Top Ten 2014 - Year In Review

1

Pup - Pup

(Toronto)
I'm semi-ashamed to say that this album sat practically dormant on my computer from October of last year, when it was first self-released by the band, until their name started coming up again early this year. When I gave it another shot I quickly saw why this band was picking up speed. And then I saw them play... my goodness, these boys are the best thing shredding Toronto airspace (and now all over North America). Go to a gig, excited as you are you'll never jump as high as their pint-sized singer who packs a mean growl.

2

Hey Rosetta! - Second Sight

(St.John's)
A band that I've loved since the first time I heard them it would seem natural that this new album would be a favourite. However I was skeptical to begin with and not sold on it with the first, second and even third listen. Then something started to click - perhaps it's a little more subtle than previous efforts but that just means there's even more beauty to be revealed. Each time it just grows that much closer to my heart. When Harriet storms in and blows away the melancholy of Alcatraz it's a warm spring breeze every time.

3

Owen Pallett - In Conflict

(Toronto/Montreal)
See what I wrote about Hey Rosetta? It was a very similar case with this record as again the artist has grown to insert just as much or more into their music but having it more nuanced such that it continues to reveal itself over a more sustained period of time. Once it clicked it was hard not to just keep spinning.

4

Against Me - Transgender Dysphoria Blues

(Florida)
One could be forgiven for thinking that all the hype around this album had to do with the primary subject matter of Transgender Dysphoria Blues - I did at first. Then I played this raw album and I played it again and again. Yes, the lyrics are striking and in many cases they bare it all but the music is aggressive and up to par.

5
Death From Above 1979 - The Physical World

(Toronto)
A long time coming! Now that can be a bad thing with anticipation and expectations and the like but not in this case. For the sake of transparency, I heard the whole thing all of twice before seeing it performed live in a badass free show in Toronto and that kickstarted my growing affection for this record. It's more polished than Woman/Machine and at times more dance/pop (whatever you want to call it) as many noted with lead single Trainwreck. Some use this as a criticism but not this amateur music blogger. I wish they could just come play it live every time instead of having to crank the record.

6
Beck - Morning Phase

(USA)
Sea Change has long been a staple of mine - any time I need to shut out the world, relax and/or get some sleep it has been a beautiful salve to the chaos around. Now a dozen years later, a Beck-described sister record arrives and it's gorgeous along the same scale. Lush and lovely, Mr. Hansen shows his qualifications in a multitude of genres and styles. I wouldn't object to the term genius.

7
Lowell - We Loved Her Dearly

(Toronto)
Seeing her play live before knowing she existed - the beauty of a good Basement Revue - I was immediately struck by the smart, electro-pop mixing with her dynamic voice. "I like this" I clearly thought, against the consensus of other friends. In fact, I saw her again at Field Trip and then Supercrawl before hearing more than the odd single on the radio (okay, by the time Supercrawl hit The Bells was an Indie 88 staple). When the album finally dropped I was familiar with a solid number of the tunes and the rest showed her musical background as she is able to craft a fully formed disc that encompasses many of her strengths, ranging from pure pop to earnest and quieter numbers. I'm just confused as to why she isn't getting the press that Grimes did. So much promise here!

8

Reuben and the Dark - Funeral Sky

(Alberta)

The guitars and the voices are swell and do swell from this Albertan group. Like a fine stout, it is very mature and full-bodied which is even more impressive considering it is their debut album. 

9 

Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else

(Cleveland)

For the longest time I knew nothing about the Nothings which ordinarily pushes an album right out of my Recently Added playlist and into the nether-regions of my music catalog yet for some reason I kept returning to this one instinctively. It hits hard and reverberates for a long time to come.

10

How To Dress Well - What Is This Heart?

(USA)

"Too soon" I thought with the release of this album. Why? Because I was still digging Total Loss from 2012 without realizing enough time had passed to make another gorgeous full-length and therefore on the first few listens I unfairly discredited it, only to come back around a couple months later. Perhaps another reason for this is that some of the strongest songs are tucked nearer the end as deeper cuts, Precious Love and Childhood Faith in Love at track 8 and 9 respectively.

Honourable Mention

Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy

(Ireland)

I bet that had this been released earlier in the year it would have earned an actual number. Years in the making, Damien has poured his heart and musical genius into this tender and unencumbered release. The emotion and beauty shine play after play.

Last year's list

Daniel Champage - Hillside 2014

Daniel Champagne was a part of a workshop on Friday night and was easily the best discovery of the evening, winning me over with his first of only a couple songs. Just him and his guitar - the tune had it all, quiet and loud with plenty of different percussion. Sure you've seen someone tap their guitar body before but not in the amazing assortment of ways that he did here. I was stunned and awed. His next song showed more of a lyrical bend rather than focusing on the antics but he can hold it down on both fronts. 

When Saturday rolled around his set had gone from a who?? to a must-see. Opening with that same song he showed off the wares but then kept the audience's rapt attention for the set. In the end it wasn't a surprise that the audience who had just witnessed budding greatness got to their feet in appreciation. 

Later in the weekend he played as part of a guitar workshop including fellow Australian Kim Churchill, who he had actually met coming up along the way, Danny Michel and Stephen Fearing. And though being a couple of juniors amongst renowned guitarists both him and Churchill more than held their own, earning the visible respect of a seemingly cool cucumber in Michel.

Rah Rah, Paper Lions - Horseshoe - Oct 23

Paper Lions

Although they were technically opening, Paper Lions played as if it was a headlining gig, both in length and effort. For nearly an hour they sampled tracks from throughout their catalog while their lead singer spoke in a very assured manner. And it sounded like it as well, bringing their pop-rooted indie rock all the way from PEI. Partway through all four of them took to the middle of the moderately full 'shoe floor and I passed the singer a stool so he could be seen while they presented a version of Polly Hill that featured simply their vocals and his acoustic guitar. Nearing the end of the set, after they'd clambered back on stage, they did a big ol' rendition of Strawberry Man before everyone but the singer departed and he gave a prolonged intro to Traveling, about their video going quietly viral, and then everyone returned to play it out. Surprisingly it was only the second to last tune as this set just kept on giving. Very generous.

Rah Rah
It seemed that Rah Rah, who have a solidified lineup, played the tunes they wanted to play for the first half of the set, including Betrayal Pt. 1 and Henry but also two brand new songs from the forthcoming LP tentatively scheduled for the spring. These were both danceable and may take a little familiarity but sounded promising. They did the anywhere-percussion of Beaches then 20s before the free-flowing second half kicked in which saw them with the more familiar instrument swap. This brought us Art and a Wife, First Kiss, and Duet.. but also the R A H balloons which seem like fun at first but become a distraction and then an annoyance until someone pops them. They shut it down with Prairie Girl which was great and left "one we haven't played in awhile" for their only encore, Arrows. Not a mind-blowing performance from this Saskatchewan band but another solid outing.

Burning Hell, Blimp Rock - Dakota - Oct 23

The Burning Hell

Somehow it was Mathias' first time in the Dakota and they even took the stage as the opening act of the early time slot. Using the excuse that a member was vacationing (in Spain, with his mother) he was accompanied by only Nick Ferrio on bass and Ariel Sharon on the plugged clarinet. As an introduction, Mathias played My Name is Mathias on his acoustic guitar and then they proceeded with mostly cuts from the latest full length, not reaching back overly far. One exception was a new tune about rapping that was followed by the song that inspired it, Amateur Rappers. A mid set story about a public washroom dilemma had everyone laughing but the smaller audience was already rapt and enjoying the shared smirks at the sly jokes hidden throughout. We earned a joke from Ariel and audience participation during the Amateur Rapper joke, plus a clarinet keynote in the finale. 

It was a grin-worthy night as usual that also included Kings of the Animal Kingdom and a singalong for Industrialists.

Blimp Rock
Blimp Rock are built on a joke premise but don't seem to be a joke band. I was surprised that they had the later set on the early Dakota bill with The Burning Hell but they were a fitting partner so it didn't much matter. The mixed-sex four piece included a female drummer who had at least two incorrect set lists that threw them for a loop while the lead singer threw down a little dance at one point. They played a likeable twee pop show to the majority of people who stuck around.

