The Slew, Kid Koala, The Heavy @ Harbourfront Centre, Sirius Stage, Toronto (July 9, 2010)

Update[July 18/2010, 1: 36 pm]: Sorry it took so long for me to post the review. Hey, but I can't stay inside too long when the sun is shining outside.

This year's edition of Beats, Breaks, and Culture festival at Harbourfront Centre went down two Friday nights ago featuring The Slew, a project featuring Kid Koala and described as "6 turntables meets the ex-Wolfmother Rhythm Section", and UK neo-soul-rock hybrid outfit The Heavy.

With daylight setting and about a half full crowd, The Heavy did their best to get the crowd moving, the band's frontman Kelvin Swaby working out his soulful vocals against the band's guitar-laden, soul-rock, sometimes horn-embellished, grooves. "We've got some standers" Swaby exclaimed about half-way into their set, and then later on saying "thank u standers". The band played selections from their two full-lengths, the first half of the set apparently devoted to their more recent album 2009's The House That Dirt Built, then going back to their debut, 2007's Great Vengeance and Furious Fire which was greeted with excitement by some devoted fans in the audience. The band ended their set with Swaby prompting the audience a few times "Do you like me now?", each time the audience roaring with validation, the band then seguing obviously into their single "How You Like Me Now?". With a sustained effort for an encore, the band came back to play a few songs containing lyrics such as "all you got to do is set me free" and "all I know, she got to go, I ain't takin' her shit no more". Had this set been under the blanket of a starry night, I'd have suspected they'd have slayed the audience but otherwise it was a mixed audience of devotees and curious onlookers. Personally, I liked it though I kept on thinking if it were a female vocalist, I'd have liked it more. Maybe I just wanting the next Amy Winehouse album to come out already.

It was by no means empty for The Heavy, but there was plenty of elbow room. That soon changed as the place gradually filled up for headliners, The Slew. First of all, the recognizable face of The Slew, Kid Koala, entertained the crowd with a solo turntablist set of his own material which I always find so intriguing, especially when he played his cut-up version of his mom's favourite song, "Moon River". He kept it brief, so as to not detract from The Slew's upcoming set. Although I had a photo pass for the show, I only got to shoot for three song's for Kid Koala's set, and not for The Slew which doesn't make sense at all since I considered Kid Koala's set and The Slew's set as two separate sets, not one. Otherwise watching from the sidelines, I watched The Slew's set which I'd have to classify in most simplistic terms as turntablist rock, a relatively foregone conclusion of the result of merging the rhythm section of Wolfmother with the turntablist sensibilities of Kid Koala. In actuality, there were dual turntablist duties going on with DJ P-Love also working on the wheels-of-steel. The band released their debut album 100%, described as "a turntablists' take on a bluesy psych rock record" as a free download in September 2009, which is now available on vinyl and CD from label Puget Sound. Although less intriguing overall than Kid Koala's solo material, it was a Friday night, people wanted a party, and that's what they got with The Slew's dj-rock set.

Photos: The Slew, Kid Koala @ Harbourfront Centre, Sirius Stage, Toronto (July 9, 2010)
MySpace: The Heavy
MySpace: Kid Koala
MySpace: The Slew

Jenn Grant @ Harbourfront Centre Sirius Stage (July 24, 2009)

  Jenn Grant and friends @ Harbourfront Centre: photo by Michael Ligon


It's rather natural for me to harken back to that day at The Casbah in Hamilton, Ontario in 2005 when Ms. Jenn Grant performed with Jason Macisaac and David Christiansen both of The Heavy Blinkers, performing Heavy Blinkers songs as a trio. It was a rather sparsely attended show but once Jenn sang I was totally blown away. With Jenn's own material(especially her first two albums "Orchestra For The Moon" and "Echoes" respectively) she's displayed her more than capable songwriting abilities, and whether her songs touch on pop, folk, or roots, it's the fact that they're memorable that ultimately makes her indispensable within the Canadian music landscape.

From her humble beginnings, it's amazing as well as deserved that she got to headline the main stage at Harbourfront Centre for the first night of the Canadian Voices festival. I'd got there late and only caught a few songs. During my brisk walk towards the stage I could hear Jenn play sinister, torch-pop of 'I Was Your Woman'. If I remember correctly she and her band also performed the bouncy 'Parachutes'. I couldn't forget her capable rendition of Neil Young's 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart'. Nearing the 11 pm curfew, an enthusiastic crowd response prompted Jenn and band to attempt to play another song, but to no avail. Even CBC Radio's Grant Lawrence came onstage, appearing to tell Jenn Grant that they weren't allowed to play another song. It did seem that she actually tried, but with no success as the mics were no longer on. But in a surprising turn, as patrons were already leaving, she and her band came back on to the stage motioning to the crowd that they were going to play one more song but unamplified. So the proper sitdown show turned into an intimate shindig as her and her band gathered at the centre of the stage with a bare minimum of instruments(I think there was maybe a clarinet, violin, and someone with a percussive instrument of some sort) and motioned to the crowd still there to gather around them, which meant that people tried to get as close as possible to hear her, even if it meant standing on the seats. Once we all positioned, myself standing on the edge of one of the rows of seats, Jenn with a few other singers and with the sparest of musical accompaniement, launched into a casual and fun cover of Wilco's 'Jesus, Etc'. Although I'd missed most of the set, that last song made the trip down all worth while.

