Canadian Music Week moves to the month of May for 2014

The music festival that most people love to hate, Canadian Music Week (CMW), have revealed through their Facebook, that next year's festival in 2014 will be be taking place May 6-10. Yes, it is a plus that it will be in a warmer month, but it appears the organizers have chosen to the ignore the myriad of other criticisms that people have of the festival overall.

The fact that CMW took place in March was never really a concern for me; March could be cold, it's Canada, and I think people just have to suck it up. The fact that CMW took place in March meant something to look forward to earlier in the year. I'm more concerned that next year's CMW is about a month before NXNE which takes place in June. The buffer between the festivals will be much shorter and I'm wondering how this will effect artists / bands who consider registering for these festivals. Will the net effect be that NXNE, which seemed to be really hitting it's groove over the last 5 years, will now lose some of that momentum to CMW? I am also concerned with the potential that CMW might overlap with Hot Docs, which traditionally starts at the end of April and into early May, or at the very least, having no recovery time between attending Hot Docs and CMW. I guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes next year.

Second Wave of NXNE announcements plus The National documentary at Hot Docs

The second wave of announcements for the upcoming NXNE festival were just announced. (Check out the first wave of announcements here.) Just spreading the word. Looks to be a decent festival this year. The second wave of announcements for NXNE include:

Social Distortion and Big Boi will each be headlining free shows at Yonge Dundas Square on different nights (Social Distortion on Thursday June 13 and Big Boi on Sunday June 16).

Other acts include Toronto hardcore band Fucked Up, French Canadian singer-songwriter Coeur De Pirate, Hip hop Brooklyn duo Smif N’ Wessun, American alternative hip hop act WHY?, California five-piece The Soft Moon, English guitar-rockers Peace, West Coast melodic punks White Lung, Toronto chillwave group DIANA, B.C. garage punks Nü Sensae,noise-punk rockers Destruction Unit, Synth popsters Majical Cloudz, UK new wave poppers Still Corners, Copenhagen punks Lower, electro rock from Toronto band Moon King, Improv jazz out of Lean Left, and old school indie rockers Blinker the Star.

Also as already announced, New York City band The National will participate in this year's NXNE by headlining a free show at Yonge Dundas Square on Friday June 14 but if your in the mood for more Berninger and company, you can check out Matt's older brother Tom Berninger's intimate and up-close documentary on the band entitled Mistaken for Strangers as Tom joins them on tour as one of their roadies. The documentary will be at this year's Hot Docs festival in Toronto with screenings as follows:

April 30, 9:15 pm @ The Royal
May 2, 11:59 pm @ Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
May 5, 4:00 pm @ Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

Canadian Musicfest Picks (2013)

Another edition of Canadian Musicfest (the music showcase component of Canadian Music Week) quietly kicked off yesterday evening but it gets into full gear tonight. I've gone through the list of artists, skimming bios, listening to audio, checking out videos, what-have-you, and have cobbled together a long list of artists that I found interesting, both from abroad, and from our own fair country / city. On a side note, I must mention that the whole process of 'researching' who I might be interested in seeing is an entirely un-fun experience - it's long, boring, and tiring - but in the end it pays off. Like the Boy Scouts motto goes - be prepared. I've also learned there's an inordinate amount of folk / roots acts taking part in the festival, so many that I almost want to strangle someone, but that's another story. There is no way in heck I'm going to catch all of these artists - I haven't even gotten around to laying out an actual schedule, and I already know there's some overlap with some of my picks. Most of the picks below are artists I've never even heard, and the buzz-factor of bands playing this festival is much lower compared to Toronto's own North By Northeast (which happens in June) but traditionally I've taken this as an opportunity to try to discover new music and hopefully keep the stink quotient to a minimum. Be sure to check out my picks below as well as the individual artist sites where there are audio / video samples:

Aidan Knight (Victoria, BC)
Friday March 22, 2013 @ 1:30PM, Church of the Holy Trinity
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 10:10PM, Horseshoe Tavern

A singer-songwriter and also namesake of a experimental folk band.

Alba Lua (paris, france)
Wednesday March 20, 2013 @ 8:00PM, Czehoski
Thursday March 21, 2013 @ 9:00PM, Silver Dollar

Favourably reviewed on Pitchfork, the band's helium-voiced lead singer leads the trio in their supple brand of warm, hazy pop music.

badbadnotgood (Toronto, ON)
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 12:10AM, Horseshoe Tavern

The young free-jazz, hip-hop influenced, groove trio can almost be classified as festival veterans having played Coachella, NXNE and others and have collobarated with Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean. I've always meant to check them out.

Ballroom Jacks (New York City, New York)
Friday March 22, 2013 @ 10:00PM, Annex Live

Scruffy trio from the streets of New York City (Queens that is) playing music that medls "1960's American girl groups, Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, and the aesthetic of new wave 80's music" in a not so unappealing way.

Beams (Toronto, ON)
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 9:00 PM, Silver Dollar

Multi-harmony, banjo-laden, musical saw twinged, folk and bluegrass.

