the story of how (I think) I got into "indie"

SRSLY?

First off, I hate the term "indie." I think it's a cop-out, and I never describe the music I listen to as that, unless someone is completely clueless when I try to explain it in other terms. And secondly: wow, you know it can't be good when you start a post off with a picture of Fall Out Boy. But I just did, and I'm not ashamed of it.

I was driving home today, saw a guy wearing jean shorts down to his ankles, and a very over-sized shirt. I thought "wow, that could've been me." I even uh...came out?...this summer, and basically remembered that just over 3 years ago I was hard into rap and hip-hop, even with the underground stuff (Papoose anyone?...anyone?) - though no mixtape maniac or anything. I liked the stuff. I had an iPod full of Dipset, Juelz Santana, Jay-Z, Fort Minor, T-Pain, Kanye West, Three Six Mafia, Timbaland, The Game, Fat Joe, Young Jeezy...basically anything that was hot at the time, I had it. Oh, and all the remixes too.

I dressed a bit like it too. Not too much, but I certainly had bigger shirts and baggier jeans than a kid of my stature really needed. I rocked the sneakers. I tried the hat thing, but it just wasn't me...at all. And I had a chinstrap. Boy did I have a lot of ghetto chinstraps.

Anyways, I kept driving, and thanked God I wasn't still like that. But then I wondered...why did I ever stop being like that? What was the turning point? And I thought about it, and luckily, it only took a minute or two. It wasn't the fact I was starting university soon. It wasn't even that I had a girlfriend around that time. It was: Fall Out Boy. Yes, part of the reason I'm even here blogging about my favorite alternative music is the widely-despised, oft-crushed-on, Ashlee Simpson-marrying Fall Out Boy. Even worse, it's actually Ryan Seacrest's fault.

You see, one day, years ago, I was in the car, and "American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest" was on. I was a big Top 40 and radio guy back then (still a radio guy now to a degree), so I listened intently. And when Seacrest debuted "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race," I was wowed. It was so different from everything I was used to. It was upbeat, it had catchy lyrics, and it had that same kind of swagger rap did, but in an entirely different way. I'm not even sure they could swagger at all really given how tight their pants were.

I went out and got their album Infinity On High and put that thing on damn near repeat for months straight. None of my friends liked it. My best friend couldn't even get through one song without giving me a disproving stare...and she was a girl. My younger sister was the only one who shared any kind of semblance of my appreciation for FOB, and that was from me introducing them to her, not by any volition of her own. The songs were fun and were rock-ish, without the jock-rock feel of Nickelback or the stuffiness of the classic rock so prevalent on the radio here. The lyrics were full of the same wordplay hip-hop employed so well, but without the proliferation of swearing and beefing. I was probably in musical heaven; of the 13 songs on that album, I didn't like 3 - that's it. The rest I could play for days on end, and did.

I'd always heard of Fall Out Boy, but wrote them off, for probably the same reasons many others do. But I embraced them with Infinity On High, and even took a liking to some of their older tunes. This post really isn't about FOB (though it seems like that, doesn't it?), but moreso what they did for me in the bigger picture. They played a brand of accessible, slightly-creative, maintstream pop-punk, with a little bit of alternative thrown in there - after all, Pete Wentz did come out of the Chicago hardcore scene. It was the perfect entry for me into alternative rock, which only fueled my desire to delve deeper into that alt/indie world. All told now, I have 32 FOB songs in my iTunes; no huge number, and I'm certainly not as impressed with recent Folie A Deux as I was with Infinity On High, but I still remain a fan.

From there though, I moved on to Joel Plaskett (my sister returning the musical recommendation favour), Foo Fighters, City & Colour, a bit of Red Hot Chili Pepppers, some Velvet Revolver, radio-friendly The Fray, a sprinkle of The White Stripes, My Chemical Romance, The Strokes, one great Silversun Pickups tune...the list goes on, and that's just from tracking the "Date Added" on my iTunes. Of course, there was an unfortunate run-in, on recommendation, with drum 'n' bass (think Massive Attack and Sneaker Pimps), but it was brief. The rap was still mixed in there, because I wasn't entirely converted yet, and I still liked the occasional banger here and there.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? was certainly one group that intrigued me along the way. Rock riffs and electro bounce? I was sold on them right away, and a big part of that was the now-defunct Indie 103.1 from Orange County, California. Rolling Stone named them the top alternative music station in the States, and because they were readily available on iTunes radio, I was hooked. Even now no radio even approaching that content exists here, and when they went off the air earlier this year, I was crushed.

The summer of 2008 was a huge turning point for me though. Justice, Rilo Kiley, Portishead, Santogold, Vampire Weekend...and Radiohead. Hell, my jazz-loving, vinyl-obsessed uncle even told me Radiohead was an all-world act nearly 2 or 3 years before, and I hadn't paid him any mind. Again, it was my sister who got ahead of the curve here, with the help of her boyfriend getting her onto In Rainbows. I was hesitant at first, especially given the fact the first song she showed me was "All I Need," a tune I still don't bother listening to.

But the CD was in the car, and on my trips to and from work that summer, I played the thing front to back, on random, over and over until...well, I never really got sick of it, which was the beauty. It was the perfect album: docile when you were feeling mellow (perfect for the days you get fired from the above job and have to drive home and think of what to tell your parents), upbeat when you needed something to amp you up a bit, and a perfect wind-down overall for after a night on the town. If Fall Out Boy was like that first time you started noticing girls, Radiohead was like your first great girlfriend.

So after that, I was set. I started hating rap (with a passion sometimes, and it certainly didn't hurt that this was all coming during Jay-Z's ill-advised comeback albums and Nas' self-proclamation of hip-hop's death), but could still stand a bit of the better, hipper side of that scene. Kanye West was obviously still in rotation.

