It’s always appreciated when set times are provided for shows. It helps to know when things get going so you can plan accordingly. And since Hot Water Music were scheduled to be onstage at The Danforth Music Hall at 9:45 and I was meeting some friends at the pub next door, I figured I had plenty of time. Then we discovered that the band went on early. Because of this, I showed up late, thus missing “Remedy” and “Trusty Chords,” two of my favourite HWM songs. Oh well, so it goes.
Though I missed the beginning, I did see the bulk of the show and it was good. Though the band has been around for awhile, this was the first time I’d seen them. It was a solid performance, one full of the usual raspy, heartfelt vocals from singers Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard as well as plenty of singalong-inspiring “whoas.” Much of the crowd looked to be longtime fans (ie. bearded dudes in their 30s wearing plaid) though there were a few youngsters in attendance as well. One couple in particular stood out. In the midst of the crowd on the floor were two young lovebirds ensconced in a serious makeout session. Good on them I guess; you’ve got to strike while the iron’s hot I suppose, but still … what’s up with that? It’s not like we were grooving to some R’nB slow jams or something. Time and place, kids, time and place.
Speaking of the youth, if Twitter is to be trusted (and when is it not trustworthy?), a large chunk of the crowd left after openers La Dispute finished. It’s only fair I suppose – if I can skip the openers, I’m sure there’s folks out there that don’t care about HWM – but still, why not stick around? Their loss I suppose. Overall, HWM put on a solid set, albeit one that seemed a little too brief, even though they did play for roughly an hour. I guess that old saying about time flying while you’re having fun applies in this case.
I am easily infatuated with songs that either 1) have a great beat or 2) have catchy lyrics… so when the two come together – game over – I will loop that four-to-five minute track endlessly through my day for weeks on end. The last song I found to possess this combination is Hot Chip’s Over and Over. The song starts with chimes, progresses to… cowbell and claps? Then brings in the synth. Basically, it’s already fulfilled criterion 1 within the first twenty seconds. When lyrics begin around the :50 mark the song only gets better. Key lines include:
“Laid back, Laid back, Laid back/We’ll give you play back”
And
“Over and over and over and over and over/Like a monkey with a miniature cymbal/The joy or repetition really is in you.”
Can I tell you what exactly it means? No. Can I tell you I love it? Absolutely.
Every year it seems, a group of boys from England pack up their guitars and their bags, travel across the Atlantic and attempt to penetrate the minds of North Americans with their own version of Cool Britannia. In the past decade alone, we have witnessed acts such as The Cribs, Hard-Fi, Kaiser Chiefs, The Automatic, The Fratellis, The Kooks, Brother, The Vaccines and a host of others attempt this journey. Hailed as NME’s next greatest thing, London’s four piece band Palma Violets appear to be next in line. Already adorned with NME’s best song in 2012, the group seems to have amassed an equal amount of fans and naysayers. This sort of hype was the sort that filled the Horseshoe on Thursday night, where Palma Violet’s task for the night seemed to be to do two things:
– impress the fans of the band
– shut up cynics who openly mock NME’s tendency to make grand statements about new music
What transpired was a short set that told us a few things we probably already knew –
– Palma Violets <> Libertines. While the latter bathed in melody, story telling for the classes and contains an ambitious message for some sort of middle class utopia, Palma Violets are a bit more rugged, a bit more raw and a little less memorable. Their duo vocals of Sam Fryer and Chilli Jesson remind me more of the brothers in the Cribs if only for either groups penchant for screaming a wooo after each sentence.
– Guitar rock is still very much alive
– Best of Friends is still a fantastic song, in fact, it was easily the bands best song. The material I heard otherwise was okay overall, but lack the hook that made Best of Friends so memorable.
Having said that, it’s been a great start to their careers, so it’ll be interesting to see where the momentum takes them.
