Guelph – The 27th annual Hillside Festival is in the books, and for the second year in a row the Panic Manual was there amidst the natural beauty of Guelph Lake Island (pictured above), covering the fest from Friday night mainstage opener Beardyman to Sunday night closer Stars. Punctuated with pictures, here are our picks for best, worst, and everything in between from Hillside 2010.
Most Danceable: Alex Cuba
We were a bit lukewarm about seeing Alex Cuba just because it seems like he’s playing Toronto all the time (something not uncommon at the Hillside Festival, which has no exclusivity agreement preventing bands from playing the area around the fest dates like a lot of festivals do), but in the end we were glad we did. Alex Cuba makes me think of what I imagine Carlos Santana was like in the early 70’s, with Latin rhythms behind some great guitar work making for some eminently danceable rock music. With all due respect to the Tabla Guy, who was laying down some great dance tunes late on Sunday night that had the masses moving before switching to something a lot quieter, Cuba even had me doing some booty-shaking near the main stage, and that just doesn’t happen very often.
(after the jump: best country, best hip-hop, and more, with lots more pictures)
Toronto – SLAYER! SLAYER!! SLAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYERRR!!!!! Nothing more need be said. Really. for those who were at this show, or even those who briefly thought about going, you knew it would all come down to SLAYER! Even before we heard a note, we already knew it could only be described thusly: SLAAYYYERR!
“Hey, so how was the show?”
“SLAAYYERR!!”
“So … it was good?”
“Yeah.”
So nothing more needs to be said. But in my role as The Panic Manual’s resident metal expert (a title I just gave myself right this minute), i will elucidate on the concept of SLAYER!!
“I think the planet is heavier at times because Slayer exists. Slayer is the anchor in this world.”
So said Les Claypool, lead singer of Primus, and to Slayer fans, that statement is definitely true. Metal brings out a certain dedication and loyalty in it’s fans to the point where, despite the aggression of the music, concerts can become one big love-in for the bands performing. In that sense, this show reminded me in a weird way of the only other show I saw at the Amphitheatre this summer: The Flaming Lips. I know it sounds weird, but let me explain: while both bands come from diametrically opposed places in terms of their sound and style of performance, each show sort of ended up in the same place – a sense of connection, and a sort of exuberant immersion in the songs. In a sense, “Seasons In The Abyss” = “Do You Realize?” Except with more blood and less balloons.
This show, part of the “Canadian Carnage” tour, (which has been a long time coming after delays and reschedulings due to Slayer vocalist Tom Araya’s back surgery – yes, these guys are getting old, and too much headbanging can apparently mess your back up) was notable for the fact that both Slayer and Megadeth would be playing their 1990 albums, (Seasons In The Abyss, and Rust In Peace respectively) in their entireties. Now, I’m sure neither Megadeth nor Slayer would want to be relegated to the nostaglia circuit (although Slayer at Casino Rama does sound somehow appealing), but let’s face it: no one’s really coming to see you play stuff off your new album. Oh sure, we expect to hear those songs, but even a fan born after those 1990 albums were released and whose first exposure to thse bands is through their most recent albums, has got to recognize that these albums have acheived a sort of classic status. And really, if you’re gonna see Slayer, you might as well see them playing stuff from their most song-oriented album (in my opinion).
So how was the show? It was good. They played all the classics along with a smattering of newer songs, they displayed the right amount of virtuosity (guitar solos galore, especially from Megadeth, and the awesomeness of Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo) and the crowd responded with shouted singalongs and copious headbanging (I swear Beavis and Butthead were sitting next to me – these kids looked exactly like them! Weird). In summation: SLAYER!!!!!!!
Toronto – I’ll be the first to admit, when I saw the set times for Monday night’s Hercules and Love Affair show – 11:30 pm, I openly bitched about it. It’s Monday night! People have day jobs the next day! Then somehow I realize I usually sleep around 1:00 am anyway and that I’m just falling into the common old people trap of complaining about random things just for the sake of complaining. Why do old people have to complain just for the sake of complaining? Why! Can’t stand it.
Whenever I have a tough decision to make, I refer to the famous Harry Potter quote:
We all must choose between what is right, and what is easy.
