The Specials @ Sound Academy, Toronto (August 28, 2010)

  Terry Hall of The Specials: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [Sept 9/2010, 12:37 am]: Didn't mean to take so long to post this review but also didn't want to not post anything either so here's some of my thoughts about The Specials and their show at Sound Academy a few Saturday nights ago. I hope my posting mojo will pick up from here on out, but more often than not I'm just pooped. I should eat more vegetables.

You know you're getting old when a band from one's youth has actually reunited present day. I've had the pleasure of seeing a number of reunited acts over the last several years, bands I thought I'd never get the pleasure of seeing, such as Pixies, My Bloody Valentine and most recently Pavement. And while Coventry ska act The Specials were never a defining band of my youth, I do have fond memories of admiring mod fashion in highschool in the late 80's, that drew me in to the Two-Tone ska movement of bands like The Specials, The English Beat, and Madness. I wasn't a mod in highschool by any stretch, and my musical tastes skewed more towards bands like The Smiths, The Cure, and New Order, but The Specials always had a special place in my heart. The band's mix of pop and politics was always potent but more importantly perhaps(especially to a wide-eyed teenager) the music could drive one into a dancy frenzy. Originally scheduled to have played in Toronto back in April but having had to cancel due to an 'unforeseen medical emergency ailment', the band soon remedied the situation eventually booking a two-night stint at Sound Academy over August 27 and 28. With the first show sold-out, I was fortunate to snag a media/photo pass for the second night. Recalling one of my Facebook friend's status updates about the first show and "40-year olds" dancing up a storm, I will attest that the second night had an equally frenzied audience. This was the band's 30th anniversary, and it had been 29 years since they'd last been in Toronto and the crowd was fully pumped as they would express themselves throughout the night, mostly as a sea of dancing people. Yes, dancing in Toronto.

Forgoing an opening act, the crowd was warmed up by DJ's spinning punk, reggae, ska and soul tunes for about an hour and a half and then to the strains of the band's Reprise version of "Enjoy Yourself", the band revealed themself in silhouette behind a white sheet that draped the stage. And then with the white sheet dropping all of a sudden, the band kicked in to the blistering "Do The Dog". Except for "Too Hot", they played the entirety of their debut self-titled album which very well may have satisfied everyone for the night if they'd stopped there but they also included a bunch of favourites from their sophomore LP "More Specials". Far from prolific when they existed, the original lineup was really over after the second album although a revised lineup of the band did continue on as The Special AKA to release another LP "In The Studio" which had some key tracks. A little unfortunate that the band didn't pull out anything from "In The Studio" but on the other hand we got classic non-album cuts like "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" during the main set and then during the encore, "Ghost Town" and the rarely performed "Guns of Navarone". The band were as tight knit and energetic as I could have hoped and while lead vocalist Terry Hall's expressionless face (and occasional smoking onstage) was a little off-putting, underneath you could tell he was genuinely enjoying the moment. He even mentioned that he would like to move to Toronto, in the process mentioning something about enjoying HGTV which drew a laugh from the crowd. It was nice to see that members Neville Staple and Lynval Golding haven't lost an ounce of their energy with Neville in continual dance mode while toasting and providing back-up vocals and Lynval on rhythm guitar and vocals. Most impressive might have been guitarist Roddy Radiation, the live set which really revealed how talented a guitarist he is, sweating up buckets to the point where later on in the set he had to go shirtless.

The main set ended with the band's cover of the appropriately-themed "Enjoy Yourself" (Terry singing "Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink, The years go by, as quickly as you wink") which revved up the crowd's spirits for more. Coming back for an encore, the band jumped in with the spooky mellowness, though nonetheless essential, "Ghost Town" and then graciously performed a rarity with "Guns of Navarone" and then ended the night off perfectly, although perhaps with a little teareyedness that it was over, with "You're Wondering Now". As the group repeatedly sung "You're wondering now, what to do, Now you know this is the end" with the audience joining in the singalong enthusiastically, you could have not wished for a more perfect moment.

The Toronto Sun and The Globe and Mail have reviews of the same show, while Eye Weekly and chartattack review the first night's show. Specials bassist Horace Panter share some memories about the shows.

Photos: The Specials @ Sound Academy, Toronto (August 28, 2010)
MySpace: The Specials
Video: The Specials - Intro / Do The Dog / New Era (Live @ Sound Academy - Toronto Aug 28/10) *

* courtesy of karbonbee

The Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae, The Sadies @ Olympic Island, Toronto (August 14, 2010)

  Win and Regine of The Arcade Fire: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [Aug 23/2010, 12:12 am]: Review now up.

I missed out on tickets for The Arcade Fire's two-night stint at Massey Hall in May 2007 and that was one of the few times I've regretted not being at a show. So when the band announced a surprise two-night stint at The Music Hall[on a tangent, which is at least closed for now due to unpaid back rent according to BlogTO] in Toronto this past June, I made a decision to buy a ticket. That show emphasized the sonically uplifting nature of The Arcade Fire's music, coming at a time[the recent passing of my mom] which turned out to be very much therapeutic. If that show was a warm-up, their large-scale proper show in Toronto at Olympic Island last Saturday nailed it.

With the absence of large-scale outdoor concert festivals from this year's summer Toronto concert calendar, Toronto promoters Collective Concerts stepped up to fill the void, first with the Pavement reunion show at Olympic Island earlier this summer which also featured Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses, Beach House, Timbre Timber, and The Toronto Revue(Zeus, Flash Lightnin' and The Beauties), and last week with The Arcade Fire show also at the Island, with openers Janelle Monae, and The Sadies. The Sadies, with Dallas and Travis Good in their sequined suits were probably happy that the clouds kept the sun at bay, but they still did their best to work up a sweat with their brand of twangy, surf-inflected, country tunes. The hour or so long set they performed seemed short by their standards, with their usual headlining exceeding the two hour mark. There were definitely a few fans in the audience, but it seemed that the majority of the young hipsters in the crowd were disinterested. As per what's been a usual part of their set at least the last few times I've seen The Sadies live, the Good brothers' mother came up to join the band on a few songs including, Sadies standards, their cover of the 60's r n' b song "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" and their smoking cover of the Traditional "Higher Power". I noticed the reaction of a few young female attendees who thought the whole concept of the brother's mom singing with them was cute.

Next up was Kansas City native, Janelle Monae. The Arcade Fire's Win came out to introduce her, this being her debut Canadian performance. While Win's subsequent walk off stage was a bit clumsy as he tripped over something, caught himself from falling, and sheepishly glanced to the crowd, there was nothing clumsy about Ms. Monae's performance, marked with precision, dexterity and soulfulness. Sporting her version of a pompadour, and decked out in a white ruffled shirt, tight-fitting black tuxedo pants, and two-toned oxfords, her band on keyboards, guitar and drums were similary garbed in their black and white attire. Janelle and her back up dancers came out onto the stage originally enveloped in black hooded garments but then Janelle started out into a a wicked rap before shedding the hood. Having only had some cursory listens of her music prior to the show, I had a slight impression of what to expect, but the live performance really converted me. Her music was a scintillating combination of rock, soul and r'n'b and her stage presence evoked the spirit of a few of the late greats like James Brown and Michael Jackson, oh and to me her music, or at least her approach to is, reminded me most of all of the still living(thankfully), Prince. Vocally, her soulful vocals were spot on, and even a passionate cover of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" only accompanied by the effective jazz-rock guitar arrangements of guitarist Kellindo Parker, did not expose any blemishes in her vocal technique. Aforementioned guitarist Kelindo Parker was 'sick' as the kids would say, and his stage presence was as if he was channelling the spirit of Jimi Hendrix. Towards the end of the set, the back up dancers threw out a bags of balloons to float and mingle through the crowd. Overall, it was a highly impressive set from the P. Diddy and OutKast protege.