One of the biggest factors that summer was an amazing girl I met through a mutual friend. In her, I finally found someone who liked the same music, plus so much other stuff I'd never heard that I really missed out on. There were concerts - Tokyo Police Club was an early favorite, and the first time I saw The Weakerthans was that summer - and there were iPod-fueled musical showcases of "here you have to listen to this" proportions.

So definitively, though that musical transformation may have begun in spring of 2007 with the haphazard Fall Out Boy listen, it really all came around more than a year later, when I can say MGMT made my summer, Kings of Leon put the rock in it, and Radiohead filled the space in between. If I were to take this even further, a well-advised viewing that summer of the somber Control really piqued my interest in Joy Division and all the historical roots of current alternative music. One of my ongoing endeavours is to really understand how music got to where it is now, to take that old adage "you don't know where you're going until you know where you've been" and apply it to the best of my abilities to music. That process certainly involves lots of Wikipedia-aided research, Pitchfork articles, and "did you know"s, but in my eyes, it's all worth it.

So what's this all mean? Well, it's an excuse to post what might still be my favorite Fall Out Boy song ever:

The Take Over, The Break's Over - Fall Out Boy

Upcoming Reviews

...hopefully, because I know I'll be listening to them. It's just a matter of writing up my thoughts.

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

The Most Serene Republic - ...And The Ever Expanding Universe

Arkells - Jackson Square

...and possibly Handsome Furs' debut release, Plague Park. But only as a reference point and in the context of my review of Face Control.

Handsome Furs - "Face Control" review

yes, that's a real, purchased CD...whoa

This review starts with HMV. If you ever want some music, but don't actually want to find it and buy it, it's your kinda store. I went in looking for Japandroids a couple months ago, and after two or three trips plus a couple phone calls, all I ever heard was that the store had the vinyl of Post Nothing, but not the CD. I dunno who was stupider, the guys there who never knew/never told me the band was never going to put out a CD, or me for only bothering to find that fact out a few weeks after my search started.

Needless to say, when I went looking for Face Control, they didn't have it. Kudos to them for ordering it in for me quite promptly, but still, the multiple trips isn't what I look for when I'm buying music.

That aside, the real impetus for buying this album was Handsome Furs' great performance at Virgin Fest in Halifax earlier this month. After quickly browsing Pitchfork's review, I decided it was worth it to buy the album and check it out myself. The packaging was of course neat, if the CD itself wasn't a little hard to locate and slide from its delicate pouch (which valuably had the tracklist printed on it...creative, but not necessarily logical). So I popped it in and listened to it on my long-ish commute home. This was last week, and between my desire to review the album over the last few days and the unforeseen dead battery of my mp3 player this morning, I think I got four or five listens to thing in that time.

What I can draw from all of it is that perspective has a lot to do with things. Albums themselves are alot like singles really, in that sometimes you'll hear something and go "whoa, I need that, that's awesome" and just put it on repeat for days. Other times, you'll know right away something isn't to your taste, and you probably won't give it another chance.

To be honest, my first listen to Face Control had me fall somewhere right in the middle. The duo (of Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner and his [very hot {buy the CD for the liner's topless pics...I'm serious}] wife Alexei Perry) really know how to market themselves, because other than their earlier work and their great live show, I really only knew two singles off the album, and one of them was much better for me than the other. So kudos to them as well, for enticing me to dish out $22 for 12 songs-worth of album on the strength of two songs and a concert.

By now, I know this review might be a little like "Cannot Get. Started" off HF's debut album Plague Park. My apologies, so I'll get to it. The album has grown on me more every listen. I've picked up on little nuances, and I've also come to realize that sometimes an album that has a lot of the same sound isn't always all it's cracked up to be. The first listen, I couldn't even distinguish when one song started and the other began. All the same distorted and droning guitar, slaps, drum machines...they all just flowed together, with nothing markedly standing out from the rest. This is strangely an album where it doesn't pay to listen to it back to front, the way most LP's are supposed to be structured.

So I threw the thing on shuffle today. And lo and behold, the album had a completely different sound. There was some variety, and it wasn't all just one melting pot of songs. There's still the same structure for about 10 of the songs (intro, verse, verse, solo, verse) but you can start to pick out the differences when the tracks are out of order. To go back to my first point about an album being like a song, it really is that strange macrocosm. You look for that nice slow intro, a few good songs to pick it up, that middle section that really establishes the album, maybe a little lull or some weaker tunes, a song or two that hits it out of the park, and maybe a slow finish to wind you down. I can't help thinking of a batting order in a baseball game in terms of setting the table in that same way.

And I looked for that with this album. That middle section is definitely there with lead singles "All We Want Baby, Is Everything" and "I'm Confused," and the other elements are there in bits and pieces, but there's really not that variety in sound and even soundscapes that you expect other albums to have. Even when someone like Joel Plaskett does a concept album, there's still a lot of variance between tracks. Maybe it's the fact there's only so much two people can do with the music, but I found Japandroid's twosome to be varied enough in it's rhythms and song structures to keep me rapt from front to back on their release. At some points I know I definitely yearned for Handsome Furs to add a real drummer and see where it could go, but no chance of that realistically happening.

Boeckner's voice is as yappy as the dog on the album cover, and the pain in his voice is palpatable when he yelps out his lyrics. There's definitely some duplication and filtering going on, but it's not over the top and it doesn't really hurt the delivery at all. It seems hidden under the rest of the music, but the simplicity of his lyrics still manages to help them shine through. Another aspect I found, that's quite hard to put into words, is that the music seems very closed in.

