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.
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