Boats (Winnipeg, MB)
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 12:00AM, Rancho Relaxo

Comparisons to The New Pornographers, the band's third album of 'hooky pop songs' entitled "A Fairway Full Of Miners" just came out through Kill Rock Stars recently.

Boy (Hamburg, Germany) Updated
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 4:30 PM, HMV (333 Yonge St.), acoustic performance and autograph session
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 11:00PM, El Mocambo (Upstairs)
Sunday March 24, 2013 @ 10:00PM, The Dakota Tavern

Female pop duo founded in 2007, comparisons to Feist, yadda yadda, yadda yadda. That said, what I've heard from them is sunny and charming. And they're cute to boot.

The Breezes (Montreal, QC)
Thursday March 21, 2013 @ 8:30 PM, Horseshoe Tavern

Psych-pop goodness, the band's debut album self-titled album was released independently this past December.

Castle-if/Cell Memory (Toronto, ON)
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 10:00PM, Comfort Zone

These locals might just be too cool for school to me, but I might perhaps satiate my more experimental tastes by taking in their set. What I've heard is sort of trippy.

Charlotte Church (Wales, United Kingdom)
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ :PM, El Mocambo (Downstairs)

Yes, that Charlotte Church. The girl's grown up, still has amazing vocals but now is backed by a band with a much edgier musical approach than you've heard her or ever imagined. Quite spectacular actually.

CHVRCHES (Glasgow, Scotland)
Wednesday March 20, 2013 @ 10:00 PM, Virgin Mobile Mod Club

Electro-pop trio with guitars and synths, reviews on Pitchfork, you know you want to see them. Advanced tickets to their set are sold out but there'll be tickets, and presumably limited wristbands/passes, let in at the door.

Decades (Toronto, ON)
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 9:00 PM, Lee's Palace

I've seen the band a few times recently in an opening slot and was somewhat invigorated from what I'd heard - a lead singer with maybe just a little bit of a Morrissey influence, fronting a band whose music takes an ethereal, post-punk yet melodic direction.

Diana (Toronto, ON)
Wednesday March 20 @ 9:00 PM, Virgin Mobile Mod Club

Apparently a band I should check out according to sites like BlogTo. The band consists of Carmen Elle (Army Girls), Kieran Adams (Warm Myth and Bonjay), Joseph Shabason (Destroyer), and Paul Mathew (Hidden Cameras).

Fine Times (Vancouver, BC)
Friday March 22 @ 9:00 PM, Supermarket
Saturday March 23 @ 2:00 AM, Sneaky Dee's

The duo, their name perhaps a take on the New Order LP "Fine Time", play synth-infused, melodic rock.

First Rate People (Toronto, ON)
Thursday March 21 @ 9:00 PM, Annex Live

The band's first single was reviewed by Pitchfork back in 2010, garnering a favourable review. Been meaning to check them out. They released a new single entitled "You Won't Get This Joke At All" just recently.

Ginger and the Ghost (Sydney, Australia)
Wednesday March 20 @ 10:30 PM, El Mocambo (Upstairs)

I hear traces of Kate Bush in this male/female duo's music, while lead singer Missy has a penchance for visual flamboyance and colourfulness similar to Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp.

Heidi Happy (Lucerne, Switzerland)
Wednesday March 20, 2013 @ 8:00PM, Supermarket
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 10:00PM, Cameron House - Backroom

The Scandinavian singer-songwriter I believe played last year's festival (or was it NXNE?) and has returned, presumably because she likes Toronto. What I've heard falls in line with breezy Scandinavian pop like The Cardigans, good stuff if you're into that.

Jesuslesfilles (Montreal, QC)
Saturday March 23 @ 1:00 AM, Silver Dollar

Franco-phone garage rock, featuring co-lead, male / female vocals. I liked this much better than I expected.

Let's Build Machines (Toronto, ON)
Friday March 22 @ 9:00 PM, Revival

Acoustic folk outfit The Wilderness of Manitoba's Will Whitwham, gets off his electro-pop cajones with this side project, with decent results.

Lowell (Toronto, ON)
Friday March 22, 2013 @ 9:30PM, Lee's Palace
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 12:30PM, Church of the Holy Trinity
Saturday March 23, 2013 @ :PM, The Danforth Music Hall

The GridTO recently named the 21 year old as one to watch, already a fast-rising star in much of Europe at the same time never having even performed at home. The dates above will be her first proper live performances at home. She's a classicaly-trained pianist and her music has drawn comparisons to Lykke Li.

Maica Mia (Toronto, ON)
Friday March 22 @ 9:00 PM, Silver Dollar

Desolate, atmospheric, mood rock comes to mind as a description.

Mount Moriah (Durham, North Carolina)
Wednesday March 20 @ 11:00 PM, Drake Underground

I caught the female-led trio at last year's CMJ festival in New York City where they played a Merge Records showcase.The band's self-titled debut was re-released on Merge last October. The band's music merges American folk & rock music in a very appealing way.