Now if anyone has video of Jenn and friends performing that Wilco cover, I'll be eternally grateful.

And, by the way, Wilco play Massey Hall on October 14.

Photos: Jenn Grant @ Harbourfront Centre Sirius Stage (July 24, 2009)

More photos from the show over at The Singing Lamb. The Singing Lamb also had an interview with Ms. Grant. Upfront, The Harbourfront Centre Blog, posed 12 questions to Jenn, to which she have 12 succinct answers

It looks like Jenn's taking a break from touring for the rest of the summer, but you can catch her durnig some east coast dates starting the end of September into early October - check out her MySpace.

MySpace: Jenn Grant

Broken Social Scene @ Harbourfront Centre (Sirius Stage) - July 11, 2009

The cancellation of Broken Social Scene's Toronto Island show due to conflicting with the Honda Indy(and the band not wanting the noise from that to interfere with their music festival) may have been a blessing as the band ended up making up the date for fans with a free show at Harbourfront. The only other time they'd played a free show at Harbourfront was back in August 2004. A five year gap between those shows hardly constitutes a tradition but perhaps they can start one and play Harbourfront's main stage with a little more frequency. Harbourfront could barely contain the massive crowd that came out for the show last Saturday, so an annual or bi-annual show from them is probably out of the question, but if it takes them another 5 years to play Harbourfront again, let's just say I hope to be there.

Barely a week since last Saturday's show and my recollections of the show are like the best summer memories, a combination of memorable moments and blurry images. I was fortunate enough to get a photo pass for the show allowing me and small group of other photographers to shoot for the first 3 songs. Canadian film director Bruce McDonald was filming the show for posterity for a future concert film tentatively entitled "This Movie Is Broken" and is also inviting fans at the show to upload their own photos and video footage "to create a portrait of a hot July day in Toronto."

With the band returning to Harbourfront this warm summer evening after a five year absence since they first played the main stage, they took it as an opportunity for a reunion of sorts. The night was full of poignant, heartfelt and euphoric moments. More recently Broken Social Scene had been performing with the core group of Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Andrew Whiteman, Kevin Drew, Sam Goldberg and Brendan Canning and featuring guests like Julie Penner and Lisa Lobsinger(all who were in attendance that night) so it was a definite treat to see so many past members join them for this special evening. But rather than just emphasize the Broken Social Scene moniker, the spotlight was also given to various members' own projects. Three quartersHalf of Metric were in attendance with James Shaw on guitar, and Ms. Emily Haines joining in on vocals and one of the highlights of the evening was the stirring acoustic rendition of Metric's "Gimme Sympathy" with it's lyric "I can feel it in my bones" prompting an audience singalong. Mr. Evan Cranley from Star provided some nice trombone arrangements. Feist came out earlier and much to the glee of the photo pit (as some of us thought we'd not get the opportunity to photograph her up close during the first three songs) as she sung energetically during "7/4 Shoreline". Later, Leslie would break into her own "I Feel It All" for a few bars. Mr. Jason Collett seemed to be a particular favourite especially with his own tune "I'll Bring The Sun" which segued nicely into Guided By Voices' "Glad Girls" for a few bars, particular its lyric "And they're alright". Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and Amy Millan also each contributed a song from their own respective projects to the night's setlist. However, it was the old faves that ruled the night.

Like old times Amy, Leslie, and Emily collaborated with stunning results on the goosebump-inducing "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" as the trio swayed to the song's mantra-like chorus. The rockin' "Almost Crimes" was an adrenalin rush as usual. It was the encore that was the clincher of the night for many including myself. The summer-y instrumenal "Pacific Theme" was a definite mood setter creating a euphoric rush that most people didn't want to come down from. During the opening guitar strains of "KC Accidental", Kevin immersed himself into the front rows of the audience, not as a performer but to become part of the crowd in worshipping the band's musical prowess as he raised his arms towards his bandmates, before he jumped back onto the stage to begin the song's vocals. For all intentions, this seemed like the band's last song as Kevin thanked the crowd and the band walked off but to the audience chant of "one more song", they came back for an ecstatic rendition of "Major Label Debut". A stunning conclusion to a stunning evening. The memories of the evening may likely fade away but it's the good feelings which will remain. Thank God for Bruce Macdonald for filming the night for posterity. I plan to upload my photos of the night to Mr. McDonald's film website soon and I'm looking forward to the completed project which I can only hope will include a photo or two of mine.

Photos: Broken Social Scene @ Harbourfront Centre (Sirius Stage) - July 11, 2009

Fortunately someone's posted the setlist online. Thank you. And apparently there's some video footage from the night on YouTube but I'll leave it to you to search for the videos on your own.