Allo Darlin' - Drake Underground - Nov 4

This seemingly unassuming band split out of England and Australia are so darn likable and their tunes are lovely as well. Although the leading lady, with her short cut and swooning voice is the focus, her bandmates are no slouches either. Bill, the bassist, is especially enjoyable to watch for the sheer joy it seems he has playing. With ease, charm, humility and humour they entertained with stories and road tales while tuning (which they said was boring but important, like taxes.. or foreplay).

They focused on new songs from the recently released We Come From The Same Place and although it was my first listen it proved that the new material is up to snuff. A particular standout from the new music was History Lessons, a softer number that deals with the past not being as perfect as recollections might make it out to be. Besides Dreaming, the first album didn't have much representation, no Silver Dollar or Kiss Your Lips(!), but a few from Europe, including the title track did make it onto the list. Bill offered vocals on a track while the song Paul sang on was a new fan favourite based on the rousing applause. Later in the set they hit Let's Go Swimming with the lady's guitar now swapped for uke following the midway point. A sincere encore call brought them out but just for a single song despite the pleas from a solid turnout to the Drake on a Tuesday. Running an hour and a quarter I couldn't see anyone being disappointed in their first Toronto gig since that 2011 El Mo show they fondly recalled.

San Fermin - Hillside Saturday 2014

Written by a college student studying music it kind of shows, but in a good way. The sounds on the album are big and thought out, incorporating plenty of brass and keys. To translate it live there was a large contingency up from New York representing. They projected the ideas very well, bringing them to life. The leading female vocalist was on and the brainchild also held his own in the vocals department. Being the lovely Hillside crowd that we are we made them feel appreciated by standing and grooving and cheering along.

The Kills - Field Trip (Sat June 7)

The Kills
A band who I really enjoyed one album of in the mid oughts, like a few other at this fest, I didn't know much about what to expect. Well it was a bit of a treat then to see the band being a male and female duo plus a contingency of back drummers (two male and two female) who all stood over their drum and beat it out. Even their movements were highly coordinated, not just for sound but for looks and style too. In the background was a leopard backdrop with changing colours to add to the effect. The female vocalists really pranced around the stage in her skinniest jeans like vixen with showy hair  blowing in the fans, while her cohort was badass too, often playing guitar. Some of the tracks had some prerecorded sounds as well but it was mostly the coordinated drumming that held the attention. They rightly joined them for a bow after the especially powerful No Wow.

Kevin Drew, Austra, Darcys, Reuben/Dark - Field Trip Saturday 2014 (June 7)

The Darcys
Catching most of their set it was.. a lot like their set that I've come to know. The dapper lads (one all in white) were playing their solid rock songs, Pretty Girls included while giving and getting some real Toronto love. They mixed some electronic drum into their tunes too and played us out with a slower synthy number that bordered on prog rock.

Megan Bonnell
On an acoustic guitar with curly hair she was backed by the standard electric guitar, bass and drums, plus backup singer. She had an Irish singing accent which makes the uneducated (me) go straight to the Cranberries. Only catching a couple tunes it was decent and her final track was upbeat as she sang "you are the one!"

Reuben and the Dark

Probably pretty obvious by now but that Reuben sure does have a great voice and it was coming through clear - really good sound off this stage. Only able to stick around for four songs, plus the bonus Rolling Stone that had Reuben climbing up on the drum set as I was walking away.

Austra
I remember being heartily disappointed in being out of town for Austra's big show after the release of Feel It Break and now I would finally got to check her, and the band out. As it turns out I needn't have been so broken up as despite her obviously far ranging vocals the live show was not that explosive. Really unfortunate was that by the time I arrived the lady, all in red, was packing up her keyboard which is what I would have liked to have seen. They played the songs, key/synth/rumbling bass/female drummer but without a real wow factor, and over some pre-recorded vocals that were another letdown. She had a funny squat dance while decked out in sunglasses but her voice was really the redeeming factor, especially on the Lose It remix and strong Beat and the Pulse.

Kevin Drew
His latest release, a first sans Broken Social Scene and not even with a 'BSS Presents..' label (but backed by 6 members including Spearin and others) had come out only days earlier but was an expectedly solid album. Here he got to showcase a good chunk of these new tunes to his friendly hometown audience. Ever the on-stage controlling master he made us get rid of the beach balls bopping around this welcome-to-summer festival - 'I don't dig beach balls' - and even voiced his discontent with a certain musical selection repeatedly made by the new local radio station (perhaps rightfully so, but still.) This was all during Body Butter and Good Sex. It really wasn't a huge surprise to anyone when Feist joined him halfway through his Zack Galifinakas featuring music video tune, You in Your Were. But once again when they lost their spot he made the whole band go back through the latter half of a song they'd just completed to get it right - "don't screw it up this time." He tried to roll with it, saying things like "messy" and "crazy" while smiling but was obviously not so impressed (especially with the techs sidestage). This was before the failed vocal loop where he decided to just keep going - "I'm getting beat up up here." This was before he ventured into the crowd for a ballad to Toronto. The outro to Mexican Aftershow Party really has a familiar feeling as he just keeps repeating it differently - not unlike It's All Gonna Break but without the massive crescendo. In the end he did some straight BSS with Fucked Up Kid which got cut off but at least it was done semi gracefully.

Basement Revue - Adelaide Hall (Dec 19/2013)

Note that this is from December 2013 but the excellently written draft was accidentally deleted and the drive to rewrite significantly waned. Memory may be a little fuzzy.

The big Basement Revue for this year fell short and it is hard to say exactly why though in all likelihood it was a combination. Firstly there were the expectations based on last year's Great Hall gig (Feist, Hayden, Snowblink, Aroara) which curator Jason Collett mentioned during his intro but seemed confident he would match. Then there was the change of venue which couldn't have been helped due to fire code capacity reduction at the original Great Hall but my first experience of Adelaide Hall left a lot to be desired. Firstly they force you to enter upstairs and then (since it's sold out and only the rail row can see from above) wind your way down a staircase plopping you literally backstage then up past a narrow avenue by the bar only to be stuck peering around poles or speakers. Speaking of the bar - no draft and just mediocre can selection! 

Back to the show though - after Collett's introductory tune it started well enough with two beloved Toronto acts sharing the stage. Margaret Atwood read while the Sadies strummed their instruments in the background. Her stories were rather interesting, especially the one where a bear gave up his name 'bear' and everything went backwards, unraveling as it went.

Up next was Rae Spoon who I really do enjoy. It was a solo performance which meant it was a bit sparse, especially for the large crowd packed in with high expectations but an artist I've enjoyed for a long time so it was great to get a chance to witness the performance live. Love is a Hunter was a notable tune.

Tabitha, a poet of sorts with iconic hair, then came on and told a few stories including an interesting one about how a limp.

Following this was a performance by the Guerilla Girls that is difficult to pin down. Essentially it was women with gorilla heads on dancing around with a distinct feminist feel from the words and video being shown. At first I thought it was a wardrobe malfunction that had them naked but by the end they were naked of their own accord. Odd but pushing the envelope.

Lowell was an artist I'd never heard of before but was introduced as a new addition to the Arts and Crafts label which carries some clout. Fronting a couple guys primarily making the music it the made slightly electo-pop which was catchy and sounded really good immediately as she sang and performed, giving hints of early Grimes.

Aroara were next in line which was a bit of a rehash of last year however if last year was their coming out show, after mild success all year this should have been a celebration. Unfortunately they were paired with a feminist poet who did spoken word. There was some underlying project I no longer remember but essentially this lady droned on for a terribly long time and even Aroara couldn't prop it up. Mind you Ariel and Andrew seemed to be very into it but I definitely wasn't.

