9] which I'm not sure I still want to go to(ever since Amy Winehouse cancelled). But I really want to see M.I.A. On the topic of frosh concerts, anyone know yet what bands/artists are lined up for University of Toronto's frosh concert?

Via Stille Post, just about honorary Ontarians by now, Japan's Zoobombs return for some shows around the Golden Horseshoe, making a stop in Toronto for shows at the Silver Dollar on October 9 and October 16. They also be in Montreal for Pop Montreal and in Halifax for the Halifax Pop Explosion. All dates over at their MySpace.

Annuals with openers Manchester Orchestra are at The Mod Club on November 3[via Pitchfork].

Glass Candy return for a show in Toronto on November 1 at a venue TBA. Their MySpace lists it as a Halloween show but it's a day after Halloween. Those crazy kids. They have a few new demos streaming over at their MySpace, if their disco-y, electro-pop is your thing. If anything, it's fun.

Super Trouper

The dog days of summer are upon us but what better way to ease the transition into Autumn than a Camera Obscura show. They play tonight at the Phoenix[scheduled set time 9:45 pm] with openers The Last Town Chorus[who I've been interested in checking out] going on at approximately 8:30 pm. And considering I haven't made it out to many shows this summer, this one should be a good one. I hope they peform their cover of the ABBA tune "Super Trouper" which you can sample below:

YouTube: Camera Obscura - "Super Trouper" (live - ABBA cover)

I thought the following was such a terrific Camera Obscura cover by a fan(and a Canadian one at that!) that it warranted me linking to it. It's a wonderful piano treatment of Camera Obscura's "Let's Get Out Of This Country"[she also performs a few other cover songs worth checking out]. Update: The name of the person performing the Camera Obscura cover below is Sara Rodrigues and she's a Toronto singer-songwriter:

YouTube: Sara Rodrigues - "Let's Get Out Of This Country" (Camera Obscura cover)
:
:
MySpace: Camera Obscura
MySpace: The Last Town Chorus

I Love My Jean

concert review: Camera Obscura, The Essex Green @ The Opera House(Toronto, Ontario), January 31, 2007

This past Wednesday, the Merge Records double-bill of Scotland's Camera Obscura and Brookyln's The Essex Green made it's way to our fair city for a show at The Opera House. My initial selfish disappointment upon hearing news that the show was moved from the cozier Lee's Palace to the larger Opera House soon turned to appreciation. If anyone deserves success, it couldn't have happened to a nicer band than Camera Obscura. Any concerns I had whether they could make a successful jump from their show at the cozy Horseshoe Tavern in July 2006 to the larger The Opera House this time around were soon put to rest. I know it's still early in the year but I wouldn't be surprised at the end of the year if this show makes my fave concerts of the year list.

Starting off the night promptly at their 9:15 pm scheduled set start time was Brooklyn's The Essex Green. Their 60-ish folk-pop 1999 Kindercore debut "Everything is Green" was my only reference point. Unfortunately, they didn't play anything off of their debut release but rather they'd focused on material from their last few releases including their most recent Merge Records release, "The Cannibal Sea". Man, was I pleased with what I heard from the band during their set, definitely improved by the onstage energy exuded by the band. With lead vocals alternating between keyboardists/flutist Sasha Bell and guitarist Christopher Ziter, the band performed a sprite set of pop music, approaching a level of power-pop akin to say Fountains of Wayne, and at times a twangier sound(attributed mostly to guitarist's Jeff Baron's meaty guitar lines) that reminded me of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Rounding out the sound were cute-as-a-button Julia Rydholm's energetic basslines and the spectacularly fluid drumming of Tim Barnes. Not much in the way of banter, except for Julia's brief account of her first childhood visit to Canada and her excitement of staying at the Marriot, then Sasha saying something along the lines that Julia would be using the jacuzzi when they get back to their hotel. Wakka, wakka.

Musically, I'd say that Camera Obscura were as on top of their game as they were last year at the Horseshoe Tavern. The difference was that I think acoustics of The Opera House brought out the lushness of the material off of "Let's Get Out Of This Country" that you just couldn't get within the smaller confines of the Horseshoe Tavern. The band chose to start off the first half of the show with mostly mellower material but when the triple attack of "If Looks Could Kill", "Let's Get Out Of This Country" and "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken" finally came it was exhilirating. The band still doesn't have that much of a rockin' stage presence but I've come to accept that. But what they do have is charm, humour and even a sense of playfulness. It was fun to watch their trumpeteer jump up to the drumkit during one song and tap the cymbal as the drummer continued to play. Towards the end of the set, the band begun a hand-clap that got most of the audience joining in as the band jumped into a rendition of "I Need All The Friends I Can Get". Kudos to members of The Essex Green for restarting the handclapping and getting the audience back into it. After they'd performed "I Love My Jean", which the guitarist had explained contained lyrics based on the writings of Scottish poet Robbie Burns, I'd caught an additional quip from the guitarist I hadn't initially heard clearly because of his accent. But when I'd thought harder about what he'd said, I think he said that Robbie Burns died of Syphillis. Maybe you had to be there, but the comedic timing was priceless.

Here are some photos from the show I took.

YouTube: Camera Obscura - "Suspended From Class" (live at The Opera House - January 31, 2007)
MySpace: Camera Obscura
MySpace: The Essex Green

More reviews/photos over at chartattack, Chromewaves, Torontoist, Gigs and Discs, and It's Not The Band I Hate....