MySpace: Broken Social Scene

Holy Fuck, Winter Gloves @ Harbourfront Centre - Sirius Stage (July 10, 2009)

  3/4's of Holy Fuck @ Harbourfront: photo by Michael Ligon


Part of the Beats, Breaks and Culture festival down at Harbourfront Centre last Friday Night, openers Winter Gloves and headliners Holy Fuck took to the Sirius Stage.

Montreal electro-pop act Winter Gloves brought some fun to the stage with their opening set. Sporting nifty melodies, enthused playing and vibrant vocals, the band combined hi-hat drum rhythms, subtle guitar, humming keyboards and a bit of xylophone. Vocalist maintained the most consistent energy at one point standing precariously on his keyboard stool before jumping back down to the floor. Good points aside their sound seemed lost on the large stage and more likely would be better enjoyed in a small venue.

That last point holds the same for Toronto instrumental band Holy Fuck. At the same time, as Holy Fuck are veritable music festival veterans having played many festivals including Glastonbury, I'd expected a more intense live set. Holy Fuck's brand of instrumental beat driven music combines live rock instrumentation like drums and bass with analog keyboards and other effects doodads creating the impression of electronic beat-driven music without using samplers. Sonically it's as exciting as one could imagine. However, the band positioned themselves and their instruments centrally onstage and while they'd exude enough energy locally I don't think the band made much of an effort to extend that energy towards the outer reaches of the audience. My impression was that there was a good amount of audience energy especially those directly in front of the band(and I was one of those in the front as I'd had a photo pass for the first 3 songs) but there was a dirth of energy especially near the back and to the side (where I ended up after the first 3 songs) where people seemed more concerned about talking and drinking rather than listening to the band. A comparison to last year's headliners Crystal Castles is useful - though Crystal Castles are only two persons, they(especially vocalist Alice Glass) created such an intensity with their energy(combined with their bordering-on-epileptic light show) that you couldn't be helped but be drawn in from whereever you were standing. So Holy Fuck did rock, but they could rock so much harder I'm sure.

Photos: Holy Fuck, Winter Gloves @ Harbourfront Centre - Sirius Stage (July 10, 2009)

MySpace: Winter Gloves
MySpace: Holy Fuck
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Going to see Neko Case tonight at Massey Hall and I have a front row seat!

Also I'm excited about Echo and The Bunnymen coming to town on October 20 for a show at Queen Elizabeth Theatre to perform their classic album "Ocean Rain" with an orchestra! I bought my ticket last Friday just in case, and although I don't think it's a rapid-fire seller, I suggest not dawdling too long.

Finally, the lineup for this year's Virgin Festival Ontario was announced today. A 2-day fest happening Aug 29-30 at Burl's Creek Park in Orillia.

Rodriguez @ Harbourfront (July 3, 2009) / Music News / Concert Announcments

  Rodriguez @ Harbourfront Centre: photo by Michael Ligon


Sixto Rodriguez, who simply goes by Rodriguez, has an interesting story. He'd released a couple of Dylan-esque folk-rock albums in the 70's but radio ignored him. However it was two South African superfans of his who'd started a tribute website to him called The Great Rodriguez Hunt which one of Rodriguez' daughters had discovered in 1997 prompting her to post a message to its forum and subsequently being contacted by the fans who decided to promote him. Rodriguez toured South Africa a few times and in the past two years Seattle's Light in the Attic Records has re-released his albums "Cold Fact" and "Coming from Reality". Talk about second chances. This past Friday Rodriguez performed at the Sirius Stage down at Harbourfront for his Canadian Toronto debut [according to Eye, his Canadian debut was in Vancouver the week prior]. The story of his re-discovery and descriptions of him as the Brazilian Bob Dylan were enough to coax me down to the waterfront to check him out.

The somewhat frail though supercool gentleman was led out by a member of his backing band holding his arm until he got to centre stage. For his Canadian Toronto debut, his backing band consisted of some young musicians, a few I'd recognized as members of Toronto's Steamboat as well as ex-Bicylces bassist Randy Lee taking violin duty this night. A respectable crowd was onhand although not nearly as packed as it could have been but perhaps the dropping temperature[ok, it wasn't freezing but the breeze was enough to create a chill] was enough to keep a few a way that night. As first impressions go, his songs definitely warrant attention - the Dylan comparisons were definitely there[particularly in the inflection of Rodriguez' voice at times] but Rodriguez folk-rock melodies were ultimately his own and they were catchy at that. The backing band competently backed up the songs, notably Steamboat's Jay Anderson's playful drumming and Randy Lee's wonderfully sublime violin arrangements. Wearing a black hat and sunglasses, Rodriguez entertained the crowd here and there with some cool-cat words of wisdom about life and women drawing some chuckles from the crowd. Unfortunately he had to cancel his instore appearance for Soundscapes the following day so until next time he passes through town(and hopefully there'll be a next time), I do recommend you check him out. Funny how life works out, but as Rodriguez has done, when life gives you a second chance you have to reach out and grab it.

