new pornographers

TURF Review – Barenaked Ladies, New Pornographers, Bathrooms, etc

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Ricky in Everything | Leave a comment

jew

TURF 2016 was once again a weekend filled with good music, chilled vibes and frankly, good execution. It always feels good when people know what they are doing at a music festival and Collective Concerts definitely knows what they are doing. How do I know? Let’s count the ways

  • Plenty of food options
  • Stages with minimum sound interference
  • Plenty of outhouses
  • Relaxed security staff
  • Easy to get in and out

Still, there are some ways to improve:

  • Better beer selection
  • Cheaper beer selection
  • More then one water truck
  • Multiple exits (why wasn’t there an exit on Strachan?)

Still, very well organized festival.

I think there was some music. Let’s look at a few highlights

Barenaked Ladies
A super fun set filled with all the hits you would expect. The Barenaked Ladies are a cheesy, fun and incredibly self aware band, joking that they played their first show at the battle of 1812. Obviously one of the best singalongs of the festival was “If I Had a Million Dollars,” in which someone threw Kraft dinner on stage. “Brian Wilson“ and “The Old Apartment“ also brought back memories and I wasn’t missing Stephen Page at all. The set ended with a super odd medley of popular pop songs which was disappointing considering tracks like “Jane“ or “It’s All Been Done“ would have easily made a better substitute.

Matthew Good Band
The tracks “Apparitions“ and “Hello Time Bomb“ brought me back to my university days. Damn I’m old.

Jimmy Eat World
The kids went craaaaaazy over the band from Arizona. I was rather dismissive of emo music in my 20s so my enthusiasm for the band was muted. Still the group played a powerful set that led in “The Middle,” a glorious track that had everyone fist pumping and singing along. Curiously, the group had a rather strict photo policy that irked a lot of photographers. i don’t even know why they would do that as I doubt many people are looking for Jimmy Eat World 2016 concert photos.

New Pornographers
What’s a music festival without the New Pornographers? Despite the absence of some more famous members (which at this point, is the norm), the group played a steady set in the steady sun. Bands should study these guys, one of the few consistently good bands of the past fifteen years. They are like Mac & Cheese – comfortable and always good, no matter what the ingredients are.

Bathrooms
There were three types of bathrooms available at TURF, let’s take a look!

Outhouses (for normal people) – Your standard outhouses, I like the ones with a Purell thing on the inside which theses ones have the one time I used it.

East Side VIP area – Impressively lit with real toilets, the VIP bathrooms this year were great, and these ones had a light on each stall so that I didn’t piss all over the toilet and the seats. They also had functional working sinks on the outside. Highly impressive.

West Side VIP Area The most impressive one of them all, the west side VIP bathroom was inside a trailer-ish building and came with air conditioning and it’s own PA system. I bet a third of people at TURF don’t have air-con at their own apartments but this toilet has it. So VIP.

Anyways, in conclusion, TURF was fun.

2015 Polaris Music Prize Predictions

Posted on September 19, 2015 by Ricky in Everything | Leave a comment

polaris

Unlike previous years, this year’s Polaris Music Prize actually seems interesting. For what is generally viewed as a bland music industry circle jerk of an event (where music writers get fed for once), it’s actually somewhat refreshing.

What are the hot topics at hand? Let’s see

1. Viet Cong The Calgary band’s controversial name has finally become a hot topic. The band’s name has slowly been receiving backlash ever since it’s inception, but now with them on the verge of winning Canada’s equivalent of the Mercury Prize, the attention has definitely taken the forefront, generating the type of negative attention that the Polaris Prize probably didn’t want. For a good recap of this issue, read this excellent article here. Rumors are that Viet Cong will reveal a new name at the Polaris. I’ve heard they are deciding between ISIS or Dead Babyfuckers because both those sound pretty cool, according to the band.

2. Polaris Music Prize = Boys Club
The Canadian music industry, like most industries in life, is mostly a boys club. Like any other industry, those boys are mostly unaware that it’s a boys club. As documented here on Canadaland, it is not particularly fun for new comers trying to push the musical boundaries of the Polaris Prize or pointing out it’s a boys club. This article in addition to the annual lack of non CBC endorsed rock acts on the list, adds further fuel to the fire. Does Polaris really represent Canada’s entire swath of music?

In light of these two controversies, the Polaris Prize finds it’s looming Monday gala at the crossroads. Will they pretend everything is happyland, with Steve Jordan and friends congratulating themselves on another year well done or will they actually tackle these items right then and there? My guess is on the former.

Despite the issues at hand, it is a good sign to see that the Canadian music industry is still generating some amazing albums and whether or not the ten nominees are the absolute ten best is irrelevant, they are the ten that are there and we will now predict the winner, using science and sabermetrics.

Braids – Deep in the Iris
Let’s punch in the numbers into our machine to see if they will win.
One sec.
BEep Booo BEEP BEEP BOOP BEEP BOOP BEEP bOOOP
Nope. they will not win.

BadBadNotGood & GhostFace Killah – Sour Soul
These guys put together one of the best shows I saw at SXSW and if the Polaris Prize was going full heel, what better way then to give the Polaris Prize to AN AMERICAN RAPPER who will then take the award back the the US. Then we will have to have Drake beef with Ghostface, only until Drake realizes Ghostface is no one you want to fuck with and he’ll slowly back off while slowly singing “Just Hold On I’m coming home, but not with the Polaris Prize” while Ghostface makes a video where he wraps up $100 Canadian dollar bills with weed and smokes it up.
Chances of winning: Maybe

Jennifer Castle – Pink City
A local favorite, Jennifer Castle will probably not win this one. Just a feeling.