I mean, don't get me wrong, the band's a hell of a live show, but it's like they recorded the album in a little box, with all the sounds bouncing off of each other, and that constant drone in the background. Again, it's not a knock on it, because I love that kind of music, but for 12 songs, it can get kind of monotonous. You get the feeling you just want one of the songs to explode, Dan's voice to rise above everything, the drum slaps to crash down, and for the band to deliver some knockout punch that never seems to come. "All We Want..." comes closest to fulfilling that promise, and it's apt to be firmly entrenched in your head with it's shrill synth and talks of building a heaven...but you can't help but feeling there's that next level the duo could reach.

Many of the songs overall have a really diverse feel to them. "Officer of Hearts" seems like it could've been the featured beat on a mid-90's West Coast gangsta-rap album, while a lot of the other tunes have feelings of country, dance and Dinosaur, Jr.-flecked noise rock - sometimes all at once. I was quick to describe their live show as a band combining equal dashes of dancefloor-ready synth and drum machine with distorted indie rock, but without those huge speakers and Alexei's spirited interpretation of her cold and metallic instruments, those sounds seem a little lost on the album itself.

Now this probably comes off as a pretty hard review overall, but that's not to say there aren't highlights. At least half the songs have a good mix of shout-along verses, rousing breaks and grooving beats. There's a harpsichord-ing instrumental jaunt on the quite-short "(White City)." Tunes like "Evangeline" and "Thy Will Be Done" will make you beg for more in-your-face Handsome Furs, and "Talking Hotel Arbat Blues," funky name aside, has to be the most fun on the whole album, from the chugging backbeat to the perfectly messed-up stadium-ready guitar. "Nyet Spasiba" is another one I would've liked to see the duo build on through the album, with some real excitement brewing during the track. Handsome Furs certainly have pop sensibility, and they're all the better for it when they decide to employ it.

Maybe it comes back to perspective again. I have to catch up on my Wolf Parade, so I'm not sure if this marks a sharp detour from Dan's work with that critically-acclaimed and well-loved group, but I'm not sure if he's breaking new ground here. I'd love it if Handsome Furs could step out of their comfort zone, experiment a bit, and churn out something unexpected. Nothing really jars you out of the dark and heavy haze of the overbearing percussion of the album. A guitar stab here and there is about all you get.

Who knows, maybe this is experimental and different for some people. It just isn't that way for me though. With all that said however, I still love Handsome Furs, can't wait to see them in concert again, and look forward to their next album. Now excuse while I go find that album liner...

I have an excuse this time! I was actually out, watching real, live music. The Pack A.D. were playing Gus' Pub (as I mentioned earlier on here) last night - which I forgot was even going on until I got to work Monday morning. Could I scramble to find enough friends to go? Could I find out what time the show was? Could I figure out if there was cover? Could I survive going to what's sometimes one of the most hardcore punk venues in all of Halifax (not to mention already being in the deja sketchy North End of the city) dressed in my work-best tucked-in polo, casual dress pants, glasses and black dress shoes? Well, read on!

The quick answers though? Two. 10pm. $5. Wear layers and always have a pair of adidas in the car.

I had read earlier in the day Gus' is pretty cramped on the inside, and that may have been an understatement. There were, I dunno, eight or ten tables in the place, and half the bar was glassed off for people playing VLT's. For a mental picture, think of your favorite small bar...then slice it down the middle lengthwise. For an actual picture, well, this is pretty much what it woulda looked like from where we were sitting.

My friend and I got there early and waited for our third to show up. We flipped open an issue of The Coast to see it touting that night's particular show. While doing that, a girl came over and grabbed what we thought was an abandoned pitcher and more-empty-than-full glass, with my friend quipping that "I guess the table wasn't free," like we thought it was. It was only afterwards I looked over to where the girl settled back to her seat to across the bar, checked back in The Coast, and realized we had, in fact, stolen the headliner's table. Only on a Canadian indie-band bar tour everyone, thank you!

All that aside, The Superfantastics were the first openers that night. I've seen them once opening for The Constantines and The Weakerthans, and for a two-piece boy-girl band, they...well, they sound pretty much like what a two-piece boy-girl band would sound like if the girl was on the drums instead of lead vocals. She's a ferocious and precise drummer, cute in an alternative kinda way, and she seemed to be staring around for much of the set. Don't get me wrong, she still delivered a great performance, but it was almost like she wasn't even there during the actual songs. The between song banter between the two themselves, the crowd, and even with The Pack A.D. was good for a few laughs, and the music was happy indie pop-rock.

The duo really hit their stride at the midpoint of their set, then lulled a bit after vocalist and guitarist Matthew MacDonald switched his regular guitar over for something more surf-rock-y. They happened to kill the last song and left us admittedly hoping for more tunes in that vein, but it was solid either way. The acoustics and equipment are nowhere near extraordinary at Gus' Pub (could you guess? just by looking at the name?) so The Superfantastics definitely sounded better when I saw them at the bigger and better-equipped Palace, but nice opener nonetheless.

The Stance were up next, but I'll save you and I alot of time and suffice it to say neither my friends nor I were anywhere near impressed with them. Overall, they just sounded empty. I was gonna write the drums sounded empty...then I realized: so did the guitars...and so did the lead singer's voice. I dunno. It was like everything was just...there. I commented afterwards that they had a few good pieces, a few good parts here and there, but it never really meshed at all. They were just loud and basically "played their instruments," right down to the lead singer. I mean, here, check 'em out, maybe it was just us or the acoustics - and that's quite possible given that the crowd possibly maxed out during The Stance's show, then started to peel off one-by-one before and during The Pack's set. Personally though, I think that said more about The Stance having a lot more friends in Halifax turn out for their show than the Vancouver headliners did.