Photos: Rodriguez @ Harbourfront Centre (July 3, 2009)

Eye Weekly has an interview with Rodriguez and The National Post had a feature article on him last week.
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I apologize for not posting any concert announcements or music news lately but with the warm weather and a hectic concert season can you blame me?

The Hidden Cameras are set to release their new album "Origin:Orphan" through Arts & Crafts on September 22. They have some select East Coast/Quebec dates this month. I hope they do decide to play a hometown show this summer(Joel please!). In exchange for your e-mail you can get a free mp3 download of new song "Walk On".

I picked up a ticket to The Hold Steady's show for Sunday September 26 thinking it'll probably sell out and as I thought it has. Fear not(at least for the moment), but a second show's been added for Saturday September 26, tickets $21.50. I hope the Sunday show kicks the Saturday shows ass.

Mr. Joe Pernice had to look no further than presumably down the street from where he and his wife live [ok, I don't know where they live exactly but he does admit living in Toronto's Little Portugal] to decide on a Toronto venue for his upcoming tour. He'll be playing The Dakota Tavern on September 15. Ticket info has not been confirmed yet.

In support of their newest album cheekily entitled "Art Brut Vs. Satan" released earlier this year the UK outfit Art Brut will be playing Lee's Palace on August 12. Tickets $17.50 in advance onsale this Thursday July 9.

The Minus 5 stop in at The Drake Underground on September 13 with openers Minus 5 offshots The Baseball Project and The Steve Wynn IV.

Oklahoma psych-pop outfit Starlight Mints drop their new album "Change Remains" on July 21 and will be hitting the road, stopping in for a show at the Horseshoe on August 9.

San Francisco's Sleepy Sun, who I'd caught in Barcelona at the Primavera Sound Festival, will be playing The Drake Underground on September 21, tickets $10 in advance onsale July 9.

Olympia, Washington's Calvin Johnson and Toronto's Andre Charles Theriault will be playing a backyard show in Toronto on July 25. Detail still to be confirmed. Check for updates over at Stille Post.

Sweden's Love Is All have compiled some of their own video footage into a neat little video for their song 'Vans, Vans, Vans' telling the true story of losing four van during their European tour last autumn but still miraculously not missing any shows. Oh, the life of a touring band.

Bell Orchestre @ Harbourfront (part of Luminato) - June 13, 2009

  Bell Orchestre @ Harbourfront: photo by Michael Ligon


Montreal's Bell Orchestre took to the Harbourfront Centre Sirius Stage this past Saturday night as part of the Luminato festitivities. A supergroup of sorts, the band consists of Pietro Amato(french horn, member of the Luyas and Torngat), Stefan Schneider(drums & percussion, member of the Luyas), Kaveh Nabatian(trumpet), Richard Parry(bass, member of Arcade Fire), Sarah Neufeld(violin, member of Arcade Fire), and Mike Feuerstack(lap steel guitar, aka Snailhouse). I'm unsure of whether he's a full-time member, but saxophonist Colin Stetson also joined them. Their most recent effort is "As Seen Through Windows" released through Arts & Crafts. Obvious baroque influences, intermingle with rythmic and slight rock influences to create instrumental music that's intriguing as well as accessible. Defacto centrepiece Sarah Neufeld, if only because she's the lone female, does manage to live up to the attention with her energetic violin playing, with her violin arrangements often in conjunction with the horns guiding the pieces along. Although, a short percussive piece like 'Stripes' found Mike, Sarah and Pietro kneeling down at centre stage with the rest of the band around them as they tapped out rhythms on the floor with drumsticks. A polite call and response dominated the evening with each song prompting a courteous response from the audience but later in the evening things livened up first with the group singalong of 'Happy Birthday' for Pietro and lastly when the group pulled out a couple of livelier dance songs(which prompted a few to get up and dance) to end the set. An appreciative audience response even prompted the group to play an encore, and as that concluded the band expressed their polite(although appreciative) thank-you's, as politely as I'm sure they'd begun the evening.

Photos: Bell Orchestre @ Harbourfront (part of Luminato) - June 13, 2009
MySpace: Bell Orchestre

Beats, Breaks and Culture @ Harbourfront

concert review: Beats, Breaks and Culture @ Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario), July 4-5, 2008

If this past weekend's fifth annual Beats, Breaks and Culture festival down at Harbourfront proved only one thing it was that its main stage (Sirius Stage) is the antithesis of the physical environment that it really requires. In other words, dance(able) music requires floor space to dance which meant that the Sirius Stage seating was mostly a hinderance to our compulsion to move. But it seems people made due somehow, shuffling their feet within the rows, standing on the seats, or breaking out into anarchy (like during the Crystal Castles show) at the floor space at the left side of the venue. I made it out to the first two days of the festival to catch headliners Ladytron (July 4) and Crystal Castles (July 5) and that calibre of those artists drew the most massive crowds I believe I've ever seen for free Harbourfront shows. If the festival continues to book headliners of that calibre, it'll ensure the festival's success in the future, but it also makes me wonder whether the festival may just outgrow the facilities.