Mozart's Sister (Montreal,QC)
Saturday March 23 @ 1:00 AM, Comfort Zone

From the Pop Montreal site, Mozart's sister are described as the "electro-pop solo project of Shapes & Sizes’s Caila Thompson of indie rock, new wave, 80s pop and a little R&B ting".

Mise En Scene (Winnipeg, MB) Updated
Thursday March 21 @ 11:00 PM, Bovine Sex Club
Friday March 22 @ 5:00 PM, Sonic Boom (782 Bathurst St), in-store (info)
Friday March 22 @ 8:15 PM, Model Citizen (279 Augusta Ave), in-store
Saturday March 23 @ 3:30-6PM, Goorin Bro’s Hat Shop (320 Queen St. West), in-store (info)

Not nearly as surfy as Best Coast nor indebted to 60's girl groups as Dum Dum Girls but yes this female guitar / drums duo will probably appeal to you if you're fans of those bands.

Ocean City Defender (Thunder Bay, ON Canada)
Wednesday March 20 @ 1:00 AM, Cabin 5

Comparisons to M83, and from Thunder Bay of all places. The outfit is the work of multi-instrumentalist K. Preston Merkley, his debut EP The Golden Hour was released in January of 2012.

Persian Rugs (Toronto, ON)
Friday March 22 @ 10:00 PM, Rancho Relaxo

Guitarist Ian Jackson of the defunct Toronto indie band The Diableros, took his guitar chops and formed Persian Rugs, a band whose love for C86 / Sarah Records-influenced indie pop is quite apparent.

Savages (London, England United Kingdom)
Friday March 22 @ 11:10 PM, Horseshoe Tavern
Saturday March 23 @ 12:00 AM, Lee's Palace

British all-female post-punk rock band who were one of the buzz bands of last year's CMJ festival in New York City, who I didn't get a chance to see when I was there. The band's debut album Silence Yourself is due out on Matador Records on May 7. (via Pitchfork)

Un (Montreal, QC)
Thursday March 21 @ 12:00 AM, Drake Underground

The female duo, consisting of Jen Reimer on drums and Kara Keith on vocals and 'other stuff', released their self-titled debut disc this past Valentines Day. Their icy, post-punk synth tunes remind me a little of Ladytron.

Valleys (Montreal,QC)
Saturday March 23 @ 10:00 PM, Lee's Palace

Elements of ambient, dreampop and electropop, they're hard to pin down, but quite interesting overall.

Vimes (Cologne, Germany)
Wednesday March 20, 2013 @ 10:00PM, Gladstone Hotel, (North Ballroom)
Thursday March 21, 2013 @ 10:00PM, Annex Live

Duo consisting of Azhar Syed and Julian Stetter specializing in electro-house music. Chilly Gonzales and Hot Chip are fans. (via Noisey)

Unlike last year's festival and the mild temperatures that the city got, this year looks to be a chilly one, so bundle up, don't forget your earplugs, grab your schedules and have a good festival!

Summer Festivals 2013 - CBCmusic.ca Festival (Toronto)

via CBC.ca

There's a new music festival in town and it's all-Canadian...almost. CBC Music, the streaming music service of CBC/Radio-Canada, which recently celebrated its first year in operation, will be curating and hosting its own music festival called CBCmusic.ca Festival [doesn't quite roll off the tongue, hmmm?]. It will take place at Echo Beach in Toronto on May 25 on two stages, with doors opening at 2 pm and the music starting at 2:30 pm. Co-headlining the festival are Montreal's Sam Roberts Band and Iceland's Of Monsters and Men(the only non-Canadian act of the lineup). Rounding out the lineup are Kathleen Edwards, Sloan, Jarvis Church, blues/jazz vocalist Shakura S'Aida, country music band Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans, up-and-coming Montreal indie band Half Moon Run, Inuit singer Elisapie, Victoria-based songwriter Aidan Knight, and Kae Sun, a Ghanaian-Canadian singer-songwriter. The festival will also include a special episode of CBC’s The Debaters and Q host Jian Ghomeshi interviewing Of Monsters and Men. Tickets are available through CBC, Facebook, and Live Nation presales this Friday March 16 and through Ticketmaster starting on Saturday. May 25 is sort of an iffy time of the year for a outdoor show and you can only hope it doesn't rain that day. The lineup has the potential to draw a diverse cross-section of people - I don't particularly think the 'kids' will have much interest in this except for Of Monsters and Men, Sloan and Half Moon Run but then again you never know.