It's come to the part of the review where I should talk about The Arcade Fire but in some ways it is almost difficult to put into words unless you were there. It wasn't the show to end all shows but it definitely propelled feelings of glee and euphoria for those in attendance. The seemingly appropriate, both in title and tone, new single "Ready To Start" kicked off the set and I could feel the excitement build up inside of me. The next song, the punky "Month Of May", also from the band's new album The Suburbs, kept up the crowd's adrenalin. Other highlights of the night included new songs like the restrained "Modern Man" which had the audience clapping, Win switching to piano for the alt-country swing of the new album title track "The Suburbs", Regine's lead vocals on the infectious, dance-pop of "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" and the audience's vocal participation on "Rococo". While the new songs were for the most part new to me since I hadn't listened to the new album yet, they were so instantly memorable.

Of course the old songs weren't about to be overshadowed, so not to speak about them ad nauseum, we got favourites like "No Cars Go", "Haiti", and the usual double-shot of "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and "Rebellion (Lies)" which ended off the main set in fine fashion and had me on more than one occasion unable to restrain myself from jumping up and down. In perhaps a once and a lifetime moment, the crowd[or at least the front part of the crowd] continue to sing/hum the outro melody of "Rebellion(Lies)" long after the band left the stage, and continued to do so for several minutes, until the band finally made it back to the stage for their encore which was comprised of "Keep The Car Running" and "Wake Up", a mightly fine conclusion to the night. It was an earlier moment in the night that solidified the greatness of the night for me as Win reiterated that one dollar from the sale of each ticket went to the Partners in Health charity to continue the relief efforts in Haiti, where member Regine Chassagne was born. But rather than segue into the appropriately-titled "Haiti", it was the grand presence of "Intervention" and it's pipe organ that graced our ears. I felt, breathed and tasted the greatness of that very moment. But whatever the true song's meaning, when Win sung "I can taste the fear, Gonna lift me up and take me out of here", it gave me a lump in my throat.

Photos: The Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae, The Sadies @ Olympic Island, Toronto (August 14, 2010)
MySpace: The Sadies
MySpace: Janelle Monae
MySpace: The Arcade Fire

Polvo, Versus @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (August 13, 2010)

  Richard Baluyut of Versus: photo by Michael Ligon

It was a 90's Merge Records comeback as Chapel Hill's Polvo and Brooklyn's Versus took over Lee's Palace last Friday night. The 1990's was my coming of age period in terms of indie rock, and Versus(along with Seam, Aminiature, and Toronto's own Venus Cures All) was one of the the first real indie bands I saw live when they played the El Mocambo in 1995. During that period I started to discover indie record labels such as Merge Records who offered a roster of acts that were extremely exciting, if not musically but also for their D.I.Y. ethic towards touring and recording, and the associated culture of zines that helped to build the indie rock scene one fan at a time. It was a really special period. While Polvo also sprung from that same period, it's not too surprising that I never latched onto them given their tendencies towards math rock(a term I've read they don't like) a genre I was never particular towards, but having seen them live for the first time last week, their musical quality was more than evident.

Lately, I've had a bad habit of missing opening acts, and this time it was Toronto's Soft Copy. One of these days I will catch them. Fortunately I made it in time for Versus who were up next. Taking the stage were core members Fontaine Toups and Richard Baluyut with touring member Margaret White on violin and keyboards. It was was that setup, with Richard and Fontaine on guitar and bass respectively and both on vocals, along with Margaret that performed the first few songs drumless, the songs obviously leaning towards a sparer version of the band than I'm used to hearing.

Richard let it be known to the crowd (which at this point was no where near full as it should have been) that his brother and the band's drummer Edward Baluyut could not make it because he had to go back home as his wife was giving birth to their baby. Fortunately, the opening band Soft Copy's drummer Paul Boddum took over on the spot, having not even rehearsed with the band, and did an admirable job filling in, occassionally at the beginning of a few songs having a quiet discussion with Richard as to what sort of rhythms to play. The band's newest album entitled On the Ones and Threes released this year on Merge is their first record in ten years since their last LP Hurrah, the new LP providing the impetus for touring again and providing much of the setlist. Having not heard the new songs until that show, it sounded like classic Versus - alternating lead vocals between Richard and Fontaine, nice melodies, a little muscle balanced with some finesse in the guitar arrangements, and a good sense of dynamics showing the band are just as adept at subtlety as they are at turning it up. It was the old favourites that I was most excited to hear such as "River", "Blades of Grass" and "Fallow" off of their debut 1993 debut full-length The Stars Are Insane. Obviously there were some people in the crowd that were excited to see the band live again(some who I'd imagine might have been at that same Versus show I was at at the El Mo in 1995) but it was a generally disappointing turnout. Of course they were never the biggest band around even back then and taking a ten year gap between albums doesn't necessarily help either.

There was obviously a reason why Polvo was headlining the night as after Versus' set, the venue quickly filled up comfortably. Having broken up in 1998 and then quietly reuniting in 2008, I presume there were some in the audience who didn't think Polvo would come to Toronto, so for them this show was a special treat. For me, having not really listened to the band at length, it was a history lesson. Not nearly as harsh or dissonant as I expected, while there was not a vocal melody within earshot at least from what I recall, the guitar, bass and drums were presented with mathematic precision that gave the songs somewhat of an accessibility. At times, the instrumentation was less angular, giving the impression of the band on the brink of playing a more conventional rock tune, although for the most part staying the course, and perhaps all the better for it. Whereas crowd reaction during Versus' set seemed sporadic due to the lighter crowd, Polvo induced a generally more enthusiastic response, prompting the band to come back for an encore. The band released their newest album In Prism through Merge Records in September 2009, and like Versus with their newly released album, it looks like they're both here to stay. Polvo and Versus fans are rejoicing everywhere.

Photos: Polvo, Versus @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (August 13, 2010)
MySpace: Versus
MySpace: Polvo

"Ready To Start" / The Arcade Fire @ Olympic Island Today!

Local promoters Collective Concerts sent out a Facebook message today that they'll be selling tickets at the door for The Arcade Fire show today at Olympic Island so if you haven't yet picked up a ticket, get yourself down there fast. Doors are at 4:00 pm and tickets at the door will set you back $64.00.

Support for today's show are Kansas City sensation Janelle Monáe and Toronto's always dependable The Sadies. Wow, I'm just listening to some samples of Janelle for the first time on her MySpace, and it's good stuff. I want to hear her sing "Faster":

Janelle Monae - Faster - HD Live at La Maroquinerie, Paris (July 5th, 2010)


And not to forget The Sadies:

The Sadies - "Flash"


I just picked up the vinyl of The Arcade Fire's new album The Suburbs yesteday and have only gotten around to spinning side one but I just completed uploading the album to my phone so I'll give it a listen when I head down to the Toronto Islands.

The Arcade Fire - "Ready to Start" (Unstaged) @ Madison Square Gardens, NYC (Aug 5/2010)


So again doors are at 4:00 pm, with The Sadies on at 6:00 pm, followed by Ms. Monae at 7:15 pm and The Arcade Fire bringing it home at 8:45 pm. See you down there!

Sufjan Steven Touring This Fall / Playing Massey Hall on October 13

  photo credit Denny Renshaw
Many hearts are a flutter with the news that the one Sufjan Stevens is touring this fall and taking his show to historic theatres and venues across North America, and yes including a few Canadian dates. He will be in Toronto for a show at the grand old lady of Shuter Street, Massey Hall on October 13. A special presale for fans will take place today(August 10) with a limited number of tickets going onsale and expected to sell out quickly, but otherwise tickets will go onsale through the venues later with some theatres selling tickets on Friday August 13 and others later. To avoid scalping, there is a 4 person ticket limit, and the first 20 rows of seats are WILL CALL ONLY. The first and only time I'd see Sufjan live was back on September 10, 2005 at Trinity St. Paul's in Toronto and having missed out on tickets when he played an intimate, extremely sold-out show at Lee's Palace on October 1 of last year, let's say I'm highly anticipating on getting tickets to his show at Massey Hall this coming October.

So again, the presale is TODAY[Tuesday August 10th,] starting at 1 pm EST. You can see details, dates, and (as of Tuesday 1pm EST) links to purchase tickets here
.

