In the fall of 2006 I saw Shotgun & Jaybird play in my hometown of Oshawa. It was the only time I ever got to see them play, but it really changed my life. I’ve told the whole story here before, but in fewer words, that was the night I discovered the great festival that is SappyFest, which I had the pleasure of attending in 2008, 2009, and again just this month. It’s actually the end of the month now – I’m not sure what’s taken me so long to get down to writing, but if I wait any longer no one will care anymore.

This year for SappyFest I decided to go for an entire week instead of the usual 3-4 days. Part of the reason I went for longer was so that I could just relax in a nice environment, but I also wanted to check out more of Ok.Quoi?!, an arts festival that happens each year in the week leading up to SappyFest. I went to a roundtable discussion about public art installations, listened to some live experimental music, saw a ton of amazing short films and animations, and even participated in the “Consensus Bus” (a free bus trip open to anyone, but everyone who comes has to agree on the destination).

Of course, SappyFest itself was another fine 3 days of music, with a whole lot of my friends and favourite bands playing this year that was a given, but there were also a few new discoveries along the way. I had planned to shoot a lot of video during the festival, but of course, once I’m having fun I tend to “forget” my camera when I go out… but I did manage to capture two bands from the first night. Neither band should need any introduction for readers of this website as I’ve shot them both many times before.

Toronto’s best party band Steamboat played to a packed mainstage tent in what I believe was their first out-of-town gig! The response from the crowd was enthusiastic, and the band had another chance to get people dancing when they did another set (with plenty of special guest vocalists), closing out the festival on Sunday night at George’s Fabulous Roadhouse.

Finally, here’s Attack in Black playing a few songs. Lots of new material in their set, really hope they record them and make another album.

I skipped out of work a bit early on Sunday to catch the ferry over to the Toronto Islands for the fourth annual Poor Pilgrim Island Show. My first time attending this event, I decided to go as much for the music as for the chance to explore the islands alongside some friends. The forecast for the evening called for a thunderstorm, and with most of the acts performing outdoors, I was a little worried that the event would have to deviate from its plan. Luckily, the storm just missed the islands, so everything pretty much went as planned.

The first act of the day, starting a 5 pm and performing inside the Franklin Children’s Storybook Garden, was Picastro. They’re a band that I’ve always heard about but never actually sat down to listen to or see live. In fact I don’t know a whole lot about them, but checking their bio on Wikipedia they’re described as a “sleep rock.” An odd descriptor for a band, but not entirely inaccurate. Singer Liz Hysen sings quietly and some of the songs stretched on pretty long; I feel their intimate, nocturnal sound would have been a good fit for later in the day, not as the first band. Still, I liked their set, but I feel if I acquaint myself more with their material they could be a band that I could really get into.

According the our handy maps (which were available to pick up at Soundscapes during the week leading up to the show), the next two acts were going to be performing at the Gibraltar Centre for the Arts. The mob of people, which I’d estimate at about 50 or so, made the trek westwards to find that there were already a bunch of people waiting at the next stop. While Eucalyptus was setting up on one end of the room, we were treated to a puppet show retelling of the ugly duckling story, with a few twists. It was fun.

Eucalyptus is a bit of an all-star band, as far as having a lot of great Toronto musicians among its ranks. Led by alto sax-extraordinaire Brodie West, members include trumpeter Nicole Rampersaud, guitarist Alex Lukashevsky, bassist Michael Smith, percussionist Blake Howard, drummer Nick Fraser, and Ryan Driver on piano. I won’t pretend I know all that much calypso music, but the band sounded amazing. Cool stuff!

As we were leaving for the next spot on our map we were informed to check out the art installation on one of the beaches. It consisted of a few boomboxes playing music buried under the sand. It was pretty neat! A lot of people were putting their ears up to the sand to hear better but I didn’t stick around long enough to try.

At the Centre Island Pier under darkening skies and light rain I watched Not the Wind Not the Flag, an impovised duo playing a variety of instruments including kalimba, a homemade-looking guitar, recorder and drums. My friend who is more into improvised music seemed to appreciate their techniques, but it mostly just went over my head. Still, they kept it short and the backdrop was nice, so I’m not complaining.