To cap the night off should have been a hugely fun party with all that pent up energy from frankly a low-key event to this point and perhaps that was why Light Fires did receive a big response. A big response considering Gentlelady Regina is a standard in the Toronto scene, playing fairly regularly and hence not exactly being a huge cameo surprise. She can really strut it in those heels and belted it out while doing it which was entertaining no doubt but still somewhat underwhelming for what should have been a climax of an overall dull evening.

Hey Rosetta/Royal Canoe workshop - Hillside Sunday (July 27/14)

There's a possibility for greatness with every workshop. Putting two or three competent groups of musicians together to see what happens has the potential for greatness, yet often falls flat without cultivation. This set did have a great deal of thought put into it as apparently Hey Rosetta and Royal Canoe had burned up each other's inboxes as they narrowed down what they would do. Twitter had tipped it off but off the top of the set it seemed like the tweet had been a ruse since they were going back and forth, just assisting on the other's tunes like a pretty standard workshop. Then it began, as they all took their places and broke into it - Abbey Road,side B. It may not have been note for note, and wasn't mean to be, but had obviously been rehearsed. As it went on, without stopping, the swelling of good vibes grew. Somehow people were still seated partway through until finally a few in the crowd couldn't bear it anymore and jumped up - everyone else followed. It was rousing and uplifting and by the time it wound to a close there were grins on faces all around. The frontmen, Tim Baker and Matt Peters, realizing there were still a few minutes left after they had finished and walked off to thunderous applause, hopped back up. I was hoping for the beloved Hey Rosetta Graceland cover but instead it was another short, silly cover that almost would have been better skipped as Abbey Road was tough to beat.

Alvvays, Hydra - Hillside Fri (July 25/14)

Alvvays
In the time since I last saw this band, when the first hints of buzz were beginning, that buzz has grown to a roaring chainsaw! As you can tell I was less than enthused by the first listen to their gazy music but having heard the recordings now, and curious to see if I'd just missed something, I joined the throng of others who had heard the praise too. It was a definite improvement as Molly had more of a stage presence and Alec didn't appear quite as bummed but at the risk of sounding like a hipster I still don't know that all the hype is warranted. They saved Archie, Marry Me, the first single, for the end because people were already paying attention.

Hydra
That first showing in the Great Hall seemed like such a treat to have the vocal prowess of three terribly talented females singing together in harmony. It definitely seemed as if they had hit on greatness. Now a year and a half later the group has solidified, employing both Aroara and Snowblink's male counterparts in music and life, (plus Charles Spearin and Dan Kerr (drums) for this show) and beginning to play a little more regularly. In the two sets this summer however it has felt as if the magic was stretched a little too thin over a full set and I found myself cherry picking certain songs over others. I have found Snowblink rather mundane live and the same rings true even with Feist singing backups. Speaking of, the Feist songs (Bad in Each Other, How Come You Never Go There) are enjoyable but there is a great deal of her catalog that could be put to better use given this firepower. The Aroara songs however spring to life, which may be my bias as I prefer them performed by Aroara too over the others. Maybe it just boils down to expectations because the Antony and the Johnsons cover also wasn't anything special however what they did after the set was. Hillside is usually quite punctual and therefore does not allow encores, yet somehow most of the people were already out of the tent when they came back out for a raucous, short rendition of Immigrant Song that was nothing like anything in the actual set (and I don't just mean great).

The Cure - Riot Fest Toronto (Sep 6)

The Cure were the headliners on Saturday night which made sense to a degree, considering how many "throwback" bands were playing. I've never personally taken much notice but so many bands made mention of this set that I figured the least I could do was stick around and check it out. The five of them - electric guitar, bass, keys, drum plus Robert Smith on guitar - are still hard hitting and have some fine guitar work. Much of the set was lost on me, especially from the back, but I did recognize and enjoy Just Like Heaven and Love Song, of course. I was waiting for Friday I'm In Love however they had nearly a 2 hour timeslot and they just couldn't maintain my attention for that long and I split an hour in.

Death From Above 1979 - Riot Fest (Sep 6)

Sure I'd just seen them with only 200 hardcore fans a few nights prior but that didn't mean I was going to miss another chance to check out their show. After all they disbanded for nearly a decade so you gotta take it when you still can! The stage set-up, the clothes and the band (yep, still no guitarist) was all very similar but the setting was thousands of extremely excited fans as dusk fell on the first afternoon of Riot Fest Toronto. Once more they opened with a 'classic', Turn It Out, from their only album released to that point, as Physical World, from which they would pull much of the rest of the list wouldn't drop until Tuesday. Again they followed up with Frankenstein and Virgins but from their things diverged from the previous show to some degree with different Woman/Machine tossed in (including You're a Woman, I'm a Machine) and playing every single new cut. This included Gemini which Sebastien dedicated to his wife for their anniversary, saying "this is very un-rock and roll", which it really was. Besides that the set did rock, adding Go Home, Get Down (but not Black History Month or Pull Out). The crowd felt like they'd been waiting for this show for years, rightly so, and were giving it their all up front - Romantic Rights dropped right as someone yelled for it and the sea of people soared with it. The backing tracks triggered by the electronic drumset were a little more pronounced as Sebastian messed around with them a bit. Once again the set closer was the title track and album closer, Physical World, and it fits really well with that final burst at the end to lay it all out. Right On.

Reuben and the Dark - TIFF (Sep 5)

Oddly the security wouldn't let us off the street and into the parking lot while they sound checked for a half hour after they should have been playing. Finally the couple dozen of us entered and as they began playing more were drawn in from the TIFF walking street. The band sounded good, booming their drums with cotton ball tipped sticks, under their conventional indie band instruments. Reuben strummed an acoustic guitar for much of the set but also utilized his strong voice without instrumentation in more than a few cases. They were all mic'ed, including the lone female who also played guitar. Nearing the end of the short set they broke out a couple of the more bombastic tracks and really got things going, swapping in a banjo on Rolling Stone but unfortunately, as they were already running behind, this set that the band came from Calgary to play was limited to well under a half hour.

Tegan and Sara - Hillside Friday (July 25/14)

Tegan and Sara were headlining the main stage Friday night. I was excited to see them for the first time live, especially following the release of their recent album. Thing was I had seen them before and just didn't remember which doesn't bode well. I was expecting a polished show due to the last release but things were so squeaky there wasn't much room for anything interesting. Yes, they broke out their guitars and they sang some older songs and they chatted with the crowd to show their personality, but were still missing.. je ne sais quoi. Speaking of speaking, the flow was drastically interrupted as Sara meandered on and on about her camping experience, to the point where we thought surely it was a joke. Tegan even jumped in to try and get the derailment back on track but Sara persisted and in the end all she ended up doing was insulting the majority of attendees as her point, best as I could interpret, was that she no longer likes to camp. Later she coerced Tegan into reading the lyrics, kindly written out by a fan, of a song that she had written in high school that she was clearly embarrassed of and had no desire to sing. This also broke up the flow. Overall they sounded fine and they covered a good selection of songs both very new and very old but never really broke across.

Back in Your Head

The Con

Walking with a Ghost

Now I'm All Messed Up

Call It Off

How Come You Don't Want Me

My Love Opened The Door (Pete Townshend cover)

Closer (Finale)

Rich Aucoin, Maylee Todd - TIFF (Sep 4)

Maylee Todd
Sure I may have originally lined up for the double whammy of Hollerado and Born Ruffians but the 600 nineteen-year-olds and the pop bottle it was to be played in put me off, not to mention I was sorta leaning Rich anyhow. Maylee Todd was partway through her set by the time the third TIFF volunteer finally knew what we were talking about "music? This is a film festival." With her still-shaved head she did her best as a hype woman to the smattering of people involved, even having people dance an imaginary red carpet. The tunes were similar to her Field Trip set though the emphasis seemed to be on the good times rather than the music.

