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

Irma Thomas @ Harbourfront Centre (September 6, 2009)

I had the great pleasure of seeing the "Soul Queen of New Orleans" Irma Thomas down at Harbourfront Centre this past Sunday night. To see her talent on display live, one wonders why she never achieved success in the sixties on par with her contemporaries back then like Aretha Franklin and Etta James. She'd actually covered the song "Time Is On My Side" back in 1964 a month before The Rolling Stones covered it although the Stones achieved much greater success with it, scoring their first top ten hit with it[via Wikipedia]. The crowd at Harbourfront was decidedly mixed with younger music fans with an appreciation for soul and Motown and older fans reliving youthful memories gathered together. I'd made myself to a standing area along the left side of the stage as the band and an unseen vocalist were midway into a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and then a band member took the mic to introduce Ms. Thomas to the crowd. The set included covers of the aforementioned "Time Is On My Side", a stupendous performance of Etta James "At Last", a scintillating version of George Gershwin standard "Summertime" and a well-intentioned(although misguided) cover of Tina Turner's "Simply The Best" but it was the unfamiliar soul tracks which were the most invigorating to me. So while the covers were for the most part fantastic, "Time Is On My Side" being dynamite, it wasn't an oldies-station-vibe I was seeking that night. The unfamiliar soul tracks [if anyone has a set list, it'd be most appreciated] showed the vitality of a woman who'd been criminially overlooked for much of her career and for some like myself have only just discovered her. I was also quite satisfied to rediscover how vital of a genre that soul music is and realize perhaps that that one Otis Redding CD in my music collection is hardly sufficient. Much props go to her band who were top-notch musicians and to Ms. Thomas herself for not only her fantastic performance but her charming and humourous banter with the crowd. The born-and-raised New Orleans lady mentioned Hurricane Katrina and thanked Toronto for anything, anyone may have done to help out the City of New Orleans during and after the crisis, which segwayed into her cover of Tina Turner's "Simply The Best", which as I previously mentioned was a well-intentioned although ultimately misguided cover, a pockmark on what was otherwise a brilliant performance.

Photos: Irma Thomas @ Harbourfront Centre (September 6, 2009)
YouTube: Irma Thomas - "Time Is On My Side"
YouTube: Irma Thomas - "Wish Someone Would Care"
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Just a reminder that my photos from Virgin Festival(August 29-30, 200) are now up if you're interested - Day One, Day Two. Thanks for reading.

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

Shad/Thunderheist @ Nathan Phillips Square(31/01/2009); Cuff The Duke @ Lakeside Terrace - Harbourfront(31/01/2009)

I wasn't going to let the frigid temperatures this past Saturday night stop me from taking in a few of the free events happening in Toronto. First up I headed down to Nathan Phillips Square to catch some of the evening WinterCity theatrical performance [a nautical-themed piece] , then sets from Shad and Thunderheist. Shad, with bassist and DJ, performed some cuts off his album "The Old Prince" and even busted out some freestyle acappella style when his DJ was having some technical difficulties. He asked us if we liked '80's music to which the audience cheered then Shad and band dropped into a cut which used The Cure's "Close To Me"'s familiar keyboard arrangement as a backing track. That only went on for about a minute or so before Shad continued with some old-school hip hop sounds.

Shad @ Nathan Phillips Square(Jan 31, 2009): photo by Michael Ligon


Crowd excitement heightened in anticipation for Toronto duo electro-dance-rock duo Thunderheist. Vocalist did her best to get the crowd involved and to dance, if only to stay warm and there were eager ones who were only happy to comply. DJ Graham worked the rhythm tracks on the laptop and did some rudimentary record scratching and at the encouragement of Isis broke out into his funky white boy dance style. Isis invited the audience to stay for the afterparty(a DJ party taking place at the WinterCity Lodge across the way), though as she expressed humourously and as she chuckled, the afterparty would be starting at 9:30. They brought out a drummer for one song though the highlight of the night for me was when the group's all-girl dance crew did some b-girl dancing to several of their songs. Saving the best for last, Thunderheist pulled out "Jerk It" as the audience transformed into a full-out dance party.

Thunderheist @ Nathan Phillips Square(Jan 31, 2009): photo by Michael Ligon


Photos: Thunderheist, Shad @ Nathan Phillips Square (January 31, 2009)

After Thunderheist, I jumped on the subway and travelled down to Harbourfront for CBC Radio 3's live broadcast at the Natrel Rink. Inside Harbourfront's Lakeside Terrace, a few artists were performing. I got too late to catch Toronto's Castlemusic but made it in time for Oshawa's Cuff The Duke. It was a surprisingly light crowd, although it did fill up more respectably by the time Cuff The Duke hit the stage. No new material was played although vocalist Wayne Petti did make reference to the new album. A relatively low-key set of their country-rock tunes, although guitarist Dale Murray displayed some delicious guitar licks. Funniest moments of the night perhaps was when in between songs CBC Radio 3's promo could be heard through the venue's PA, to which Wayne responded that that's a guy they usually kept behind the curtain. Believe me, it was hilarious.

Cuff The Duke @ Lakeside Terrace - Harbourfront(Jan 31, 2009): photo by Michael Ligon


Photos: Cuff The Duke @ Lakeside Terrace - Harbourfront (January 31, 2009)

Harbourfront Summer Festivals 2008

Harbourfront Centre has launched a snazzy new website for it's upcoming summer festival season. The schedules for about half of the Harbourfront's World Routes festival's are now posted including A Rocky Mountain High: The Banff Centre (June 27-29), Canada Day (July 1), Beats, Breaks & Culture (July 4-6), Ritmo Y Color, and Tirgan: Iranian Festival (July 17-20). Other Harbourfront festival schedules now up include Luminat'eau (June 13-15) and Franco-Fete (June 21). With this much(and more) going on in Toronto this summer for free, there should be plenty to keep one entertained.