It was back indoors for the next band, Toronto-by-way-of-California’s Snowblink, performing at St. Andrew-by-the-Lake Church. I’ve been a fan ever since I saw them in January 2009 and have given their last album Long Live many listens. I’ve seen them play a bunch more in the last year and I thought I knew exactly what I’d be seeing on Sunday. Happily, the band was playing almost entirely new songs that, dare I say, kinda rock? I mean, I don’t know if Snowblink could ever really rock out, but to me their live show has always been very precious and careful. This time, the band seemed a bit looser and the new songs floated less like butterflies and stung more like bees, to use a cliché. Very much looking forward to seeing what else they have up their sleeves.

The last stop of the night (for me) was Snake Island where I arrived just as the sun was starting to set. THOMAS played a stripped-down set of pop jams to kick things off. I’ve caught them live a few times now but still haven’t given their album Self-Help a proper listen. I was situated pretty far back from where they were playing and kinda zoned out for part of their set, but I could tell it was good.

Once it was dark out we moved to another section of the beach for both Tasseomancy and Daniel Romano. I saw both of them play very recently and have already written a lot about them, so I can’t add much more. Artist Yuula Benivolski built a “dream machine” which spun around during their sets and from my vantage point fit nicely into the Toronto skyline. Tasseomancy used a very cool sounding pedal that made their mandolin sound like an organ or something, and the lightning in the sky behind them added some fitting ambiance to their eerie music. Daniel’s set was different enough from last week’s show to make it stick out, including a few new tunes and a cover or two. After his set my friend said, “That man can do no wrong,” and I’d have to agree with him.

There were a lot of people filming the concert so I’m hoping to see some footage surface. I had some technical issues (I forgot my battery at home and had to get my brother to bring it to me, missing out on the first half of the night) but on top of filming Snowblink, I got another song from Daniel Romano, which I’ll post here:

I was exhausted come 11 pm and having to work in the morning made me decide to sacrifice catching the last two acts of the night, Alex Lukashevsky Trio and Drumheller. Fortunately, by that point in the evening a lot more people had showed up so despite a fair number of people taking the ferry back to shore with me, it’s good to know the last two bands would still be playing to a good crowd.

All in all, the mini-festival was a wonderful experience. It gave me the chance to see a lot of interesting bands I might not go see normally, and really let me see some cool parts of the islands that I had yet to explore. Kudos to the organizer Matt Cully and to all the bands that played for free. We live in a good city.

So last night I visited Toronto’s newest venue, The Shop, located underneath the restaurant Parts & Labour in the heart of Parkdale. I remember last fall when I started hearing people talking about a new restaurant, an offshoot of Oddfellows and The Social, opening up at Queen St. W. and Sorauren Ave. that was going to have a small “punk” venue in the basement. I’m always happy when bands have new places to play, but I was mostly excited to have a venue opening up so close to my apartment (Toronto’s west-end is severely lacking in rooms to see bands I like play). The venue now known as The Shop finally opened about a month or so ago and I meant to check it out sooner but I’m glad I waited until a show I really wanted to see popped up, as was the case on Sunday night.

Will Kidman opened the night with a quick set of songs that have yet to appear on any of his albums as Woolly Leaves (I’m still not sure if he’s playing under that name anymore). I captured some video but I had a feeling, perhaps because he was still reading the lyrics off a sheet, that a lot of the songs were still being developed and I don’t like to put stuff on the internet when it’s still being worked on. You know what I mean? Maybe it doesn’t matter. Anyway, I thought all his songs were among the best he’s written, and his cover of Neil Young’s “Shots” (which he also covered in the Constantines on their 2006 split 12″ with the Unintended) was particularly cool to hear.