Facebook: CBCmusic.ca
Twitter: CBCmusic.ca

Summer Festivals 2013 - Osheaga Music and Arts Festival (Montreal, Quebec)

So the big Canadian summer music festival announcement was made yesterday with the release of the line-up / official poster for Montreal's Osheaga Music and Arts Festival. The festival will take place as usual at the beginning of August, specifically August 2-4, at Parc Jean-Drapeau and tickets go on sale Friday March 15 at noon. The big headliners are British post-punk legends The Cure and current Brit folk favourites Mumfords and Sons. There is a lot of overlap with a bunch of artists already scheduled to have Toronto shows either in the near future or later this spring and summer(eg. Phoenix, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Hot Chip, Pretty Lights, The Gaslight Anthem who are playing the much smaller, and perhaps more desirable, Grove Music Festival in Niagara-on-the-lake on August 3) but there are a bunch of artists also that are so far only scheduled for Osheaga, with no Toronto dates on the horizon including Explosions in The Sky, New Order (well technically they already played Toronto last Fall for two shows) and Kendrick Lamar (who played Sound Academy last September). According to the poster, there are still over 20 artists still to be announced. From a Toronto / Golden Horseshoe perspective, Osheaga may not seem all that essential, but on the other hand it's the biggest music festival in Canada, and in my opinion has a decent enough and diverse line-up to make this worthwhile. And it's an outdoor festival, so if you're fretting that much about the line-up and not capable of enjoying yourself there, then maybe you're no fun.

Facebook: Osheaga
Twitter: Osheaga

Review --- Patti Smith @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto (March 9, 2013)

This past Saturday night, Patti Smith graced the stage of Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto for a spectacular show, the final event in what had been a whirlwind few days for the so-called 'Godmother of Punk'. It started with two extremely sold out shows billed as An Evening of Words and Song with Patti Smith at the Art Gallery Of Ontario (AGO) this past Thursday. The performance was in conjunction with an exhibition of her black-and-white Polaroid photography entitled Patti Smith: Camera Solo. She apparently also signed copies of her 2010 memoir "Just Kids" at the AGO's gift shop at noon for a few hours, prior to her AGO performance, and then on Friday night attended a sold-out screening of the documentary Patti Smith: Dream of Life at Jackman Hall at the AGO. If punk in the mid-70's was her rise to fame, in the decades that followed she became a true renaissance woman, furthering her artistry in not just music, but poetry, writing, and photography. Frankly, I originally wasn't planning to go to any of these events since I wasn't that acquainted with her music but when Collective Concerts, at the last minute, released a handful of tickets for her show at Queen Elizabeth Centre, I decided that as a music fan owed it to myself to check out a musical icon.

The date of the show, March 9, was a meaningful one as it being the date that her friend photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (whose photos of her became the covers for the Patti Smith Group LP) passed away in 1989, and so the show was in tribute to him. Originally this show wasn't even on her schedule, as Patti herself mentioned during the show, but then she decided that rather than go back to New York to play the tribute show, why not just stay in Toronto for it. Of course the audience responded gleefully to this. March 9 was also an important date for Patti as she mentioned it was also the day she met the true love of her live, Fred 'Sonic' Smith (ex-MC5) with whom she had two children, her son Jackson and daughter Jesse, who she performed with this night on guitar and piano respectively. Joined by Tony Shanahan on bass guitar and backup vocals, Patti and her three band mates performed an almost two-hour set of Patti Smith favourites and later songs, including a bunch from her 2012 release entitled Banga. Interspersed throughout the night, Patti graciously offered us some beautiful poetic readings which never felt out of place.

What probably isn't apparent, if you've read this far, was how damn charming and full of humour Patti was. Her love for Fred was on full display as she revealed that she wrote many songs about him. She told us the back story of how she finished writing the lyrics for the verses to her biggest hit "Because The Night", a song for which had been co-written by Bruce Springsteen - the back story involving Patti waiting for a 7:30 phone call from Fred which didn't happen so she decided to listen to the tape that Jimmy Iovine had been bugging her to listen to and see what she could do to complete it. She bantered with the audience on occasion like when she told the audience that she wrote several songs using the D chord, to which an audience member yelled out 'We like D' and to which Patti responded in return, well then we were about to get 6 1/2 minutes of it. Earlier in the night, an audience member giddily yelled out that she wanted to stand up, I guess hoping that would prompt the audience or something [it didn't] and when Patti responded for her to get up herself, the audience member and a friend took a spot near the stage, to which Patti jokingly told them that were standing in the $500 spot.

Musically, it was such a tight performance and combined with the clarity of whomever was working the soundboard that night, it was one of the more satisfying auditory experiences I've had the pleasure of hearing. Her son Jackson was very fluid with his guitar lines while her daughter Jesse exemplified a very solid, melodic performance on piano. Bassist Tony Shanahan was pretty much Patti's right hand man, holding down the low-end with his solid bass guitar work and providing enthusiastic background vocals. Patti showed her versatility showing a vulnerability like on her cover of Neil Young's "It's A Dream" during the encore, and previously during the main set exuding a world-weary snarl on "My Blakean Year". Patti had read poetic passages sporadically throughout the night, one of them being in memory of her friend Robert, which then segued appropriately into her heart-aching song tribute to the late Amy Winehouse entitled "This Is The Girl". When the encore ended with her call-to-arms-of-sorts "People Have The Power" with Patti chanting all the powers that we do have, it felt at that moment that anything was possible. This point in her life, as she at once looks back at her career and moves forward with new artistic endeavours, and to see her perform with both her son and daughter on stage, is undeniably a beautiful thing to see. That some of us were fortunate to witness this, we can hold dear.

