Fucked Up - Hillside 2013 (Sunday Aft)

It was an intense, riled up pit of Fucked Up fans kicking up dust on a Sunday afternoon in the Island Tent. With the sound up the band seemed to be in fine form as they blasted through their melodic, hard punk rock gems like The Other Shoe and Son the Father. It is their frontman, Damian Abraham, who really represents them and acts as the most visible member at least partly due to his unique appearance, nearly always sweaty and topless. Only a song or two passed until he fit that description, as he handed out high fives and dipped the mic into the crowd to let the fans scream along. This interaction definitely steps up the intimacy of the shows and it worked real well here as nostrils filled with floating dirt but few were seen exiting the scene. There was an inordinate amount of children in attendance - and I don't mean the teenagers moshing. Even the band had their kids backstage and later in the set Damian's son was used in a call and response as he was hoisted onto papa bear's shoulders. Nearing the end Damian became a man of the people by entering the fracas, coming face to face with me and after a tiny pause threw his meaty arm around my neck and began an epic group hug as people from all around piled in. Yes, a sweaty hug from a bare-chested man was my Hillside moment.

Whitehorse - Hillside 2013 (Sun Night)

Admittedly I have been a doubter of this duo from the get-go. Not that there's a problem with either of their solo projects but more that based on their Whitehorse albums solely I couldn't quite understand the attention being showered upon them. (I mean a sold out Massey Hall, really?) Then I witnessed the show and now I'm starting to get it..

Just a pair with a unique setup of an old-time shared mic up front and centre, with a pair of rerouted telephone receivers acting as mics behind that surrounded by an assortment of percussion instruments and litter of guitars rested nearby. They proceeded to make compelling, fleshed out songs from this array by running around and singing this piece here, looping that sound there, feeding back over here and then coming together as a dynamic duo in front of it all to bring it home. Opener Killing Time is Murder laid its hooks and they dug deeper with each passing track.

To add another family dimension to it all Luke Doucet paused to describe the little girl in her bathing suit who had run up from the beach to clamber over the stage and sing along some 8 years previous. Then proceeded to introduce this little lady as his now 17 year old daughter whose musical talents were obviously inherited from her father as she controlled the mic with ease on an excellent Tom Waits cover that all three coordinated on while Luke simply played the acoustic.

This couple's attractiveness runs much deeper than the skin, penetrating to their vocal cords and musical souls. I'd love to see what their home jam space looks like, or be around during for Christmas carols.

Usually special guests are not kept under wraps at Hillside for the mere fact that there are 3000 talkative volunteers milling about backstage with open ears. (Stuart McLean comes to mind.) However despite "..with special guests for the finale" being in the program there was much talk and few possibilities floated. (Win and Regine joining the already present Richard Reed Parry and Sarah Neufeld as an incarnation of The Arcade Fire wasn't really feasible as a finale to overshadow Whitehorse was it?) After their curtain call the couple were enticed back onto the stage and Luke took to the mic to introduce Ruth Moody, Brenda McMorrow, and Tony Dekker (GLS) plus the return of his daughter, Chloe. In recognition of the recently passed JJ Cale they performed his song, Crazy Mama, with Brenda on violin and all else acting as new backing vocals. Following this they tore it all down with I'm On Fire. A splendid Springsteen song, they really brought it home by bringing it down to crowd fueled finger snaps and sing-out as the band backed away slowly and disappeared, leaving us singing ourselves out into the night with another amazing Hillside wrapped up.

Diamond Rings - Hillside 2013 (Fri. Night)

To shield from the Friday night lights all members of Diamond Rings sported some snazzy shades; more on that later. Local musician Geordie Gordon, known for his band The Magic, played the synths and guitar while a couple other one-time Guelphites accompanied on drums, and keys/computer respectively. The focal point, John O'Regan, had the signature 'do, though no makeup anymore, and a spiky black leather vest. At least he started the set with all this but as the beats were dropped and the band heated up he also droped the glasses and then the vest. This allowed him to dance more freely on stage while his singing, and occasional guitar playing, was never inhibited. Free Dimensional is a danceable album so cuts from it were working their charm, while Special Affections tracks are plain great and also worked. Pockets of the crowd were really grooving but it wasn't totally widespread which was a disappointment. There've been many Bowie allusions floated in reference and although that's some hallowed ground there is some basis for it. As the set was rounding the corner to bring it down the home stretch an instantaneous power outage cut not only the sound but also all the lights in the tent leaving us completely and utterly in the dark. It took mere moments of confusion and shock before the cell phones and lighters lit the tent and under ten minutes until they had the gear back up and running. Thankfully time remained before quiet hours and John and the gang banged out two more tunes to the now especially appreciative audience and we grooved it out counting along to Day & Night to call it a night.