Video: Sufjan Stevens - "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." (live @ Lee's Palace, Toronto, 1 October 2009)
MySpace: Sufjan Stevens

(VIDEO) The Arcade Fire @ Rivoli, Toronto, 2003

Many of us are looking forward to The Arcade Fire's show at Olympic Island this weekend. They just played a show at Madison Square Gardens in NYC with a Terry Gilliam-directed live stream to YouTube - some good quality video has surfaced over at Vimeo. But just prior to that, one of the band's earliest performances caught to video filmed by a friend of the The Arcade Fire's Richard Parry surfaced on Vimeo. It was filmed at the Rivoli in Toronto in 2003; I'm not sure which month in 2003 the performance is from but according to Us Kids Know, they played the Rivoli in 2003 twice, first in July and then in September. What's so intriguing for me about the video is that it captures the band at a stage in their career that's not wholly different from how they are now, except for maybe their haircuts. It's cool to see the video also because, it was also 2003 that I'd first saw The Arcade Fire live when a few friends and I went to Pop Montreal and saw them play Club Soda. If not blown away, I was deeply impressed by them and they were the opening band that night. So check out their performance at the Rivoli in 2003, with the band performing "Wake Up", "No Cars Go" and "Old Flame":

ARCADE FIRE Live 2003 from Bennett on Vimeo.

Calexico, Elliott Brood @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (July 22, 2010)

  Joey Burns of Calexico: photo by Michael Ligon

More often than not bands tour to promote a new release but sometimes they tour for touring's sake such as the case with Tucson's Calexico who stopped in Toronto for a show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on July 22. Similarly, openers Toronto trio Elliott Brood aren't promoting a new release either but came out to open the show before working out their performance legs on their own tour jaunt.

It's surprising it took me so long to catch Toronto's Elliott Brood live, a career two albums in already, a band who's kicked around since releasing their first release, an EP, in 2004. The band consists of Casey Laforet on guitar / vocals, Stephen Pitkin on drums, and Mark Sasso on guitar / banjo / ukelele / vocals. For a Thursday night at the Phoenix there was a decent crowd yet still plenty of elbow space for both Elliott Brood's and Calexico's sets, providing some foot-stomping room for a few extroverted souls to cut loose, the rest of the crowd seemingly content to stand back and watch. It was a fairly satisfying set of roots-tinged songs, songs rooted in steady percussion and embellished with guitar, banjo and ukele and enthusiastic vocals. It's perhaps a formula destined for mundaneness but the Brood do experiment a bit with sonics in their guitar sound at times, but above all have a great catalogue of melodic tunes they're working with. It's these songs in a live setting which call for handclapping, foot stomping and singalongs such as their fantastic set closer "Miss You" which had the band repeating "I Miss You Now" accompanied along by a jaunty rhythm.

Tucson's Calexico have been one of those acts I've been meaning to catch live for some time now. I'd barely scratched the surface in even listening to them on record but they were always one of those bands that in theory I thought I might like a lot, having coloured their indie rock with a variety of influences including jazz, Americana, and mariachi. With horns, pedal steel guitar, vibraphone, and hand percussion making their way amidst the more conventional rock instrumentation, the band performed a varied sounding set from mariachi-influenced songs, to rootsy numbers and a few straight-ahead, guitar-driven indie rock blasts. It was the latter that I most identified with although it was the former[the mariachi/rootsy numbers] where the band really distinguishes themselves. With the press having described them as "desert noir" in the past, I always imagined a mystique surrounding the band but on the contrary they were quite ordinary guys and lead singer Joey Burns was open and friendly with crowd.

They thanked the crowd, who in my opinion seemed enthusiastic on the contrary to what chartattack said, with a couple of encores, the first with the band which included a Zorba-The-Greek-esque instrumental interlude joined onstage with Elliott Brood which segued into a poignant, twang-inflected cover of Neil Young's "Cortez The Killer". The 2nd encore seemed unplanned but given the sustained efforts from the crowd who remained, Joey and pedal steel guitarist Paul Niehaus came back onstage to perform the quieter, folky Bisbee Blue".

Here's the setlist.

Photos: Calexico, Elliott Brood @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (July 22, 2010)
MySpace: Elliott Brood
MySpace: Calexico
Video: Calexico - "Sunken Waltz" (live @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (July 22, 2010)

The Hold Steady @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (July 16, 2010)

  The Hold Steady's Craig Finn: photo by Michael Ligon

Update: Review/photos now up. Yes, that took a long time.

Originally scheduled for Kool Haus, part of me believed that Brooklyn-based The Hold Steady were capable of filling the venue. In a perfect world, they'd have sold-out the 2,500 capacity Kool Haus, but alas it was not to be. The show was downsized to the Phoenix Concert Theatre, and while the Friday night show had a healthy crowd onhand, it was not even sold out. I missed openers The Whigs but as was the case for me, it was only The Hold Steady I was looking forward to.

The show was in support of the support of the St Alban's Boys and Girls Club. Ex-Toronto Raptor Matt Bonner came out as MC to say a few words even making a joke about having to choose the headliner for the night between The Hold Steady and Justin Bieber, which of course drew some laughs but ultimately hollers for The Hold Steady. Although touring in support of a new album entitled Heaven Is Whenever, publicity for it had been mostly under my radar to the point that I'd forgot that they actually had new product to promote. I can't speak for the new material but I was thankful that the setlist was a sweet mix of new and old.

Although the Phoenix is not the most intimate of venues, especially compared to the originally planned venue Kool Haus, it did illustrate that perhaps The Hold Steady just aren't ready for bigger venues yet. Especially on a Friday night, there was a good-time vibe amongst the crowd, but most the physical enthusiasm was concentrated near the front of the house. As I'd eventually ventured further back in the crowd(after being near the front to take photos), the crowd was decidely mellower further away from the stage, even during some of The Hold Steady's most popular songs like "Chips Ahoy" and "Stuck Between Stations". Do I fault the band for this? Perhaps. On the other hand, such a phenomenom is common at many shows. Yes, they may not yet be ready to play larger venues like Kool Haus with command, but when they start to really live up to the Springsteen comparisons, there's no doubt in my mind they'll blow the roof off of what ever venue they play. Overall, The Hold Steady played an energetic, almost two hour set, proving again that rock n' roll is here to stay, and at the end of the show vocalist Craig Finn bidding us to "Stay Positive".

For more reviews of the show, check out Exclaim and chartattack.

Photos: The Hold Steady @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (July 16, 2010)
MySpace: The Hold Steady

Titus Andronicus, Hallelujah The Hills, Yellow Fever @ Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (July 14, 2010)

  Titus Andronicus: photo by Michael Ligon

What seems more and more like a rare occasion for me, I actually got out to a show on a Wednesday night last week at the Horseshoe Tavern, specifically to see buzz-y Jersey rockers Titus Andronicus and also to see Boston's Hallelujah The Hills who I'd remembered liking when they opened for Silver Jews at Lee's Palace in September 2008. Also on this night's bill were unknown entities Austin duo Yellow Fever, although having read some good things about them on Pitchfork I was intrigued to check them out.

I arrived a little after 9 pm with Austin duo already into their set and a small audience present. The duo, of the guitar-drums variety, played a set of askewed pop music, with a penchant for succinct guitar playing and drumming, and dry vocals. My mind kept wandering to images of early 80's post-punk, or more recently a band like San Francisco's The Aislers Set, minus the reverb. The band was most satisfying on more straight ahead tracks like the more poppy "Culver City". They were comfortable enough on stage, but didn't feel much motivation for banter, although perhaps that'll change as they continue their exhaustive North American summer tour. Catch them in your town.

Next up were Boston's Hallelujah The Hills. Specializing in an amalgam folk-rock influences like cello and working-class roots-rock, the set was occasionally anthemic but otherwise much of it was infused with a sense of urgency. Occasional cello and brass, melded nicely with conventional rock instrumentation and the raucous lead and group vocals. The band's second album entitled Colonial Drones is out now through Misra Records and based on their live set and the favourable response from the crowd, they'd be a band to keep your eye on.