Speaking of them: they rocked it. I cannot stress that enough. I had been saying to everyone who was wondering what kind of show it was that they had a White Stripes-ish sound to them, given their blues-rock lilt. Little did I know that when we walked away that night, we'd be saying they were like a straight up cross between Janis Joplin and Stripes. If The Superfantastic's drummer was ferocious, then Maya on The Pack's drums was just hellacious. She was attacking those poor skins, looking out of control, but delivering pin-point hits every song.

The lead singer Becky had the aforementioned likeness to Janis Joplin, with a dark growl and gravelly texture to her voice, perfect for swamp- and blues-rock. The first few times I heard her, I was still debating whether or not it was a guy singing lead. During the show though, we didn't care that you could barely understand what she was saying for the first few songs; lyrics weren't the point here; jamming out most certainly was.

They had everything. Cavernous guitar solos, slides, stop-and-starts, false-endings galore. These girls obviously know what they're doing and have every trick down to a science. Not an off note, not an off beat, nothing. Just plain old in-your-face rock and roll. I kept looking back to see if my friends were enjoying it, because I'd shuffled up a bit to get closer to the action, so I was never really sure if the other two were into it quite as much as I was. The girls in front of me however I had no doubt about. I've frankly never seen such manic or enthusiastic dancing to rock, and believe me, if I was a little less self-conscious and a little more alchohol-enabled, I may have been right there with them.

The Pack's sound was infectious and I - along with most others when they announced they'd only be doing two more songs - didn't want it to end. Also, suprisingly, they didn't play "Making Gestures," the song that turned me onto them and fostered my White Stripes comparisons. If you read my Virgin Festival recap, then you'd know how egregious that kind of concert slight is to me, but this time...I frankly didn't care. They rocked my socks off with or without that one, and given the rest of their catalogue on display that night, I really didn't miss it. And neither did my friends, who actually thanked me for clueing them into the show that night. That's a great feeling as a music fan, sharing something you really like and finding someone else who appreciates it. The fact it was a live show and not a simple swap of mp3's just added to that.

The Pack A.D. plays New Minas tonight, if there's anybody willing to make the trek or who's already there. Otherwise, they're still on the rise on the national indie scene, and hopefully they'll be back here in no time. They've admittedly been touring non-stop. Check out their MySpace here, and their CBC Radio 3 page here.

There's no one I quite enjoy more live than The Weakerthans. Granted, I've only seen them twice, but the first time, I fell completely for the sincerity of their music, and the second time - if not for the three girls and one guy who insisted on singing 80% of the songs, off-key at that - it just re-affirmed the love they have for their music and the art of performing it.

Their lyrics are relatable, and you believe every word that comes out of John K. Samson's mouth. He's so coy on stage, and when he smiles, it's warm and genuine. And smile he does on stage, quite a bit actually. The Weakerthans are a group who take what they do very seriously, but you can see that at the same time they love doing it more than anything.

The songs have a lot to do with everyday sort of stuff. "Civil Twilight," their biggest hit, relates the story of a bus driver missing someone he loves. But the nostalgia for that person is mixed with the benign-ness of the conductor's afternoon commute, all in the upbeat tempo that you wouldn't expect from a song with that sort of subject matter. "Sun In An Empty Room" details leaving an apartment full of memories; it would've been perfect for the last episode of Friends if it didn't have such a happy sway to the whole thing. That's another thing about The Weakerthans: they make uplifiting, toe-tapping, hand-clapping music from seemingly the saddest of situations.

My personal favorite is probably the most driving tune off most recent album Reunion Tour. "Retail Surplus Value" clocks in at a very short 2:38, but there's nothing wasted in there. Samson tells the story of someone who apparently went on a bit of a bender, then gets to work only to find out the company's not doing so well, and that he's being fired. Sounds pretty unfortunate, right? Again, you'd never tell from the musical arrangement. The Weakerthans will always amaze me with the way they seamlessly weave together enticing indie rock with poetry straight from the heartbroken journals of a 30-something urbanite.

Of course, I'm not quite there yet, but in about 10 years I know what record I'll be spinning when I'm sitting in my empty apartment after my most recent break-up.

Check out "Retail Surplus Value," but most importantly, get out there, immerse yourself in The Weakerthans' inspiring catalogue, and buy Reunion Tour. I promise you won't regret it.

eff meeee

Sooo, I know it's been (again) a while. But this time, I was just pissed because my box.net account got closed. Evidently, you can only post so much free music on there. Oops.

Anyways, in the meantime I'm going back to zShare.

I'm sitting out on my deck as I type, and it's been sunny as fuck for the last two days, after a solid two weeks of fog...so because I just swore, today's pick is by a band I largely ignored when they became popular. They are Holy F**k (yes, I have the *'s there because the closest I come to saying that particular curse is "holy guacamole," and then everytime I say that, I try to remember how to spell "guacamole"...but that's neither here nor there) and I often confused them with Holy Ghost, and wrote them off as another electronic band that didn't really matter much in the context of my own musical listening. Sure, they seemed to be pretty big on hypem.com and around the general blogosphere, but they never really struck a chord with me.

So one day this summer, I'm sitting at work listening to CBC Radio3 podcasts like I usually do (we're only allowed on CBC.ca at work), and Holy F**k gets played, and something really catches on with me about their song "Frenchy's," which in the podcast came along with an entire history and definition of the Frenchy's franchise in Atlantic Canada. I ended up having the beat of the song stuck in my head the entire rest of the afternoon, and I was amazed that some of Holy F**k's instrumentation comes straight from...you (didn't) guessed it...the same Casio keyboards you and I played with as children.

Of course, there's the real percussion and synth and all that good stuff, but the way they work in that childhood Casio is quite a feat in my mind. I've heard they put on quite a live show too, and I'm planning to check them out when Radio3 streams a live concert featuring them this Saturday evening (5:30pm-8:00pm EST I think?). Plus...they're from Nova Scotia. That put them over the top for me. That, and the fact that the (Conservative) government tried to pull arts funding a time ago Canada-wide, and used Holy F**k's motherlovin' band name as an excuse.