Caribou – Our Love
Nobody has ever won the Polaris Prize twice. Will Caribou be the first? There album was one of my favorites from last year, but the real question is whether or not the jury think Caribou is the band to bestow this prestigious distinction? Will they save that for the next Arcade Fire record instead?
Chances of winning: Strongish

Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late – They are probably saving the mainstream r&b/hip hop Polaris win for The Weeknd next year, so I doubt this will be his year. Arguably this album is weaker then the previous album, so if he didn’t win for that one, then he surely will not win for this one. I don’t even know what I’m saying because I haven’t heard any Drake album. Still, 3 times the bridesmaid, never the bride, Drake is becoming the Susan Lucci of the Polaris.
Chances of winning: Ask Serena

Tobios Jesso Jr – Goon – I thought this dude was a teenager until I read his wiki page and realized he was 30. My entire story about this now goes out the window. Goon was a very enjoyable album and if Randy Newman ever retired Tobias can easily soundtrack the next ten Pixar movies. That is a huge compliment, by the way. Still, will the guitaratti allow a piano man to win this indie rock award? Doubt it.
Chances of winning: Doubtful

Buffy Sainte-Maria – Power in the Blood
Perhaps if Tanya Tagaq didn’t go on stage last year and decapitated a seal on stage.
Chances of winning: Slim.

The New Pornographers – Brill Bruisers
It seems like the New Pornographers have been around forever, yet they always release great albums. Brill Bruisers was no exception. Has any west coast bands won the Polaris? Maybe it’s time. No one would argue against these guys if they won.
Chances of Winning: High

Viet Cong – Viet Cong
Haha

Alvvays – Alvvays
Alvvays shimmering summer album was one of everyone’s favorites of last year and comes controversy free. Throw in some Rankin family lineage and you have yourself the winner.

New Pornographers, Death Cab for Cutie and The Tragically Hip at Butler’s Barracks, Niagara On The Lake, June 30, 2012

Posted on July 4, 2012 by lauren in Concerts | Leave a comment

Warning: this review may have been tainted by the neanderthal concert goers. I have never ever, encountered such a moronic, boozy and aggressive crowd; not even at the most metal of metal shows back in my dark high-school days. People were still courteous, helped each other out of pits, etc. This was a different kind of terrible. The day began by driving my grandmother’s pimp mobile, with the license plate “GR8GRMA” loud and proud, to the parking lot where we caught the “shuttle bus” , air quotes. Shuttle bus equated to yellow school bus of annoyance. Full of loud boisterous men that had been drinking since at least 9am, I quietly made a Billy Madison joke, and soon enough my prediction came true, as they all proceeded to yell “O’Doyle rules!” “Piss your pants!” for the majority of the ride.  Show experiences, in my opinion, are 70% band, 30% crowd atmosphere. I find if a band is mediocre but the crowd is amazing and there’s a great energy, I will come out still happy. If the band is amazing, but the crowd is unbearable, it makes the show hard to love. So that is my preface, in my review of the bands, I will try to keep it taint free.

Rural Alberta Advantage

Missed photo call, however they were pretty good. Drew a small crowd as the place was starting to fill up, and of course when they covered a Gord Downie song, and the man himself joined them on stage, the crowd went wild and people ran to catch the treat.

New Pornographers with Neko Case

Neko Case has a fantastic voice, clear as day, never faltering, just absolutely perfect. The New Pornographers kicked off with Moves from the 2010 album Together, and continued through a slew of hits during their set. It was poppy, upbeat, and purely Canadian sounding, glad I got to cross them off the bucket list. The best songs of the set were Mass Romantic, Crash Years and Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk. This was also the time we ventured to the alcohol tent where we fell in love with the “mixed and ready” Canadian Club drinks. Not trying to plug a company during this post, but seriously some good shit.

Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie are always great. My third time seeing them, this set made me incredibly nostalgic. I was instantly transported back to senior year of highschool, which was ten years ago! Right when Transatlanticism came out, the album was my official summer album, constantly on repeat, and remained that way for years. The first show I saw was at a place in Buffalo, NY called Nietzsche’s, a small 400 person venue, so incredibly intimate two people in the crowd actually bought the band a wine set and had every patron sign the box. Since that time, Death Cab sky rocketed to a major label, arena type venues and headlining festivals. Yet, even with the large caliber fan base, the idiotic crowd and large outdoor setting, they still made me feel like I was the only person in the crowd watching, as they went through their recent albums and then delved back into my favorites from Transatlanticism and The Photo Album. The sunny hot day became a bit cloudy during their set, but during The New Year, right at the pivotal build up and moment in the song, the sun rose again, making you feel like you were actually starting anew on a very warm January day.

The Tragically Hip

The Hip are one of those bands, pretty much everyone loves them, and their main fan base are drunk guys. When you look up definitions of Canada, and Canadian culture, The Hip will be listed. They’re an underrated overrated band, an oxymoron that actually makes sense. Downie is a superb song writer, and even more so, his stage presence is out of this world. You actually forget that there is anyone else on stage, while you watch his theatrics. It was a little hard to forget the amount of people in the crowd getting into fights, as person after person was yanked out and escorted off the premises. The Tragically Hip, whether intentional or not, riles up a crowd to a point of almost hysteria. Talking to fans, you hear things like “20th time seeing them” or “never missed a show”, their fans define loyalty. This was my first time ever seeing the Hip and as I’ve been told, it was a great live show, but their set list was sub-par, I’m guessing because they didn’t go for all of the fan favorites as per usual. Either way, I’m glad I got to see them, Gord Downie is considered a Canadian music legend where I’m originally from, he outshines most acts with his fantastical stage presence and perfected voice. If you actually haven’t seen them, which is apparently rare in these parts, I highly recommend you see them at least once. Just don’t get caught on the yellow school bus full of vomiting man-children.