Rich Aucoin
Rich's shows have always been that way (good times over music), though his last album, We're All Dying to Live (2011, really?) proved that doesn't need to be the case. With the competent crew on stage, his brother on bass, Taylor Knox in his 43rd group on drums, and the Rubblebucket-shirt on synths and keys you would expect no less. Fighting the technics he just kept motoring in intro and having us scream Maylee Todd's name in appreciation until he got his audio to play with his video. From there we experienced his signature multimedia experience. Despite the release of Ephemeral, live standards such as Four More Years, Are You Experiencing and more, persist and rightly so. He did finagle most of the crowd, and even some passerbyers to join our tight knit circle for some cheers, some high fives and yelling into the mic. On one tune we formed a circle around him while he went around and made people's day with individual attention before we all raced to the center of the circle to pogo and yell the pre-taught chorus as loud as we could. A new and possibly unscripted element was when a swarm of dudes dressed in white and wearing bowler caps jumped over the stage barrier and began moshing around with each other and Rich himself who either invited them or was a great sport about it. Of course, the will-he or won't-he question is always about the parachute and sure enough he brought it. A huge one! Surely this has grown in recent years (maybe he's been quilting) and fit everyone who wanted to be under it, including Maylee Todd (the yelling must have worked) and her entire dance crew, plus - who is that dude across the chute? - none other than Mr. Jason Collett. As a friend said, "I don't go to church but a Rich Aucoin show always raises my spirits as if it's my religion." Amen.

Lowell - Supercrawl (Sep 12)

Being the lead off band at a street festival that has barely begun isn't the easiest slot but Lowell didn't seem phased. In fact the leading lady could be spotted smiling and smirking throughout her perky pop set in front of her backing fellas. The first tune layered the vocals on and moved slow but sounded lovely before they laid down the pop. Dancing in bare feet Lowell sang out Cloud 69 and then her first single from the released-next-week We Loved Her Dearly, The Bells, a bright song like her hot pink backwards hat that saw her both laying on the stage and emitting her signature screech. Hitting on the live go-tos she carried on with I Love You Money, a cheeky tune to match her cheek decorations. Bidding Summer goodbye on this fresh evening in song brought us to the clap along of Palm Trees before finishing out with the only tune not from next week's release - Kids - another live fave that had the leading lady climb down off the stage, up over the barrier and wrapping her arms around front row fans.

Arkells, Harlan Pepper, Beaches, Dead Tired - Supercrawl (Sep 12)

Arkells
I didn’t exactly make the trek to Hamilton because I wanted to see a certain new song or a particular sequence and that was good because the set highly resembled that of Riverfest, Elora from a few weeks back – right down to the new year’s resolution piano solo. The reason I came was to see the hometown boys, the proudest ever Hamiltonian’s, rock the biggest festival of their fair city. Rock they did, and the crowd came out in droves, jamming (around) Jackson Square and anywhere nearby (even caving in an unfortunately placed van’s roof) to get a glimpse of the Hamilton heroes. Max, speaking for the group, was honoured by the opportunity and had a lot of shout outs and local references to make both through banter and in song, such as pointing out the payphone referenced in Leather Jacket. Starting similarly, with the two High Noon opening tracks before busting out an old one, they managed to mix in a bunch of new with a lot of classics in their hour+ set. They did include 11:11 at 11:11pm no less, which was a notable omission previously. A bummer was that they sucked so much energy in the beginning that they actually cut the speaker system early on, yet continued to play into their monitors. This took a song or two for the technicians to work out – apparently needing to pull from the light grid as the next few tunes were played in the darkness. But by mid-set the technical difficulties were behind them and the Arkells could hit their stride. Plenty of buy-in meant clap-alongs and shout-it-outs galore as there wasn’t much free space for dancing. To close out they Rock(ed) the Casbah, a nod to the venerable local music hall, and a tune that fits their catalog and keys quite well before one of their most Hamilton-proud songs, Cynical Bastards. Not to let us down they returned for a post-midnight encore which blasted Whistleblower before throwing it back to their debut with a singalong on John Lennon. Somehow this morphed into Iggy’s Fancy to the delight of the drunken high schoolers, and wound through a lengthy list of thank-you’s, before closing out in rock. Worth the trip!

Harlan Pepper
In my head it seems that Harlan Pepper dropped out of high school to make music seriously. And by this I mean smoke pot and jam a lot. This because they are young lads that I have consistently seen pulling their weight behind their seemingly large instruments in Toronto, and now Hamilton, for the past five years, and their musicianship is extremely high. The vibes are still throwback with a nod to old school guitar work and psychedelia. They seem comfortable on stage and were playing mostly unfamiliar music compared to the last few times. Bob Dylan’s secret grandson (a dead ringer anyhow) took up the keys for a few track before switching back to the guitar. Seems like they’ve got more than a few more puffs to take as the end is nowhere in sight.

Dead Tired admitted to being the odd one out at this festival, not because they aren't from Hamilton – they are – but because they are playing screaming hardcore. What else would you expect from George Pettit, the former lead vocalist of Alexisonfire? The five of them played their instruments quickly and savagely, except George who did the same with his voice that was definitely screaming but not completely raa-raa. Despite this, the size of the crowd was surprisingly big and they even had a mini pit going with a few teenagers up front.

The Beaches are a four piece all-girl outfit from, I believe, The Beaches, Toronto. Despite being not even a couple decades old they have a comfortable stage presence and can all handle their instruments. This allows them to craft a rock and roll set styled over with punk, even adding elements of surfabilly and 80’s synths. I shouldn't have been as pleasantly surprised seeing as they'd played the Rebel stage at Riot Fest this past weekend.

Blue Rodeo, Serena Ryder, Odd Years - Riverfest (Aug 23)

Blue Rodeo

The epitome of Canadiana (alongside The Tragically Hip alone) and they are still wowing with their performances. Almost nonstop for well over an hour they mixed in all sorts of tunes, both beloved (5 Days in May) and new (New Morning Sun, Mattawa) - and even the new stuff sounds beyond good. Their lasting power definitely has to do with the shared songwriting, primarily provided by Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, as each has written definitive classics and performs them magnificently. It was really stunning to watch up close, and they've surrounded themselves with the finest musicians on offer too - writing and selecting songs that showcase those talents by including pedal steel, drum, and piano solos (Disappear) galore. Jim performed his own mini piano solo, but Greg also got a few moments in the limelight (Diamond Mine, Rose-coloured Glasses). The crowd had it's chance to shine by singing along to Hasn't Hit Me Yet before the encore. Try had to be one of the standouts among great songs all night but as it should it all came down to Lost Together in the end. As previously they've allowed guests to share the stage and have a go at the vocals (Wayne Petti - Vancouver Olympics, Cuff the Duke - Amphitheatre) this time they invited Jadea Kelly and Dan Mangan himself (his bandmates could be seen grinning sidestage cheering him along too!). Jadea just harmonized but Dan went a step further and utilized his sandpaper voice for the second verse which was really neat to see. But it wasn't like the rest of us were left out, we all had the opportunity to sing it out together into the Elora night.

Odd Years
While sitting at the back just listening to Odd Years after the mind-stretching Dan Mangan set I didn't realize that there was a contemporary Guelph indie rock supergroup playing, but it did sound like it so I moved my lazy ass into the tent. Perhaps because of their combined experience the sonic territory they covered from song to song was incredible. At first I was going to peg them as a folk group, borrowing elements from this night's headliners, Blue Rodeo. Then on the very next song they would change it up with a bluesy number and then an indie rock tune (and even some Super Mario music from the keyboard.) Regardless of the genre they were consummate musicians and with a deeper Beatles cover they had people, both young and old, dancing in the tent. Only afterwards when I went to get their album, inspired as I was, did I realize that their ranks include members of Cuff the Duke, Minotaurs, and Lowlands.

Serena Ryder
Serena Ryder has never been anyone I've called myself a fan of but I don't mind her from what I've heard. That being said, I didn't feel the necessity to watch all 60 minutes of her but only felt the rumble in my belly. I suppose this isn't the place to complain about the "No Outside Food" policy with very limited (and then sold out) vegan options but as you can imagine I was a little perturbed when I returned for the end of the set. Rather than fight the crowd we hung out partway back which showed just how into her the patrons were. Even in the limited five songs she showed off her vocals, sultry at times, and guitar work, as well as the solid work of her multicultural band with their big drums. The Sharon, Lois and Bram-esque actions to the one song were rather obnoxious but it proved how she had the crowd eating out of her hand even before Stompa and that bank commercial song (What I Wouldn't Do).