Holy F**k - Frenchy's

Virgin Festival Concert Review

the ticket that never was

Sooo, my long-awaited Virgin Festival turned into a self-proclaimed "free-Fest" when the headlining Tragically Hip had a serious family emergency (hopefully all is well) come up a day before the show. There was an article in that morning's Metro paper about the festival doing a two-for-one deal where people with tickets already could bring along one friend for free, but the real news came around supper time, when they announced the Hip pulling out and a subsequent free concert for anyone wanting to come.

I was personally pretty disappointed about the Hip, because they were the icing on my concert cake, but the fact the concert was going to be free did not sit well with me at the time. Yes, many more of my friends were coming now, but I frankly thought the day would turn into a free-for-all (quite literally) shitfest of basically anyone who was in or around town with nothing else to do on a Saturday. Last word I heard this morning was that 12,000 showed up for the 15,000-capacity Garrison Grounds of the Citadel, so quite a few people took Virgin up on the offer.

I got there around 12:30pm, with the doors opening at 1pm according to the schedule. Sleeping bag in backpack, three subs ready to eat, half-waterproof hoodie on, and cookies for snacking, it was already drizzling while I was standing in line, and I wasn't looking forward to the skies opening up any more during the 8-hour day. Thankfully though, the rain let up before they even opened the gate.

Something that didn't let up however was the 40-something creep in front of me, bucket hat, rain jacket and foul mouth in tow, trying to make friendly with the 20-somethings behind me...then throwing me into it as I was in the middle and all. Between the dirty innuendo, underhanded jabs, and a clinic on how to really shake hands, any time would've been too long standing there, but to make matters worse, they didn't start letting people in until about 1:30pm.

Once we got going though (and I was about...100th in line?) the line was moving quick, so kudos to the logistics planning of the organizers. The bag checks were pretty cursory...they didn't even check inside my wrapped-up sleeping bag, so you could sneak in virtually anything you wanted, and that was quite evident as the day progressed. After the usual patdown, I wandered across the (extremely, and only to get worse) muddy grounds, up to the best view I could find from the hill. Unfortunately, and unlike last summer's SummerSonic concerts, they had a large, like 40-foot structure obstructing the straight-on view of the stage. Because I was there early though, I got that good spot, and a few compliments from my friends about the quality of the view (pointed out here [I was the red dot] as badly as possible because I was too lazy to bring a camera).

Before the actual act reviews, I have to give another kudos, to the stagehands this time and for two reasons. First of all, I've never experienced less of a wait between acts, as the 20-strong crews were going rapid-fire to set up everything quickly, leaving the audience the least restless possible. Secondly...it's like they stole my iTunes library for the between-set music. LCD Soundsystem, Does It Offend You, Yeah?; Interpol, a great cover of "Ready For The Floor" by Hot Chip from a girl-singer I didn't quite recognize, some Vampire Weekend I'm pretty sure, and lots more that I genuinely liked and enjoyed. Combined, both factors made for a much less aggravating wait between shows. But on we go, in order of appearance:

Dog Day

These guys were the show openers, and got on pretty quick after I came in. I have to admit, I watched Dog Day and In-Flight Safety play from the distance of my spot on the hill, texting friends and waiting to meet up with others. I would look up when I heard snippets of songs that stood out, and Dog Day certainly had a few of those, but I can't give a justifiable review as I wasn't up in the crowd and actually giving my full attention to these guys. I can say though, at times I did listen in, they sounded like a more rocking kind of Stars, but mainly due to the fact they had a baby-voiced girl singer pick up some of the melodies.

In-Flight Safety

I've missed two IFS shows so far in the last two years when they were opening for others, but they've intrigued me and I've heard great things, so I made it a point to get there early enough to see these guys. Unfortunately, like I said, I was up on the hill for these guys, and it coincided with when my friends decided to show up, so all didn't go exactly according to plan. I did make a more concerted effort to pay attention to them than Dog Day however, and I do know IFS's big single "The Coast Is Clear," so when they closed their short set (most of the acts were on for 30-40 minutes) with it, I made sure to turn around and block out everything else.

Was it ever worth it. Because of my view from that far back, the song seemed so much "bigger" than it really was, filling the grounds with noise and almost permeating through you. It's dreamy in a way, sounding bended in its rhythms and building up and lifting off like a plane jetting down a runway during the chorus. I think I realized I actually loved this song at the concert yesterday, and that the impetus for that was probably the piano; I'm an absolute sucker for piano, whether it's in a hip-hop song or rock or anything. Pretty sure I got chills.

Arkells

These guys blew my mind, and were actually far and away my favorite act of the day. I'd made sure to check out their stuff before the Festival, as I'd liked what I'd heard from them on CBC Radio 3 and their page on there. The lead singer Max Kerman (second from right and more than full-bearded on the day of the show) was the most energetic of anyone this side of Metric's Emily Haines and Alexei Perry of The Handsome Furs; running all over the stage, interacting with his bandmates authentically, getting the crowd into every song with back stories about song origins, handclaps and implorations (I'm making that word up if it's not real) to sing along to "The Ballad of Hugo Chavez."

Each song was equally filled with energy. It was a rocking set through and through, with ridiculously catchy hooks and the above mentioned sing-a-long qualities to the tunes. Max's voice is instantly recognizable, and the band's melodies sound so good, you wonder where you've heard them before in most cases. I really can't say enough about these guys, but they're the band I'd absolutely jump at getting tickets for for when they come back to Halifax.