Next up was Baby Eagle (Steve Lambke, also of the Constantines) who brought a full band with him, which I believed he dubbed “The Proud Mothers,” composed of three quarters of Attack in Black (Spencer Burton on drums, Ian Kehoe on bass, and Daniel Romano on acoustic geetar). It was a fairly similar set to the one I witnessed back in March at The Horseshoe when he opened for Daniel, Fred & Julie, which was fine because it gave me a second chance to hear all his new songs. My verdict: I like ‘em! While not too much of a departure from the rest of his material, with song titles like “Fisherman or Fish” and “River Bank Sitter,” moving to the East-Coast definitely seems to have informed his lyrics, at the very least. He has a new record called Dog Weather coming out soon on You’ve Changed Records, but it was available at the show last night! I listened to it today!

Daniel Romano was last up, armed only with his trusty acoustic and Bruce Peninsula‘s Misha Bower singing in harmony – the same formation I saw just over a month ago at his album release show at The Dakota Tavern. It was nice to see a lot more people come out to Sunday’s show, the record seems to be picking up steam and there were a lot of people up front listening attentively, but enough people towards the back of the room talking loudly and playing foosball made for a worse experience than at The Dakota. That’s okay though, there a plenty of other venues in the city that are better geared towards folk music. I think The Shop will be a good place to see louder music, when a little bit of chatter isn’t such a distraction.

Now that I think about it, are there any good places to see quiet music in Toronto? I mentioned The Dakota before, but even that place gets loud when there enough people there. I guess the only time you’re going to find a quiet room is if it’s a large venue and people have paid a lot of money to be there (Massey Hall for example). Any bar with a cheap enough cover is going to attract people who aren’t there for the music, and that’s okay. I feel fortunate enough that I can even see musicians I like on a weekly basis playing rooms that I can afford. What are your thoughts on this subject?

I kept listening to the Snakes, especially the flawless double-LP version of Porcella, and my wounds began to heal. After all, how many other great bands did I never get to see live whose music I still listen to and love. The Snakes were different in that I actually had the chance to see them play, unlike say, Royal City, who broke up before I ever caught on to their music. Nevertheless, after a few years I realized it was time to look ahead and put the whole episode behind me.

Of course, on October 17th 2009 they played on-off reunion show… in Portland, Oregon. So, good news I guess, at least they will play if someone makes the right offer. Can someone in Toronto please book them??? Until then, seeing André Ethier sing Snakes songs with Steamboat will have to do (I really appreciate it, guys).

Well, I’ve been putting off writing this for days now and I really don’t think I can wait any longer. This year, like the last two years, I attended North-By-North-East. I decided to make more of an effort this year to check out multiple shows each night and in the end I did pretty well. As usual though, I ended up gravitating towards bands I already know and love rather than checking out new stuff. Here’s my weekend, day-by-day.

THURSDAY

My night started at The Great Hall, a 120-year-old building at Queen and Dovercourt that recently started hosting concerts. It was my first time there, though I’d previously been to The Theater Center (which is in the same building). The Great Hall is a similar room, with a balcony wrapping around the room, but instead of seats in the middle, the main floor is entirely flat, which I guess explains the “hall” part of its name. I didn’t get too close to the stage, prefering to lurk in the shadows underneath the balcony, but the sightlines were good from wherever I stood. This would be thanks to the high stage, which reminds me of a miniature version of the one you would find a The Opera House or The Phoenix. Together with some great lighting and sound made for a pretty fine place to see some music.

The first band I saw was Women, who I last saw at the Horseshoe in March 2009, during CMW. The Calgary quartet’s first album came out in 2008 and I can’t say I’ve listened to it more than a handful of times, but I remember liking much of it. Unfortunately, the band really stayed a bit too still for my liking and my excitement waned early on. Still, the new songs were solid.

Taking the stage after them was LA’s Best Coast, who I caught last time they were in town back in April. I liked ‘em then, and I liked them here too. Good songs, good style, looking forward to hearing their album.

I left after a few songs, hoping to catch Metz at The Garrison, but by the time I arrived they’d finished playing. Nevertheless, DD/MM/YYYY were about to take the stage, so I decided to stick around because it had been a long time since I’d seen them play. I’ve never really connected with their music in the past and my attitude didn’t change too much this time, but I do appreciate what they do more than before. Their long repetitive grooves reminded me of Oneida, which I liked. They’re fun to watch and while the music isn’t always my thing, they obviously work very hard and I can back that.

