Field Trip '14 - Fucked Up (June 8)

Damian was already shirtless when I first walked by and was into it when I made it back. He did wax on for quite awhile about how uncool they had become after he invited his few-year-old kid onstage to sing on a song. They did a couple from David Comes To Life that got me in the pit with the kiddies (bit older than his lad) but there were lots of distractions. One was the upcoming BSS set on the other stage but as we turned to secure a vantage point Canadian rock royalty in the form of Mr. Gordon Downie was invited onstage for a collaboration. He lent his distinct vocals on the track, trading verses with Damian and making a pretty good showing of being comfortable where he was. Entertaining at least!

Hillside - Hollerado (Sat. July 26/14)

They made reference to their previous Hillside set being their favourite and then went about trying to top it. Blasting into some hits it was half a song before the confetti cannons began to burst and a few more before the massive balloons filled with glow sticks began boppin' over the crowd. It was fun and everyone seemed to be into it. A cover or two was tossed in mid-set and the boys of Hollerado closed with perhaps not the strongest in my opinion of Do the Doot Da Doot Do which is why it was a blessing that they were brought back for a three minute encore. I'd forgotten the last time I'd seen them so it was exciting again when they burst into one of the finest three minute songs - Dammit and I joined the punks streaming to the frothing front to scream it all out.

Hillside - Pup (July 26/14)

Delayed for unforeseen reasons (porta potty line) I ditched my bag and launched into the rabid crowd right up against the stage. Pup, the powerful four piece who have a Guelph history but now call Toronto home were only launching into their second song but were well into riling up the crowd. Security, rarely needed at Hillside, was 6 strong across the stage front and were doing their best to keep the surging crowd from ending up sprawled on stage at the pint-sized signer's feet. Apparently they were asked to take a breather so the crowd could chill and he snarked 'breather?' and then launched into Lionheart. They did do one slightly more relaxed song, relatively speaking, before declaring an end to that and ripping a handful more, including standouts Yukon and the best in Reservoir. Nobody wanted it to end and even security got into their final tune, a cover (attributed by one member to the Cancer Bats) - Sabotage!

Airplane Boys - Mod (July 20/14)

With advertising as an early show followed by hours of security lines and DJ sets the crowd was getting impatient, I know I was, and began chanting for the boys. Fortunately the DJ blew a speaker or something around then and the focus shifted to the curtain that had been closed on the full-band set-up behind it. Sure enough it revealed a keyboardist, their elementary school teacher on drums, guitar and bass and the incognito man behind the laptop. Everyone was here for the fronting duo and they didn't disappoint, quickly heating up in their jackets. Dressed all in white Mannie and Jay tore through the first track and quickly began shouting out to their family and friends in the crowd. After all The Airplane Boys are hometown heroes who rarely seem to play here, making this a homecoming of sorts having rhymed off their resume Coachella, O2 Arena and other impressive gigs. Despite that they proudly claimed to still ride the TTC and one of the biggest cheers of the night was in response to the statement "public transit!" There was a great deal of gratitude shown by the band, "Yo, we sold out the mod club!" With obscenely cheap tickets for the quality of the show it didn't cheapen the feat in any way. Mannie admitted to being overwhelmed with emotion, making him forget words, but along with his cohort they played hype men well. It was all positive vibes all night which made for a loose atmosphere. First there was the Toronto love, "All Toronto - we just happen to be from Scarborough" as was a good-sized chunk of the crowd "but this is the best city in the world. North, south, east, west." They went on to list off the big acts coming out of this city recently, hitting mostly the obvious in Drake and The Weeknd, then encouraging us through song to follow our dreams. There was plenty of hand waving and shouts for us to let loose which really started to take effect as the set cruised along. Didn't hurt that Jay was getting down on stage and then in the crowd too, one upped by Mannie who surfed over it. Besides a couple from Alignment, Where You Been, and Brave New World a bunch of the tunes were new to me, making a good case to run home and download the latest Egos and Expectations tape. To close out they used Beau Monde as an opportunity for the many, many Beau Monde guests (crew?) in attendance to join them onstage (as well as a few randoms who climbed up.) In the end they closed it down without encore by having us all bounce and laying it out there. Good vibes - I'll leave you with this All Points Bulletin, Toronto - listen up and appreciate because the APB is out there.