Operators, How to Dress Well, Spoon, Kevin Drew, Eight and a Half - Supercrawl Saturday (Sep 13/14)

Eight and A Half

This trio who has been quiet for some time entertained with primarily new music. It was the same chilled-out, synthy stuff that they hawked on their first disc. With fellow BSS members Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin taking it in from the street in the early afternoon they swirled the music out as the rain began to fall later into the set. This is when the old single Go Ego emerged before they finished with a Stills song that lead vocalist explained they felt okay with considering two of their members came from the now defunct project.

Operators

With the music still being hard to come by the Operators set was attended by those who had likely heard the first single and were taking it on faith that Dan Boeckner would be producing something as worthwhile as his past endeavours. As it turns out, this is a safe bet. Alongside three other musicians, including Sam Brown on drums (including some electronic drums too) and Devojka playing the keys and synths, and the bass player (whose name I missed), Dan inserts his unique howl while occasionally playing guitar and effects from his board - sometimes all three on one track. The music being made is less aggressive than his Handsome Furs output but maintains a likeable familiarity while focusing on the dance, what with all the fun synths provided by the sequined Devojka. "We're more of a night-time band," she quipped, "I don't even want to see those photos you're taking - I probably look like I'm from Ru Paul's drag race." She spoke almost as much as Dan, but the energy from the whole band seemed to be positive as they said they were glad to be back in Canada and at the end of a tour. The most readily available song, True, was a standout before they closed with a tune about going home.

How To Dress Well

Based on the appearance of How To Dress Well it might lead one to believe that the set wasn't going to be much. Tom did not evoke the title of the band in his sweats, often ringing his t-shirt up with his hands to reveal his waistband and stomach between singing into one of his two mics, or often both at the same time. His primary took his definitive falsetto while the secondary ran his voice through effects which he used well. It was his earnestness, plus the lush beauty of the music that made the difference. With a drummer, and a pair of British Columbians ("we're a band from North America") - the male playing violin and guitar, the female keys and synths, they really did make the music swirl when the time was right such as on Set It Right and Words I Don't Remember. The banter was also out-there, not saying a whole lot but doing it with affectation. With the attention given by the audience they played Suicide Dream over piano and violin which was slow and haunting but very, very strong. On other tracks, such as Precious Love. it was a fairly obvious exhibition of Tom channelling his inner MJ through his vocals. On the whole it was almost surprising just how engaging and entertaining the set was. I would be more than happy to watch it again, probably in a darkened bar setting which might be more appropriate.

Kevin Drew
Kevin himself said that this was basically Broken Social Scene, including Justin Peroff and Charles Spearin among others but missing a few members too, as the six musicians playing with him came in and out, swapping instruments and positions, even drums (there were 3 drummers) depending on the song. Out of the gates were a few from the recent fully solo release, Darlings, starting with Mexican Aftershow Party, but also mixing in Spirit If's Backed Out on the.. before returning to You In Your Were, Body Butter and Good Sex. Kevin obviously doesn't shy away from taboo material and gave a shout out to his parents in the same set as playing Fucked Up Kid. Seemingly slightly agitated with the sound crew (when isn't Drew fighting something on stage?) he provided an acoustic intro before launching Safety Blitz with the band. Then we got some BSS treats - Lovers Spit with just the piano, trying to get us to sing along to a new version of a song, then a KC Accidental instrumental (not the BSS song but a demo that he remarked had been sent to Hamilton's Sonic Unyon back in the .. 90's) that Spearin needed to be retaught on the fly. They jammed out on Frightening Lives to close down the band's set and leave Kevin to do a fully acoustic rendition of Superconnected which was a great way to finish out.

Spoon

Hailing from Austin, Spoon have been at it for a long while now. With the streets full, but not nearly as jammed as the hometown Arkells the previous night, they played from across their back catalog. Britt Daniel's voice is the signature of the band but the five-piece's strong use of shakers, tambourines and the like were standout in the live setting - even drumming with a maraca! There were a few keyboards set up throughout the stage as their sound morphed from song to song - sometimes Britt would drop his mic after a lyric to run across the stage and take up post at the piano. The bass player also comically crossed the stage one time just to abruptly stop a cymbal. The identifiable groove of I Turn My Camera On was extended in a long intro before they dropped the tune as part of their slightly-less-than-an-hour set. This wasn't a problem though as they returned with a generous four-song encore, opening with the strong Knock Knock Knock from their equally strong recent return release, They Want My Soul. Too bad they didn't pull out more Gimme Fiction (Sister Jack, Monsieur Valentine would have been appreciated) but they did close with some strong bass lines and The Underdog in finale.

Mounties, Rubblebuck, NFG, + - Riot Fest Saturday (Sept 6/14)

Mounties
It seems that people have tired of Hot Hot Heat, or maybe HHH got tired of their own sound, either way Steve Bays seems to have found a new outlet for that unique voice of his. Much is made of this being a Canadian supergroup, so there was Hawksley Workman with his raised kit right up front of the stage, plus Ryan Dahle (Limblifter). But there was also a guy manning the tickle trunk, a literal chest stood on its side marked with Mounties on it and full of shakers 'n things, plus a rover who sometimes shook something or strummed something too. As a relatively recent formation they have only the one release to draw from and opened with album opener, Pretty Respectable. Steve bounded around the stage under his carrot-top-like mop, doing a full lap or two and showily juggling his mic (and once embarrassingly dropping it). When he did have keys to play they were usually rocked one way or the other. Hawksley wanted some time in the spotlight too though and held lead vocals while drumming on a few tunes. As an early afternoon set their time was limited, and by the time they all chimed in on the banter (you can see where the playful creativity comes in with this crew), they were rushed to fit it all in. Of course they hit on this summer's release Tokyo Summer, and the very HHH chorus of If This Dance Catches On. We all got hooked on the teaser release Headphones though so that was the natural closer. And close it did fully - then after Workman had already packed up and walked off the rest of the crew started back into it to the point where Hawksley jumped back onto the drums despite the repeated cut sign from the stage crew and they jammed out for another minute or two.

Rubblebucket

The Brooklyn septet had driven up for the show and were in party mode, as per usual. Led by their close-cropped lead female singer it is the bombastic brass duo who push the sound, not to mention their ostentatious choreographed dance moves. Being on the up and up most of the crowd probably wasn't overly familiar with their music, especially the album that was just dropped, but that didn't stop them from amping it up. Came out of a Lady was a hit at Hillside and same goes with Riot Fest. The mini parachute that they carried through the crowd while playing and singing certainly helps draw attention. Once back onstage the pink (vagina?) flower mascot could have been more playful but was certainly a sight in itself. To close out they did pay for love.

New Found Glory

NFG? Yeah, "no fucking good" - or so the old joke goes. In reality though these guys were a-ok. They have made a living on pure pop punk and show no signs of slowing as the three members up front stalked the entire stage in front of their drummer. This meant the music perhaps wasn't the tightest as they ran around but the energy was certainly there. They did Better Off Dead and then on Hit or Miss the singer stuck the mic into a bunch of fans faces to prove that his voice actually isn't that annoying, relatively speaking. In closing they hit on another old favourite, My Friends Over You which again saw only about half the lyrics sang but this many years into the game I'd be sick of singing the same tune too.

Bad Suns were four young people with a slightly grungy garage edge to their lighter indie rock. Despite not providing much banter the lead singer appeared vibrant while singing over their playing and the backing drum track.

Glassjaw had a very clear, loud sound that wasn't as aggressive as I thought/remembered, for the short time that I watched them The appearance of their skinny, bald, brown bass player stood out for this festival and genre but he sure knew how to play.

