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

   Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura: photo by Michael Ligon

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

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


   Joel Plaskett: photo by Michael Ligon

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


   She & Him: photo by Michael Ligon

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

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

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   Justin Townes Earle: photo by Michael Ligon

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


   Fitz and The Tantrums: photo by Michael Ligon

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


   Arkells: photo by Michael Ligon

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

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

Dan Auerbach, Justin Townes Earle, Jessica Lea Mayfield @ Phoenix Concert Theatre (November 7, 2009)

Update [Nov 13/09, 12:41 am]: Review now up. Sorry for the lack of punctuality lately. Anyone still bothering to read?

I was only ever casually familiar with Akron, Ohio duo The Black Keys' stripped down take on blues rock. Their direct rock n' roll approach to the blues was exciting on its own merits but that said never really grasped on to them. It was only curiosity that lead me to check out The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach's debut solo album "Keep It Hid" which I found to be quite terrific. Stepping up from the Keys minimalist drums / guitar approach, on "Keep It Hid" Auerbach uses a full band effort on most songs, doing an admirable job of filtering various musical influences like rock n' roll, soul, folk and country. Well thought out and enthusiastically executed, it's one of the better albums I've heard all year. With that in mind, I looked forward to seeing Auerbach's show at the Phoenix last Saturday night.

An early show as it was, in order to make way for the dance party to take place in the venue later that night, the two opening acts went dutifully performed and transitioned with precision. Kent, Ohio's Jessica Lea Mayfield was already performing when I got to the venue and a good crowd was on hand to listen to her solo acoustic folk set. In a smaller venue, I'd have been very much in to her set - acoustic guitar, tuneful melodies, casually sung Midwestern sounding vocals - but with the crowd chatty as you'd might expect from Toronto audiences, there was little ambiance for the set which really deserved it.

And within the span of what seemed like under ten minutes, the next artist on the bill was off and running, the artist in question being Nashville's Justin Townes Earle (yes, son of that Earle). I'm aware he's made a several stops through Toronto in the last few years, and has impressed some country-minded folks and his talent was quite apparent. Though his setup (vocals / acoustic guitar) was the same Ms. Mayfield's set who preceded him, Mr. Earle's songs were very much entrenched in a traditional country sound. A hint of twang in his vocals at times, his guitar strumming was simple but effective, and his tunes alternated between mid-to-up tempo swingers and more tender country ballads("Mama's Eyes"). At one point, an overly enthusiastic strum of his guitar resulted in a bleeding finger. Not your average country music set, and quite possibly one of the best country set's I've ever seen.

Dan Auerbach and his band The Fast Five took to the stage not too long after to play songs off "Keep It Hid" for the enraptured Toronto crowd. Listening to the album didn't necessarily prepare me nor the audience for the volume that would hit us during Auerbach's live set. It felt as if Auerbach decided to crank up the amps to ten, the effect being ever more brutal to the eardrums (and thank God for earplugs). As loud as it was, it still seemed tolerable, and the added crunch was more than appreciated. Background info - Dan's backing band "Fast Five" are a band called Hacienda, and one of the percussionist's on tour with him is Patrick Hallahan from My Morning Jacket. The set started out solemnly with the quieter "Trouble Weighs A Ton" with Dan and guitarist Dante Schwebel leaning in on the mic to harmonize beautifully. From there though it was really more of a rock n' roll set, trading in for guitar licks and a double drumkit assault. Percussionist Patrick Hallahan, when he wasn't playing drums, was on congos and or maracas, and with his long shaggy hair and with him wearing a Mexican poncho was a spectacle until himself. My favourite song in the set "The Last Mistake" came on quite early in the set, a perfect balance between infectious pop melodies, an injection of soul, and vibrant rock n' roll energy. Most definitely, it deserves to be a new American rock n' roll classic. Overall, the stew of rock n' roll, country, soul and folk created by Dan and The Fast Five was confidently and loudly performed, the only disappointment being they only had one album to draw from (although they did include a rocking cover of a song by a band called Rocking Horse). And so as quietly as the set began, so did it end as for the final song of the encore, Dan remained onstage with guitar to performing the fittingly entitled "Going Home". And so we did with smiles on our faces. [Ok, maybe not all of us went home, since it it was only 9 pm. Ha.]

Me, BlogTO, chartattack and Eye are all in agreement that the show was stupendous. mandrs has some photos from the show .

Photos: Dan Auerbach, Justin Townes Earle, Jessica Lea Mayfield @ Phoenix Concert Theatre (November 7, 2009)
Myspace: Jessica Lea Mayfield
Myspace: Justin Townes Earle
Myspace: Dan Auerbach