The Moxies - Cleveland (June 19/14)

"What's going on here?"

"Oh, it's a pop-up festival" the beer vendor replied cheerfully.

"Right but.. why?"

"Just for people to enjoy Cleveland."

Sounds simply like a great idea to me. Especially when you've got a super talented young band playing in the evening hours. I hesitate to mention that they were local because they weren't super-talented for being local but they earn that accolade all on their own. What hacks can pull of not just a reasonable but a mad-decent rendition of Foxy Lady? They were by no means just a talented cover band though with well-written and well-performed songs including the chorus "they call me lightning, they call me little man" and the fan-favourite Trouble. Plus they showed an affable poise and likability in their stage presence beyond their years, probably not a combined 60 between the three. The small crowd was enjoying it, especially the kid who did the worm for about a minute straight. I overstayed my self-imposed time and had to drag myself away before they finished to catch the opener for Beck - and I regret it.

Sound of Music - Burlington (June 15/14)

The festival this year had a serious case of Dad-rock which was fitting for it was Father's Day.

Flash Lightnin'
Perhaps the least dad-rocking this young Toronto three-piece has been rawking out for a few years now with the guitar chops to show for it. Arriving partway through I was pleased to catch their eponymous cut although it didn't have quite as much growl as I've seen, and loved, in the past. Despite that it was a solid outing and I had myself scratching my head why I haven't caught them more often in their regular digs at The Dakota Tavern - a perfect place for this scruffy rock'n'roll.

The Stampeders
These guys had good humour and good cheer, playing through some of their own familiar tunes and some classic covers. It wasn't outstanding but it was a solid start.

Fred Penner
My sister and I both stopped at the same time - "that sounds familiar." No doubt it was for it was the soundtrack of our childhood in Fred Penner. From afar he remixed The Cat Came Back into Crabbuckit as a lesson in chords to the kids, wound in another track or two, then brought it all back around.

Ashley MacIsaac
What good timing to catch that one tune from the street. When it was popular, when I was a child, I felt like it was the butt of the joke more often than respected as a song but it really wasn't too bad.

Chilliwack
There are some bands that just keep ticking and then there are others that should know when to call it quits. Some parts of this were cringeworthy, primarily when the singer just could not get near where he needed to on his vocals. Aside from that it was fine but really nothing to make it standout (I only half recognized a couple near the end.)

Trooper
On the way back from the pier the signature Here for a Good Time could be heard ringing out over the water - a fitting way to start a show, of course, but disappointing to miss. Especially as the core of the set seemed to lull along in standard rock. The band did seem to have some swagger (and not just for their age) but it was hard to see with all the people jamming the grounds. Rather than stick it out, plus I may have forgotten about Raise a Little Hell, we up and left in favour of a vegan ice cream sandwich.

Fitz & the Tantrums - Danforth (July 6/14)

Holy Child

The leading lady may have been a child but she seemed nothing but holy with her attempts at provocation, primarily expressed through suggestive dancing and deep crouches. It was distracting from the upbeat synthy derivative pop the other three were pumping so at least it gave us something to ingest. If I wasn't mocking so hard I might have even danced a little more!

Max Frost

Now this band deserved their opening spot. They poured out energy, especially their unstoppable drummer, with rather enjoyable music that had a deep groove accentuated by the guitar solos. Max, the leading man from Austin arrived with his band fully assembled with a relaxed demeanour and face that will sell a few records. However it's his voice, with a definite southern sound in speaking, that will push them over the top if anything. They attempted and hit on a Rick James cover that the female synthesizer danced her way through, as with much of the set. Another interesting touch was that for more than one song Max would play the majority on his acoustic before picking up the electric to drop a few mean licks of a solo - now wearing both guitars around his neck! Keep an ear to the ground.