The band I was there to see specifically was New Jersey's Titus Andronicus. With fellow Jersey rockers The Gaslight Anthem also in town that night, Titus Andronicus' frontman Patrick Stickle thanked the crowd for choosing to see them over Gaslight Anthem. Much of my motivation to check them out was based on liking their raucous single "A More Perfect Union", a sublime slab of sloppy rock n' roll. It seemed that I was a little behind the curve as the venue was comfortably packed by the time the band hit the stage, and as the band performed each song, there was many a fan singing along.

Named after the Shakespeare's earliest and bloodiest work, it's the latter description that really was reflected in the Titus Andronicus' visceral rock n' roll attack. It's that attack that took me off guard because the young band didn't quite look like they were capable of it - for example, one look at violinist/guitarist Amy Klein who looks like a high school girl in her knee-length cut-off jeans and I'd never have thought she'd be rocking out as much as she did. Whether intentional or not, the band's sound was like an homage to classic influences likes The Clash, The Replacements, Bruce Springsteen, Sex Pistols and The Pogues, and for the most part doing those influences justice. Perhaps the band utilized the formula on several songs a little too often where they'd start a song with a subdued Pogue-ish / Shane McGown-ish folky vocal before the band dropped like a rock n' roll bomb, but no doubt the formula was used to good effect each and every time. And when the crowd is slam-dancing AND body-surfing, you know the crowd is loving it. As a bonus for the night, the band invited ex-guitarist Liam Betson, who's also recently transplanted to Toronto (for what I don't know), to join them onstage for a surprise rendition, and what turned out to be a sincere version of Weezer's "Undone". It seems there's been such a diversity in music genres lately, I could have almost imagined someone about to declare the death of rock n' roll. But Titus Andronicus prove it isn't that time yet and hopefully it shall never be.

Photos: Titus Adronicus, Hallelujah The Hills, Yellow Fever @ Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (July 14, 2010) (still to come)
MySpace: Yellow Fever
MySpace: Hallelujah The Hills
MySpace: Titus Andronicus

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

The Flaming Lips, Spoon, Tokyo Police Club @ Molson Ampitheatre, Toronto (July 8, 2010)

First of all thanks to Live Nation for the two complimentary tickets to last week's Flaming Lips show at the Molson Ampitheatre. Every summer I get that itch to go to a summer music festival and I'd scratched that itch last month with the Toronto Island Concert. While the Molson Ampitheatre as a music venue borders on pure hatred for me, beggars can't be choosers when it means getting to see The Flaming Lips live. Bringing a mini-festival atmosphere with them, in tow with the Lips were Spoon, Tokyo Police Club and Fang Island. Last week's show was the fourth time I've seen The Flaming Lips live, better than their truncated set in 2006 at the Toronto Virgin Festival, but only slightly less euphoric when I saw them at Coachella in 2004 or Sasquatch in 2006. So four years since I last experienced The Flaming Lips live, and I was itching to see them again. My brother came along for the show with me, and having misread our tickets we ended up sitting in row C of section 203 [excellent seats, by the way] although we should have been in row J; as fate would have it, the rightful ticket-holders of our seats did come, and we moved a few seats to our left and never budged, and it was the most perfect view one could have for a show at the Molson Ampitheartre.


  Tokyo Police Club: photo by Michael Ligon

We arrived too late for first openers Fang Island but came partway into locals Tokyo Police Club's set. It was still light out, and it was a sparse crowd and for all the energy the band seemed to exude on stage (and yes, the band were working up a visible sweat), it seemed all for naught. You'd think that at least the crowd on the floors might be more active, but it was more like a sea of stillness. Even the band's 'hit' "Yr English Is Good" failed to get the crowd going.


  Britt Daniel of Spoon: photo by Michael Ligon

It was soon obvious that none of the bands on the bill would even come close to upstaging the headliners - of course, few bands could upstage The Flaming Lips. While Austin's Spoon are amidst there most fervent popularity, having headlined Sound Academy in Toronto back in April of this year, there's also a consensus that they aren't the most interesting band to watch live. Thank God, for the music. Spoon frontman Britt Daniel, dressed summery in white v-neck t-shirt and white slacks got down to business leading the group through a selection of new and old songs, mostly from their last 3 full-lengths, the highlights being "I Saw The Light" from their newest album Transference, a bunch from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga including "Don't Make Me A Target", "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb", "The Underdog", and "Black Like Me", and "I Summon You" and "I Turn My Camera On" from Gimme Fiction. The occasional horn section was used to great effect on several tracks including "Underdog" and "Cherry Bomb", the latter Britt dedicting to their "no. 1 cheerleader", referring to a girl dancing very enthusiastically in the aisle coincidentally in the same section where my brother and I were sitting. It was a no- frills set overall and ultimately an opportunity to hear some good tunes.


  The Flaming Lips: photo by Michael Ligon

Ever since I'd first seen The Flaming Lips live in 2004 at Coachella, their live stage production has remained virtually the same. Confetti cannons, giant confetti-filled balloons, dancing animals, video projection back-drop, and of course frontman Wayne Coyne and his now famous walking over the crowd while in a giant transparent plastic ball are all now standard components of any Lips live show. It never gets old but given that this was my fourth time seeing them live, it is predictable. Having said that, since it had been four years since I last saw them live, this time Wayne's giant ball walk and the show's initial reams of confetti and sudden launch of a mulititude of colorouful giant balloons into the crowd were every bit as impactful as I'd remembered. Every time I experience that I think, this is the happiest place in the world right now and I am here. It's the most wonderful feeling in the world.

As the confetti settled, the show followed suit as The Flaming Lips focused on the musical portion of the evening. I've largely been ignorant of their last two full-lengths, Embryonic and At War With The Mystics, so to hear the former's "I Can Be A Frog"(with the band prompting the audience to mimic the animal sound for every animal mentioned) while a fun, almost child-like tune, didn't motivate to want to listen to the album. At War With The Mystics' "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" is a cool little tune although far from their best. On the other hand, their 1995 'hit' "She Don't Use Jelly", came out the speakers with it's great guitar lick with more impact than I ever remembered. It's a shame the band didn't play anything from their orch-pop classic The Soft Bulletin but the band were simply majestic on the Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots cuts including the hazy "In the Morning of the Magicians", their toned down rendition of "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1" and their last-hurrah, confetti-filled encore of "Do You Realize".

While the evening's vibe remained mostly upbeat, Mr. Coyne's also never been shy about injecting a few political statements during a show. He expressed his continued distaste for Bush and his support for Obama, spoke about love and peace, and during one song, in a symbolic gesture wore two giant laser hands holding them up to the heavens. Coyne would be more explicit in his views later on as he told the crowd that the band would perform their rendition of "Taps" (bugle accompanied with dreamy keyboards) every night until the war in Iraq was over - as the first notes of
"Taps" emanated from the bugle that Coyne held up the mic, he prompted the audience to hold up the peace sign with their fingers, as an eery stillness fell over the crowd. The Flaming Lips are at a point in their career that much of what they do during their live shows seems self-indulgent, even schtick. But there's also no doubt in my mind that they are nothing but sincere.

Photos: The Flaming Lips, Spoon, Tokyo Police Club @ Molson Ampitheatre, Toronto (July 8, 2010)
MySpace: Tokyo Police Club
MySpace: Spoon
MySpace: The Flaming Lips

Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles @ Mississauga City Centre (July 1, 2010 - Canada Day)

  Gord Downie: photo by Michael Ligon

Yes, my 'hood of Mississauga has been stepping it up these last few years with some decent free concert fare at Mississauga City Centre and for the second year in a row I spent my Canada Day evening there taking in the free show. Last year it was Sloan, and this year it was with Canadian icon, as MC and Mississauga resident Mike Bullard referred to him, Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles entertaining the crowd. With renovations being done to the Mississauga Library Square where past shows have taken place, the stage was moved to the street at an intersection at the back of Mississauga City Hall, bordering the Living Arts Centre and Square One Shopping Centre. Quite a few people were in attendance, mostly for the fireworks later that evening, but there was a good crowd in front of the stage early awaiting Mr. Downie.