Summer Festivals 2013 - Sled Island (Calgary, Alberta)

  photo via ffwd

Sled Island, based in Calgary, is an annual music and arts festival that started in 2007 and has been a festival that has been on my radar since its inception. It consistently has featured an interesting lineup and this year is no exception. Recently the first wave of headliners for this year's festival were announced. Taking place from June 19-22 in Calgary, with its mainstage at Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary this year's headlingers include The Jesus and Mary China, Explosions In The Sky, Swans, Divine Fits, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Mac DeMarco, Colin Stetson, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Metz. The guest curators for this year's festival are influential sound artist Tim Hecker and John Dwyer of the Krautrock-inspired garage band, Thee Oh Sees. In addition to these headliners, expect to see more than 250 other bands, filmmakers, artists and comedians? Pretty sweet if I do say so. Enough for a trip to Calgary perhaps? The festival starts a week after Toronto's NXNE ends, so it is perfectly do-able. Festival passes are on sale now with limited individual tickets to shows to be available in the future.

Facebook: Sled Island
Twitter: Sled Island

Summer Festivals 2013 - Ottawa Bluesfest

Happening from July 4 to 14 in our nation's capital, the Ottawa Bluesfest (sponsored by RBC Royal Bank) will be taking place in the neighbourhood of LeBreton Flats. That the festival is still promoted under the banner of a blues festival is somewhat surprising given how varied the lineup is this year as well as previous years, but so be it. If I lived near Ottawa, I'd most likely hit it up, but given that a bunch of the acts that I'd most like to see (Belle and Sebastia, Neko Case) will be playing Toronto this summer, Ottawa Bluesfest is entirely non-essential for me. On the other hand, I've never actually visited our nation's capital and I have family there who I could stay with. Hmmm. Check out the festival website for full event details.

Facebook: Ottawa Bluesfest
Twitter: Ottawa Bluesfest

Summer Festivals 2013 - The Grove Music Festival (Niagara-On-The-Lake)

The chill in the air isn't going away and the official start to spring is literally only a few weeks away. Maybe the only way to get through this cold spell is to think about summer, and it appears that summer concert festival organizers have been thinking the same thing with summer concert festival announcements coming on strong today.

The most interesting one so far seems to be the inaugural edition of The Grove Music Festival that will take place in Niagara-On-The-Lake on August 3 at The Commons At Butler’s Barracks National Historic Site, co-presented by indie record label Arts & Crafts and concert promoter Goldenvoice (probably best known for it's association with Coachella). Quite a bit more compact than some multi-day festivals, The Grove Music Festival will feature the likes of Parisian group Phoenix, UK's Hot Chip, American mash-up extraordinaire Girl Talk, up and comers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Gaslight Anthem, Bob Mould, Odd Future standout Earl Sweatshirt, Pretty Lights, Icona Pop, Wavves, Palma Violets, plus local groups, Young Empires and Nightbox. Early bird tickets went on sale this morning but regular priced general admission tickets go on sale March 8 at 10 am.

As the date of the festival overlaps with Montreal's Osheaga Festival and it remains to be seen if the bands I'm most interested in seeing, Phoenix, Hot Chip or Girl Talk, may be playing any Toronto dates, I won't be making up my mind about this festival right away. But it's on my radar.

Facebook: The Grove Fest
Twitter: The Grove Fest

Saint Etienne, Snowblink @ The Opera House, Toronto (October 24, 2012)

  Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne: photo by Michael Ligon

Well hello blog readers. You still here? Back in October of last year, I finally got to see UK band Saint Etienne live in Toronto. Apparently the last time they'd been to town was a decade earlier. Fortunately, I'd got to check off the band off my bucket list when I saw them live in Barcelona, Spain in 2009 during the Primavera Sound Festival. The band came to town to promote their newest album "Words and Music" (which I still haven't listened to, even though I bought the album at the show, shame on me). Much like the first time I saw the band live, it was really centered around vocalist Sarah Cracknell and her sunny smile, her charming personality, her vivacious dancing and her somewhat demure yet cool vocals. Can't really say anymore other than it was an enjoyable set,nothing more nothing less.

Photos: Saint Etienne, Snowblink @ The Opera House, Toronto (October 24, 2012)

More reviews (proper ones) over at Exclaim, Chromewaves, Indie Kid Vs. Dance Kid, The Panic Manual and The Golder Year.