Plants And Animals

On the other side of the coin, I really can't say much at all about these guys. I went back up to the hill when they were coming on, and between their white denim pants and jarring changes from lush instrumentals to off-putting lyrical stops, I wasn't any more impressed by them than when I'd similarly done a back-check on their tunes a few weeks ago like I had with Arkells. Nothing stood out then, and nothing apart from their above-mentioned interesting instrumentals stood out at V Fest either. Though they did make a funny crack at thanking the Queen of England for making the show free for everyone that day.

Hey Rosetta!

Between Plants And Animals and Hey Rosetta!, my friends decided to hit up the beer tent, and we couldn't down our drinks fast enough and ended up missing part of Hey Rosetta!'s opener "Red Heart." Thankfully though, there was nothing disappointing in any way about the rest of their set. I've never seen these guys live, and it's taken me a year or two to really get into them, but ever since I missed out on tickets for their show here at the awesome Paragon Theatre (formerly the legendary Marquee Club), I've been itching to catch them live.

Literally smack dab in the middle of the acts performing, they put on a show worthy of a much higher billing (see the lack of prominence even on the lineup?). I'd heard things about them the day of the concert itself ranging from "they're Newfoundland's version of Joel Plaskett" to "their Newfoundland's version of Matt Mays," which isn't exactly a huge range, but still, you get the idea after that. They also supposedly had a big lineup, which on this day included a violinist, a cellist, two or three guitars depending on the song, and the bass of course. All that came together to provide a very full and rich sounding set that they played to a T.

In my opinion, they hit "I've Been Asleep For A Long, Long Time" right out of the park (Citadel?), with a perfect rendition that was very true to the original. The band members themselves seem to be in a bit of a fluctuation over time, but I was able to dig up this pic, which is only lacking the violinist, who yesterday, looked like possibly the coolest mom in the world (and not the girl from that pic). They're a bit of a strange band, in that the East Indian guy would seemingly be the last fellow you'd imagine as a rock star (and he did great breaking out the acoustic when he wasn't playing the cello), and in the nicest way, the red-headed bassist (centre in the pic above) looked like a loveable dweeb, not a confident rocker and vocalist. The lead singer however (furthest left) seemed to embody his perceived voice perfectly, a sentiment echoed by my other friends who had not yet seen Hey Rosetta! in concert either.

From heart-breaking piano intros to flourishing rock finishes, Hey Rosetta! just killed their set, and brought something great to the table at the Festival that day.

Handsome Furs

Now for the group no one had seemingly heard of. I'd liked these guys from the time I was - again - introduced to them on CBC Radio 3, and they also didn't disappoint. To my chagrin however, I had to make the long and muddy trek to the bathroom between Hey Rosetta! and these guys, and ended up missing a bit of their first song. In a slight of some sort, they had the husband-and-wife pairing set up on the left part of the stage, instead of featured in the middle, and the stagehands seemed to be setting up for the next act throughout their set. But the Lady GaGa of Canadian indie rock (the hot and ready-to-burst-with-energy Alexei Perry) took centre stage with her microphone/synthesizer/keyboard and what were seemingly a variety of foot pedals...the first three implements of which were set up on what was probably the most ragtag large steel table, like you'd find at the local bingo hall.

No matter though. Between Alexei hopping around like Dance Dance Revolution (in a most GaGa-like one-piece with polka-dotted tights) and leading man Dan Boeckner (of Wolf Parade fame) on well-distorted guitar and lead vocals, Handsome Furs had everyone bobbing up and down. Alexei was enthralling as she was multi-tasking her way to mixing dancefloor-ready drum machine slaps with piercing synth jabs (and beer bottle sips between songs), and occasionally shouting a little somethin' in the mike along to the sad-sounding, but upbeat songs. Another group I can't say quite enough of, but they were certainly one of the pleasant surprises and highlights of the show for me.

They were a little quirky however, but in a good way. They'd both say "thank you" after every song, like we were doing them a favour just by being there. Definitely the other way around, Hansdome Furs. Dan also had the quip of the day, when he introduced one song (I believe "All We Want Baby, Is Everything") by saying he was watching a great documentary the other day, about the dangers of giving robots intelligence...narrated of course, by Christian Bale, and called Terminator: Salvation. The crowd got a good laugh out of that one. Dan also promised that the following act, Dinosaur Jr., would "melt your fucking faces off," but more on that later.

On a funny sidenote, there were those who were less than taken with Handsome Furs...as was evident from the young couples around me in the crowd getting restless and starting the inevitable "it's about half-way through the show, I don't really like these guys, you don't look like you're into them either, let's just randomly make out a few times while they're on" makeout sessions.

The funny part however was that they were equaled onstage by Dan and Alexei...a little grab-ass by Dan between songs, some smooches, a lustful hair-grab of Dan by his wife, and what I can only suppose was a full-on makeout quickie of their own as I was walking away from my spot in the crowd, which I only clued in to after the previously-silent crowd started to cheer for some reason or another. I frankly have no idea how they stood sidestage waiting for Dinosaur Jr. instead of going back to the trailer and getting it on with their own handsome furs.

Dinosaur Jr.

I could do an entire post about this set, but not for all the right reasons. You see, most of what I know about Dinosaur Jr. comes from Pitchfork and Some Songs Considered (check the Blog Roll on the right for links to those great sites), so I have very little personal experience with them live. The song that really turned me on to them was "I Want You To Know," and I've been checking out their older and newer stuff ever since. For a band that's been around since the 80's, that's quite a bit, and you could tell from their set list...which to my extreme annoyance, didn't include "I Want You To Know." As their lead single off new album Farm, you'd think they'd play it, but alas, no.