Sporting glasses and a bald-shaven head, and decked out black shoes, jeans, t-shirt and sport coat, him and The Country Miracles (featuring The Dinner is Ruined's Dale Morningstar on guitar, John Dave Clark on drums, and I think John Press on keyboards, as well as Julie Doiron on guitar and vocals and The Skydiggers' Josh Finlayson on guitar), the band stepped onto stage to an appreciative response. Gord started almost immediately into what seemed liked stream-of -consciousness poetic verse, perhaps catching some Mississauga residents off-guard who might have been expecting some Hip tunes, but then the band segued into more conventional territory with the band's fantastic first single "The East Wind" off Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles' new album The Grand Bounce. The band played songs off their most recent album including "Yellow Days" (their ode to summer), "The Hard Canadian", and "The Drowning Machine". Although comparisons of his solo work to The Tragically Hip are hard to escape mostly because of Gord's vocals, I guess the main difference for me is that the new solo material feels less focused on the Hip-isms(Downie's somewhat affected vocals at times, guitar-based song arrangements), for a looser band feel, more subtle vocal technique and more straightforward lyrical content. A shame that the band didn't play longer than an hour - I was quite enjoying it - nor did they play an encore, but in any case, the set we got, plus the fantastic fireworks afterwards was a great way to celebrate Canada Day.

Photos: Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles @ Mississauga City Centre (July 1, 2010 - Canada Day)
Video: Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - "The East Wind" (live @ Mississauga City Centre, July 1 2010)
Video: Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - "The East Wind" (music video)

NXNE in Toronto (June 19-20, 2010)

Ok, I'll admit I've been a little lazy recently although I've had other things to think about lately, not least of which was all the G20 events/protests dominating the news over that last week or so.. This'll be my last of my NXNE-related posts although it's more photo-oriented than commentary. Apologies to the artists - it's not that you don't deserve the commentary, but I'm just plained pooped. So let's just keep this short and sweet.


  Avi Buffalo: photo by Michael Ligon

As you already know, on Saturday June 19 rather than take in the multitude of NXNE events happening around the city, I was at the Toronto Island Concert at which I caught Beach House, Band of Horses, Broken Social Scene and of course Pavement. After a day in the sun and then ending the night with Pavement's set ending before 11 pm, I waited for the ferry and eventually made it back to the city before midnight and decided to head to Lee's Palace where I caught about half of Avi Buffalo's half-hour long set. The two-guy, two-girl band all the way from Long Beach, California, barely out of highschool, were surprisingly tight, with lead singer Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg sounding a little like Flaming Lips Wayne Coyne and the band merging askewed pop tendencies with a bit of a jam band sensibility. Ok, I'm not sure how attractive that sounds but take it from me, they were good. Or at least take Sub Pop's word - the label released the band's self-titled debut full-length this past April.

I'd have stuck around for synth post-punks Cold Cave but my hunger was peaking at that point and I had to bail next door to get a burrito, at which point I headed home for some well-deserved rest.


  Kid Sister: photo by Michael Ligon

Sunday June 20 was a bit of an afterthought but with the weather being so good that day and with De La Soul headlining a free show at Yonge Dundas Square, I thought I'd probably regret it if I didn't go. I headed down to the Square as Chicago's Kid Sister was rapping up a storm against the scintillating electro beats provided by her DJ. It was actually quite good, especially if you're in the mood for that sort of stuff. The crowd wasn't nearly as sizeable as it would be for De La Soul, but there were definitely some fans and or converts in the crowd. I can only imagine she worked up the crowd even stronger when she played Wrongbar in Parkdale later that night.


  De La Soul: photo by Michael Ligon

And finally, De La Soul! The crowd was definitely pumped. Although I've heard and bits and pieces of their catalogue, it's their debut full-length Three Feet High and Rising which I'm most fond of. So it was definitely a treat to hear classics like "Potholes In My Lawn" and "Me, Myself, and I" (with the rappers prompting the audience to sing a certain vocal part of the song). After all these years, it's impressive to see and hear how articulate and full of flow they're rapping is. But they do like to get the party started as well, and they prompted the audience to chant or shot at just the right moments to keep the audience into it. The group mentioned several times there love for Toronto fans, even giving a shout out to a few people including some local rappers like Kardinal Offishall who popped onto stage briefly, although unfortunately did not end up rapping with the group. Had the group not mentioned the Much Music Video Awards and thanking the crowd for coming down to see them instead, I'd totally forgot that the MMVA's were happening at the same time around the corner and down Queen St. Now let's see if those kids at the MMVA's are listening to Justin Bieber in 10 years.

Photos: NXNE in Toronto (June 19-20, 2010)

Toronto Island Concert w/ Pavement, Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses, Beach House (June 19, 2010)

  Stephen Malkmus of Pavement: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [June 29/2010, 11:27 pm]: My photos from the show have been up on my Flickr for a few days now but I just added the link below today. Sorry for the wait.

Traditionally the Saturday night of NXNE has always been my favourite night of the festival. Over the past several years at least it seems I'd been kicking off my music activities earlier in the day either by checking out afternoon sets at Yonge Dundas Square or seeing music film during the NXNE film festival. However, then news of seminal indie band Pavement's reunion tour coming to Olympic Island on June 19(the Saturday night of NXNE) was announced and I had to make a decision whether it'd be Pavement or NXNE for me. Adding to the difficulty of the decision was the fact that Iggy & The Stooges would be headlining a free show at Yonge Dundas Square on the 19th. As tempting as a free Igg & The Stooges show was, I chose the Pavement show as I'd kick myself if I missed that show. In addition to Pavement, also playing were Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses and Beach House, plus Timber Timbre and a Toronto Revue consisting of The Beauties, Flash Lightnin' and Zeus. Not originally part of NXNE, in a bit of musical comraderie, the Toronto Island Concert latched onto NXNE by offering free admission to the first 250 NxNE Bracelets/Badges at the Mainland Ferry Box Office on the day of the show. Hey, considering the capacity of the island, 250 free admittants might not seem much, but it was a start. In any case the show was sold out.

(4:00 PM @ Olympic Island) - Beach House (Baltimore, Maryland)
I got a late start to my day, missing by the Toronto Revue's and Timber Timbre's opening sets but arrived prior to Beach House's set. I manage to get a sweet spot on the left side of the stage virtually at the front of the stage and I'm glad I ate beforehand, did the bathroom thing, and had a full bottle of water with me because near the front was were I remained for the entire day and night. That's something I've never done at a festival and maybe won't do ever again, but it did guarantee me a sweet spot for all the bands I saw. With the midday sun beating down, it was the pale white duo of Beach House comprised of Victoria Legrand on vox/organ and Alex Scally on electric guitar, joined by a live drummer, to start the outdoor festival off for me. I saw them for the first time live in September 2007 at The Mod Club and while I appreciated the band's gauzy brand of subdued pop performed with guitar and organ, my genuine satisfaction remained elusive that night. To my surprise though this time around, there seemed to be more bounce in their step, whether that might be because of the live drummer or just because the songs off their most recent album "Teen Dream" are that much stronger. More satisfying than I expected and a nice way for me to start the day.

(5:15 PM @ Olympic Island) - Band of Horses (Seattle, Washington)
Band of Horses had already committed to playing the Toronto Island Concert back in January 2010 when show was announced so it was mighty nice of the band to play an intimate free show at the Horseshoe last month in advance of their major label debut Infinite Arms. Unfortunately I didn't get into the show at the Horseshoe. The first time I'd seen the band live was at the Phoenix in November 2007 although I wasn't in the best headspace at the time to enjoy that show at all. Considering these facts, I was looking forward to seeing Band of Horses this time. Led by Ben Bridwell, the band sauntered through tunes from all three of their albums, and while their were some delectable selections ("Is There a Ghost", "The Funeral", "The Great Salt Lake"), there seemed to be a bit of disconnect with the audience, perhaps to do with the minimal stage banter, and except for Ben and bassist Bill Reynolds, there was a lacklustre stage presence. Perhaps not what the kids were after, but the country-ish song "Older" with lead vocals sung by keyboardist Ryan Monroe was one of the highlights of the set for me. But such highlights couldn't detract from the fact that the band weren't owning the stage as I'd hope; they played decently but somehow I just didn't feel the passion.