Toronto Urban Roots Festival Initial Lineup

Since the demise of the Virgin Festival in Toronto back in 2009 which last took place at the Molson Ampitheatre for two days (and in previous years at Toronto Islands),Toronto's been sorely lacking a multi-day music festival along the lines of Osheaga in Montreal, the Ottawa Bluesfest or Lollapalooza in Chicago. And while the mysterious announcement of the upcoming Toronto Urban Roots Festival (TURF) only promises 30+ bands over 4 nights, 2 full days, on 2 outdoor stages and two clubs, the initial lineup is tempting - Belle and Sebastian, Neko Case, She & Him, Camera Obscura, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Flogging Molly, The Hold Steady, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Justin Townes Earle, and The Lowest Of The Low. The festival takes place from July 4 to 7 with the main venue to be Fort York Garrison Common. Far from the scope of an Osheaga or Lollapalooza but I will say TURF is definitely something I still can get excited about. Earlybird 4-day/multi-night tickets ($99.50), single day tickets ($39.50 & $49.50), and VIP tickets ($139.50 and $149.50) go on sale in mid-March and the full artist lineup is schedule to be revealed in late March to early April.

First Wave of 2013 NXNE Announcements

First wave of NXNE announcements here but yes I'm looking forward to the free show at Yonge Dundas Square on Friday June 14, headlined by The National. NXNE takes place in venues across Toronto from June 10 to 16.

Jens Lekman @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (October 4, 2012)

  Jens Lekman: photo by Michael Ligon

I will mention that Jens Lekman and his band's performance of "The Opposite of Hallelujah" at the Phoenix Concert Theatre this past October 4th was just about my favourite single live performance of the year, with the crowd singing and snapping fingers along to the tune, with just about everyone with the biggest grins on their faces. And then at the end of the song, Jens magnificently mimicked playing a xylophone in the air, synched perfectly with the drummer tapping the last few notes on the real instrument. Genius. Openers were fellow Swedes Taken By Trees whose smart pop is likable but watching vocalist and listening to vocalist Victoria Bergsman onstage, I really got the urge to shake her and tell her to inject some energy into her singing.

A few more photos from the show I took, at the link below:

Photos: Jens Lekman @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (October 4, 2012)

Because I can't really do a review that will do this show justice at this point, I beg you to check out the reviews and/or photos from the show over at The National Post, Exclaim, Chromewaves, and The Panic Manual.

Mechanical Forest Sound has a few recordings from the show, including the aforementioned "The Opposite of Hallelujah"!

James St. Supercrawl, Hamilton ON (September 15, 2012)

  Owen Pallett: photo by Michael Ligon

Back on September 15th, I attended the James St. Supercrawl in Hamilton for the second year in a row. The event is billed as celebrating "...the diversity of James North, our multi-disciplinary arts community, and the incredible spark that results with our unique mix of cultures, businesses and creative people." In essence, it's a quaint yet impressive festival featuring both visual art and music. Last year's event was my first time attending and I was impressed by it's musical lineup which included artists like Basia Bulat, Broken Social Scene, J Mascis, Frank Black, Junior Boys and Plants and Animals and so I thought a return to the festival this year was in order even if I thought it's musical lineup wasn't as strong this year. Aside from the music, I just thought the setup along Hamilton's James St. was very cool, with art, vendors, food and food trucks, busking stages and bigger stages stretching over several blocks. This year the festival encompassed a second day with things kicking off on the night of Friday September 14 but I only attended the main day which was the 15th. Getting there by GO Train later in the afternoon I caught as much of the visual art along the street as I could before dusk set in, and then later caught musical performances at different stages from artists including Eamon Mcgrath, Julie Fader, Born Ruffians, The Gertrudes, Great Lake Swimmers, Owen Pallett and at the end of the night as I headed back to catch the last late night GO Train back to Mississauga, I caught the headliner on the main stage K'naan closing out the night with his signature tune "Waving Flags" with the crowd singing along wholeheartedly.


  Wood Sculpture: photo by Michael Ligon


  Julie Fader: photo by Michael Ligon


  Born Ruffians: photo by Michael Ligon


  Great Lake Swimmers: photo by Michael Ligon

More of my photos from the day are at the link below:

Photos: James St. Supercrawl, Hamilton ON (September 15, 2012)

Reviews of Supercrawl over at CBC Hamilton and TheSpec.com.

HARD Fest w/ Justice, M83, Austra, Buraka Som Sistema @ Fort York Garrison Common, Toronto (August 4, 2012)

  Justice: photo by Michael Ligon

Having yesterday gone through my photos of HARD Fest at Fort York: Garrison Common which took place earlier this year on a steamy August 4, it's funny that nature has today given this year's first dumping of snow around Southern Ontario. Not complaining about the snow but my photos from the summer has made me miss that weather ever so slightly. While most of the Toronto music blog-osphere / media had gone to the Osheaga Festival in Montreal that weekend (even though many of the feature acts such as Sigur Ros, Jesus and Mary Chain, Justice, M83, The Black Keys, and Florence + the Machine had Toronto dates just prior to the Festival), I chose to stay in Toronto since I was having my own downsized version of Osheaga spread out over a few days having just seen Sigur Ros, Jesus and Mary Chain and now Justice and M83.