The easy way out would have been to just bail on the show and get some good sleep, but the music gods spoke out to me and after not much deliberation, I decided to venture forth down to the Mod Club.
Thank God I did.
Taking the stage promptly after 11:30, Hercules and the Love Affair leader Andy Butler quickly introduced the singers – Kim Ann Foxman, Aerea Negrot and Shaun Wright. The latter two were new and recruited from Berlin. Mark Pistel also joined the group, working all those electronic things with Butler, who started the show off with a declaration of love for Toronto. Apparently one of the two thousand music bloggers in Toronto was the first one to write about the band.
Any exhaustion that anyone had from the late start was quickly erased as soon as the first beats dropped. With the three singers moving around, dancing and generally encouraging the crowd to party, the packed crowd at the Mod Club turned quickly into a sweaty dance pit. The energy the three singers showed was relentless and that energy easily kept the crowd going through out the whole show. The singers were balanced out nicely, founding member Kim Ann Foxman had the higher notes, Aerea Negrot handled a lot of the mid range and Shaun Wright was brought in whenever the music called for some boom boom bass like voice. They complemented each other really well.
The set, as expected, consisted of many tracks from the new album. A few hits from their first album – You Belong, Raise Me Up, True False – Fake Real and of course Blind were played. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the way Blind was played live, it involved a more low key mix then the one on the album, but it was still good nonetheless. The new material seemed quite good, although given the non stop onslaught of music, one tune soon blended into other. The show was basically what happens when Soul Train meets a 80s New York disco house.
It would be interesting to see a Hercules and Love Affair show with a full horns and strings section, but I’ll take what I can.
In conclusion, if there was a reason to stay up late on a work night, a Hercules and Love Affair dance party is as good as any.
Toronto – I went into Thursday’s Ariel Pink concert not having listened to any of the band’s music. A few of my friends had recommended them and after briefly skimming some articles about them, I was interested. Their lead singer – Ariel Marcus Rosenberg was apparently a volatile guy and they were supposedly theatrical. That’s more then enough for me to make the short walk to the Mod Club. They were in town to promote their album Before Today, their first album off 4AD records.
First of all, the Mod Club charges 7 dollars a bottle for beer!!! I didn’t purchase one, but be forewarn the next time you go to the Mod Club.
The band came on at around 8:45 to a nice applause and general excitement which soon transformed to confusion as the band stood there and watched as their nonsensical introductory video played. I would suggest playing your video then taking the stage, but what do I know.
The bands set consisted of many 70s inspired psych rock tunes punctuated by random noises that lead vocalist Ariel would make into the microphone. These noises ranged from clicks to shhhh’s to whispers to sneezing. Speaking of Ariel, for better or for worse he definitely was the main focus of the show. Looking like a cross between Mitch Herbert and 70s era Ozzie, he did his best to come off as a cool as fuck rock and roller despite wearing a shirt clearly too small for him. His antics included swinging a leather belt around and taking off his pants which really didn’t do anything for anyone. Interaction with the crowd didn’t happen until about halfway through the show, but the tone of his voice gave off a sense of entitlement that probably was not deserved. To me, it seemed like he was trying hard to give off a cool vibe but it really didn’t work. Not only for me, but most of the crowd seemed rather indifferent to the show. There were only a handful of songs that got the crowd going, one of which is current single Round and Round, to which Ariel told the crowd “You’ll like this one, I’m psychic about this shit” Of course, that only confirmed the suspicion most people weren’t really digging what was being played.
Having said all that, I thought Ariel Pink’s backing band, The Haunted Graffiti were pretty good. It must be hard to play when someone is swinging a leather belt inches away from your face for a majority of the night, but they did fine in generating a very 70s classic rock/glam rock/la punk kind of vibe.
Overall the show was a bit disappointing. It never seem to consistently capture strong momentum. The perfect example of this was the encore, when after a surprisingly large applause, the band came on and played some tune that had Ariel basically wailing on the mic for six minutes. Having said that, it’s fairly obvious that under the layers of unnecessary sound and effects, Ariel Pink can wrote quality pop songs with hooks in them, I just wonder if they’ll ever realize it.