(6:45 PM @ Olympic Island) - Broken Social Scene (Toronto, Ontario)
It seems that a BSS show can either be full of surprises or terribly predictable and for the most part I think last Saturday's set was unfortunately the latter. Of course, if this had been you're first time seeing BSS live, you might have found it extremely satisfying. However, when you've seen BSS live as many times as I have, it's the unpredictable moments that I'm usually hoping for. Last year's BSS show at Harbourfront was full of surprises and was generally regarded by most people (including myself) as one of, if not their best show ever. That said, this current BSS set had it's share of good moments. It's always kind of fun to guess which of the three ladies (Leslie Feist, Emily Haines, Amy Millan) of BSS renaissance period will show up, and while I guessed Emily might, I was totally surprised that Leslie also did. With Stars getting ready to tour and to promote their new album The Five Ghosts I just assumed Amy wouldn't make it and that I guessed correct. It was totally cool to hear Leslie and Emily trade off vocals on "7/4 Shoreline". The live set did warm me up to the new album Forgiveness Rock Record with cuts like "Forced To Love" and the delicate vocals of Lisa Lobsinger on the electro-pop goodness of "All To All". Other guests included Mr. Sebastian Grainger singing back-up on a few tracks as well as Pavement's Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg joining in on guitar near the end. The band did come back for an encore and of course, in honour of the occasion, and if I recall correctly Kevin Drew saying that he'd be an idiot if they did not play it, BSS performed a balls-out rendition of "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (Better Day)". So overall, a mix of the familiar with a few surprises, and even if it 's not near the best I've ever seen, it was still pretty good.

(9:00 PM @ Olympic Island) - Pavement (Stockton, California)
I wish there was some sort of Pavement gigography but surfin the net I came across info that Pavement played the Palladium in 1994, the Phoenix in '97 and the Guvernment in 1999. During their Olympic Island set, Stephen Malkmus mentioned that in the early nineties, they played Lee's Palace. I know Pavement played Lollapalooza in 1995 when the roaming festival stopped in Barrie at Molson Park. And somehow I missed all of these shows. Like many, their 1994 major label debut full-length Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was my introduction to the band and since then I've liked the band a lot. I'll admit it's never been a 'love'; I've been on-again-off-again in listening them and their noisier bits were things I tended to skip over, but after they disbanded in 199 and more recently with the deluxe reissues of their albums over the last several years I've grown fonder of them. Maybe it's just that they remind me of the 90's when life wasn't as complicated or stressful. Or maybe it's the old adage, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Now 2010, Pavement have decided that a decade is a an appropriate length of time that they've been away and so reuniting for fans (and maybe moreso for the money), I finally got to cross them off my concert wishlist and it was everything I'd hoped for.

I'd read in the past that when Pavement toured in their heyday they were quite sloppy musically, but for their set at Olympic Island last Saturday night, they were much tighter than I expected, for the most part resembling their recorded material, and that was just fine with me. The setlist (which you can view over at Brooklyn Vegan) leaned towards the familiar, meaning the band's singles as well as a heavy dose of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, with various nifty album cuts interspersed. They wasted no time to pump out the 'hits' as they dove head first into "Cut Your Hair" to the delight of the fans, then segued next into "Trigger Cut". Other favourites of mine included "Grounded", "Gold Soundz", "Range Life" and main set closer "Summer Babe". The band came back for a three song encore and I practically collapsed when they ended off with "Stop Breathin". I was never bored for a moment and was satisfied with the pacing of the set which contained one great song after another. Member Bob Nastanovich was one to behold with his idiosyncratic approach to back-up singing and his hard-core-ish screams. Spiral Stairs played the guitar arrangements with vigor. It was fascinating to watch Stephen as vocalist sing these songs again as I'd always imagined he never ever wanted to, but it seemed he was geuninely enjoying the experience. And Last but not least, you have Steve West on drums and Mark Ibold on bass holding down the rhythm section quietly but solidly. These are all just random thoughts of mine but all those fuzzy good feelings of a great show will remain. When it was over, Malkmus said with a combination of cheekiness and perhaps a little sentimentality, "Don't Forget The 90's".

Photos: Toronto Island Concert w/ Pavement, Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses, Beach House (June 19, 2010)

NXNE in Toronto (June 18, 2010)

  PS I Love You: photo by Michael Ligon

While my previous night's NXNE schedule was confined to a relatively small part of the city[Queen West, from Dovercourt to just west of Dufferin], my second night of NXNE had me venue-hopping taking me from Little Italy on College, to Little Portugal at Dufferin and Ossington and back up to the Annex at Lee's Palace. The Taste of Little Italy festival took place on the same night in Little Italy on College St which caused some TTC delays for me and eventually led me to scrap by 11 pm timeslot plans but otherwise the thrill of the venue-hop was in full effect.

(08 PM @ Sneaky Dee's) - Dark Mean (Hamilton, Ontario)
I'd been coming across the Hamilton band's name and read a few good things along the way since last year and had only given them a cursory listen, so I decided NXNE was as good an opportunity to check them out. Strange as it seemed to watch a band in Sneaky Dee's when the sun was still up and no curtains covering the windows there was a decent crowd on hand to witness the seven-member group's set. The band's polite demeanor aside, there was a good deal of personality in the group's dark-tinged pop rock music. I was reminded a bit of The National in the band's textures in guitars, keys, horns and rhythm section but The National are merely a point of reference - Dark Mean by all means are distinguishable from them. Their live presence is somewhat lacklustre and they haven't yet grasped the skill of stage banter, but these may be one of the times where it may be preferable to listen to the recorded material before checking them out live again. What better way to check out their recorded material than free tracks - you can download the band's "Music Box" EP, released this past February, here.

(09 PM @ Whippersnapper) - Inlets (Brooklyn, New York)
With Whippersnapper Gallery my next stop of the night, this meant a stroll through the crowds taking in the Taste of Italy festival on College St. Killing a few minutes at Soundscapes to purchase the new issue of The Big Takeover, I then strolled over to the second floor gallery Space where the Whippersnapper Gallery resides. I'd got a few e-mails about Inlets which is one of the reasons why they were on my radar. Inlets is the outlet of songwriter Sebastian Krueger, and while he'd played solo for part of the set he also played part of it as a duo with a drummer accompanying him. With Mr. Krueger on vocals and guitar, his music treads the same baroque pop terrain of Toronto's own Owen Pallett with equally satisfying results. The accompanying drums at times added a slight more grit but otherwise it was a lovely set in the rather intimate settings of the gallery space witnessed by a decent crowd of spectactors cross-legged on the floor.

(10 PM @ Whippersnapper) - Silje Nes (Norway)
While the first two acts of the night were must-sees for me, the rest of the night was more tentative. I did end up choosing to stay at the Whippersnapper to check out Norweigan singer-songwriter Silje Nes whose minimalist pop songs on her MySpace I remember liking. It also didn't hurt that I could stay longer in the relative comforts of the gallery rather than venture back into the throngs of the Taste of Little Italy festival happening outside. With Ms. Nes seated at centre stage and flanked by a violinist on her right and a drummer on her left, it was a set of whispered vocals, and minimalist pop instrumentation. There was a folksy ambience to her songs, and a bit of an experimental edge in the percussion[I don't think I've ever seen a drummer scratch his arm close to a mic as a percussive element]. The blond-haired Ms. Nes obviously exudes a natural physical beauty the Norweigans are known for but her music showed quite a bit of depth that one might not have expected. Her forthcoming full-length is entitled Opticks with the first single being "Crystals" which you can hear over at her MySpace. She's currently on a North American tour, and also hitting one final Canadian date on July 2 when she plays the Sled Island Festival in Calgary at the Arrata Opera Center, and I highly recommend you check her out.