HARD Fest was quite a compact festival with just one stage (and an equally compact lineup), an area for food and drinks, and areas for merch and washrooms. I also love the fact that it's accessible by TTC, although I'm disappointed that Fort York had chose to move it's outdoor music site to the Garrison Common grounds rather than within Fort York itself as it had been back during the Rogers Picnic days. The lineup included the Afro-techno group Buraka Som Sistema, local electro-goth outfit Austra, French electro/shoegazers M83 and French dance / electronic duo Justice. There was a late addition to the lineup with the electro-pop songs of Charli XCX who opened up the festival earlier in the afternoon but whose set I missed.

Buraka Som Sistema would get the award for most energetic live set I saw that day with their colourful-attired female vocalist pumping up the crowd with her singing and chants and her male rapping cohorts dousing the audience with some water gun action. Austra, with lead vocalist Katie Stelmanis in her circular sunglasses, played a tight set and if I recall correctly played a few new tunes. I'd been looking forward to seeing M83 and wasn't disappointed - I was a newbie to the band so just hearing their singles "Midnight City" (with its sublime sax solo) and "Reunion" made it all worthwhile.

With tweets from Osheaga all day updating about the wicked stormy weather they were about to get, then got, and then got again, and with that weather system moving west towards Toronto, I was hoping for the best. We were fortunate to have great summer weather through Buraka Som Sistema and Austra's sets and we managed to stay dry right up until near the end of M83's set but as that set ended and night was setting in, the raindrops came and then eventually poured. And although I had brought a plastic rain poncho, I chose to forgo it and take a little cover under the trees near the food area (although that turned out to be futile as I was still getting soaked). Making sure my camera was nice and dry in my backpack, the rain really wasn't that much of a downer since it was a warm rain and in some ways made the experience more enjoyable. The rain did delay headliner Justice's set a bit but as the downpour subsided and then cleared, and then Justice came on with their pumping dance set, it was all worth the wait. Terrific compact festival (or maybe I'm just getting old and can't take multi-day festivals.)


  Buraka Som Sistema: photo by Michael Ligon


  Austra: photo by Michael Ligon


  M83: photo by Michael Ligon

Check out more of my photos from the show at the link below:

Photos: HARD Fest w/ Justice, M83, Austra, Buraka Som Sistema @ Fort York Garrison Common, Toronto (August 4, 2012)

More reviews and / or photos from the show over at Torontoist, Take More Photos, Aesthetic Magazine, Style Circle, Ride The Tempo, Dinos's Word and the Austra forum.

Jesus and Mary Chain, Nightbox @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (August 3, 2012)

  Jim Reid of Jesus and Mary Chain: photo by Michael Ligon

Hope everyone had a great Christmas as I did with family and relatives. Continuing in my quest to get up photos from shows earlier in the year that I haven't had a chance to get up yet, it's a funny coincidence that on Christmas Day, I'm up now to the Jesus and Mary Chain show that I'd attended at the Phoenix Concert Theatre back on August 3rd. I'd been wanting to scratch them off my bucket list for so long and it was well worth the wait as the Jim and William Reid of the band along with their touring band mates played an enticing setlist spanning much of their catalog. Although I'd not known at the time, Mad Men actress Jessica Pare was the band's special guest as she guested on vocals on both "Just Like Honey" and "Sometimes Always", the latter which Jim mentioned they hadn't played that often and therefore felt like an extra special treat for us. At times I closed my eyes and I imagined myself back in high school in the late eighties when I first discovered the band, the sense of nostalgia so overwhelming as I recalled how essential their albums Psychocandy and Darklands. I thought, this is what it is like to see one of your musical heroes after so many years. It was so exhilarating. Kids, when your parents start fawning about the music they used to listen to when they were younger, don't give them to hard of a time about it. You will understand one day.

Check out some of my photos from the show here.

Reviews and / or photos from the show over at Exclaim, Canoe, Wave Maker Magazine and From A High Horse.

Sigur Ros @ Echo Beach, Toronto (August 1, 2012)

  Jónsi Birgisson of Sigur Ros: photo by Michael Ligon

Tis' Christmas Eve and with all my presents wrapped and before some of my family and I sit down for a simple Christmas Eve dinner, I thought I'd post a link to my photos from the Sigur Ros show from this past August. Back on August 1st of this year, the Icelandic group Sigur Ros returned to Toronto after a four year wait in support of their sixth studio album, Valtari, released this past May. The venue was the near perfect outdoor summer venue Echo Beach off Lake Ontario on on what turned out to be a beautiful summer night. Alternately epic and overwhelming, and intimate and embryonic, it was a show I've seen before in an indoor setting (Massey Hall) but on a perfect summer night in an outdoor setting made it so much more expansive. Terrific show.

Check out my photos from the show over at my Flickr.

Reviews and/or photos of the show over at The Toronto Sun, Blog TO, The National Post, Exclaim, Music Vice, and Chromewaves.