National, City and Colour - Riot Fest Sunday (Sept 7/14)

City and Colour

Dallas spoke about how he nearly turned down this 'punk festival' but then thought better of it 'punk is doing what you wanna do' and so here he was shutting the whole thing down Sunday night. As per usual as soon as he strolled out to a great R&B Soul II Soul song with his four-piece backing band, including key/pedal steel player, all that could be seen from the crowd were thousands of tiny glowing screens. Unfortunately he didn't rip into people which is usually the most fun of his show. In fact there wasn't too much banter as the set started quite lighter - especially after that intro song only for them to launch into a super slow opening track. The start of the set was more C&C of yesteryear than the rock-leaning version that has been seen of late. One of the first half highlights was the Grand Optimist as in the darkness the smoke show really worked in the spotlights. He also took Coming Home down in tempo, not that it bothered the drunk girl trying to sing and wave along at album speed. That song, as with many others, proved some great electric guitar work especially from his band members. The Girl bordered on country before they began bringing the rock back around in the latter half. A cover of Thrush Hermit's The Day We Hit the Coast, voluntarily assisted by "the hippie from Moneen," stuck with that trend as Green declared it one of his favourite Canadian songs by one of his favourite Canadian bands. Their final song was a long, meandering tune that didn't exactly elicit encore enthusiasm but it was a foregone conclusion with 15 minutes remaining. The disappointment in the encore wasn't simply that it did not contain a lightly speculated but highly unlikely Alexisonfire reunion (Jordan Hastings, drummer, at least, was on hand with Say Yes) but also that it consisted of only one song. Not only that but Dallas admitted it was probably not the popular choice, instead that it was his favourite and played Two Coins. Is that punk rock or poor showmanship?

The National
Warning, what you're about to read can't be unread.

Recently I heard Matt Berninger describe his lyric writing style as sitting down with music provided by his band and just working words to it until he came up with a song. I think this has ruined The National for me. Yes they make some epic indie tunes but just knowing the lyrics are the actual nonsense that they seem irks me now - I was much happier thinking there was some deeper obscure meaning. Sorry if this has the same effect on you.

That being said I went to check their set as day turned to night which was beneficial for their large projection screen not unlike the Flaming Lips from the night before. This displayed distorted live feeds from cameras set in all sorts of places around the stage showing the seven-piece, including a two-piece brass section. The setlist was a decent selection, drawing early on a lot of Trouble Will Find Me material which is well received like opener Don't Swallow the Cap, as well as I Should Live in Salt, Sea of Love (with harmonica), and I Need My Girl. For the last in that list the guitarist, while wearing a guitar around his shoulders held another by the butt end and tapped the end against the stage to make that reverberating sound. Matt seemed to lose it for a minute as he closed out Graceless and was knocking the microphone heartily off of his own head. They did touch on some older material including Ada, Bloodbuzz, plus the brash brass on Fake Empire, along with double raised guitars at its end. Speaking of ending, Mr.November is a gimme in the set and saw Matt enter the crowd and seemingly lose mic connection as the latter half of the song was taken over by his backing band and the crowd crooning along. After that, the final song, was Terrible Love which had him really stretching the cord as he came deep into the crowd - right up to me and I hadn't really pushed in, crowd surfing for a bit of it too. Oh Matt, up to your old shenanigans again.

Death From Above 1979 - Secret Show - Queen Street Toronto (September 3, 2014)

If you're going to fit in while waiting a few hours for a DFA79 concert you'd better bring a carton of cigarettes. Twitter blazed with news of a pop-up shop this morning which immediately sparked secret show rumours which didn't take long after it opened at 10am to be confirmed. The shop itself had a collection of prints, tees and tats (real, for free) for each of the new tunes but disappointingly not the album itself meaning the day(s, tomorrow too) wouldn't have been anything without the gig. Ducking out of work early was a key strategy for fans as even at 5:30pm there was already a short line since the crew had turned it out until 6. Tardily after that they allowed wristbanded patrons first access before slowly letting a trickle of unbanded fans from the line, myself among them, around 6:30. The downer was the set didn't start til 9 which is where the butts come in handy.

Finally 9pm rolled around and the smoke rolled out - more on that later - and anticipation grew for the duo who would finally show their hometown a little special love. Worries of a new-material-only, in-store-special show were dispelled from the start as they dug right into Cold War. As always Sebastien Grainger held down the vocals while simultaneously giving his clear drum kit his all in white overalls. In contrast Jesse Keeler donned all black, with a hog belt buckle behind his transparent bass which emanated the thick bass lines all night as they performed much of The Physical World. With Right On, Frankenstein! they introduced us and carried on with Virgins before resorting back to Turn It Up which did just that - the pit finally broke out from the few restless souls who had been pent up in this lot for three hours. The keyboard and electronic drum patch were both on stage but neither was noticeably utilized as they stuck to rocking their bass and drum standards.

First single Trainwreck 1979 played as well live as it has been over the local Indie88 airwaves which meant that people were already yelling along, probably louder than Jesse's low mic but maybe not as strong as the occasional screech of (unintentional) feedback. One of the initial strongest new tracks, Crystal Ball, aptly followed before a Woman/Machine break. If Going Steady got the moshing started again then Little Girl set it off - small but energetic! It was not all that surprising that following this there was a warning that they were getting shut down. Earlier Jesse had thanked the neighbours as he remarked that he used to live a couple doors down and would have been peeved had this been happening.. and then the two shrugged and muttered "what's the point if we don't.." before launching back into the second leaked tune, Government Trash. As if in penance they gave us a "slow jam," asking if we'd like to pair off and then played White Is Red which did cool the warm, end-of-summer night a degree. That reprieve would not last long as they tore up the night again with Romantic Rights. Without warning at the close of Always On the two departed.

Sure we'd had more than the perfunctory five songs but if you're going to haul out a stage, crew, lights, security (and by this point a fire truck had arrived), not to mention hundreds of rabid fans at the last minute, you're not going to stop at that. Our "DFA" chants spurred the pair back on stage where they reported that it hadn't been that they were getting shut down but.. they'd set the fire alarm off in the apartment next door! With nary another word they closed out the gig just as they close out the new record, with the deliberate beat of the title track, The Physical World. Seb waved and walked while Jesse set the feedback through his pedal and also turned to go. The crowd just cheered on a welcome return and reintroduction from these massively missed locals.

Cold War
Right On, Frankenstein!
Virgins
Turn It Up
Trainwreck 1979
Crystal Ball
Going Steady
Little Girl
(Shutting down discussion)
Government Trash
White Is Red
Romantic Rights
Always On

The Physical World

9pm-9:50pm

Dan Mangan, Elliott Brood - Riverfest (Sat Aug 23)

Jadea Kelly had very nice vocals for laying in the grass near the tent.

Elliott Brood
As the black-clad Young Galaxy had joked earlier they had lost the coin toss with Elliott Brood to see who got to wear white so the trifecta came onstage (early due to a botched intro by the awful MC) blanc top to bottom. Rather than get right into it they opened slower but next got into the favourites with Oh, Alberta (but no If I Get Old). As this was a folk fest you think people would be getting down but perhaps put off by the couple new tracks from the forthcoming record it wasn't all-encompassing buy-in, though the folks from Windsor seemed to enjoy it, earning a special shout-out ironically before Northern Air. When they decided to The Valley Town the folks were coming around and reinstating the old tradition of passing out pans and wooden spoons the lucky bunch got to bang along to the set-ender Write It All Down for You.