(12 PM @ The Garrison) - The Soft Pack (San Diego, California)
I missed my 11 PM timeslot choice [which would have been X's John and Exene performing an acoustic set at The Great Hall] due to TTC delays. Once I finally caught a streetcar, which turned out to be a rerouted #506 which would be running along Dundas St, it seemed logical to head to The Garrison for midnight where San Diego four-member outfit The Soft Pack would be playing. When I arrived at the venue, Best Coast were still playing to a packed and as I would find out extremely warm venue. I had to wait in line shortly, but I was able to get in after the throngs emptied the venue after Best Coast's set. Don't worry, though - the venue would soon fill up again for The Soft Pack who were coming up at midnight. In any case I was right up front for The Soft Pack. I'd last seen The Soft Pack live in March 2009 at Lee's Palace when they opened for White Lies and Friendly Fires. It seems then they've caused a minor stir in the indie rock scene, slowly building a loyal following. Granted I didn't remember much about my previous experience with them but they soon proved how good they are. Visually, they present a general slacker wholesomeness[think, how Pavement looked like], but musically there was a gritty, garage, punkiness to their songs. For all intensive purposes they are a great rock n' roll band and whatever garage/punk tendencies the band has are displayed with a refreshingly modern perspective rather than dated nostalgia. Put guitarist Matty McLoughlin as one of my favourite aspects of the band and one of the most fun guitarists in recent memory to watch onstage - no gimmickry or wankery from him, but rather a guitarist who plays with gusto and looks cool doing it.

(01 AM @ Lee's Palace) - PS I Love You (Kingston, Ontario)
To end off the night, I chose Kingston guitar/drums duo PS I Love You who'd been racking up points in the local music scene over the last little while, especially with their split 7-inch with Toronto 'it' artist Diamond Rings released back in August of 2009. John O'Regan aka would eventually joing the duo on stage, even mentioning that the duo were his favourite band. Such accolades would seem like hyperbolic praise but after hearing PS I Love You, I realized such praise was not without credibility as the duo worked up the far-from-full but decent sized crowd. What I'd heard from the band live was a bit different from the samples on their MySpace; their recorded output based in drums and guitar also included some electronic keyboard flourishes at times, although their set at Lee's Palace last Friday night was pure drums and guitar. My best description of their songs is indiepop music with occasional grungy/metal guitar inflections. With the guitar/drums duo being commonplace nowadays [The White Stripes, Japandroids, The Pack A.D.], PS I Love You have succeeded in carving out their own niche and not sounding like those other bands. Fantastic.

Photos: NXNE in Toronto (June 18, 2010)

NXNE in Toronto (June 17, 2010)

  Best Coast: photo by Michael Ligon

This year's NXNE was arguably the best Toronto's had since it's exception in 1994, at the very least the best I've experienced since I started regularly attending the festival in 2004. Although the festival officially kicked off on Wednesday June 16, it was the next day[Thursday June 17] that the festival kicked into high gear with most people, like myself, beginning their venue hopping. Having booked off June 17 and 18 from work, I devoted some of my free time on the 17th to finally give the NXNE schedule a good look, eventually coming up with a rudimentary schedule that had me confined to the Queen West corridor for my first night of NXNE. Here's how it went:

(09 PM @ The Great Hall) - Demon's Claws (Montreal, Quebec)
Having read about this young garage trio from Montreal touring with the likes of Black Lips and King Khan & BBQ Show piqued my interest to check them out. That, combined with the fact that their set preceded bands Women and Best Coast who I really wanted to se who were also playing the same venue later that night. Unfortunately, whatever qualities the band have didn't seem to be on display that night. While the venue was far from full at the time, neither was it empty, so really there was no excuse for the band not to bust loose and show some energy. The performance seemed a little studied, like they were trying to hit all the correct notes and rhythms, and in the end it seemed they hardly broke a sweat.

(10 PM @ The Great Hall) - Women (Calgary Alberta)
It wasn't my first time seeing Calgary indie four-piece Women live. I'd first saw them live at last year's Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain whose angular instrumentation, jagged melodies and solid rhythms made an impression on me. By this time of the night, the venue had nicely filled in, obviously people there to start off their night with Women, or at least set themselves up comfortably for buzz band Best Coast who were coming up next. The pace of the set progressed nicely, so nice, that at the end I was left wanting more. The band's debut album Women was released through Flemish Eye / Jagjaguwar in 2008 and the band will be releasing their follow-up Public Strain through the same outlets on September 28.

(11 PM @ The Great Hall) - Best Coast (Los Angeles, California)
It's always fun to catch a buzz band or two during a music festival, and one such band of this year's NXNE was Los Angeles trio Best Coast. Marrying sunkissed-California pop music with Shangri-La's garage rock with just a touch of melancholy, it's a formula could be limiting but fortunately the band write such delectable melodies that they transcend those limitations. It was a bit seredipitous that the band were on just as their beloved Lakers were in the final minutes of securing their win in the NBA Finals over the Celtics. Vocalist Bethany Cosentino prompted the audience for the score with a member of the audience yelling out that Boston sucks and Ms. Cosentino responding back cheekily 'you suck'. I'm neither a Kobe hater or Lakers hater, but I was going for the Celtics myself so 'boo' to Bethany for cheering on the Lakers but 'yay' to the band's great set. The band's as-yet-untitled and label-less debut LP is apparently to come out later this year according to Pitchfork.

(12 PM @ The Great Hall) - CocoComa (Chicago, Illinois)
The midnight timeslot wasn't written in stone for me although I'd tentatively pencilled in seeing Toronto's The Coast down the street at the Gladstone Ballroom. Before I took off, and partly on Mechanical Forest Sound's recommendation, I stayed for several songs during the intriguely-named CocoComa's set. Featuring the husband & wife duo of Bill & Lisa Roe, TJ Brock on bass and Anthony Cozzi on organ, the band's sound has been described as garage-punk. They were as authentic, energetic and adept at their genre as I'd hoped and really made up for Demon's Claw's lacklustre set earlier that evening.

(12 PM @ Gladstone Ballroom) - The Coast (Toronto, Ontario)
While I'd been enjoying CocoComa's set over at The Great Hall, I made a conscious decision to leave partway to catch Toronto's The Coast who I hadn't seen live since their instore at Sunrise Records last year as part of NXNE. The four-piece outfit consisting of Ben, Ian, Jord and Luke, was also featuring a fifth member who I'm not sure is a permanent member of the group, but was adding some keyboards and background vox on occasion. As young as the core members are, this fifth member looked even younger than them. Unfortunatley I only caught several songs, none of which I recognized, and I believe some and or all were new songs. The band seems to have strayed from their Brit-infuenced, anthemic beginnings, opting nowadays for a more straightforward pop-rock sound. It doesn't leave me as breathless like they used to but, they still hit the mark more often than not. For the intimate settings of the Gladstone, it was a fairly full house, and if one thing is consisent, the band continues to maintain a loyal female contingent.

(01 AM @ Wrongbar) - Glass Candy (Portland, Oregon)
The final set of the night for me would be to see Portland, Oregon, electro-disco duo Glass Candy playing down the street from the Gladstone at Wrongbar. The last time I'd seen them play live was back in October 2009 at The Garrison. As Glass Candy initiated me into the then-new-to-me venue The Garrison, this time around the duo did the same with Wrongbar, a venue I'd never been to before that night. Like The Garrison, the packed house onhand for Glass Candy in Wrongbar made for a warm venue. While the duo's set back in October 2009 had the benefit of being a full headlining set, NXNE's restriction of set times to approximately half an hour in length meant that Glass Candy's set was over far sooner than anyone felt it should have. Glass Candy were pretty hot almost right from the start, producer/keyboardist Johnny Jewel at the helm of keyboard/sampler duties and working out the grooves with vigor and skill, and lead vocalist Ida No the very definition of disco-soul diva, prancing around the stage and singing and playing up to crowd. And the crowd were eating up every last bit of it. Too band it was over so soon.

Photos: NXNE in Toronto (June 17, 2010)

The Arcade Fire @ The Music Hall, Toronto (June 11, 2010)

  The Arcade Fire: photo by Michael Ligon


Update[June 17/2010, 3:00 pm]: Review now up.

