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.

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.

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).

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)

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.

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!