Dan Mangan
Always a pleasure to see you Dan but this time around there was a sense of anticipation - I know you're done the album so give us a listen already! Blacksmith, the newly christened five-piece backing band including violin and horn, did their part as Dan sang into each of his two mics opening with Oh Fortune and 'classic' Road Regrets. Then we had it, a first glimpse of the much-anticipated new record via a song entitled Mouthpiece. Whereas after the last record came out things like "departure" and "giant leap forward" were batted around this song seems like a fitting follow-up to the grand sound of Oh, Fortune as it was musically thick, featuring a healthy dollop of violin, and self-proclaimed "the wordiest song yet." Later in the set was another new song that sang something like 'forget real life and dwell' and was less Postwar Blues and more Leaves, Trees, Forest (both of which were played this show.) On Blues the instrumental lead-in, despite a couple technical difficulties, built and built until it was a recognizable swell the song tore up although not quite to the degree that it has before in its unbridled live incarnation. Following this onslaught Blacksmith temporarily excused themselves so Dan could win over any remaining crowd talkers with beautiful Basket. Upon their return they played Starts with Them.. before the second new track and Leaves along with its extended outro. This outro carried on and on until you could make out Robots which was the natural singalong that it is. I suspected this would be the finale, as has been the case so many times before, but an emboldened Dan blew through the 2 minute warning and began Rows of Houses. Who was going to stop him? It was another impressive song and something that would have been lacking had they cut it. Nobody on stage seemed too concerned about running over as Dan left Blacksmith behind to take their time and finish the song properly. Totally worth a hand slap.

Young Galaxy (Final set with bassist) - Riverfest Elora (Sat Aug 23)

Young Galaxy
This was the set that I have been waiting for from Young Galaxy. Since I've known them they have made beautiful synthy records and then cranked their live shows to drum-blowing 11's and attempted to overpower with noise. What gives? Well this Saturday afternoon, as the weather attempted a turn to the sun, I finally got what I was after. And it was just in time too, as they would reveal, but not until prior to the last song, that this would be their parting show with their bassist, Stephen Kemp, after some eight years of faithful allegiance. If I hadn't seen this I would have thought he was the one to pin the loudness on!

Beginning with Peripheral Visionaries their visibly pregnant front lady, Catharine McCandless, sang it out with her emotive posturing and alongside her lead male counterpart, Stephen Ramsay, they carried into other favourites Cover Your Tracks and Pretty Boy. Without knowing what was on the go I noticed that Kemp was rather charismatic and flashing smiles with bandmates. Exchanging broad grins with their female drummer, Andrea Silver, he also had a bit of a showdown with Ramsay and was flashing smiles all around. Not only did they all seem to be playing for the moment but the setlist was also great such as In Fire, New Summer and a certain set highlight, the clapalong on Fall for You. When they did make the announcement the emotions got the best of a few of them as a couple of tears were shed, extending the intro until Catharine could compose herself to sing the lyrics. During the appropriately-titled closer We Have Everything Stephen and Stephen got together again and in the process displaced the guitarist's sunglasses which he promptly tossed to the stage. That was nothing though, as visibly overwhelmed while the last note hung in the amp he lightly tossed his guitar and turned to exit the stage before crashed. The feedback hung, as did the instant nostalgia, in this expectation-defying lovely summer set and fitting goodbye.

Arkells, Bahamas, Strumbellas, Kim Churchill, Charles Bradley - Riverfest Friday - (Aug 22/14)

Strumbellas

Running up to the stage, for lineups had delayed our entrance since the strum of the first notes, we managed to dance and hoedown for the final four songs or so. With the heat it was shocking that all members were still wearing shirts, including Dave's emblazoned with his face reading 'Straight outta Toronto!' The aforementioned heat from the sun blazing down on the band didn't keep them from leading a fun show including a Sailing singalong led by Simon and Dave pitting the audience against one another. Would have been nice to dance and not just listen to the whole set but with the likes of Sheriff and Home Sweet Home it was a great start to the weekend fest.

Bahamas

Afie seems to feed off the adoration which is great when he gets it, but without it he can come across as downright sour. Being a late addition to a lawnchair festival doesn't assure you of a loving crowd and the reality was that many people were chatty even while standing near the main stage. With his fellow guitarist and just one female backing vocalist this time, plus his drummer - all of whom outwardly appeared nearly as miserable as Afie himself - their hushed music wasn't meant to and did not overpower the inattentiveness. It's almost understandable that the band playing an album called Bahamas is Afie would be a little perturbed and they did play a number of cuts from the very recently released disc mid set, so even fans wouldn't be overly familiar with the new material yet. The music is well-written and played well live, special recognition to the lovely lady's vocals, but even the more well-known older tunes played off the top and in finale hardly enraptured the crowd who seemed more focused on smoking cigarettes than appreciating fine guitar work.


Kim Churchill
A beloved Hillside name, having drawn a massive crowd on this year's main stage, he has built his reputation on being a one-man band. Yet not a gimmicky busker with cymbals between his knees but a multi-talented musician performing full and dynamic sets all by himself. With that said it was slightly disappointing when he admitted he'd left his gear behind and chose to perform what he termed a "busking set" playing just the acoustic guitar, plugged harmonica and a borrowed kick drum. Even with this minimalist set he was able to win over the moderately sized tent stage crowd by focusing on his songwriting. He played a song he also broke out at Hillside which deals with his grandfather's funeral - a song that was meant to be a celebration in opposition to the morose affair he was subjected to as a lad. This young man has true talent and it was appreciated throughout.


Arkells
Although there was some excitement for night-closer Charles Bradley there seemed to be at least a few others who joined me in thinking that the Arkells were Friday's true headliner. With the greatness of the recently released High Noon I was excited to hear the new material live from a band who obviously have a lot of energy at the moment. They didn't make me wait any longer as the set opened as the album does with Fake Money followed by Come To Light, the latter being one of a large handful of new standouts. These Hamilton boys are crowd-pleasers though and quickly gave some former singles to keep everyone happy - Boss is Coming and Kiss Cam, among others. Despite having just flown home from London and their European tour the night before they were far from phoning it in as they included the late-night Hillside backstory of Never Thought This Would Happen, introduced a keyboard solo against their keyboardist's wishes and even completed an ALS ice bucket challenge by dumping onto their drummer who stood on the ground in front of the stage. Cynical Bastards went over well, especially with the local area referencing lyrics, and Leather Jacket was another that I wished to see live and it came true, with the biggest bummer being that they couldn't fit in 11:11. As a finale they went with Whistleblower so we could all pump along to the chorus. Impressive enough that I just may try and catch them again when they headline their hometown Supercrawl this fall.

Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires

They truly are extraordinary and I was really digging their groovy instrumental work until the band's namesake came and ruined it all. In a bright red, bejeweled jumpsuit he came out and crooned and although his vocals were respectable the rest of it was laughable. With the whoops and shouts, the twirls and moves it seemed like a shoddy James Brown impersonation that I could hardly take serious. He touched on his rags to riches, homeless to headliner story which I suspect is one of the biggest reasons for his popularity. When he went offstage after a few tunes the band kept going and again it was the best of times but sure enough Mr.Bradley had to ruin that by returning from his costume change - all black, still sequined - and that was around the time that I called it a night. His booming voice echoed down the gorge all the way back to the campsite for some time to come but I regretted nothing.

Constantines, Dan Deacon - Opening for Arcade Fire - (Aug 29/14)

Constantines
Just like at Field Trip the set started with the plodding drum beat of Draw Us Lines which emerges into a shout along that starts a show nicely for band and audience alike. Against the black backdrop covering the Arcade Fire stage setup, the recently reunited five piece looked tiny on the huge stage, an impression magnified by the still mostly empty seats of the cavernous amphitheatre. It did not affect their audio output however as they crunched out songs from across their decade plus history. Hotline Operator had fans drumming the backs of the empty seats in front of them and beaming, while Bry Webb dropped to his knees aggressively strumming his guitar. Nighttime, Anytime got a few people shouting along from the back and Hateful Song swapped out the keys for an additional dose of guitar awesomeness as the spotlights came on. Unfortunately the set may not have won many over but at this point in their career that is probably not what they are going for anyway. Bry appeared very humbled to have been asked by their friends in the Arcade Fire, for they had played together previously before AF's world domination began, citing their last gig together in a church basement in small town Ontario. He mentioned how the live Arcade Fire cover of their song Young Lions while playing the ACC in the spring of this year had caused his phone to 'explode' (he wasn't in attendance) and then threw it back out to them before playing it. This band has obviously not missed a beat as they had me clapping and hollering in appreciation all by myself from the cheap seats.