Cuff the Duke - Dakota Tavern (July 23/13)

Taking to the lovely Dakota Tavern stage as a five piece, filled out by Tom on the keys, were Oshawa's own Cuff the Duke. They've got a country-current running through them that perfectly suits this notorious downstairs enclave. With Wayne pumping his pipes they did some deeper cuts early in the night and were impressed with the crowd's attention. Everyone solidly held their own on their instruments however the keys were an especially nice touch, but the lead guitarist really fills everything out. Standing on the Edge was a particular highlight, that is until they covered CCR's Looking Out My Back Door and then invited the beloved Hayden to join them onstage. Slightly surprisingly he immediately took over as CtD backed his song, Miles Away, before all performing his favourite Dylan cover. Unfortunately that was all we'd see of him as Hayden and the Duke crew stepped off for a deserved intermission.

Upon returning they rejuvenated the crowd with a good many more well-known tunes from their catalogue, among them Count on Me, Side By Side, Belgium or Peru and Take My Money and Run. Another cover was sprinkled in before Paul set down the bass and came busting out the fiddle on a rousing If I Live Or If I Die that had the crowd divided in their singalong. Despite the good vibes and promises of hits to come the third set would not be mine for the taking.

M.I.A - Danforth (July 18/13)

A lot of swagger comes in this little package as M.I.A. celebrated her birthday at the Danforth Music Hall with us. The stage was full, top to bottom, with large, intricate wheels that were a cross between a snowflake and a doily, until MIA bounded onto the stage and they lit in all sorts of strobe patterns to invigorate the set. This didn't leave much room for equipment besides a partial drum kit and a small sampler table so it was primarily a singalong for the leading lady, dropping lyrics onto her own tracks which at times was lacking but for the most part was fine. Throughout the night these tunes proved too quiet for the dance party she was attempting to create as she pleaded for her songs to be cranked further. It didn't seem to bother the intensely sweaty crowd though who took their cues from the dance pack hype crew who broke it down all over the stage. She opened with a forthcoming song, closed with a recent one and dabbled throughout her catalogue in between - not always finishing the track before jumping into the next. Tunes from her gloriously received debut such as encore-included Galang, and its follow-up, including Bamboo Banga were greeted with enthusiasm though even the recent banger Meds and Feds got people grooving despite the heat wave. In under an hour she had exhausted herself to the point of needing a break - probably a bad decision to put that sweater back on overtop of your gold outfit. However after a number of minutes in the dark, including an attempt at a birthday serenade, MIA and her crew returned to lay it down - asking for tequila and faking a sit-down session of puff-puff-pass. You knew Paper Planes would go off so it was especially exciting when at its conclusion she announced they had one more trick in their bag and dropped the most excellent song from her recent repertoire, Bad Girls. People worked up an absolute shine before pushing into the only slightly less oppressive air of the outdoors.

The DJ was spinning in the hall and kept it up as Le1f arrived on the scene. At least I assume it was Le1f judging by the silhouette of a man in a maid of the mist poncho through the blue fog as it was very dark. With hints of contemporaries like Childish Gambino he whipped through a sometimes repetitive set, going back and forth with the DJ from time to time. Nearing the end he broke out some more outlandish dance moves, called out people of all sexual orientations and dropped a couple of his stronger tracks to finish well.

The National - Yonge Dundas NXNE (June 14/13)

A large group fleshed out the touring sound of NXNE big, free act for 2013. An even larger group of fans thronged to the stage and well beyond, closing Yonge Street in fact, to catch their adult indie rock. The National entertained for a long time, drawing from their now wealthy horde of songs with the addition of the very enjoyable Trouble Will Find Me collection just this year. That being said there is somewhat of a formula and having come into them hard with Alligator and eased off a little more from Boxer until the latest there were admittedly a few numbers that may have been released but didn't really register with me. Unfortunately from my close, but to the side location I couldn't see much of the guitar and bass section however the brass was bumping. And of course there's the gruff voiced Berninger who leads the way with mic in hand. Actually he led it all the way out into a tour of the crowd more than once (to the chagrin of security who had to deal with these ventures and the tangle of cables that resulted.) The stronger songs did draw me in so if I'd been a bigger fan I think I would have lapped it all up, thereby not matching their Massey Hall performance that had drawn me back into the fan fold. A generous encore naturally delivered Mr. November but then returned with an a cappella Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks version which was lost on some of the crowd for lack of familiarity or projection of sound. All told it was a decent set in a kinda crummy venue that could have shortened the length to remain focussed, at least for this casual fan.

Polaris Prize 2013: Short List Reaction

Well a fair number of my picks actually made it to the short list this year (indicated with an asterisk*). However the ones I was really rooting for did not (Evening Hymns, A.C. and Jimmy Guthrie). With these out of the running I'm going to throw my support behind either Purity Ring or Colin Stetson, and I'll need to listen to this Zaki Ibrahim disk - the only one I haven't heard yet.

Of note is some mainstay pop - Teegz 'N Sassy, Metrix - plus some highly-acclaimed indies in Godspeed! and Stetson. Very cool to see the Tribe Called Red on there as they're doing something unique. If Whitehorse wins it'll be a bigger yawn than last year's Metals.

The Short List

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Zaki Ibrahim – Every Opposite
Metric – Synthetica
METZ – METZ*
Purity Ring – Shrines*
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light*
Tegan And Sara – Heartthrob*
A Tribe Called Red – Nation II Nation
Whitehorse – The Fate Of The World Depends On This Kiss
Young Galaxy – Ultramarine*

*my picks from the long list