The massive crowds for both Ladytron and Crystal Castles created an atmosphere that was positively electric during both show. With their cool synths, sultry guitar, robust beats, and dead pan yet melodic vocals, Ladytron's show was accompanied by what was likely the biggest stage production I've ever seen at Harbourfront, with the back drop of the stage set up with big neon lights. Even from my vantage point near the back of the crowd, there was still a visceral quality to the whole production. Ending off their encore with "Destroy Everything You Touch" was as fantastic a conclusion to a show than anything I've ever seen. Musically, Toronto duo Crystal Castles (who were backed for the live show by a drummer) had a punkier quality, adding keyboard squelches, blips, and faster beats with the engaging vocal presence of Alice Glass who frequently confronted / immersed herself into the audience at the front of the stage. The stage effects which included disorieting flashing lights at times, added to the glorious ecstasy-pill experience that the Crystal Castles' live experience turned out to be, consistent with what I'd read about past Crystal Castle shows. Alice Glass took occasion it seems to stand on top of the drumkit, including it seems a fall off the drumkit and the drumkit toppling over which brought the set to a abrupt conclusion. But wow what a way to end.

Other acts I caught during the weekend included turntablist duo iNSiDEaMiND, and the social commentary downtempo groove of Lal at the Lakeside Terrace on July 4 as part of Public Transit Recordings 10th anniversary showcase. iNSiDEaMiND put on more of a playful showcase for their turntablist's skills, adding comedic and acting bits[they did a kung fu battle with turntables] to add to the experience. Though I was hoping Toronto's Laura Barrett would be there in person to add her ethereal vocals to the duo's recent track "The Tiniest Spy", it was still interesting to hear her recorded vocals during the band's live performance of the song. I highly regard their downtempo performance at The Music Gallery[complete with psychedelic visual projections on the ceiling] during last year's Nuit Blanche as one of the trippiest performances I've ever seen. But the scene at this year's Beats, Breaks and Culture was more about having fun, and that iNSiDEaMiND and the crowd did.

Lal straddled the line betwen downtempo electronic beats and organic instrumentation balanced nicely with the soulful vocals of vocalist Rosina Kazi. The live performance itself had a no frills visual element so it was thankful that Rosina kept things interesting between songs with some banter including insight into one of their songs touching on the group's South Asianheritage, and if I recall correctly, that South Asians should not be viewed as terrorists. Later on a b-girl came on to the stage to show off some fantastic dance moves.

Prior to Crystal Castles set at the Sirius Stage on July 5, opening the show was Toronto electro-rap duo Thunderheist. Don't let the electrobeats nor the skinny jeans fool you - the rapping is totally old school. A group of female dancers came out onstage a few times to add some flavour to the proceedings, an added bonus which turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining set. Even more fun to see a young dude try to rush the stage only to have security take his ass down forcefully.

Photos from the show: July 4/08 | July 5/08

MySpace: Ladytron
MySpace: iNSiDEaMiND
MySpace: Lal
MySpace: Public Transit Recordings
MySpace: Crystal Castles
MySpace: Thunderheist

Ca C'est Vrais

concert review: Orchestra Baobab @ Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario), July 3, 2008



Whether planned or not, a pair of Harbourfront shows this past week, Sean Kuti and Fela's Egypt 80 (from Lagos, Nigeria), and collective Orchestra Baobab (from Senegal) nicely coincide with Toronto's Afrofest happening this weekend down at Queen's Park. I didn't make it to the Sean kuti show afterall (though by all accounts it was a fantastic show), but I did make it to the Orchestra Baobab show this past Thursday and it was a great display of musicianship which was highly entertaining. My only musical point of reference is that they reminded me a lot of Ry Cooder's Buena Vista Social Club, though with an Afrobeat flavour. Orchestra Baobab played a great set that was an intoxicating mix of guitar melodies and arrangements, horns, percussion, and lead vocals with different members taking turns at it, contributing their own unique vocal styles. It's a shame my understanding of French is so poor because I couldn't understand most of their banter which apparently some of the audience picked up on. However, the lyric "Ca C'est Vrais" ["This is true"] came through loud and clear, and the band got the audience to participate and chant it gleefully. The member of the group in baggy pants who played saxophone was obviouly the jester of the group playing bursts of jazzy saxophone licks, and playing up near the front of the stage, and during the band introductions raising his arms in victory, then happily jumping off stage to the crowd's level to shake hands with the fans. The gentleman on lead guitar, was introduced if I recall as the chief/leader of the Orchestra and honestly he was one of the best guitarists I've seen live ever. Fantastic show.

More of my photos over at Flickr.

