Toronto Island Show w/ PAVEMENT!!! Sat. June 19th

Ok I want to say this before I go any further. It's been a loooooong time since a saw a big outdoor show. The last one I saw was Sonic Youth at McCarren Pool in Williamsburg a couple years ago and it wasn't even that big. Now remember why I don't like big festivals. Way too many people. It took almost two hours to get a goddamn beer at this show. WEAK. I'm sticking to bands in small venues.

Anyways....

This year's installment of Broken Social Scene/Arts and Crafts' annual summer concert on Toronto's Olympic Island featured BSS along with Beach House, Band of Horses and PAVEMENT. The problem here is that the concert is on a stupid island, so you have to take a stupid ferry, and the wait to get on the dumb ferry took forever. It was hot outside. Whaaaaaa!

So I finally got on the retarded ferry and it took us all along on our magical journey to Toronto Island. I was freaking out a little bit at this point because Beach House started already and I really wanted to see them. The lame-ass ferry finally landed and I scooted all the way to the concert. I ripped right through security and they didn't even check my bag. This point sucks, because I should of smuggled booze in.

Beach House @ Toronto Island

I did manage to check out the last few songs of the Baltimore MD band's set. They were amazing. I love their new record Teen Dream. So much so that I think its the best album that has come out this year so far. I really wished I saw more of the set and didn't have to wait for the failure ferry. Grrrrr... Boats.

Band of Horses @ Toronto Island

Up next was Seattle WA's Band of Horses. Now I had previously seen them only a month or so prior to this at a secret show they did at the Horseshoe Tavern, but that show was sort of last minute and the keyboardist didn't even have his keys with him. This show sounded so much better than that one. But it wasn't at the Horseshoe so the vibe wasn't as good (again the problem with these big fucking shows). They did put on a great set and the lead singer is a really good frontman. Plus I gathered that the ladies really enjoyed his cool, bearded demeanor.

Broken Social Scene @ Toronto Island (and my vantage point from the stupid, long beer garden line)

At this point I went on a beer hunt. Fuck it took forever. It was during Broken Social Scene's set so it didn't really matter that it took forever. I'm not a huge fan of them, but it was good background music while I waited for my beer. All the usual Arts and Crafts characters joined them on stage including BLAH BLAH BLAH WHO CARES. Seriously whats up with the 50 million people on stage? That was so 2002.

PAVEMENT @ Toronto Island (squeeeeeeeeal!)

Finally after waiting 17 days for three beers, I demolished them in 13.7 seconds and ran back for the start of Pavement. They were so good live. So much better than on record. The records have a certain sloppy quality which suits them well, but live you realize just how great they actually are as musicians. The reverb and the distortion were mixed perfectly. They started off the set with "Cut Your Hair" and proceeded through all their goodies. A great band. I was very happy I got to see them. It was (almost) worth all the bullshit and money I paid for the show.

But alas I was stuck on a fucking island on Lake Ontario, so I decided to cut out a bit early so that I wouldn't have to wait forever for the drooling inbred hillbilly of a ferry. While we were waiting for the ferry I managed to catch at a few more Pavement songs before the fugly boat departed. Plus there was a scary spider above my head and I got freaked out in front of a bunch of cute girls. Manliness-fail.

I returned to civilization finally, and I tried to do some of last night of NXNE shit, but Wrongbar was at capacity and my friend didn't have a badge, so we just got tanked at a couple bars in Parkdale. All and all it was good day/night.

THE END.

NXNE - Day Two (Part 2)

Sooooooo...

After an awesome afternoon/early evening at the BBQ house show at 159 Manning, my evening then shifted to the official NXNE venues.

Zola Jesus @ The Garrison

Kicking it off I went to The Garrison to properly see Madison WI's Zola Jesus. I only caught the last three songs the night before at Sneaky Dee's and I was balls-ass-sweaty from biking to retrieve my ID at my apartment, so I really wanted to see the whole set and without the said hygienic condition. The set was great. Nika Rosa Danilova, the singer is simply amazing. She is able to use her voice as a true instrument, taking the mic and changing the distance from her voice to change the volume as she belted it out. Her training as an opera singer showed. She was also a great performer, jumping into the crowd a few times to sing. The music was a perfect accompaniment: dark, brooding synth. One of the highlights of the festival.