Fitz & the Tantrums

This show was everything that I was looking for - good sound, good tunes, good vibes and dancing! With a nifty heart that lit in innumerable patterns and further programmable spiralling spotlights (that spelled '6' during 6AM) the stage was set for a fun close to a gorgeous weekend in Toronto. (Perhaps only coincidentally exactly one year removed from their TURF performance.) Hell, even the sound in the Danforth - notoriously spotty - cooperated so we could just get down to damn near every song from their breakthrough album More than Just a Dream. They've got a big sound and hence a big band, including a couple pieces of brass and a hype woman to create it. Michael Fitzpatrick, the band's namesake, was cool throughout in a hot room that only heated up as they dropped hits like Out of My League and The Walker. It's sad to admit but Toronto's rep of anti-dance often rings true but on this eve a fair cut of the mixed demographic crowd let loose. Refreshingly the encore cheering didn't seem forced but was a legitimate outpouring of love and desire to be entertained one more time. They did not disappoint with a rocking rendition of Moneygrabber to squeeze the last ounce of sweat out of us.

Basia Bulat, Destroyer - Massey Hall (July 10/14)

Basia Bulat

With excited energy Basia burst onto the large stage, clad all in white atop her shiny silver clogs and nearly tossed herself onto that very stage in her shimmying and twirling. Fortunately disaster was averted and the night started with a plucky uke tune filled in by her six piece backing band in black. This group included her brother Bobby on drums, Ben Whiteley on bass and guitar, Ian Koiter - another London based musician and Shad collaborator - a second stand up drummer, plus two lovely females filling in the backing vocal touches plus the odd extra instrument. Soon Basia picked up her signature instrument and played that autoharp like she were a rockstar with an electric guitar. Speaking of which, later she swapped her acoustic for an electric and joked about this being her 'goes electric' moment. Though she wasn't joking all night she was obviously giddy just to be there, respecting the space in a number of ways. For one she excused the band for a few solo numbers to fill the air with her hauntingly strong yet soft voice and even referenced Neil Young by given name before launching an unheard song akin to his famous Live at Massey Hall debuts. Everyone returned and the exuberant feeling continued with the leading lady setting aside her guitar to slip into the crowd and take a front row seat, all the while singing into her effect mic, only to make it back in time for the next chords. The set closed on a high note and the musicians lined the stage for a deserved bow as the crowd spritely hopped to their feet. She proved me wrong by returning with just the gals to sing into a single mic together before she left the mic behind altogether and played sans amplification at the stage edge into a dead silent crowd. She was emitting magic into that air. Earlier in the set she warned that we were going to have a hard time getting her to leave the stage and she did seem hesitant to depart, loitering to collect her bouquet and sop up the outpouring of love that we bestowed. Saving her best for the big stage shone clear.

Destroyer

What would a Destroyer show be like? Even more curious, what would a solo Destroyer set consist of? It was about all that can be done with a man on a big stage with an acoustic guitar. His voice was controlled and bold, his picking quick and polished, the evidence of a man who has been plying his trade for a long time. A relative newcomer to his work I recognized a number of songs from Rubies and Kaput but they obviously were stripped down versions, especially compared to the involved instrumentation of the latter. At the completion of each song he would raise his guitar and flip that mop of curly hair down in front of him in a bow to the delight of his fans, while fairweather observers and newcomers seemed to yearn for more, with more than the odd person leaving partway through to grab a beer. To me the attempted standing ovation seemed completely unnecessary but I've been losing the over-ovation fight in Toronto for years and in a venue such as Massey there's no point in even trying.

Shad - Front & John (July 12/'14)

With the sun beaming down on the hot pavement at Front and John, DJ Tlo and Ian Koiter performed a Flying Colours intro while rapper extraordinaire, Shad, waited visible side stage. When he did hit it the crowd warmly received him for though it wasn't all that well advertised he does have a devout following. He didn't disappoint throwing down racks like Yes!, Me, Myself & I, and I Get It. All smiles, as usual, he played his established role of good-time emcee while we threw our hands in time to old favourites like Rock To It and Old Prince (holla!) For flair he performed a recently added cut to the repertoire, Draft Day, and a sharp new one that goes smoothly from the NBC peacock to Jack Donaghy and an EGOT - brilliant! Rapper Eternia was welcomed to the stage and absolutely ripped through her verse on Love Means, making it a great collab. Being a corporate sponsored street festival there was no encore but everyone was happy and hot by the 3/4 hour of entertainment.