This Life

concert review: Martha Wainwright, Basia Bulat @ Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario), July 1, 2008

Martha Wainwright @ Harbourfront (Canada Day 2008)


It was a more low-key Canada Day party down at Harbourfront this year, and not just because it fell on a Tuesday. With past Canada Day Festivities at Harbourfront featuring such exciting headliners as Final Fantasy, The Dears and Feist, the excitement for this year's lineup seemed less palpable overall, though that's not at all meant as a insult to the quality of the lineup. Actually, the lineup of Martha Wainwright and Basia Bulat was as good a representation of the talent of Canadian music as one could ask for, but when you have two acts treading similar folk, pop-rock territory, the audience didn't so much rock in Canada's birthday as much as greet it politely. True Canadian fashion guess. You know if this were the US, there'd be some major fireworks and explosions (and ironically some fireworks in the nearby harbour were hardly spectacular, which Martha jokingly commented on).

I arrived a little late for opener Basia Bulat and her band whose string-embellished, vocal-harmony laden, folk-pop tunes never seemed to achieve more than a polite response from most of the crowd[who I assumed were passerbys], except for pockets of enthusiasm who I assumed were actual fans of Basia. It didn't necessarily help that the sun was still shining and that the low rumble of a chatty audience was audible. Musically, they were as tight as ever but an audience dead set on sitting throught the entire performance even during the faster tempo numbers doesn't exactly inspire excitement. The chattiness of the audience (at least those towards the back of the seating) spoiled the experience of the quieter numbers for those of us making an effort to devote our attention. Overall a pleasant experience. Perhaps, under the blanket of night it would have been better show such as experienced, in my opinion, during headliner Martha Wainwright's set.

I wonder if all Martha Wainwright's introductions by an MC involve them mentioning her more famous musical family members - Louden Wainwright III [her father], Kate and Anna McGarrigle [her mother and aunt], and Rufus Wainwright [her brother]. With such a pedigree as that, it's no wonder that Martha's just as talented, though perhaps is it a disservice to her that they be mentioned at all, as if she needs to ride their coattails. Martha proved her talent quickly alternating her vocals between a caress and a swoop, and proving that she's adept at many different styles of music including folk, pop, and cabaret. I remember a few years back that she used to do a residency at some bar in New York City performing her songs in stripped down fashion, and to me her set resonated most during her stripped down performances such as the cabaret pop number she sang en francais with the accompaniement of a keyboardist during her encore. The band numbers were performed compentently (including the help of her husband/producer Brad Albetta on bass) and while the instrumentation was somewhat a little polished for my tastes, the songs and melodies really lended themselves well to it. (And reading my review of Martha's show at The Mod Club in June 2005, it seems my compliments/criticisms of her live show have remained fairly consistent).

Martha maintained her charming and witty personality throughout her set. She said something along the lines that she wanted to write depressing songs like Leonard and Neil and that maybe she should produce a vignette for the CBC and the NFB. You know she could only get away with these Canadian references here. She also admitted to having her period backstage but fortunately she was wearing a red dress, though she continued that perhaps the 'period' could be become a way for women to express their Canadian patriotism. Forget what I said about about Canadian politeness above - we're as edgy as the rest of them.

More of my photos are over at my Flickr.

MySpace: Martha Wainwright

The Upsetter

concert review: Lee 'Scratch' Perry @ Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario), June 30, 2008

Lee 'Scratch' Perry @ Harbourfront (June 30, 2008)


It seems like all of Toronto was out at Harbourfront yesterday evening to see a free show by legendary Jamaican dub reggae master Lee 'Scratch' Perry. It's possible that the large crowd was partially due to it being a holiday(Canada Day) the next day but I'm sure a large contingent was there to see a legendary reggae artist who is perhaps second only to Bob Marley in name recognition(well, maybe to North American music fans). It was a mixed crowd overall which seemed to feature a high percentage of younger people. In my own personal music listening upbringing, I'd come to him indirectly through his influence in particular on Bristol trip-hop group Massive Attack - that dub reggae influence of deep bass lines, echoey, reverberating guitar and spittering drum patterns. Spacey stuff.

In a surprising turn, Mr. Perry's band was comprised of a group young gentleman, three caucasian guys and one asian guy. They started out with an extended instrumental dub reggae groove before Mr. Perry finally strolled onto the stage to the throngs of applause and cheers. Dressed in baggy hip hop garb seemingly inspired by current colourful hip hop fashions, he had what seemed like smoking joints sticking out of his baseball cap and he pulled a wheeled carry-on luggage with him(I'm not sure why he had it though.) During the hour plus set, it alternated between extended dub reggae excursions and lighter, poppy reggae tunes, with Mr. Perry keeping things in check with his casual, laid-back vocals. I overheard someone standing near me say the band sucked which I don't agree with, but the young band did feel like an overarching attempt to reach out to a younger audience. That concern aside, I was more disappointed with the pace of set and the overall feel of the experience. Songs seemed to go on for longer than I hoped to the point one song almost blended into the next. Mr. Perry did make attempts to reach out to the audience, by getting us to clap or chant lyrics, but those attempts seemed few and far between in my opinion. At the end of the show, I had this nagging feeling of, "and that's it?". Perhaps I'm in the minority with my (slight) disappointment with the show - circumstances of high expectations not materializing. But if the throngs of applause and cheers at the end of the show was any indication (it was so loud and persistent that we couldn't even hear the MC's closing remarks - and we didn't end up getting an encore), I was probably in the minority with my (slight) disappointment.