Hi readers! How’s it going? I just got back from LA / Palm Springs after a weekend trip to go to this music festival called Coachella. I think this is the fourth year they run it, and it’s super cool!!. Not a lot of people but excellent bands. I really hope it stays this way and doesn’t expand into some random two week thing or go on a cruise ship or something. LOL. Who does that? I don’t know, I have a lot of imagination. Anyways, let’s take it from the top.
Haha look how nerdy me and Derek are, with our ipods and all. I freaking love using that wheel. Don’t ever change that Apple, it can’t get any better then this.
So instead of camping at Palm Springs, we decided to rent a hotel room. We had a great idea to bring an air mattress, but no one brought a pump so we had to use a gas station to pump it. So clever. Can’t wait until Coachella tomorrow! My first ever music festival. Who knows if I’ll ever go to one ever again.
Day 1
First of all, it is freaking hot in Palm Springs. Why would Coachella put a festival in the middle of the desert in May!? They should move it to April or something, but we all have dreams. We all have dreams.
I started off the day by checking out Stellastarr*, they are this up and coming rock act from New York city. My Coco and Jenny are great tracks, I am pretty sure we are going to see a lot from them in the future. I discovered them by going to some band I liked on Allmusic.com and then clicking on “similar artist”. Can’t think of a better way to find bands I like. Anyways, check them out.
Beck was freaking packed, and it’s also 4 pm which is arguably the hottest time of the day. I am going to seek refuge in the shade somewhere. I probably shouldn’t drink beer. Oh what the hell. What’s that famous phrase people use? you only live once? no that’s not it.. life is short, play hard! Yes, from Reebok. Of course.
You see that on the stage right there? That’s the freakin Pixies! I heard they reformed just for Coachella. They were great – Debaser, Wave of Mutilation and Here Comes the Man all got the crowd singing. What a moment, surely a once in the lifetime event.
Radiohead was awesome as well, but they are always awesome. Kraftwerk? mind blowing. What a light show.
The only downside to the whole event was that it took two freakin hours to get out of the parking lot.
Day 2
Kind of exhausted from Day 1, we decided to hit up the hotel restaurant first and slowly mosey our way towards the grounds.
We arrived just around 3:30 and met our friend Pete, who checked out this local Toronto band called Broken Social Scene. Who goes to Coachella to go see local music? Pete does. I made my way over to the main stage to check out Muse, who originally began as a Radiohead cover band. Well not really, but check out Showbiz and tell me it’s not The Bends part 2. I hope they are able to find ways to sound different with their next album but who knows with these bands.
It’s still super hot, I wish my friends back home could know how hot it was. If only there was some way for me to convey these feelings to them online at this very moment of time. Sigh. The girls at the stands are letting you soak your towel in cold water for 1 dollar. I have been doing this all day.
Couldn’t quite decide on the Killers or the Thrills, but since The Thrills excel at upbeat surf type rock, decided to check that out. Killers are kinda new, and playing the smallest tent, so I’m sure it can’t be that good. I bought a wicked BRMC shirt, because let’s face it, BRMC are the coolest people on Earth, except today, I don’t know if the all leather look is going to be good for this weather.
Belle & Sebastian at sunset. Doesn’t really get better then this. Unless I see them open for Pulp or something. If only.. haha.
Frickin broke my sunglasses dancing to Basement Jaxx. Goddamn it. I guess this is growing up.
Hamster balls! floating balls! giant hands! confetti guns! dancing mascots! That, ladies and gentleman, are the Flaming Lips. I think they were on 90210 once, and this Soft Bulletin record is pretty good. Their show – amazing. They didn’t sing Waiting for Superman though.
I am glad they didn’t book The Cure during the day, or fat Bob’s face would have looked like olive and cheese pizza you take out of the oven. I am a bit pissed that they booked Le Tigre on stage next to The Cure, as I can hear them whenever fat Bob does a quiet song.
We left before the encore to beat the traffic.
Overall, Coachella seems like a fun festival. They don’t really have many festivals like this in North America, which is a shame. Anyways, talk to you later!