Field Trip '14 - Badbadnotgood - Fort York (June 8)

The kid is a natural MC and it doesn't detract that he's behind the drum kit. Being a three-piece instrumental melding jazz into modern music and having a helluva fun time doing it there is no front man, so to speak, but that didn't stop the crowd from cheering and clapping along. People ate up the Flying Lotus cover; bringing two members of River Tiber to the stage while the addition of the sax cannot be understated. With concentration and skill beyond their years they pulsed out jams that wound everyone up so that by the end there was a literal mosh pit. It took its time coming as after a five minute warning they cut movements and songs to get to the goods but it was still a build. In the end their lion mascot crowdsurfed over a jubilant audience as they brought it down then ripped it apart over and over (and five minutes over). Do Torontonians realize how fortunate they are to have such a talented new breed of musicians playing their festivals?

Field Trip '14 - Maylee Todd - Fort York (June 7)

Kicking off a full festival day means playing to a nearly empty field. Thus was the case with MT on Saturday of Field Trip as well, too bad the thousands of ticket holders didn't know what they were missing. Sporting a sprout of blond hair and a transparent outfit she started things off. Her music is experimental electro pop and it definitely has its hooks. Joined by a couple of singers and a couple of dancers too, as has been seen at previous shows, the dancing was still a little amateur, not necessarily completely in sync, but does add an element to the live show.

Field Trip '14 - Constantines - Fort York (June 8)

A reunion that many had been dreaming about since the beloved Cons announced their indefinite hiatus in 2010. Although it was the first show scheduled they had actually surprised the citizens of Guelph with a tune-up gig Friday night. Well it worked, as the five were in fine form, guitars blazing through a host of their hits. To open they called upon two additional stand up drummers to Draw Us Lines and when they left the hits just kept on coming. Bry had forgotten his solo project, his gruff voice belting out Hotline Operator as the band rocked out and the true fans were obvious in attendance - there to fist pump, holler 'turn it up!' and hold their hands high mirroring the band during Shine a Light. The Cons were joined for a couple joints by Tamara (Weather Station) and Jenn (Jennifer Castle). A personal favourite, I Will Not Sing a Hateful Song, was given the rock treatment and dedicated to PC leader Tim Hudak. Despite being a bunch of guys who have aged, got married, settled down and had kids, it seemed they forgot all of that for the set closer as they completely jammed out like their old selves up there.

Field Trip '14 - Lowell - Fort York (June 7)

Hard not to draw a comparison to Grimes, with the young Canadian girl singing along to slightly synthy music. She had some male cohorts producing the sound while she danced awkwardly around. I do like the music and I do enjoy the shows but it's a bit funny. She kept her radio single (well it's getting the odd play on local Indie 88) for last and lurched the stage to The Bells. A reasonably-sized hometown crowd cheered it all on.

Field Trip '14 - Chvrches - Fort York (June 8)

With a lit stage prop, including two zed's as the base of the two male's synth stands, Chvrches took to the stage. Out burst their pint-sized leading lady for a punchy set of a good selection of their debut album. Mostly synth/sample/bass-led, her job was to belt it out, and so she did except that one tune where the guy came out from behind the stand to magic-dance while singing. Between songs they mostly bantered about their favourite Canadian music artists, teasing an Alanis karaoke session that never materialized. It wasn't a hugely spectacular show, nor did it vary much from the recorded material but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Field Trip '14 - Half Moon Run - Fort York (June 7)

My toughest decision of the fest was whether to stay and watch the always stellar Shad K or to catch the buzzy Half Moon Run who were great last time out. I tried to split the difference, watching Canada's smartest rapper through and then steaming over to what turned out to be the last two tracks from the Montreal rockers. These were two spirited songs though as they demolished them both in their casual clothes and long hair with thrilling guitar work. It's not easy to put a thumb on just what makes a rock set stand above others but this definitely did. I don't regret catching all of Shad but Field Trip, why'd you make me choose?