After the show I bought the new Stridulum EP on vinyl from the merch table, which Nika was looking after. I try to actually buy every record that I really really like that comes out, and since the EP is one of my favorites of 2010 so far I had to pick it up. Plus I flirted with her and she seemed to enjoy the attention.

Best Coast @ The Garrison

Up next was Best Coast from sunny California. The music was certainly sunny for sure. Sunny garage pop and the singer had a bit of a Loretta Lynn/Neko Case thing going on and it was good times all around. But I did think the set was a little boring all-in-all. They could of spiced up the music a little, or the singer should of tried to give-er and really try to sound like the above singers. Maybe this observation was due to just witnessing an amazing singer in the previous set.

The Soft Pack @ The Garrison

So this the point of the night where I started to live dangerously. I absolutely had to see Mudhoney at the Horseshoe Tavern at 1 AM, so I was a little concerned about not getting in. I also absolutely had to see The Soft Pack, and they were playing at 12 AM at The Garrison as well as 11 PM the next night at Lee's Palace. But I was not sure I would be able to get off Toronto Island in time the next day to make it for the show. So I decided to stay for The Soft Pack and chance it.

And I was glad I did.

They were sooooo much fun. Their sound is slightly poppy, slightly garage rock, and very California sounding punk rock. They hail from San Diego, and remind me a bunch of The Replacements, or this year's version of Obits. I got down and dirty in the small but fun pit. The set was great and I had fun singing along and dancing. GOOD TIMES.

Man or Astroman? @ The Horseshoe Tavern

So I booked it over the the Horseshoe for Mudhoney and I totally lucked out. A power outage at Queen and Spadina pushed all the bands back so I was able to actually catch the end of Man Or Astroman?'s set. Boy I'm glad I did. It fucking ruled! They sound like The Repo Man Soundtrack. Punkrock surf-rock. So amazing. Plus they're supposedly from "space" so all their songs, stage banter and stage props are space-themed. Gimmicky but AWESOME. Plus they lit shit on fire, the singer came out in a space suit for the last song and they had this tower thing on stage which shot sparks of purple electricity out. FAR OUT.

Fucking Mudhoney @ The Horseshoe Tavern

Fucking MUDHONEY played next. M-U-D-H-O-N-E-Y. They fucking owned it. For real. Best band of the whole weekend. I was right up front in the amazing pit, singing along and getting fucking sweaty. They played all my favorites and when they played "Hate the Police" singer Mark Arm dedicated it to all the G20 security bullshit we here in Toronto have to put up with next weekend. I lost my shit. I couldn't "WOOOOO!" after a while and had to resort to just yelling out "FUCKING MUDHONEY!!!" It was the best. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Grooms @ 64 Augusta

After that incredible set I was still fiending for some more music, so I stopped by my man Felix's house on Augusta for an after-hours basement show. When I showed up, the cops had come just before, so the show was on hold. Everyone was waiting around, trying not to be too loud. Eventually the show went on. I missed Grasshopper which I figured would happen, being that it was around 3:30 AM. But I did see the Toronto band Grooms. They put on a great set of rhythmic post-hardcore. It was rocking and heavy at times. Great set. Very impressed.

Brides @ 64 Augusta (This photo accurately describes both my inebriated state and the band's)

After a looooong set up due to A) a lack of a bass guitar B) ridiculous technical difficulties and C) the band being completely fucked up (other than the drummer who was really fucking good) Toronto's Brides was able to get a few songs off (which sounded great) before the wheels fell off again. The rhythm guitarist seemed particularly wasted. So was I at this time and I decided to leave. Hopefully I'll get to see them again when both parties are clear headed.

I decided walking my bike home at the point was wise. I listened to the birds chirp as the sun came up. It was all very peaceful after a shit show of a day in which I saw 13 bands. Damn son.