More photos over at Lithium, Beyond The Watch, and the band's website.

Sarah Harmer @ Fort York Garrison Common, Toronto (July 14, 2012)

  Sarah Harmer @ Fort York Garrison Common: photo by Michael Ligon

So I've been a bit AWOL lately, but I haven't necessarily been resting on my laurels. (OK, maybe I have been.) And although I've been cutting back on the amount of shows I've been going to compared to previous years, it's not the say I haven't been going to any shows. Like my blogging consistency, the decline in my concert attendance was bound to happen. Generally, I lost interest in new music, but also the novelty of the live show environment was waning for me. Maybe, it's a little bit of an age thing, where the audience seemed to get younger with every new band that came on to the scene. On the other hand, what little wisdom I may have gained over the years has made me realize that while good music continues to flourish, there's precious little of it that I'm really compelled to invest in both financially and time wise. Personally, I felt I needed to step back from the blogging and pursuit of new music, and start listening to music for enjoyment again. But also I needed to step back to focus on other things. I dunno; 2013 may be a different year for me in terms of this blog; maybe I'll rediscover music again. That the world didn't end on December 21 as the Mayans had predicted should be taken as a sign, shouldn't it? Well, that's what I'm taking from it.

Since I'm on Christmas vacation right now, between now and the end of the year I hope to get links up to photos from the shows I've gone to since the summer that I haven't had a chance to yet and then maybe I can start 2013 fresh.

On July 14 of this year, Fort York Garrison Common hosted a free show on a steamy summer night for the Bicentennial Celebration of the War of 1812 featuring Shad, the Rural Alberta Advantage and Alex Cuba and headlined by Sarah Harmer. I made it out only for Sarah and it was an enjoyable, laid back summer set.

More photos here.

The Hidden Cameras @ Harbourfront Centre, Toronto (July 1, 2012)

  Joel Gibb: photo by Michael Ligon

Toronto's loss is Berlin's gain ever since The Hidden Cameras Joel Gibb moved to the latter about 7 years ago, so when comes back to Toronto to play a hometown show, it's an extra special treat. The last time they rolled through town was in 2009, timed around the release of their last album Origin: Orphan, when they played shows in October(@ Goodhandy's) and December(@ The Opera House) of that year, so when the band came to Harbourfront Centre to play the annual Canada Day show there, I had to be there. Gibb alluded to a new Hidden Cameras new album, which subsequently I'd came across an interview Gibb did with  Signal in which he reveals the album will be out in 2013 and will be a "...darker and more experimental affair."

The show wasn't as raucous as their live shows in year's past but still it was an enjoyable show. Lost count of the number of people on stage but there was Joel and his band, plus a horn section and a 6 member, equal parts male / female backup choir. And they had Toronto drummer of The Bicycles and Sheezer, Dana Snell behind the kit which was a nice surprise. Overall it was a great way to spend Canada Day.

Brief review of the show over at Gray Owl Point and Mechanical Forest Sound has a few recordings from the show.


  the choir: photo by Michael Ligon


  The Hidden Cameras: photo by Michael Ligon

More photos at the link below.

Photos: The Hidden Cameras @ Harbourfront Centre, Toronto (July 1, 2012)

Nellie Mckay, Becca Stevens Band @ Horseshoe Tavern, part of Toronto Jazz Festival (June 30, 2012)

  Nellie Mckay: photo by Michael Ligon

I'll try to roll out the rest of photos from the the shows I went to during the summer and forward starting with the enticing Nellie McKay. She played an intimate show at the Horseshoe Tavern at the end of June on the second last night of the Toronto Jazz Festival.

Brooklyn artist Becca Stevens and her band, playing as a trio, played a set of jazz-inflected pop and folk including their ace Smiths' cover of "There is a Light That Never Goes Out". Stevens and her vocals were obviously the most intriguing components, and her bandmates competent but not all that distinct but it was a fine set for the most part.

Looking back in the archives I found that that night was the exact date in 2004 that Nellie played Lee's Palace to what I  recall was a sold out crowd. Back then she had an appeal that had crossed over to the indie crowd that had Pitchfork and the like fawning all over her. However, six years later, and  found the Horseshoe crowd unusually light - not empty, but not sold out by a long shot. Playing solo, on keyboards and occasionally on ukelele she was as charming I'd remembered her, maybe more eccentric than  remembered her. She played a bunch of songs from her debut "Get Away From Me" and a bunch of others I wasn't familiar with. She played a Beatles medley. She did a little reggae, complete with crowd participation. It was all very charming. She ended the night with a crowd request, Sari that completel annihilated the crowd as at one point she screamed "Die Motherfucker". Completely and utterly amazing.

Lithium Magazine and The Panic Manual were also at the show also and their reviews are much better articulated, so check them out.

Photos: Nellie Mckay @ Horseshoe Tavern, part of Toronto Jazz Festival (June 30, 2012)