Dan Deacon
Dan Deacon did a set of his electronic music as a prelude to the Arcade Fire performance. With just himself and a board he managed to whip up a few hot tracks. There was a whole lot of talking and directions coming from him though, which may have been lost on us as we hung around in the back row - attempts at dance-offs it seemed. Overall the party starting may be better suited to a smaller crowd of more devout followers.

Library Voices, Taylor Knox, Tim Moxam - Horseshoe (Aug 28/14)

Changes are afoot in the Library. The personnel has some tweaks from years back and if you listen to the latest offering, For John EP, it would be tough to still tag them with their self-branded 'Pop as Fuck' label. They opened with a track from it, Anti-Matters of the Heart, and peppered the rest of the set with the majority of it including a heartfelt tribute to John Farrell before the new single in his memory. Even some of the down tempo cuts got the live treatment. Of course they are going to play the new music and it's not that it's completely out of place but it is a definite departure. I'm concerned because there are plenty of indie bands but far fewer groups that play indie pop as lustfully as this prairie group does. Naturally they still have the pop-ability and proved it on Haunt This House, Generation Handclap and Raymond Carver which got the people moving - plus a song that broke them to many which they thought they'd moved on from playing but did by special request, Step off the Map and Float. Notable that on old tunes the singer altered many of the lyrics to a spoken word format which seems to show his fatigue of them and comes across as phoning it in - we came to hear the songs as we know them (or reinterpreted) but not read to us. As a figurine of ET that matched the lead's t-shirt went around the room they faked us out by saying "this is a prairie song.. It's Prairie Girl by Rah Rah who we share a jam space with" before playing a song unknown to most (cover?). In encore they started to make up for it with Kundera on the Dance Floor and Traveller's Digest. Yet again they left beloved tunes like Drinking Games and 2012 on the shelf in favour of another song I did not recognize from any release, with a chorus of 'ain't no goddamn sonofa bitch.' This review may come across as a downer, written from a curmudgeon who hates change, when in fact it was a solid set from a great band that is worrying me with where they're heading.

Taylor Knox
Excellent musicianship from all three on stage, drum, bass and Knox on electric guitar but his lead vocals come across as quite flat and the same. It's a shame too because of the talent on stage that seems like it might be better served with a dose of charisma up front. The single Fire was a highlight with its mid-song breakdown that makes you wonder - why can't all their songs be like that?


Tim Moxam
A solo man plucking and strumming his single electric guitar and singing plus sparing harmonica, Tim was comfortable and confident on stage. With those guitar chops he has every right to be. After a few tunes he invited the Ivy, the young lady from Bruce Peninsula plus an armless partner (turns out they were behind her back under her denim jacket) who both provided mostly ooos and ahs. Even vocal solos on his original songs weren't words but seem like they could be if they put a little more into this project. For the cover of I'm on Fire their whoa and woo, plus his vocals made for a nice bare bones rendition. A 'shoe regular thought he sounded like the Righteous Brothers (all of them??) and I agree that he's got the guitar and a voice but we'll see if he can make an impression in the tough to make an impression world of solo singer-songwriters.

Arcade Fire - Amphitheatre (August 29/14)

Initially the costume idea struck as a brand making demands but upon reflection it could be seen as a band making an event out of their concert. Wouldn't it be more exciting if you planned for it and were surrounded by people looking their best, or in their best costume? In interview Win backed the latter reasoning and any attendee would have to admit that it worked. Sure there were more people in jeans and a tee than a suit or a banana suit but there was plenty to look at and even more to be excited about. For me it had been damn near a decade since the last show (Hillside July 2005), an awe-striking performance that still wells up joyous feelings, so I could hardly wait for it to begin. It was fitting that the band took part as a costume-head in the likeness of each band member marched out to start the show, breaking into the music and setting the crowd off only to be booted by the actual band who emerged in faux surprise and anger. Scripted yes, but still amusing.

With the real band on stage, a whole bunch of them, constantly moving about between instruments, they played a setlist that is damn close to what I would have crafted in a perfect world. This being the Reflektor tour this idea-heavy and danceable disc got its due with the obvious stellar Afterlife, while even Normal Person and Oh Orpheus were brought to life. That last track saw Regine out in the middle of the crowd to sing while three skeleton-suited people floated behind her. Slightly inexplicable it just added to the spectacle such as the being suited completely in chain-mail made of mirrors, in a cloud of fog, with spotlights beaming off as if lasers were being shot from this dancing light-emitter. Keeping with the reflecting theme there were a couple differing sets of mirrors that were lowered above the group depending on the song, but oddly not for the title-track of the latest album. Only a couple Neon Bible tracks made it, rightly so, if you include a top fun tune on the night, Keep the Car Running, (which was actually re-released after being on the debut self-titled.) In addition they also picked the best of The Suburbs - Ready to Start, The Suburbs - the best in my opinion as well as theirs apparently. To round out the set was the Regine-leading Sprawl II, hands-down my 'burbs fave, which didn't seem a natural show closer but I was pleasantly surprised to note the overwhelmingly positive reaction from the rest of the crowd to match my own.

All night they leant heavily on Funeral which is a tried and true strategy at this point - throwing Rebellion Lies, Tunnels and Haiti into the mix. However it was a safe bet that it would be included in the encore as well. Perhaps the only misstep of the night seemed to be upon re-emerging for the encore as they did something they've been doing at each stop - an ode to the city by covering someone local. First they referenced Hamilton's Teenage Head with a reprise of the costume-head joke, then for some reason a snippet of Shania Twain played before the band ended up playing Who Do You Love? as they reasoned it was made famous by Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. Maybe the song was just before our time, or that their version was unfamiliar but it fell a little flat. However when you follow it up the way they did it is easy to move on.

Nearly a year ago the half hour video was released in anticipation of the new album and since that point it was obvious that their live show was going to be a party. The primary reason for that is the tempo busting Here Comes the Nighttime which they played in all its glory - perhaps the crowning song of the night albeit not the last. No, they went back to Funeral for both Power Out and the natural nightcap - Wake Up (same as last time..). As if the song and the night aren't epic enough the Exhibition fireworks began to blow, as did the minds of everyone in attendance. A transcendental show that makes me wonder - what the hell have I been waiting a decade for?!

Openers - Constantines and Dan Deacon

1. Jurassic Park: End Credits 
   (John Williams song)
0. Rebellion (Lies) 
   (intro played by fake band)
1. Normal Person 
2. Rebellion (Lies) 
3. Joan of Arc 
4. Empty Room 
   (slowed down intro)
5. The Suburbs 
6. The Suburbs (Continued) 
7. Ready to Start 
8. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) 
9. Keep the Car Running 
10. Intervention 
11. We Exist 
    (w/ 'My Body Is a Cage' acapella intro)
12. Reflektor 
13. Haïti 
14. Afterlife 
15. It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus) 
    (Régine on B-stage)
16. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) 
    ('Damian Taylor Remix' intro)
17. Encore:
16. Picture My Face 
    (Teenage Head song) (Fake band on stage)
17. Who Do You Love? 
    (Bo Diddley cover)
18. Here Comes the Night Time 
19. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) 
20. Wake Up 

Hillside - Ought (Sunday July 27/14)

Their sound lumps them in with the alt bands that were just before my time, that I never really did get into, which maybe why I was surprised that they weren't the age of Pavement. Actually they were much, much younger than that despite the maturity of the music. Their singer gave his sing talk delivery some odd flair through actions and miming without looking like he was putting too much effort into it - not effortlessly per se, but lacking exertion. They sounded much like their stellar recorded debut, which is a huge compliment, opening appropriately enough with Today More Than Any Other Day. There's a high ceiling on this band hence why Pop Montreal must be so excited to present them. The only unfortunate part of the set was that the techs told them they only had 3 minutes left after playing a new Blue Sky song and rather than begin and play beyond that, finishing their intended set list, they admitted 'we don't have any songs less than 5 minutes' putting a damper on the end of the set more than the on again off again rain of the afternoon.