I hurried over to the Kelp Records showcase at Clinton’s, and caught a bit of The Michael Parks (featuring Andy Swan, Sandro Perri, Greg Smith of the Weakerthans, and Shayne Cox, most recently of Sports: The Band) and stayed for some of Andrew Vincent. Both acts were laidback, loose, and delightful. Andrew Vincent was especially entertaining, as he decided to sing/rap over pre-recorded backing tracks for the first few songs. That might sound strange, but his smart lyrics, awkward gestures and hushed voice made for fascinating show.

I ended the night back at The Garrison, where my house-guests for the weekend, PS I Love You, were playing at 2 am. Not too many people were still there at that late hour, but you could tell that everyone who stuck around and saw them was pretty excited.

FRIDAY

The first stop of the night for me was the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom for the NOW Magazine showcase. I was there to see Halifax’s Tasseomancy (formerly Ghost Bees, they announced the name change mid-way through their set), the project of twin sisters Romy and Sari Lightman. I last saw them when they played a show at my apartment in March, and their new songs have really stuck with me. Right off the start I knew I was in for a treat, when I realized that Timber Timbre‘s Taylor Kirk and Simon Trottier would be accompanying the twins, switching between drums, guitar, keyboard, and lapsteel. Also sharing the stage were a group of women covered in body paint and carrying staffs and sculptures and essentially just adding a theatrical element to an already dark and creepy set of music. One of them even did an interpretive dance to one of the songs, freaking me out further. Best thing I saw at NXNE this year, for sure!

Obviously I wanted to stick around to see Timber Timbre, but I also really wanted to go check out Katie Stelmanis at Wrongbar. I decided to try to see a bit of both sets, ducking out during Timber Timbre’s third song to make my way west along Queen St. I don’t think I missed much – I’ve seen them play so often and I always enjoy it, but I’m really itching for some new material!

It was my first time visiting Wrongbar, and the layout was not at all how I pictured it in my mind, but I still thought it was a pretty cool room. I was able to catch the last half of Katie and her band’s set, which included one very danceable number that I’d never heard her play before. They’re one of my favourite acts in Toronto right now and I hope more people catch on to what they’re doing because it’s really quite good.

Diamond Rings played next, dressed like a peacock. People lost their shit, of course.

At midnight, I hurried over to the Dakota to catch Evening Hymns. The place was jam packed, and unfortunately it seemed like a lot of the people weren’t there to listen to music. It was a damn shame people didn’t shut up for their set because from what I could hear it was beautiful. I got fed up with the chatter and left early to try to get into Lee’s Palace for PS I Love You.

When I arrived, Japandroids had just finished and there was a steady stream of people exiting the building. All I could think to myself is, “These folks don’t know what they’re missing!” I think a lot of Japandroids fans would dig PS I Love You – they’re both guitar and drum duos who write really catchy energetic anthems – but if I’m not out there checking out new bands, I can’t expect others to as well. I found my spot up front and had my brain melted by them for the second night in a row.

SATURDAY

I was pretty exhausted after the first two nights, so for Saturday I chose to just one show: The D’Urbervilles at The Drake. They weren’t going on until midnight though, so I decided to go see if my boys in Attack in Black were hanging out at the Horsehoe. I’d be missing their set for The D’Urbervilles, but it was good to hang out for a while anyway. I did manage to catch some of Bruce Peninsula‘s set, and to my ears they’ve never sounded better. I wish I could have stuck around for their whole show.

So yes, the festival ended at The Drake, with my old friends The D’Urbervilles. Seeing them play is a NXNE tradition that I’m happy to keep up.

To wrap things up, I agree with everyone else who has said this was the best NXNE ever. Though I wasn’t around in the mid-90s when it began, it was certainly the most fun I’ve had out of the past three that I’d attended. With all the new venues that have opened up in the last year, and with the nice weather we had over the weekend, walking around the city at times reminded me of being in Austin for South-By-South-West. About a million less people, but the feeling was still there.

If you’ve read this far, congratulations, here’s a video of PS I Love You playing their song “Meet Me at the Muster Station” at Lee’s Palace from the Friday of NXNE.