Photos from the show over at my Flickr.

More coverage of the show over at The Pop Vine.

Eye Weekly profiles Mr. Perry as he launches another phase in his career with a worldwide tour, a new album and a documentary. The documentary on him entitled "The Upsetter: The Music and Genius of Lee “Scratch” Perry" will screen during Harbourfront's Beats, Breaks and Culture festival, first on Saturday July 5 at 2:30 pm, then on Sunday July 6 at 5:00 pm. Both showings are at Studio Theatre (235 Queens Quay West).

Pirates

concert review: Ohbijou @ Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario), June 28, 2008

I caught a relaxing mid-afternoon set with Ohbijou down at Harbourfront Centre yesterday. They were playing as part of the A Rocky Mountain High: The Banff Centre festival. During the hour long set, they of course played tunes off their debut "Swift Feet For Troubling Times" but also played a couple of tunes they'd wrote during their residency at The Banff Centre earlier this year, including one which was about the devastating Queen St. fire from earlier this year. Recalling that new song in particular, it's not much different than any of their other sensitive, plucky-stringed chamber pop tunes - if it ain't broke, don't fix it I guess. It was a great vibe overall with a nice breeze off the lake, the rain holding off, and a procession of pirates (yes pirates - how they related to the festival, I still don't know) marching across the Harbourfront boardwalk behind us during which Ohbijou had to halt their performance to comment on the oddness of it all. Later on, dance beats wafting over to us from a nearby ship prompted Casey to cheekily say that that was where the afterparty would be.

Casey Mecija of Ohbijou @ Harbourfront (June 28, 2008)


Ohbijou @ Harbourfront (June 28, 2008)


More photos over at my Flickr.

MySpace: Ohbijiou

Favourite Skin

concert review: Ohbijou @ Hot and Spicy Food Festival, Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario), August 10, 2007



Hot and Spicy aren't usually the adjectives that come to mind when one thinks of local orch-pop outfit Ohbijou but there they were at Harbourfront last Friday night as part of the Hot and Spicy Food Festival entertainment. It seemed even lead Ohbijou Casey Mecija had a chuckle out of their presence there. And whether it be a baby crying in the back or a ship in the harbour honking it's horn during one of their songs, it was definitely a summer vibe. Yes, the sounds of summer. As the sun went down on a beautiful summer evening, Ohbijou provided the soundtrack with songs off their debut album "Swift Feet For Troubling Times", a breezy mix of keys, cello, banjo, trumpet, guitar, bass and percussion. The pace of the set was superb, alternating slower and faster tempo songs, infusing a dose of energy with polite head-knodders like "St. Francis" near the beginning of the set and later on with the country-esque "To Rest In Peace On Righteous Tides"(what I recall Casey referred to as a hoedown). They also introduced a new tune which I believe Casey said was entitled "Thunder Love"(a lo-fi audio recording of which I got on my digital camera and have provided for download below). The only thing Hot and Spicy about Ohbijou's set might have been Jennifer Mecija's 70's-inspired tank top and tennis shorts outfit(ha ha, I said it) but the breezy, melancholy of Ohbijou's tunes otherwise proved to be the perfect soundtrack to those dog days & nights of summer that approach us.

Here are my photos from the show.

MP3: Ohbijou - 'Thunder Love' (live at Harbourfront - August 10, 2007)
MySpace: Ohbijou

Shout - Out Out - Out Out!

concert review: Shout Out Out Out Out, Cadence Weapon, The Russian Futurists, The Cansecos as part of Beats, Breaks and Culture Festival @ Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario), July 7, 2007

It's a been a week since the Beats, Breaks and Culture Festival down at Harbourfront Centre last weekend. Ain't no party like a Shout Out Out Out Out party as the Edmonton outfit tore it up with their brand of danceable electro-disco rock. With a double drumkit setup plus keyboards, guitar, bass guitar and vocoder(and probably a few other dodads) they got the crowd on their feet and never let up once. The crowd returned the favour as they chanted in staccato unison, 'Shout - Out Out - Out Out!'. It was great to see fellow Edmontonian Cadence Weapon join in on one song at the request of the band. The party continued afterwards in the Brigantine Room as Toronto-based label Upper Class Recordings hosted a showcase of it's artists including The Cansecos, The Russian Futurists and Cadence Weapon with some in-between set DJ'ing from Rollie(aka Cadence Weapon) himself. The Cansecos opened the night playing an interesting blend of indie rock fused with funk, electronica and disco. It was only my second time seeing The Russian Futurists live(the first being when they opened for Junior Boys back in April of this year) but they continue to impress me with their dense sonic collage of pop-psychedlia. Unfortunately, I didn't stick around for Cadence Weapon's headling set(at any rate, at least I saw him last year) since it was getting late but I must mention that Rollie's DJ set(after The Cansecos' set) was awesome.