Field Trip '14 - Interpol - Fort York (June 7)

My expectations weren't through the roof for Interpol as I'd really only listened to the Slow Hands album (Antics) for which they were celebrating a decade passed. I put it back on before the show and it did come back to me but did not overwhelm. The show was similar. The New York quintet played more than adequately, with their distinctive vocalist holding it down but I wasn't totally won over. Granted that I was standing at the sound booth and from there, being the closing night show they just appeared as backlit silhouettes before the strobing purples and blues. It was neat that the sound guy went literal during Turn on the Bright Lights though. The set ended with exactly a half hour to go for the foregone encore that featured another few, which came across to these apathetic ears as more of the same.

Rural Alberta Advantage, Great Lake Swimmers - Massey Hall (July 7/14)

RAA

It seemed a toss up double bill but the Rural Alberta Advantage were up first and were understandably psyched to be playing at the historic Massey Hall. They made the most of it too with a solid set of favourites from their first two Alberta-entrenched records plus a smattering of cuts from the upcoming autumn release. Muscle Relaxants struck early but there were plenty more; Drain the Blood, Tornado '87, Barnes Yard, Four Night Rider to name but a few. Amy had plenty of room to wander around the stage when not perched on one foot playing her synths, xylo and drum, or complementing Nils' distinct voice with her soft coo. That is excepting the rendition of Two Lovers that he laid down solo mid-set. After their return Paul laid down a wicked new drumline on the second of three new songs - the first being the released-that-day Terrified. Of course the songs aren't a huge departure from their signature style but it's always nice to hear new material.

Naturally they played Summertime to a nice response but it was actually a technical malfunction that roused the biggest reaction. Despite his best efforts during a song to rectify his cut-out guitar amp Nils was unable to get it going - rather than crash and burn he just started clapping and yelling out the chorus over and over. Realising his conundrum the crowd joined right along and when it wrapped we organically stood to applaud - which he didn't even notice for a full minute as he was so engrossed with fixing the problem. As he mentioned this could have been a closer but who wants to rush off the Massey stage? They finished off the set as planned and left us all happy by closing with the single, Stamp.

Great Lake Swimmers

First from the darkness appear four clad all in black - alongside Tony and the gang would be a four-piece string section (three violins and a cello). This group who were on and off stage throughout the set helped to fill out the already layered song and brought that extra something to the large, lovely space. The Great Lake Swimmers for their part broke right into song and in many cases jammed right through from song to song with incredibly dense instrumental breakdowns before clearing up into the recognizable melody of the next song. This definitely was a positive and moved the set right along from tunes like Pulling on a Line to Easy Come and Changing Colours, Put There by the Land. As always the break out of the banjo for Your Rocky Spine was a standout (while Moving Pictures didn't play this time around.) Being in the acoustic haven of Massey they trooped out to a solitary freestanding microphone at the front of the stage to close their set by harmonizing into it and even dropping a banjo and fiddle single. That is before they returned from a short pause for a one-song encore recalling their long travels together. Though the upper balcony may not have been completely full some 2,400 people stood to show their appreciation at the end of the night.

Shout Out Out Out Out - Drake Underground (July 3, '14)

It was the oddest night for SO4 and I say that having seen this crew a good number of times during what they meekly admitted to being their decade long existence. Firstly I'd like to air my grievance with the Drake who do next to nothing to promote their shows ahead of time and often leave worthy bands playing to a mostly empty underground. With no openers to kill time the six of them had to make their own introduction. This proved easy for Nik on this evening. Normally a quiet frontman, focused on the vocoding mic, on this evening he gabbed on and on, and even sang into his non-effect microphone. However those in attendance seemed die-hards and hung on his silly words as the banter kept piling on and became a joke in itself. It got to the point where Clint (known as The Kid ten years ago) took over the mic for an awful impression of a rambling story but quickly got cut off.

Anyway..this is supposed to at least resemble a concert review but with no new material the music was what we've come to expect from the live-band producing electronic music with their synths, guitars, bass, vocoder and double drum sets - playing through Bad Choices, Lessons in Disappearing, Dude, Forever Indebted. Before departing for a much-needed pee Nik promised to come back and play another song for us but in the meantime a couple members remained onstage and plotted a duet that was quashed by the end of the urination. A quick round of the beloved "Jaycie, fucking Jaycie" before they ripped through an encore that aptly wrapped with In the End and the dancers on the floor got one more chance to wile out.