I'd already heard word lead singer J. Mascis was laid-back and monotone in his vocal delievery, and for all his otherworldy ripping abilites on lead guitar, nonchalant in his performance. Those two facts held quite true, but sadly - and this was a complaint echoed by others I spoke to - J.'s vocals were seemingly just another part of the music. Now that's fine given the distorted noise-rock genre, but there's a certain level where the vocals still have to come through and be distinguishable from the drums, bass and guitar, however distorted it all is. I didn't find that with Dinosaur Jr.'s set.

The other thing I'd read about J. Mascis was that he was the alt-rock answer to Slash, and I certainly can't complain there. He was killing all his solos with ease, but the monotony of the set itself - from the seemingly constant volume of it all to the all-encompassing, just, "noise" (and don't get me wrong, I really like noise rock) - kinda killed the excitement for the concert that Hey Rosetta! and Handsome Furs had so effectively built up for me. The same seemed to ring true for people around me, as I heard murmurs of people complaining about when they'd be done, and the aforementioned "couple-love" again breaking out rampantly.

I don't know if the band was expecting everyone to be into them a little more and disappointed by the lack of crowd participation or cheering, but it's kind of like they were just there for the token appearance. Or maybe that's how they always perform, but I couldn't help feeling like there was something off. By the end, I was disappointed by not hearing my favorite tune, my ears were ringing from the aural abuse, and I was feeling let down by what I expected to be one of the better parts of the show.

Metric

Making up for that however, was the amazing Metric. Again, I'd heard great things about this group, and from what I'd heard myself from them, I could only expect a great show. Most of the people I'd seen and talked to during the day were the most pumped for this act, and the majority of people I could discern who shown up because it had become a free show were there for Emily Haines and all her indie-goddess goodness. I can say quite honestly that the only bad part about Metric came in the 30+ minutes it took them to set up the stage beforehand, easily the longest wait between any of the acts.

Along with that came the yet-unseen concert restlessness that usually accompanies long wait times between shows. There was a girl on someone's shoulders who started to flash everyone (she wasn't that pretty, nor did she have the um, greatest assets) and was received by a good number of cheers from the section she was uh...entertaining. A bit later, she started to make out with another girl who was hoisted on someone's shoulders, and was again met with yells and cheers. She happened to outstay her welcome however, and was soon pelted by everything from bananas to water bottles. She didn't take a hint either, and seemed content to stay up there, to the ridicule and annoyance of everyone in the crowd. Best part of the wait? The red-headed teen guy who got up on his own friend's shoulders and mocked the girl by lifting up his own sweater, to the genuine laughs of the thousands in the audience waiting for Metric to come on.

Now I'm not the biggest Metric fan per se, but I do like them, and I'm a red blooded straight male, so I really can't complain that they're fronted by the sultry and stunning Emily Haines. Strangely enough, I'd have to say Emily seemed like the odd one out from all the lead singers during the day. I can't really explain it, and it's certainly not a knock on her or the band, but they're so big, so popular, such icons in the Canadian music scene, that they almost seemed like they were above us - though in a good way, if that's possible, and certainly not in the same manner Dinosaur Jr. seemed detached from the festivalgoers.

Emily seemed like she was off in her own world, hammering away at her keyboard (though with not quite the same level of the ferocity, splendor or speed Alexei Perry had) and jutting around the stage like she owned the place. She certainly owned the crowd however, and had us eating out of her hand. Cameras were out in full force to capture the best-dressed and best-known act of the day. Between Haines' dancing and perfectly echoed vocals, and the group's soaring choruses and instrumental breaks, it was really something to behold. On the downside, the festival didn't seem to make use of the (intermittently working during other acts) light board extending about 30 feet up from the stage, that would've infused that much more intrigue into the show.

"Gimme Sympathy" was easily the highlight of the show judging from crowd reaction. Everyone seemed to be lost in grandiosity of the song, with head bobbing and body moving galore. There was even a pre-mature and shirtless, mohawk-rocking mosher/headbanger, who in his fervor of literally bowling people over to get closer to the stage, probably forgot it was Metric playing, and not The Offspring quite yet. But it was just that kind of tune.

The whole set killed, with the band's electric mix of synth-infused rock and pop blowing the roof off the place. It was consistent and...hell, by now I'm running out of good words to describe these acts. But trust me, it was kinda mind-blowing, and I'd definitely recommend checking out a Metric show next time they're in town. In between songs, Emily found the time to send out a collective well-wish for The Hip, which was touching and thoughtful (and which I think she was the first to do during the day...dunno what that says) and she also elaborated on some responsibilites our generation had, and something about how hard it would be, maybe a thing about war...I dunno, she was wearing a sparkly unitard and by that point had some pretty hot sex hair going on.

Anyways, Metric rocked it for their also-short set with a majority of stuff off new album Fantasies, with some "Monster Hospital" thrown in (unfortunately no MSTRKRFT remix) and I peaced out after that set, as I've never been an Offspring fan, and knew the initial mosher probably did not bode well for the now-headlining band. Turned out I was justified, as the post-concert bar-stop had stories of friends getting punched in the back, and others accidentally breaking a trampled girl's arm...before one song had even finished. Needless to say, they left pretty swiftly as well.

Overall though, my often-professed ranking for the day of acts I actually saw:

1.) Arkells

2.) (tie) Hey Rosetta!

2.) (tie) Handsome Furs

4.) Metric

5.) Dinosaur Jr.

6.) In-Flight Safety

7.) Dog Day

8.) Plants And Animals

Since I haven't heard official ticket sales numbers (aside from a rep saying they were "strong" in the paper...though not strong enough to prevent a two-for-one deal I guess?) I dunno what the likelihood of the Virgin Festival returning is, but I know providing a free concert isn't too big a worry for Virgin, as that's the concept they're going to soon adapt in the States. I suppose as long as Virgin gets its fair share of advertising and publicity, and the bands get their money, and the fans go home happy, these kinds of festivals can continue to be held. So here's looking forward to Virgin Fest 2010.