NXNE - Day Two (Part 1)

Holy shit that was an epic day. I managed to see 13 bands play. I think it might be a new personal best. Plus I wore my Decendents' Milo Goes To College T-Shirt out thinking "I haven't worn this shirt out in a while. Why not?" I got so many comments. It really surprised me. But it makes sense cause it might be one of the best punkrock albums of all time.

Now to the marathon that was my Friday:

This here author took all the shitty, poorly exposed, blurry photos. SORRY.

I started off at a BBQ on Manning Street. It was sponsored my buddy Ryder's label White Whale Records and a few other music related cats. The vibe was amazing. This party fucking ruled. So many great people and bands (for the most part). And free burgers and veggie burgers plus it was BYOB, which really helped my wallet from taking a huge hit.

Eamon McGrath @ 159 Manning

I was a little late due to the fact that I took a three hour nap which really saved my ass. I got there in time to catch the last few songs from Calgary's Eamon McGrath. The dude certainly brings it hard. Think Neil Young meets Darby Crash. It definitely has a "Canadian heartland" vibe which normally would annoy the fuck out of me. But truth be told this dude sure writes some rocking songs, and is an amazing performer. A great way to kick off the day.

BAD TITS @ 159 Manning

Next up were the "surprise guests" BAD TITS featuring Sabastian Grainger from Death From Above 1979 and Josh Riechmann from Tangiers. The music was fun, dancey electronic/synth. It was nice to see Sabastian get back behind the kit to play drums. I think his solo indie rock stuff is boring. This was a lot of fun. Plus it was in the house's living room/library. Not the most ideal set up but it made it interesting.

Violent Soho @ 159 Manning

All the way from Australia was Violent Soho. Their name sucks, but this bands was fucking incredible. They brought it so hard. All four of these dudes have long fucking hair and didn't give two shits. Their sounds harkens back to early Nirvana, Mudhoney (who I saw later on in the night) and rawer side of The Pixies. A punkrock and early grunge kind of sound. Plus they're on Elastic Peace, Thurston Moore's record label, which tells you something about how good they really were.

Deloro @ 159 Manning

Deloro. Boring. Next.

Fields of Fur @ 159 Manning

Fields of Fur with one of the dudes from Holy Fuck. Don't quit your day job dude. Boring. Next.

Mohawk Lodge @ 159 Manning

Mohawk Lodge was up next, as the sun was setting. This is my buddy Ryder Havdale's band originally from Vancouver, but based out of Toronto. They just got back from a European tour, and all the hard work really showed. They brought a great energy to the set and were totally rocking the fuck out. When I saw them before they definitely didn't have this level of intensity. Great set.

Part 2 soon...

NXNE - Day One

Holy shit last night was amazing (except for the part of the Celtics losing).

The first night of Canada's answer to SXSW, North By Northeast, kicked off in Toronto. This year's lineup is pretty amazing. check it out. Which is awesome cause the first year I lived in Toronto a couple years ago, the lineup sucked. It was all a bunch of Canadian bands I could care less about. Last year was a marked improvement, but I was only able to check out the first night, because I went back down to the States.

So now that I'm part of the "media" with this here ol' blog, I felt like it would be only fair to pony up for a priority pass and cover the event.

So night one...

(I apologize for all the shitty photos. I'm a writer)

Zola Jesus @ Sneaky Dees

I started off by checking out Zola Jesus at Sneaky Dee's. The fuckers at the door actually carded me, so I had to haul major ass on my bike to run home and get it, so I only saw half of set. From what I heard it was really good, but I was out of sorts and sweaty from the ass hauling. So I'm going to attempt to check them out again tonight.

At this point I had to watch the stupid Boston Celtics lose to the goddamn Lakers. LA can suck it. I did run into a bunch of friends from school, so that was nice to have some buddies around so I could cry into their shoulders (not really).

During halftime I did swing back over to Sneaky Dees and caught UK electronic DJ/producer Gold Panda for about 10 minutes. It was ok. Sounded like a more upbeat version of Four Tet. Just not as good. Plus seeing a dude bop up and down in front of his laptop isn't the most entertaining thing to watch.