Emma McKenna

I’ve listened to her album three times today knowing I would have to write about it, and I still can’t come up with a good way to describe it. She’s a singer-songwriter, that much I do know, but don’t let that paint a picture of her as an acoustic folk balladeer. Simply put, Emma is fierce, with a voice that grabs you by the ear and doesn’t let go (in a good way).

I’m getting ahead of myself though, so let me back up. In March, my roommates Adam, John and I hosted CMWTF?!, a house show featuring acts not officially playing Canadian Music Fest. John is friends with Emma so he asked her to play and I was delighted when she said yes. I thought the show went over pretty well, and I guess Emma did too because a few months later she approached us about playing our apartment again, this time to celebrate the release of her long-awaited debut album, Run With It. Obviously we said yes, and the date June 11th was decided upon. Our friends Jenny and Casey Mecija (of Ohbijou) opened the show as Canadian Wildlife, and Emma’s set had special guests in the form of Katie Stelmanis and Tasseomancy.

Yes, it was a pretty special night, and with over 100 people in attendance it was a huge success. Check out the video to hear Emma play a song that isn’t on her album.

Emma McKenna on MySpace
Buy Run With It on iTunes (Also available on CD)

When Rick White asked me to help film the Blue Fog Revue last week, there was no way I could say no. Besides playing in one of my all time favourite bands, Rick is also part of the Blue Fog Recordings family, having released 3 solo albums for the label he helped start close to ten years ago. Some other bands on the label include $100, André Ethier, Castlemusic… basically a bunch of bands I really love. The entire active roster was on the bill last Friday at Lee’s Palace, but if you happened to miss it you can check out selections from the evening on YouTube. I filmed the whole night alongside Rick, and he’s been busy editing the footage all week.

I also bought a digital camera, finally. Maybe I’ll start posting photos?

Well, it’s the middle of the week, which means it’s time for another video. This week I’ll be featuring Baby Eagle, who opened for Daniel, Fred & Julie at the Horseshoe a few weeks back. What’s there to say about little ol’ Baby Eagle, other than it’s the project of the Constantines’ Steve Lambke, and that he’s great? I guess the first peep I ever heard from him was the last track on the third Cons album (Tournament of Hearts), a ditty called “Windy Road.” It had Steve singing, but instead of the usual scrappy punk song we got a pleasant acoustic number. It was an album highlight for me, so I was happy when he started playing solo shows later that year. Two quick albums in 2006 and 2007 followed by a split with Attack in Black late last year brings us to today. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from him soon – his setlist was all new songs, and it looks like he’s going electric.

Last Thursday I went and saw Daniel, Fred & Julie play at the Horseshoe, the perfect venue to hear them play their gentle folk songs. Last fall when I first caught wind of this project, I immediately knew I’d love the record. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the music these three people make, so to have them team up for a record had me pulling out my wallet faster than you can say “Sackville.” Truthfully, it made sense for them to join forces: Julie played in Fred’s old band “Shotgun & Jaybird,” and when that band broke up, ex-member Shotgun Jimmie recruited Daniel’s band Attack in Black to be his backing band. Attack in Black’s album Years featured guest vocals from Julie Doiron, who in turn covered two of Fred’s songs on her last album.

Are you with me still? If so, please enjoy their song “Runner” from their self-titled debut record, out now on You’ve Changed Records.

This is a special video for sure. Jim Guthrie hasn’t been playing much lately (in fact, I think I caught his last solo show way back in 2005), so when it was announced that he would be performing at the El Mocambo a few weeks back I got very excited. Jim has been one of my favourite musicians for a long time after I discovered him through his connections with my other favourite band the Constantines (they both used to share a label, the aptly named Three Gut Records). His last album, 2003’s Now, More Than Ever is a masterpiece – 10 perfect songs. Luckily for those of you who haven’t heard it, it’s being reissued very soon (on vinyl!), so please, do yourself a favour and get it. This song presented here is “So Small” from that same album.

PS: My series is named after Jim’s second album (another great record) Morning Noon Night. So now you know!