And another one of these ridiculously long recaps. Oops.

three? let's make it four

some of my favorite Plaskett-y goodness to keep you going through this one:

Face Of The Earth - Joel Plaskett Emergency

Soooo, happy belated Canada Day. I really haven't been keeping up on here, but forgive me. IRL (in real life) I'm just too busy and having a pretty good time.

Anyways, yesterday marked my fourth Joel Plaskett show. He was playing a free one (and not headlining! wtf? how do you go from opening for Paul freakin' McCartney to not even headlining a Canada Day show in your hometown? go figure) at Alderney Landing, where I saw him play last summer. The barriers put us further back this time around, and the people sitting down from earlier shows in the day put us off the left and near the eight huge speakers on that side, so we didn't exactly have the best seats (stands?) in the house.

Some "fuck-you's" to hand out while I'm on the subject though. If you're old and wearing a jean jacket and sitting on a white lawn chair (that evidently by the end of the show I found out wasn't even yours?), you and your friend might wanna get up and either go to the back and just chill, or get out of the way. But, thank you ever so much for creating a 10-foot circle where no one was going near or around you guys, given the fact you smelled kinda bad and looked just a little more than a tad creepy. And thank you to my choice of standing that left me at some points almost in the laps of said guys.

But it didn't stop there. Token really drunk guy who's having more fun that anyone else is or should be having? You get one. Spraying the rest of your Faxe (yes, piss-like Faxe) beer on everyone around you was a real class act. So was calling over the tween to come and dance, then moseying your way over to the other group of teens (you were at least 19 remember) for the same purpose. You were good for a few laughs though: nothing was funnier than you grabbing the grey-haired man who tossed your then-empty beer can over the rails...and proceeding to seemingly whisper sweet nothings in his ear, and possibly kissing him sloppily on the cheek...more than once it looked like.

Finally, a big "fuck you" to the puddle I was standing near. I was splashed by beat-stomping feet on occasion, and you made me overly conscious of my un-pants-enabled legs for the entire show. Overall, not the most comfortable I've been at a concert...and I've been three-layers-soaked-to-the-bone-for-hours-upon-hours at The Rolling Stones, so well done.

With all bitching aside...the show was actually pretty bitching. Very similar to the set I saw of his at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium last month, in terms of the songs he played, but he mixed up the order a bit. Some of the same banter was there, but he knew he wasn't playing to a captive, seated audience, so he kept it upbeat and succinct.

He sadly doesn't play a lot of Ashtray Rock anymore, which bums me out because that's when I really started obsessing about Joel's music. No "Face Of The Earth," no "Nothing More To Say" (aside from a depressing and acoustic turn he did with his father at the Cohn) and most definitely no "Drunk Teenagers," which I don't suppose he'll play at any more shows, possibly ever. He still plays "Fashionable People," but there's something slightly off about it, and it feels a tad stuffy and forced.

He did play many of his older ones though, and you can tell they're still his live staples; nearly everyone knew the words, and in Joel's loveable way, he joked about him not even having to sing anymore. For fun, the people I was going to the concert with put together a list of songs we thought he would/wanted to see him play, and luckily enough, we went about 7 for 8. He played most of the three-themed songs off his amazing new Three, and Rose Cousins and Ana Egge were there to add their catchy harmonies to the whole affair.

On a side note, the new stuff is admittedly less immediate, but they'll definitely grow on everyone and become great sing-a-longs like his other regulars. My only complaint is that along with the lack of immediacy, there's not much of a "rock" lilt to his music anymore; there's a lot of East Coast influence and everything from saxophone to trumpets, but none of that crunching guitar and soaring choruses. Joel's always been hard to class other than "singer-songwriter," and he became even more of an enigma with the concept-driven Ashtray Rock, but before that you could really hear his rock influences shine through, and he was much easier to pigeon-hole into genres. Now with the 27 songs off Three, he's all over the place, and while it works for most of it, there's definitely some filler in there, and some overall questionable choices of direction.

Back to the show, the closer "On and On and On" was interrupted by the Canada Day fireworks, and you could see people were torn between the band and the sky's sights. Even when Joel and The Emergency wrapped it up, there was a warm moment of them standing there watching the fireworks with the rest of us, bathed in blue light and the surrounding darkness, not rushing off-stage, and though a good five or six feet above us, down to our level of "spectators" at the sight of the colourful bursts of celebration.

The overall feel of the concert was strange, because with the combination of people who had been at the venue for the previous acts and others who were seated during the show, there didn't seem to be that common camraderie between everyone that really fuels a concert-going experience and usually justifies dishing out the dough to see a show instead of relaxing to the artist in the comfort of your own abode. Not one of the better shows I've seen (possibly the worst of the four based on atmosphere alone), but since it's Joel Plaskett, I really can't say anything too bad. The man is immune to my criticism.

...oh, and he could've dragged his poor, earless cat White Fang up on stage and did some Ozzy Osbourne-ish things to it and still would've received a good review from me for one reason: after the show and the fireworks, the crew started setting up for the follow-up act, but Joel stayed there, kneeled down on the stage, and signed autographs (on paper, shoes, phones and whatever else people could find) for a solid half-hour for an ever-increasing throng of fans, most of whom had to be high-school aged.

There were also times when people ran up on stage and had to be tackled and dragged off, with Joel quipping to security mid-song not to hurt them too badly. On another occasion, one particularly brazen girl snuck around the huge set of speakers, right past Peter Elkas and settling beside Joel during his encore, with Plaskett unfazed, commending the girl on her nice choice of shades. So I guess Joel Plaskett = consummate musician...but also, awesome human being. Can't wait for his next show.