HEALTH @ Sneaky Dees

After the game I went back to Dee's and saw HEALTH. They're from LA, which stung a little. But they fucking brought it. So it soothed over my frayed nerves from the game. I was surprised that the short, stubby dude in the grey cap was the singer. I always thought the singer was a girl with a huskier voice. Awesome electronic noise rock though.

Thee Oh Cees @ Great Hall (plus my mental state at this time)

At 1 AM, I road down to the Great Hall and caught Thee Oh Cees from San Francisco. They put on an amazing live show. So much energy. Straight up garage rock. You should definently check them out live. I saw them for the first time last fall. I was completely wasted and my friend that I was with managed to convince me to go check them out, as I was totally out of the loop, but I went. It was so much fun. They're a band that can actually get Toronto crowds to dance, which is quite an accomplishment.

Japandroids @ The Dakota Tavern (Photo cortesy of Fil Zuzarte who is an actual photographer and doesn't shoot the garbage that I shoot. Oh and that bald dude on the left is a penis.)

To the end the night I came back home and saw the secret set by Vancouver's Japandroids. They played at the Dakota which is literally in my back yard which is super convenient. The duo played a solid set, but stripped of their studio noise, the songs were a bit flat. They didn't lack in effort though.

Finally I went back to my patio with some friends and drank beers and listened to tapes until way to late.

Roky Erickson And Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil

ANTI- Records

Released: April 20th, 2010

Old Man Post-Americana (Yeah thats right, I just made up a new genre).

Roky Erickson used to front the best psyche-rock band of all time, the 13th Floor Elevators. If you don't know who they are then fuck off and read something else please. This is his latest solo album in 14 years and it's backed by fellow Austin TX band, Okkervil River who I am also a huge fan of.

The music is a very modern, warped take on americana (post-americana?). Meaning that while most of album sounds exactly like what you think a 65 year old former mental patient fronting the alt-americana Okkervil River, there are moments that are warped, shifted and distorted (not just in the guitar way). These moments remind me a lot of Six Organs of Admittance in the traditional American rock tradition that Ben Chasney brings not his preoccupation with the psychedelic.

The intro, outro and the songs "John Lawman", Birds'd Crash", "Please Judge" in particular show this warped take on the genre. I'm not sure how much this is due to Okkervil River contribution or just Roky's slanted outlook due to his storied past. Anyways those are the best songs as far as making this a unique effort. The rest of the songs sound as if Roky is just singing for Okkervil River. Some of these songs are actually quite good. Especially the catchiest track on the album, "Goodbye Sweet Dreams".

Oh and as a side note: Roky looks like this drunk Danish guy named Peter who works in the same building that I work in. The dude is hilarious, he comes in half in the bag, blabbering on in-comprehensively in a Danish accent about some sort of non-sense. He's like a drunk, Danish version of Santa Claus. Thats who Roky reminds me of in the photo.

Similar: Six Organs of Admittance, The Band, 13th Floor Elevators

Rating: 7.0

Ty Segall - Melted

Goner Records

Released May 25th 2010

Super-Fun Californian, One-Dude-Garage Rock.

Ty Segall is a one man wrecking crew. Simply put: one Calfornian dude + a guitar + drums + some shitty keyboards recorded low-fi but not too low-fi. It's rad. I will never grow tired of garage rock. I've liked it for a very long time and I'm happy that's it's a made a bit of a comeback in the last five years or so.

The songs are very much in the same vein as Thee Oh Cees and The Black Lips but with a sunnier summer-time vibe. The songs are super fun and perfect for sitting around drinking beer on a warm summer night. The songs are simple, but that's the point of garage rock. If it didn't sound like the person making the music is just having a blast then they should fuck-off and write mopey shoegaze songs (ok I like that stuff too, but it's summer, and shits better in the winter).

Highlight tracks would be "My Sunshine" and "Girlfriend" which give you a good idea the lyrical themes this bro tackles. Which is fine because summer is fun, and school's out. Other highlights are "Imaginary Person" and the closing track "Alone" which is the only song to get psyche-y. It kind of sounds a little bit like old Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Rad album. Buy the record or d/l it above, its worth it if you like summer, swimming, beers and babes.

Kinda like: Thee Oh Cees, The Black Lips, The Sonics

Rating: 8.5