Given the amount of shows I've been to, of course I'm bound to miss something. There aren't many shows that I regret not seeing because in the grand scheme of life, a missed show is miniscule. To go all High Fidelity, sometimes it's fun to make a list of all the shows/bands you didn't see or get to see. On the list I'd for example put The Smiths when they played Canada's Wonderland's Kingswood Theatre in the eighties, Wilco at the Horseshoe Tavern in 1995, and New Order when they played the CNE in 1987. Those were all shows I had a realistic opportunity of going but for one reason or another, such as lack of money or transportation, could not go. More recently, a band that I'd put on that list would be The Arcade Fire who played a two night stint at Massey Hall in May 2007 but I ultimately did not end up getting tickets for either show. I clearly recall trying to get four tickets for the first show through Ticketmaster.ca the morning the shows went on sale but got failed miserably as tickets sold out quicker than expected. Had I tried to purchase a single ticket instead I probably would have been successful. As to the second show in May 2007 I do not have any recollection of trying to get tickets; if I had to guess I probably was at work and forgot that tickets went onsale.

Alas, the last time I'd seen Arcade Fire live was on April 27, 2005 at the Danforth Music Hall so when tickets went onsale for the band's long-awaited return to Toronto scheduled for Olympic Island on August 14, I jumped on purchasing a ticket. But as a bonus to Toronto fans, the band announced last-minute through Twitter at the beginning of last week that they'd be playing two shows in Toronto and after that the Twitter feeds were abuzz. By Wednesday of last week the official announcement had been released that the band would make a return to Danforth Music Hall (now just called The Music Hall) for two shows on June 11 and 12 with tickets going onsale at The Music Hall box office at noon the day of the show and with only one ticket being permitted to be bought by each person. It was serendipitous that I was off work on June 11 and with that on my side I lined up at the box office that morning, waited for about two and half hours and eventually got my wristband for that night.

I've been easing myself back into concert-going since the beginning of the month and the passing of my mother first with The National show at Massey Hall on June 8. The Arcade Fire show, unplanned and spontaneous as it was, came at a time that I was glad to be present for and it ended up being very much therapeutic. I scored a second row, stage right seat for The Arcade Fire show even though I arrived later than expected to an already bustling crowd onhand. But as with The National show earlier that week, once the show got going, the first few rows made a beeline to the front of the stage, and of course I followed. Joining the 7-person core membership was fellow Montrealer, Marika Anthony-Shaw of the band Silver Starling on viola, apparently having played with The Arcade Fire during their Neon Bible tour. With the band dressed up in a utilitarian look filtered through an indie sensibility, and lead vocalist/songwriter Win Butler sporting a updated mullet cut, their emergence onstage was greeted with gleeful abandon.

They almost immediately dove into a set consisting mostly of new songs from their upcoming new album The Suburbs and their debut full-length Funeral with a few cuts from their second album Neon Bible thrown in. As to the details of the night, well, my memory is kind of foggy. While the band performed with exhuberance, it was much less chaotic than I'd experienced in past shows. That was partially due to the more straightforward nature of the new material such as the country swing of "The Suburbs" or the jittery punk of "The Month of May". The band teeterred between new and old songs, and while initial impressions of the new material are good, it's the anthemic, urgent qualities of the older material that everyone was wanting. As I'd stated the stage presence was much less chaotic than I seen in past performances - no helmet tapping love between Richard Parry and William Butler, for example - but William himself was still as spastic as I remembered as he he tapped out rhythms on snare drum and tambourine with adrenalin-induced energy. Win Regime on drums and background vocals had a constant smile on her face even though half the time her presence was relegated to the back of the stage. When she finally took lead vocals on their track "Haiti" (prior to which Win had announced that a dollar of every ticket sold was going to Partners in Health to help with the relief efforts in Haiti), the crowd cheered. The only real criticism of the night that it seemed much too short, even though the show plus encore ran at least one hour and a half. If things had to end, the band did it well, albeit predictably with the double shot of "Neighbourhood #4(Power Out)" and "Rebellion(Lies)". If the band's main set for every show they play always ends off with those two songs, I'll never complain. As a bonus, the band came back for an encore consisting of "Keep The Car Running" before ending things for real on "Wake Up". The latter song's instrumental coda kicks into a bouncy higher gear as you know, and in my opinion reflects what I presume is the consensus of the night about the show - I so wish this could have gone on longer.

Photos: The Arcade Fire @ The Music Hall, Toronto (June 11, 2010)
MySpace: The Arcade Fire

The National, The Antlers @ Massey Hall, Toronto (June 8, 2010)

  The National: photo by Michael Ligon

It's been an emotional few weeks for me with the passing of my mother but with the support of family and friends I've been getting through it. My mom was quite aware of my fondness for music and concerts and would have not wanted me to let my ticket to The National's show last Tuesday night to go to waste, so there I went and it was an uplifting show to say the least.

Openers, Brooklyn trio, The Antlers had the early crowd entranced with their stratospheric dream-pop melodies. The band's knack for slow builds leading into crescendoing extended instrumental jams encompassing drums, guitar and keyboards made quite the impact, building upon the impression they made on me when I first saw them live at the Horseshoe in July 2009. I liked them enough that I picked up their current album "Hospice" at the show and even got the band to sign it.

Fellow Brooklynites, The National risen through the rungs of Toronto venues, from the Horseshoe, to The Opera House in June 2007, the Phoenix in October 2007 and Kool Haus in 2009, myself having seen the band live at the last three venues. Nothing had quite matched the intensity and impact of seeing the live for the first time at The Opera House and when they played the much larger Kool Haus I was disappointed. If anything, you have thank the band for choosing to play a two-night stint at Massey Hall this time around rather than perhaps one show at the larger Sound Academy in Toronto. Rising up to the challenge of playing the majestic Massey Hall, the band were successful in igniting the euphoric emotions I'd felt when I first saw the band play live at The Opera House several years back.

I was fortunate to have a second row seat for the show but thanks to The National's Matt Berninger who near the beginning of the show prompted the audience to stand up, the first few rows of the audience including myself made a beeline to the front of the stage, in turn making the show much more of a visceral experience for me. Mr. Berninger straddled a line between restraint and spastic energy, the latter occasionally resulting in him jumping down amongst the crowd, and at one point right in front of me before he headed through the crowd to congregate with fans within the seats. I've not yet got around to hearing their newest album "High Violet" but their last two previous efforts "Boxer" and "Alligator" got ample respresentation in the setlist, to the gleefel satisfaction of the crowd. So with my stage level view, with the band and especially vocalist Matt Berninger rising to the occasion of playing the glorious Massey Hall, it turned out to be one of the most uplifting shows I've seen in a while. And I really needed that.

Photos: The National, The Antlers @ Massey Hall, Toronto (June 8, 2010)
MySpace: The Antlers
MySpace: The National

It's Cool To Love Your Family

As some of you already know, my wonderful mother Leonida passed away early last week sending my family and I reeling into a period of sadness, mourning, and stress. She had ongoing medical issues over the last 30 years, culminating in a stroke about 9 years ago which left her physically paralyzed on one side of her body but she was still mentally sharp as a tack. Having her not living at home was an adjustment but in time it got easier and my visits to her at her long-term care facility, usually at least on a weekly basis if not more often, were always something I looked forward to. She was a friend, sister, mother, and wife, and nurse and having looked at many of her photos over the last week or so, I can see she led a rich life. To everyone that knew her, she will be missed. Thanks to all for sending their condolensces. Thanks to my family, relatives and friends for standing by me through this difficult period. And yes, things are getting better. I hope to get back to some regular posting in the future, perhaps by next week, but yes music is still a part of me with The National show at Massey Hall on Tuesday and other upcoming summer shows still on my itinerary. I think my mom would want me to continue to do the things that make me happy. Back in 2007, I'd posted a link to the song below (during a difficult period of 'real life' taking priority), and yes, the song's sentiment is exactly what's got me through the last week:

Feist - "It's Cool To Love Your Family"