Photos: Shout Out Out Out Out @ Harbourfront Centre - July 7, 2007
Photos: The Russian Futurists, The Cansecos, Cadence Weapon(DJ) @ Brigantine Room - July 7, 2007

You can next catch Shout Out Out Out Out live when they play the Hillside Festival in Guelph on July 28. In the coming weeks/months, Upper Class Recordings will be releasing a few items - The Russian Futurists release "Me, Myself & Rye"(a compilation of songs from their first 3 albums) in Canada July 24, while The Cansecos new album "Juice" is to be released this fall. In the meantime, The Cansecos are offering a free download of their very disco-ish "Juiced" LP(links below):

MP3: The Cansecos - "Juiced" [side A]
MP3: The Cansecos - "Juiced" [side B]

MySpace: Shout Out Out Out Out
MySpace: Cadence Weapon
MySpace: The Russian Futurists
MySpace: The Cansecos

Check out a few of my choice photos from the night below:

The Lamb Sells Condos

concert: Final Fantasy, Do Make Say Think @ Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario), July 1, 2007



Happy Fourth of July to any Americans reading. And now with those niceties out of the way, I bring you memories of my Canada Day(July 1). My friend and I checked out Final Fantasy and Do Make Say Think down at Harbourfront. No in depth review this time - check out Chromewaves[who also photos] and Blacking Out The Friction[who also has a video]. It was my first time seeing Toronto's Do Make Say Think live. I'm not too familiar with their music but I found their music aesthetically similar to say, Broken Social Scene's "KC Accidental"(an oversimplification perhaps, but I'm sticking with that). Taking an instrumental approach, the band combined strings, horns and standard rock instrumentation into an invigorating blend of rhythmic, jazzy, post-rock(for lack of a better term) goodness. Great. I should definitely look in to picking up the new album some time. Only my second time seeing Final Fantasy live, his headlining mostly-solo set was a far more low-key set than the Do Make Say Think large-band experience which preceded it. I was a little disappointed that Mr. Pallett took his position on stage a little left of center(due to a projection screen set up in the centre of the stage) which hindered my enjoyment slightly. A nice sequence of overhead projection visuals was integrated into Owen's performance later in the set but seemed was cut short due to too much wind. In the back of my mind, Owen as a headliner for the night seemed a strange choice for the celebratory Canada Day festivities, low-key and a bit more cultured for some people perhaps. On the other hand, the encore-clamoring at the end of the set showed Final Fantasy was definitely appreciated.

Here's a few more photos from the show.

MySpace: Final Fantasy
MySpace: Do Make Say Think
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Now to catch up on some news I've been sitting on for a few days. The Horseshoe Tavern is the last played you'd think a band like Iceland's Amiina would/should play but there they'll be for a show on September 10. Tickets $15[via Rotate This].

East coast, Lo-fi pop outfit Eric's Trip reunite(again) and will be in Toronto for a show at Lee's Palace on September 15[via Stille Post]. They're also in Hamilton, ON at a venue TBA on September 13 according to their MySpace.

Pitchfork reported last week that Caribou hits the road this Fall for a tour, that unfortunately(at least as of now) doesn't have a Toronto date. The closest Caribou comes to these neck of the woods is September 28 in Hamilton, ON at The Casbah, and September 29 in Waterloo, ON at Starlight Lounge. To tide us over Merge Records will release the "Melody Day" single in North America on July 10(digitally and on 7" via City Slang elsewhere on July 31). The new album entitled "Andorra" comes out on Merge on August 21. I'm really digging the electro-pop, psychedlia of "Melody Day" - check it out here.

Chartattack has the tracklisting for the upcoming Stars album "In Our Bedroom After The War" coming out on Arts & Crafts on September 25. The first single "The Night Starts Here" can be downloaded from the Arts & Crafts website. They play the Virgin Festival at Toronto Islands on September 9.

Continuing their Danish fixation, Toronto's Paper Bag Records have signed The Figurines and will release their new album "When The Deer Wore Blue" on September 11. The first single "Hey Girl" can be heard at their MySpace and the single will be available for download via iTunes on August 7[via chartattack]

Pitchfork brings us some new Feist material - Feist sings 'Somewhere Down the Road'(penned by Jesse Harris who's also written songs for Norah Jones) for the soundtrack to the upcoming film "The Hottest State". Those who critized Feist's new album for going too far into adult contemporary territory will NOT like this new song. I like the new album, and while this new song starts off alright, the sappy instrumentation at the end kills it. Check out the Pitchfork link above to listen to the song. Or else check out Feist's Canada Day performance(of "I Feel It All") in Ottawa here which is much better[via Just Keep Bloggin'].